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12/11/2003 10:41 AM

Welcome to December, my good friend... One more week! I'm pulling into the home-stretch with school, and I just can't wait to be done! I'm sitting here, studying for my gov final, reading the same sentance over and over again... So this is my distraction for the moment. But that'll all be over with on Monday, and I won't have to think about the executive powers of the President or public opinion or Madisonian theory anymore. My last final will be over on Wednesday at 12:45, and then it will really be all over, and I will be so very happy to relax for a while before I start the whole process over again for Spring semester. Fun fun fun. And Dad and I will be going to get Hannah on Saturday. She'll get to be home for about a month! Yay for that! I can't believe that Christmas is exactly two weeks from today. I've got my new RelientK Christmas album playing all the time. It is just supurb! If any of you are considering buying it, I would highly reccommend that you do. The final design for the Two Lefts Don't Make a Right album comes with it, and it is definitely awesome. The CD isn't pink! That makes me quite happy *G* Anyway, I'm going to go back to concentrating on my studies... Have a great week!




11/26/2003 6:38 PM

Well, it has been almost a month since I've posted here. I'm sitting here, waiting for Hannah to arrive. She's coming home for Thanksgiving, and I am really excited. She should be here in the next hour or two, I think. Anyway, I'm really glad to be off of school for a few days. We've only got two more weeks to go (plus finals) after we go back to school on Monday. I can't wait to be done. Also, I got an appointment to get my drivers license... I'll be doing that on the 23rd of December. So I'll have it all taken care of before the next semester starts, which is good. Then I can drive Peter to youth group, since I started going with him. I went with him last week, and it was much fun. I have really missed going to youth group for the past few months, so it's really great to be going to a youth group again. We also went to a scavenger hunt type thing with the youth group on Saturday night, and that was a blast! Anyway, Hannah just called and we're going to go meet her, so I must be off! Ciao!:) (Oh, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!)




10/28/2003 4:35 PM

I feel all warm and fuzzy... but not for the expected reasons... Warm because the whether refuses to believe that it is fall. Fuzzy because the left side of my face is numb... The numbing agent is actually starting to wear off, I think... It's starting to ache, which isn't really to great for me. So today has been interesting none the less. I had a review for the second mid-term in my video operations class, which went just fine. I love that class. Too fun. Then dad picked me up. It was really nice, because dad decided to just take me to class this morning instead of letting me take the bus there and picking me up to take me to my appointment. That meant one extra hour of sleep. So it was only 10:15 when I got out of class, and my appointment wasn't until 1:00. Dad and I went out to pizza, then we went to Barnes and Noble, which is always fun. It was nice to get to hang out with Dad for a while... By then it was time for the dreaded appointment. I tried to be brave, but needles do scare me, so I shut my eyes for that part. Anyway, it is done, and I will live... I have to write the ending to my second big essay for English tonight, as the first draft is due for group work tomorrow. No prob though, I just need a little less than a page more. Alrighty, that's all for now... Have a great week! :)




10/23/2003 2:36 PM

I take it back. The weather here is anything but fall-like. In the last week or so we've reached temperatures of up to 102 degrees... And I'm frankly getting kind of annoyed at this. I love fall weather. But here it is, October (which is part of fall, if I'm correct), and it doesn't feel like it. When I get up in the early morning before the sun comes up (which is now my regular practice) it feels cool enough to need a sweater, but it heats up real quick, and then I am stuck with a sweater, and it is not fun. So I end up giving a bit in both directions, being a bit too cold in the early morning and a bit too hot by late morning. Bleh. On a more positive note (and this is kind of late) I had a supurb time visiting Hannah a few weeks ago. It was great to be able to hang out with her (I miss her bunches!) and I got to meet some neat people. I'm glad to know that she has such a great circle of friends. On a less positive note, I will have to have a root canal next tuesday. This is rather disappointing, of course, and I'm quite fearful of needles and drills and such, so if anyone would like to pray for me at 1:00 on the 28th, I'd much appreciate it. That's all for now...Have a blessed week!




10/4/2003 10:44 AM

Yay for hot tea and turtleneck sweaters!

I would like to announce that fall has officially arrived. I'm very pleased to be wearing my first turtleneck of the season, as I sip hot Good Earth tea. My nose is cold, but I'm glad to have the wonderful fall weather. The tree that is outside my window has a variation of yellow and green leaves now, and a bush by our gate even has red and orange leaves on it. I'm playing the new David Crowder Band album, Illuminate, and it's just wonderful! Yes, I think this will be a good day... I have a lot of homework to get done, but it isn't too pressing (in other words, I'm not stressing over it). Also, I will be going to visit Hannah next week. I have Thursday and Friday off of school, so I'll go down after my classes are done with on Wednesday, and stay through Saturday. My parents and brother will come down to visit Hannah for the day on Saturday, then we'll all go home Saturday evening or afternoon... It's going to be a good week, I think :)




10/1/2003 1:46 PM

Welcome to October. A special Happy Birthday going out to a very silly pickle!

Wow! what an awesome time! Last night I went with Mom and Angela for a girls night out of sorts. We went to the Passion Experience tour, and it was great! Seriously. I had a blast. There's just something about praising the King of Kings together with a huge crowd of other believers in one voice. It reminds me of spirit west coast, but with more comfortable seating and better bathrooms ;) I think that must be a bit of what heaven's like. A huge gathering of people joined together in worship to the only true God. That's what we'll do day and night. Anyway, I'm really glad that we went. It was very neat. If any of you have a chance to attend the Passion Experience tour, I would definently recommend that you do so. It's just an awesome experience; not because David Crowder Band, or Chris Tomlin, or Charlie Hall, or Louie Giglio is there, but because the Creator of the universe is there when we join together to praise His name. It's His presence that makes it awesome. Don't get me wrong, I love to listen to David Crowder Band and Chris Tomlin, and Louie Giglio's message was great, but when I got in there and started worshipping it wasn't as much a matter of who was on the platform but of who was moving through the whole auditorium. Anyway, God is awesome, and I'm glad that I got to go to the Passion Experience. Good stuff...;)Also, on a funny note, Chris Tomlin was very impressed with the tri-tip sandwich that he got for lunch. It seems so funny to me that people who aren't from Cali aren't familiar with tri-tip... anyway I thought that was intersting...




9/6/2003 11:11 PM

Soccer games, Sunburns, and stuff like Salad
This afternoon I went to watch my brother, Peter, play his first soccer game of the season. Knowing that we would be hanging out in the heat for a few hours, I thought that I would wear my Capri pants and tank top. Bad move. I realized my folly when we arrived at the field, and I remembered how easily I had sunburned in previous years. My shoulders are (or were, actually) pretty much untouched by the sun, and shouldn’t have been bare in for so long. So, needless to say, I walked away with my shoulders matching the red tank top I was wearing. Pete played well though. His team won the game. I think the score was 6 to 3. So that was cool. The real scary thing is that right before kickoff, the coach of the other team started feeling dizzy and throwing up. So his wife took him to the hospital, thinking that he had either heat stroke, or a heart attack. It turns out that he did have a heart attack, so if any of you would be willing to pray for him, it would be much appreciated. I heard that he is stable right now, but he still needs a lot of prayer, I’m sure. I spent the rest of the day writing an expository essay about how I make salad for an English assignment... (It was supposed to be about an everyday activity that I personalize) I actually already have a few lines shy of 3 pages, so that is good. Progress is always good. Especially since it is supposed to be 3 to 4 pages long... It still needs refinement though… Alright, that’s all for now...Time to get some sleep!




9/5/2003 7:21 PM

I'm having a RelientK marathon today. I'm currently listening to their very best album of all, "The Anatomy of the Tongue and Cheek," and I have yet to listen to their self-titled album, and the CD with their version of the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, and Larry the Cucumber singing his version of Breakdown on it. I have already listened to The Creepy EP, The Employee of the Month EP, and Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, but Three Do... I know it sounds a bit fanatical, but I just thought it would be fun to try and listen to all of my cds of one artist in a row, and RelientK happened to be the chosen one for today...;) Btw, an interesting note: On the end of the Creepy EP, after The back porch version of Pressing On, there is about 3 minutes of someone mowing a lawn...very interesting, huh? Anyway, back to the scholastic grind...




9/2/2003 12:45 PM

Welcome to September. Yes, I haven't written in quite a while. And the truth is that I avoided writing on here, because the only thing I would have to comment on was how soon it would be until Hannah left for APU (Azusa Pacific University) and basically I just didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to acknowledge it. So here I am, it's the second of September, and Hannah is gone. We left her in Azusa on sunday. Yes, I know she will be fine. Yes, I know I will live too... I just miss my sister. A lot.




8/21/2003 10:47 PM

*Yawn* I have updated my RachelTrack, in case anyone is interested to know. The featured song is Sleep , by Riley Armstrong , whom we all know rocks!;) I think this was one of the first songs I thought of to put in the RachelTrack, as it could be the theme song to my life on many occasions, however I was waiting for a particularly oppertune time. The time is now, for I have no time, and no sleep with school now in session. (yes, that is why I'm up late writing about it instead of sleeping *G*) So enjoy the song. I know I do.




8/18/2003 6:45 AM

Hello, Good Morning, How ya do? *tries to mimic Jon Foreman*
You may be in wonder over what I could possibly be doing awake at this lovely hour of the morning. Well, this is it. My summer is officially over. In a bit more than an hour I'll proceed into that black hole we like to call text books…Beginning with an English class at 8:00 this morning, my life is signed off for the next 4 months. Farewell, it was nice knowing you all! ;)




8/10/2003 11:28 PM

Yay for yard sales!! Yesterday I went yard-sailing with my Sis and my Grandma. I got some cool beads, a Dickens that was copyrighted in 1885, a pair of long black fancy gloves, and a camera (!)... I had been looking for a camera for a couple years, and was seriously considering a few on the internet, but this is perfect. It is a Vivitar V2000 in near-perfect condition. The lady who owned it took good care of it. It can't be very old at all, and it came with a flash and a 28-70 lens. 'Tis so exciting!! :)

Well, I have exactly one week until fall classes begin at my college. Hurrah. Infact, my semester officially begins at 8 AM next monday. Nothing like an English class to start your day off right! ;) After that I have a government class, then a math class. Then on Tuesday I have a Video Operations class that should be pretty interesting. I certainly don't feel ready to wave farewell to summer, and trudge into the textbooks... Anyway, I am off to sleep...




8/1/2003 1:53 PM

Welcome to August! Alright, I promised a looong Spirit West Coast post, so here goes... I made a fun list about our SWC experience this year... so enjoy!

1) Annoying—Air-zookas…Hint: don’t shoot air at someone that you don’t know. Didn’t your mom teach you manners??

2) Acquired—A Riley Armstrong Whatever The Weather T-shirt, A Relient K Penguin T-shirt, “Transgression,” by Randall Ingermanson (a novel), A green Riley Armstrong pick necklace, stickers galore, a bit of a suntan, a new “Learning to Breathe” cd w/o any scratches, A Relient K Vinyl, called “The Vinyl Countdown,” The Creepy EP, Employee Of The Month EP, A free ticket to SWC next year, a souldog sticker

3) Broken—a fuse in the Newsboys’ famous hydraulic drum set :(, my tradition of breaking or losing my sunglasses at SWC, a pair of sunglasses the week before SWC

4) Blistering—The heat, my lips, my feet, my hands

5) Comfortable—The bed in my uncle’s tent trailer

6) Curious—Four guys dressed up like Jedi

7) Disappointing—No Prophetik booth, No Supertones, Switchfoot, Skillet, Delirious?, or Jen Knapp, the sound at the Rachael Lampa concert, Sixpence None the Richer.

8) Dancing Partner—Someone with whom you join hands and dance during the “Dance in the River” song, Hannah, Ash

9) Exhausted—Me by the end of SWC, everyone else by the end of SWC
10) Enthralling—Teaching by Lori Salierno.

11) Famous—What we aren’t, as Chris Tomlin reminded us right after singing “Famous One.” I wanted to buy the T-shirt that says “I’m not famous,” but didn’t get the chance, as I couldn’t find the booth before the band left to play at Creation West in George, Washington.

12) Farewell—to: Five Iron Frenzy, The Benjamin Gate

13) Friendly—Almost everyone I met (with one exception)

14) Fog machine—something not needed at SWC concerts

15) Grumpy—Me by Saturday evening….sorry to all whom my moodiness effected.

16) Hilarious—Bean and Bailey and their kings act

17) Invaluable—Hand sanitizer, the real bathrooms right outside the orange gate, Ultra protection Blistex with SPF 30

18) Impressive—Paul Colman Trio…I went away liking them more than when I came, and with respect for them. They had good attitudes when stuff messed up and seemed genuine.

19) Joined—The Pocket Testament League… check them out ‘cause the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, and it’s something worth sharing with everyone. http://www.pocketpower.org

20) Kind—A girl from Livermore, A young couple from Sacramento, A lady handling admissions at the orange gate

21) Lethargic—The demeanor by Saturday evening of anyone who camped for the entire event.

22) Long—The line for the showers, the walk from the Main stage to the Air 1 stage

23) Learned—that Jeremy Camp and Rachael Lampa are both much louder and rock-sounding in concert than on their albums.

24) Maze—What you have to go through to find the blankets and chairs you have set up at the main stage

25) Number—of artists/groups I saw play:23, of Riley Armstrong concerts I saw:2, of people in the Relient K autograph line:A billion and a half

26) Nifty—The official SWC Canadian geese that flew in a V and lived next to my camp ground

27) Obvious—Those who are at the festival for one day only, a song by Plus One, who weren’t there, but were at our fair

28) Polka-dotted—a guitar that I entered a drawing to win, a flag posted near our spot at the main stage on Thursday

29) Questionable—The sanity of some certain hugging zealots (see zealous below)

30) Race—what we did to get a decent spot at the main stage on Saturday

31) Red—The hat Tobymac wore to his concert, the new fashionable skin color, the color of price tag stickers on marked down books

32) Right—Hannah and I about “My Girlfriend’s Famous.” Riley Armstrong doesn’t really have a girlfriend, and she isn’t really famous anyway.

33) Stale—Kit Kat candy bars that some thoughtful gatekeepers at the orange gate were sharing...it’s the thought that counts!

34) Sardine—what one might feel like while riding the shuttle buses or when up close to the front at any stage

35) Surprising—The fact that everyone I talked to knew of my small hometown

36) Tall—a guy walking around on stilts, David Crowder

37) Uplifting—Worshipping with 20,000 strangers to whom I am bound by love of and for a Savior

38) Very long—The line for the showers

39) Ventriloquist—Taylor Mason…with a pig puppet who fears Christians

40) Wooo—Socially acceptable to do at festivals according to Five Iron Frenzy

41) Wonderful—Being able to hang out with Melinda a bit, running into some awesome friends from camp, getting to visit with Brittany

42) X marks the spot—I felt like a pirate searching for lost treasure when trying to find the place we left our chairs and blankets at the main stage…twenty paces to the right…or was that to the left??

43) Yawn—A frequent activity towards the end of the night at SWC

44) Yonder—Where we camped.

45) Yuck!—Honey Hut villages, the turquoise lake surrounding Vendor Island

46) Zealous—Some people who thought they could give and receive free hugs in the middle of the road at SWC

47) Zero—The amount of hugs the zealots gave and received from me.

48) Zilch—Refer to Zero^

Also, I wanted to mention that I now have comments, courtesy of HaloScan, and put up by my Super-sis, as you probably have noticed. Pretty cool, huh? Leave me a message!!




7/20/2003 11:31 PM

Wow, so much to say. That's what I get when I neglect to post for so long...;) Anyway, I got back from summer camp on tuesday. That was fun. I met alot of great people, and what God did in the chapel services was awesome. As this year was my last year (yep, I'm getting old. Whoever said that 18 was fun? I think I should go to never never land!), I found myself actually feeling like I'd miss the place... No, not the place, but the people. I told everyone that I'd try to come back next year as a worker, maybe in the snack shack... We'll see what happens.

The day before I went to camp was the opening day for Pirates of the Caribbean. I went to see it in the theater with my siblings, my dad, and some friends. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend that ya do. Seriously, its the best movie I've seen all year... I actually went to see it again this last friday, and that's highly unusual for me. Yo Ho Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me!!

Lastly, I'd like to mention that I'm going to Spirit West Coast on wednesday!!! Yay! This is one of the great highlights of my summer. So when I get back, I'll make a nice long post to tell all about it. Until then, Ciao!




7/6/2003 11:17 PM

Welcome to July. For those of you in the great USofA, I hope that you had an enjoyable (and safe) time celebrating Independance Day... Mine was actually quite pleasant. I watched a firecracker display from a distance. No smoke, no noise, no headaches...lots of pretty colors..;)

Otherwise in Rachel news, I will be going to summer camp on friday... It doesn't seem like it should be camp time quite yet...but here we are... I'm trying to decide whether I want to sing a song for the talent show at camp or not... I have the soundtrack to "Breathe", by Jennifer Knapp. I was going to sing it last year, but ended up losing my voice while there... So I could sing that if I so wish.
Also, I bought the new By The Tree album, Root, on friday. It's pretty good...not quite as good as Invade My Soul, but I'm partial to that album. I was greatly disappointed to find that they had followed in the latest trend of not inclulding lyrics in the lyric book, and referring the eager fan to their website if they should want to read the lyrics. The second disappointment came when I scoured their website in search of the prodigal lyrics, only to come up fruitless. Apparently they haven't put them on the website quite yet. So for all of us loyal fans who buy their cd the first week it is out, there are no lyrics to read. It is my general practice to read the lyrics before or while playing a song, but rarely after... Alright, my protest has been made. Now onto the song picks as of yet. I like the second track, called "I need You". It's catchy, and the harmony parts are cool. The guitar on "Notes on my door" (track 5) is great. I would like to learn it someday. The horns on that song are cool too. Track 3, called "Far Away", is very catchy. I like it quite a bit. I'm leaving out comments on lyrics for the mean time... Oh, and track 4, "Your arms" is pretty... I like "Root of it all" (track 1) as well... I'll have a better analysis soon...;)

Okay, that's all for now... I must get some sleep. Oh, btw, I have some pics of our kittens that I'll hopefully get loaded onto the pic page soon... I'll let you know when I do so...

6/25/2003 11:51 PM

Alright, so this afternoon my family went to a fairly nice western restaurant for lunch. Everything went fine, the food was good, etc. However, toward the end of the meal, I felt almost like something was moving on my leg. I didn't pay much attention, as sometimes clothes shift, or I could have just been imagining things. So we left the restaurant, and got into our car, and started toward home. That's when it happened again. I non-chalantly brushed my hand across my knee, where it felt like something was moving. And something moved. "Something bit me!" I cried, "There's something in my pants!!" And there was. I pinched the place where the "thing" was, and felt a sickening crunch. There was now something dead in my pants, on my knee. The ten minute drive home was agonizingly long, as I held that thing, which I hoped was dead, away from my leg. Finally we arrived at the house. I hurried inside, and into the bathroom to rid myself of the creature. It turned out to be two. Two pincher bugs had crawled up my pant leg while I ate lunch. Just lovely. On the other hand, I was glad that it wasn't a spider that crawled up my leg... I did, however feel like things were crawling on me for a long while after that. *cringe* Anyway, that's my highlight for the day...

6/22/2003 11:23 PM

And now a switchfoot song for ya. It think this one will make it to the RachelTrack in a bit... It's been bumping around in my head for a while...

I Turn Everything Over
(from Switchfoot's second album, "New Way to Be Human")

Monday found me on my knees again
Breathing You in
To blur the lines that mark where I begin
And where You end
No use in trying to pretend
Come take me again
‘Cause rumor has it I’m not who I’ve been
Come define me

What can we do
If the rumors are true?

I turn everything over
I turn myself in
I turn everything over
I turn myself in
There’s nothing left of me to defend
I turn everything over
I turn myself in, yeah

The evidence convicts the hollow men
After looking inside
To my dismay I find I’m just one of them
‘Cause I’m an already but not yet
resurrected fallen man
Come break this limbo
And I know You know just who I’ve been
Come define me

Rumor has it You love me
Rumor has it the world spins upside down
Rumor has it my only hope is You
And the rumors are true
I turn everything over

Written By Jon Forman
©1999 Meadowgreen Music / Sugar Pete Songs / ASCAP

I think this song kinda sums up how I feel right now. I want to just turn everything over instead of trying to control my life myself. I know God can do a much better job, and that He already knows what He's going to do in my life, and where He wants to lead me. I think that if I just gave Him all control instead of worrying over every choice, every step, that I'd be a lot better off. Why is it that I know all this, but it never gets off the page and into the action?

Okay, so here's the deal: I know it says in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first the His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well"... And in Proverbs 3:5-6 to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
It's not that I'm continually worrying or anything, but that I let life's busyness distract me, then I end up spending less and less time with God, and more time running around like a chicken with its head cut off. If I would get my priorities straight, seek God first, trust Him, and stop leaning on my own limited understanding, I would be a lot better off, and I'd finally be where I want so much to be: close to Him, in His will.
So I'm now a highschool graduate, and I have the rest of my life looming ahead of me, daring me to take a step forward, and hope it's in the right direction. The truth is that I have no idea where I'll be in 5 years, and sometimes it scares me that I don't have a set plan... I have a few ideas, but I don't know exactly where I'm going. But what's truly important is to be close to God, to know Him, and let Him change me into the person He wants me to be. Then He can nudge me in the direction of what He has had planned for me since the beginning of time. And that is exactly where I want to be. So here I am, wishing that He'd "blur the lines that mark where I begin and where He ends".

6/17/2003 10:54 PM

Alright, so I told Hannah that I was just going to make a really quick post...She laughed... Hey, it depends on your definiton of a "really quick post"... If it takes less than two hours to write, and takes less than two minutes to read, then I'd say that fits..;)

Anyway, I'm real excited, 'cause I just got back from a Tree63 concert. They rocked, as could be expected from our wonderful South African friends. This was the first concert we'd been to with Daniel playing bass, as Martin left the band a while back... And I was impressed. Not only did he have a pretty awesome bass (fading light to dark blue), but he's pretty funny, and nice as well... As I told John after the show (while they were signing my lyric book), The show was great...my only dissapointment was that they didn't play "A million lights," one of my very favorite of their songs... They do it beautifully live... Anyway, they did play "Joy", "Look what you've done", and "Treasure", so it was still awesome! Ok, this won't be a really quick post if I don't stop soon... However, I did want to mention that I bought a black T-shirt, with Tree63 lightning-bolted across the front (the logo that's on "The life and times of absolute truth"). Alrighty, Good Night to all!!:)

6/14/2003 11:47 AM

Well, my Grandma is leaving to go back to Washington today. She already left for the airport... It was good to have her here to visit. While she was here we taught her how to play 4 of our favorite games: Phase 10, PayDay, Balderdash, and Masterpiece... I think she would have probably liked to go out and do things while here, but that didn't happen since Dad has been sick the whole time she has been here. But we tried to make her visit as fun as possible with a list of games. I also got to sit down and talk with her a couple times. She and my dad are researching our geneolgy, so she was showing me what she had found, and telling me stories about the people listed in the family tree. It was interesting. I showed her the pictures I had taken the last two summers, complete with pics of some of my favorite bands at swc and the fair, and the numerous cloud pics. I was telling her about Tree63, since I will be going to their concert this coming tuesday (woo hoo!), and I had played some of their music for her last week, so when I came across the pic of Hannah and I at with them at the fair, I was like "see, there's us with Tree63"... She seemed to appreciate the cloud pics as much as I do, so I was glad to share them with her. I'm going to be painting her a watercolor picture soon... Maybe I'll use one of the pics as a reference for the sky for her painting.

Alrighty, that's all for now... With the suggestion of Hannah and Ash, I'm currently compiling a list of "Interesting things that you may or may not know about me"... I've got 45 so far, but I plan to not be out done by Hannah's 119, so it'll be a little while 'til I'm done...should be interesing... Stay tuned ;)

6/10/2003 11:54 PM

Sorry about the lack of posts as of late. My internet phone line is down, so I’m using the regular phone line. I’m not really supposed to be on for very long, as that would block people from calling, so I just haven’t posted. Hopefully it will be fixed quite soon. So here are the updates:

--I’m now officially a high school graduate (as of friday evening). Congratulations to you, Mom and Dad, as your work towards this diploma exceeds mine, I’m sure...;)
The graduation ceremony went fine, although it seemed like forever in my elegant, yet uncomfortable dress and my slightly higher than comfortable shoes. The funny thing is that the dress that Jesi (another grad, and a friend) was wearing was almost exactly the same as mine, with only a few minor differences (including color). After the graduation, Ryan and I went to a party for Jesi, which was fun... It was nice to see some friends whom I had not seen for a while.

--My Grandma is here visiting from Washington on the occasion of my graduation. She’ll be staying for 10 days (Last Wednesday to next Saturday). It’s really great to see her again.

--I’m just overwhelmed with my wonderful family and friends. They’re all so supportive!

--My Dad is very sick with pneumonia... He really needs to get well. So if any of you would be willing to pray for him, I would appreciate it a lot. He was so sick, that he almost didn’t get to go to my graduation. He did come, but was feeling quite unwell, and couldn’t handle speaking over me. I was really glad to have him there though... so anyways, please pray.

--The Kitties are getting big. Every day they learn something new. It’s so funny to watch them fight, leaping straight up into the air to tackle each other, and galloping about. I'll be sure to post some pics of them quite soon. =^,,^=

--Oh, and I'm also now learning to play "My Glorious" (By Martin Smith and Stuart Garrard of Delirious?) on my guitar. I'm really quite excited about that...:)

5/26/2003 9:29 PM

Good news: I'm not allergic to the kittens. Last wednesday we went to make sure that I was not allergic to them (see previous post). We determined that I was just fine with them, so we got to take them home right then. So we now have two kittens who will be exactly one month old tomorrow.

Sophie is a black long haired kitty with stray white hairs on her tummy and legs. She's quite snuggly, likes to take long naps, and tends to sleep a little too deeply at times (it's quite frightening to pick up your sleeping kitten, and have her go completely limp in your hands, unresponsive to attempts to shake her awake).
Abby is a short haired grey tabby with brown accents, and a spotted tummy. She takes 20 minute power naps, and roams around like she owns the house, but becomes spooked easily, and doesn't like to be left alone. We call her our tough fraidy cat.

They like to wrestle around like wild things, Abby a prowling tigress, and Sophie sporting her scary bear claws. They capture and abuse fingers, and eat sweaters and jeans (usually clothes someone is wearing), but don't care about pencils or aluminum foil balls. Sophie has taken a special interest in Hannah's shoes, on a mission to untie the laces in her sneakers, and using her dress shoes as a jungle-gym, while Abby enjoys exploring beneath and behind the computer desk, climbing around, and occasionally chewing on the wires. When they are tired they snuggle up next to us or on our laps. They are especially fond of sleeping on shoulders, where they don the title of parakeetins, purring in nearby ears and occasionally licking or nibbling on them, and tangling themselves up in long hair if available. They are currently piled on top of each other on my lap, which is their usual practice when sleeping near each other. They are now part of the family, and we are pleased to have them. Now if only we could convince our three cats that these intruders are alright... They'll come around...;)

5/21/2003 10:21 PM

Alright, I am officially done with History 7A. I took the final this morning, and was done within 25 minutes. So that was cool. I'm glad to be done....now just a little longer, and I'll be done with the rest of my school for the semester, and for highschool. Yay!

So for the rest of the day I'll go driving with my Dad, then I'll go to the TV station to watch the filming of a program (perhaps run a camera...?), then I'll go with Hannah to see some baby kittens that my Mom wants to get. I have to see if I'm allergic to the kittens first, 'cause I'm allergic to some cats (not all though...I have a cat, and she sleeps on my pillow...). Anyway, lots of fun... Have a wonderful day!:)

5/20/2003 4:45 PM

Well, Angela can have her Adoration CD back. Yep, that's right, I bought my very own copy today at Target!! Thanks to my Aunt Betty who sent me the Target gift card for Christmas...It was well spent...:)

Have you ever read Jane Eyre by Charlote Bronte? I had to read it for my literature class...in fact, I just finished it this afternoon. I liked it more than I had expected I would... Some of the dialogue is quite funny, in an ironic way.... Quite good:) Now on to Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which I'm glad to say is quite a bit shorter than Jane Eyre. A mere 157 pages, in comparison to Jane Eyre's 456 pages.

I'd also like to mention that I dislike playing Barre Chords on my guitar, as they make my fingers seem clumsy. I wish I could get a good clean sound with them, but I suppose that'll just come with more practice. Meanwhile, I can finally play a song without pausing between chords (regular chords that is, of course). This makes me quite pleased. I can only do it on "All we want is You" so far, but I'm getting close with "In the secret", and more will follow... (I think I can, I think I can)

At any rate, I'll soon have more time to devote to practicing guitar (yes, even Barre Chords) and reading, and such. The final for my history class at the community college is tomorrow morning (8 O'Clock in the morning! I'm not an early riser...). So then I'll have just a few more weeks of my regular school, and I'll be free for the summer. Yay!

Well, I'm off to go to my guitar lesson, then to youth group...have a very nice evening...:)

5/13/2003 4:29 PM

I'm pleased to say that it has been nice and warm and sunny the past two days... I even wore capri pants on sunday, which was fun just for the change of wardrobe. One great aspect of the weather turning toasty is that I can go back to practicing my guitar on the swing in the front yard. That's where I always conducted my practicing before the chill of winter made the strings so cold that they stung my poor fingers. Babydog likes to come and sit with me when I practice on the swing. It's fun and relaxing, and I like it much better that way. Yesterday evening I was going to do just that, but I decided to tune my guitar first. I had tuned all the strings except the high E-string to my liking, when disaster struck. Yep, with a tight "ping!" it snapped. On the very last one to be tuned. I was slightly bummed, since I won't be able to play until this evening, when I can get some new strings before my lesson. But, I had just mentioned before that happened that I was going to need to change the strings, as they were getting fairly old. So it isn't too big of a deal except that I will miss some playing time. Ah well...I do believe life goes on...;)

The great and wonderful Angela was so kind as to lend me her new copy of the Newsboys new album, "Adoration: the Worshop Album" this last weekend. I was kinda unsure of whether I wanted to purchase it or not, but all doubt is gone. The CD is absolutly superb. I like the title track quite a bit. It's really neat how they integrated a christmas theme into a worship song. The lyrics are really neat, and the music is totally Newsboys. They also do a great job on the worship song "Amazing Love". I have the Supertones version of that song on their Live Vol.1 CD, and both bands do a very good job on it. I was especially impressed with their integration of old school Newsboys into the new songs. They added a reprise of Breathe, which debuted on Take Me to Your Leader, (which, btw, is the very best Newsboys album of all time) to the new song, "Father, Blessed Father". Cool, cool, cool. Also, I was quite excited to see that they had put the chords in on 7 of the songs. The lyric book is kinda reminiscent of the Love Liberty Disco lyric book, with the lyrics kind of edited by hand, with some words crossed out, etc. The chords are hand written as well... Anyway, it's a great album, and I'll be buying it as soon as I can... *G* Until then, I'll avoid Angela so I don't have to give it back...;) hehe...j/k

5/12/2003 10:25 PM

Counting down the days until school is over...forever....okay, maybe not forever, but for the summer at least...having the summer off will be a relief for certain. So, I have just this week and my final next wednesday, and I'm done with my college class, then I have a week more of homeschool classes after that, I think...

My mom is sitting here, helping me go over my old algebra book to refresh my memory before I do an assessment test to determine what classes I should take next semester. I am taking both a math and english assessement test wednesday afternoon. Mom's so patient with me, even when I get all frustrated over the evils of math... She's awesome that way... I guess it's a real good thing that my mom should like math, when I detest it more than most things in this world. That way she can help me with it, and make me understand it...like i said, she's patient....incredibly patient. Alright, back to the math....

5/6/2003 10:27 AM

Hey, Geocities is working again!
Sorry to all of you who have been checking back for new posts...My last post on the 28th was cut short by technical problems, and geocities hasn't worked for me since... Anyway, it's great to be back...:)

4/28/2003

4/23/2003 11:28 AM

Overheard while in a dollar store yesterday: "Hey Jeremy! Everything's a dollar!" *L* just a bit of amusement for ya...

My Easter break is slipping away, and I can't catch it...
oh, btw, I got my graduation dress last tuesday...It's red, and elegant, and red...:) I had my senior pictures taken yesterday...one with my super-duper-guitar, and one without...hopefully they came out well. The photographer called last night and said they were done, so my mom's going to try to pick them up today. What else to say? I'm going to babysit with my sis tonight. We'll be spending the night there, as the mom doesn't get off work until about 3:00 AM... Hopefully it'll go as smoothly as it did Friday night...no huge fits or anything...;) A girl can hope, right?


4/17/2003 10:00 AM

Yesterday I went to a small local christian televesion station for the purpose of observing how they do what they do. You see, I'm seriously considering going into the field of film and televison, and since my pastor guest hosts one of their shows sometimes, he said I could come along. I actually went two wednedsdays ago, so this was my second time. When I was talking to the engineer afterwards he said they should get me running a camera. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. So this time they let me run a camera, and it was so cool! I didn't make any huge mistakes ;) The engineer runs the switchboard to change from one camera view to another, and he said afterward that I was zooming and panning really smoothly, which made it easy for him to switch to my camera while I was doing a slow zoom... So that was really cool, and I really enjoyed the experience. The producer told me that I was welcome any time. I think this is going to be really good for me. I'm going to be a volunteer in their office, and probably stuff envelopes and such. But the exposure is going to be great. I really appreciate their willingness to let me watch and learn. They're all really nice people...:)

An update on driving: I got my permit on feb 20th, and have been driving with my dad. He's a good and patient teacher, though he makes me go out of my comfort zone (I know he won't make me do anything that he doesn't think I'm capable of though). So anyway, yesterday we went driving for the third time. I started out in a residential area of town, then drove out in the country for a bit over an hour and a half. I'm learning to take curves, and hills and stuff... Dad says he thinks we'll drive in town alot next time. Eek! Give me a hairpin turn above unpredictable cars and people. oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine...hopefully ;)

4/13/2003 9:10 PM

First, I'd like to say "Happy Birthday!!!!" to my very own Super-Mom. Hey, and Happy Birthday to Melinda, whose birthday was yesterday... So yesterday I went to the 40th anniversary celebration for the community college that I attend. Yeah, it was fun... Hannah and I went to a poetry writing workshop... It was pretty cool,though it put me on the spot to think up some metaphors, but that's alright. We went to a booksale at the campus library right before that, and I bought a 1935 printing of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales", by Frank Ernest Hill. The illustrations are really cool looking. It's in great shape inside, with just a bit of scuffs on the cover. Really cool though...:) And how much for this wonderful book? Seventy-five cents! It's almost seventy years old though, and I think that's pretty cool. It would be neat to know where the book has been in it's 68 years.

After that I went to a birthday party for Melinda. That was alot of fun too. It was real good to see her again, and I met some very nice people as well... Played a game of scrabble..almost won...not quite. The winning team managed to use a Z and an X, both of which are worth quite a bit of points... Anyway, it was fun. I also decided that I like egg rolls...

Okay, here's a real bummer: By some glitch, or my own clumsiness, the end part of my page is missing. I can't retrieve it anywhere. It has disappeared into the great cyber black hole. So the least recent post on this page is just cut off right in the middle....sorry guys, that's all that remains...hopefully you got to read it before it went missing...
So anyway, good night to all :)

4/6/2003 8:42 AM

Today is a rather unfortunate day. Somewhere between the time I went to sleep and the time I woke up, one hour just up and disappeared. Now for those of you who have alot of time on your hands this may be no big deal. But, those of you who are like me, and never have enough time, this is downright aweful. How I manage to lose one hour a year is beyond me. I didn't think I was that irresponsible! ;) Hey, if anyone happens to find my hour, I'd truly appreciate it if you'd return it...


4/5/2003 11:43 AM

Well, we've been having the famous "April Showers" over here for the last few days...But today is nice, or at least no precipitation falling from the sky ;) It's a bit chilled, with some puffy white clouds scattered here and there. The sky is a cornflower blue. And that's the weather report...Back to you, Bob.


4/2/2003 6:11 PM

A belated Happy Birthday!!! to my wonderful silly Dad. (His Birthday was yesterday...)

3/25/2003 10:11 AM

There is a chicken living in the laundry room connected to my bedroom. Her name is Maggie...she's one of my brother's 17 hens. We're not sure what's wrong with her, but she's definently sick. Peter's been giving her medicine through a syringe...

On an unrelated note, I learned how to play part of "Getting Into You," (one of the songs off of RelientK's new album) on my guitar last night. I'm really pretty excited. It sounds so cool!!:)

Oh, btw, the long-awaited-pic-of-my-awesome-guitar is finally up and ready for your viewing in my Pickle:Pics page (the link is on the left side bar).

3/15/2003 10:47 PM

I'm working on a formal essay for my beloved history class. I'm not quite done, but getting really quite close (Yay!), which is a good thing, since it's due monday morning...Anyway, here's someting I wrote out at about 9:40 PM, while working on the essay:
"My brain is absolutely refusing to budge from the last thought onto the next. Essays were never my forte. I have noticed that whenever I’m typing, there’s a little book animation at the bottom of the screen that has a pencil writing in it. However, the pages turn much more quickly than the pages I’m typing. It makes me look fruitful. The funny thing is that I think I’m tricking my brain into easing back into the essay by writing this randomness, and my brain thinks it is tricking me into not doing the essay by the very same action. Who’s right? I’m not sure...probably both, if that’s possible. The strange thing is that I’m tired, and it isn’t yet 10:00 even. I’m sure this must also be a form of trickery on the part of my brain to make me stop doing something of scholastic importance. I bet that if I stopped, I’d soon be wide awake. ‘Course that would take letting my brain win to find out…Maybe my brain is smarter than me." Welcome to the insanity *G*

Actually, my brain really rather holds to the idea that it has done more than enough work for today... We had a Bible Quiz meet, the District Finals, today. *signals for drum-roll* and... We took first place! So, we now have the option of representing the SouthWest Division in National Finals this summer...I'm not sure what we're going to do, so we'll see where that goes, but it's cool, 'cause I had the top individual score for the Distric Finals, and I get a prize of free admission to summer camp. Yep, the true motive comes out...no fundraising for me!!! *G*




3/12/2003 3:27 PM

I saw two dogs at Wal*Mart today. The first one wasn't actually in Wal*Mart, but in the red jeep that we parked next to. It looked alot like Ryan's dad's dog, Bear. It was hanging it's head out of the zip-up plastic window, looking like it was happy...or so I thought... Hannah got out of the car, and walked toward the back, where I was standing, and said that it was raising it's lip like it was going to growl at her when she passed by. It still looked happy to me, so I took a small step towards it (I was still at least 4-6 feet away from it though), and said "Really?...it looks happy to me." Just then it did growl. Hannah wins. Then, it proceded to bark wildly, and try to jump out of the window (to clobber us, no doubt). Apparently it had a red leash that matched the car (Mum said so afterward), but I certainly couldn't see it! Hannah and I quickly jumped behind a big blue Ford Expediton, and waited for mum to get out of the car....

Dog number two was in Wal*Mart. A lady was carrying a small brown Cocker Spaniel around the store with her... (Which is not allowed, btw... On a related note, I saw someone with a snake wrapped around her neck in Wal*Mart yesterday... Now that was creepy! *shivers at the mere thought*) Anyway, we saw the lady with the Spaniel, then when we came outside, she was putting it down so she could walk it on a leash, and I noticed that it had a top-knot. Yep, that's right. I saw a small brown Cocker Spaniel in Wal*Mart with a top-knot... Never a dull moment!




3/10/2003 3:31 PM

Never have I written so fast, so long, so hard.

I had my very first in-class write today in my history class. Needless to say, it was not fun. I had to write two essays, and we also had a quiz. It's an hour long class, but he allowed us one more hour since there was not another class right after us. I needed the full two hours, and more really... By the time I had completed the quiz and the first essay, I had used up one and a half hours of my time. Yep, that left a mere half hour for essay number two. But, I did finish, however messy my handwriting was... It wasn't quite what I had prepared, but probably not too bad... I need to learn how to write more quickly...:) Anyway, I'm off to watch the Veggietales Jonah movie with my mom and brother...so exciting!!:)

3/8/2003 11:39

Hey, check it out...I finally put up some of the pics I've been talking about. You can find them in Pickle:pics on the sidebar...:) I'll try to add more soon...

3/7/2003 2:32 PM

Well, I am truly very much excited! On tuesday, my dad got his package from Interlinc. And within that package were three cds that I have been waiting rather impatiently to listen to: The Beautiful Letdown by Switchfoot, Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...But Three Do By RelientK, and Worldwide By Audio A.

The Beautiful Letdown is everything I had hoped for and more. Seriously, it has only left my cd player about 3 times to switch to the RelientK cd since tuesday evening, and my cd player is always on.....
"On Fire" (track # 9) is beautiful, passionate, and one of my very very favorite songs on the album. I fell in love with it the first time I heard it (I heard Jon sing it during an interview on the radio, with just his acoustic guitar...it was beautiful). Track # 11, called "Twenty-Four", is another wonderful tune. It's funny...Jon seems to get real introspective the day before his birthday. Not only did he write this song on the day before his 25th birthday, but he also wrote a song called "Let That Be Enough" on the "New Way To Be Human" album (1999) the day before his 22nd birthday... It's a very good song, another of my favs. "This is Your Life", #2 Is definently very switchfoot...Great imagery too...Another fav... The first song I heard off this album is "More Than Fine" (# 3) and it is excellent! It's the current radio single, which is why it was the first song I heard...:) It's definently one of my favs. on the album too... Another super tune is #8, called "Gone". It's really catchy, and has great lyrics..."Gone, like Frank Sinatra, like Elvis and his mom, like Al Pacino's Cash, nothing lasts in this life"..."All the riches of the kings end up in wills. We've got information in the information age but do we know what life is outside of our convenianet Lexus cages?"! Good stuff! I could go on and on, and end up listing all 11 tracks, cause they're all great!! But I'll spare you...I'm sure you get the picture... I love it, love it, love it!!!:) As my good friend, Ryan, would say, It Rocks Socks!! *G*

Because I've been listening to Switchfoot, I haven't done too much listening to RelientK's new cd, "Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, But Three Do".... But that doesn't mean I don't like it! The current radio single is # 11, "Getting into You". Wow! I love it! And I would expect no less from them. Other highlight songs so far are "I am Understood?" (#9), and #13, called "Gibberish" This is hilarious (in true RelientK style). They sing gibberish, like it is real words, and you can't tell what they're saying, but can't really tell that it isn't real words...and they actually have the gibberish words typed out in the book. Sample:Arg wu sentafinticate nar dunderford....so funny! I'll listen to it in more depth soon...and I'm sure I'll come up with more favs... RelientK is definently up to their usual wit and humor on this album...:)

I haven't yet listened to Worldwide, and it's mainly because I'm waiting to read the lyrics. Yep, there are no lyrics in the lyric book, just pictures. And though they are cool pictures, they should've put lyrics in with the pics! It said to got to the website for lyrics, but the website isn't up yet, so no lyrics for me! :( I like to read the lyrics before or while I listen... I need the lyrics!! Okay, so I'll just wait, but I'm kinda disappointed... Anyway, I'm sure this is quite enough for now...Have a nice day!




3/4/2003 12:17PM

*Jumps up and down* I was at the Spirit West Coastwebsite yesterday, and they had added to the list of artists scheduled to be appearing at the festival. Among the newly added artists is one of my favs, Riley Armstrong!! Also added was Chris Tomlin...Veddy cool!!:) Now they just need to add Jennifer Knapp, Delirious?, and Supertones... Not too much to ask, is it? :) (wouldn't mind it if they added Audio A and Switchfoot too... *G*)

*jumps up and down again* Yay! While I was sitting here typing, the new RelientK song came on the radio! I love it! I've only heard it 3 times now, including just now, but I really like it...:) RelientK, btw, is one of the artists that was already scheduled for SWC. I was so excited when I found out they'd be there....still am excited, in fact...:)

3/3/2003 3:19 PM

Lets see...alot has happened since I posted here... It isn't that I had a lack of stuff to talk about either. I've just been busy, or didn't know how to phrase what I want to say...well anyway, rewind for a moment. I was sick for a while...I still have a slight cough, but I was pretty sick there for a few days...I had a coldish type thing, thanks to my good friend who brought it home with him from winter camp, and was so kind to share with me...:) Of course, I had to get a sinus infection on top of it to make the experience complete...:) I actually went through two full size boxes of kleenex in two days. I think that is a pretty impressive accomplishment! *G* I even wore a red sweater on sunday to match my nose....and it really did match...;)

Also, on friday, the 21st of february, my great great aunt died. That was pretty harsh. Even now, I don't know how to word what I want to say.... Aunt Dorothy was a remarkable woman. She lived 98 years, and saw so much change over her lifetime. I hope with all that is within me that there was a change of her heart before she went. One thing that keeps going over in my head is this phrase: "We do not mourn like those who have no hope." At first I kept countering that thought with my logic that we can't mourn with hope when we don't know that Aunt Dorothy's heart was right with God. But the truth is, I can mourn with hope, knowing that God is bigger than me, bigger than I can comprehend. Who am I to say that I can make a difference of myself? Yes, we lay seed and water it, but it is God that makes it grow. So yes, I mourn with hope, hope that God got ahold of my aunt, that she turned her life over to the Author of life before it was too late. And that is all I can do.




2/13/2003 9:27 AM

<----------------------Check it out! I finally got around to the redesign I was talking about last month. I'm pretty pleased with it...:) There'll be more on the side bar soon... We'll see what I can do with it. By the way, this redesign, no even this whole site, could not have been possible without my great sis, Hannah , who helped me set it up in the first place, and saved me when I made a fairly large mistake last night... I used her html coding too... Thanks Sis! :)




2/10/2003 5:39 PM

Have you seen (or tasted) the new mint and cream Oreos yet? My parents just got back from grocery shopping, and they bought a package them. They are definitely something to try. I think they’re quite tasty. :)

Well, I have my new guitar now. It came Friday afternoon. It is even better than the pics I saw of it before I bought it. It’s SO beautiful, both in appearance and tone!! I’m going to post a pic of it here soon… I also have a pic of a pair of shoes and socks I got for Christmas that just look so awesome together, that I need to post here… (I know, it sounds weird, but you’ll just have to see the pic to understand…)

Let’s see, what else? Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about my birthday party. I had a mystery dinner. It was a ton of fun! Thanks to those of you who were able to come! I know I had a lot of fun, hope you did too! :)
Anyway, it was set in a library, where the characters in the books come out at night. The plot: King Henry VIII is missing. Who is responsible for the puzzling disappearance? The suspects are Aladdin, Alice, Cinderella, Dorothy, Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, Robin Hood, and Snow White. Sherlock Holmes is there to investigate this mystery. I can’t tell you who actually committed the crime, but I can say that nobody was especially disappointed over the loss of the mad monarch…*G*
My character was Little Red Riding Hood, and I had a lot of fun dressing up to fit the part. My Super-Mom made me a great costume, with a very cool red hooded cape.

Okay, well I had better get back to my homework. I’m working on an outline for my history class…lots of fun…:)

“Life itself is the most wonderful fairytale.”—Hans Christian Anderson


2/5/2003 8:16 AM

Good Morning to all...:) I'm having cappuccino and pizza for breakfast today. Definently the breakfast of champions, if ya ask me! *G*
Well, I was sitting there munching pizza, when I realized I hadn't even mentioned my new guitar here. Yes, that's right , I'm getting a new guitar for my birthday. I'm so excited. It'll be here friday. I can't wait!
It's an Ovation Cutaway Acoustic/Electric CS 257 OP 24...It's a beautiful transparent blue. It reminds me of the water I see in pics from the Caribbean. It's a darker blue on the outside, and turns lighter and greener towards the middle. Oh, and instead of having the sound hole in the center, there's a bunch of smaller ones of varying sizes on the sides... I'll have to post a pic when I get it so you can see what I mean. Anyway, just wanted to mention it here... Oh, btw, I learned to play Amazing Grace last night at my guitar lesson. It's pretty cool, and not too complicated...:) I also still need to tell you about my awesome birthday party. I'll have to give the details at another time, 'cos I have to leave for history class in a few min.
So I'll try to write again soon....Ciao!

1/29/2003 5:57 PM

I'm feeling considerably better today. I've spent the weekend, and beginning days of this week enduring the pain of the toothache that I mentioned in my post friday... That was just the beginning... I've been on heavy pain-killers and antibiotics since sunday...I went to the dentist monday morning (which made me have to miss my history class) and he said I had a viral infection, and my widsom teeth were being pushy... Ah well, I'm glad it's getting better, and didn't ruin my birthday, which, by the way, is today! *G*
I made a few little changes to my about_me page...(says I'm 18 now, and I added a song to my list of songs I can play on the guitar)

Today on my birthday, I'd like to just say how thankful I am to be born into such a wonderful family. Seriously, they're the best family I could ever wish to have. I love you all so much!!

1/24/2003 11:28 AM

A special HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! going out to my good friend, Ryan. :)

Well, I have a tooth-ache, and the medicine isn't kicking in, so I'm going to go grumble to someone...or maybe I'll just lay down for a while...Happy Birthday Ryan!
Ciao!

1/20/2003 12:06 PM

Sorry, I've been neglecting my official "Happy New Year" Post.... So for anyone interested, Happy New Year! I bet you've never been told "Happy New Year" on the 20th of January! :) (so I'm a bit unorthodox...or maybe just a procrastinator...?) Anyway, if my excuses count, I actually have started a post a number of times since the 1st, but have had the comp mess up, or been kicked off by someone in need of the comp... (By the way, this is a brand new comp... our old comp died)

Anyway, this is my first day of school...So I have to be real quick here...Just wanted to say something before January was over.
I have some plans to change the setup here soon, add some extra sections n' stuff, so it should be cool if I ever get around to it.*G*
Meanwhile, here's a treat. Click on the link below to go to my new "Me Page". about_me
Well, I must get to my studies...I have a chapter of Chemisty to read...sounds fun, huh? I'm taking a Pre-Civil War U.S. History class at our community college, btw, but it doesn't start 'til wednesday 'cos today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day (class is held mon/wed/fri).... I'm actually taking two different history classes this semester. The second is a church history class that I'm taking here at home...That should be pretty interesting though, I think.

Another thing before I go-- I just heard a song on the radio that sounded suspiciously like the Newsboys... so I checked it out at Newsboys.com, and found out that a new album is in the works, called "Adoration:The Worship Album" I think it sounds pretty cool!

Okay, gotta go... I'll try to update this again before January's over... *G* Ciao!

12/25/2002 11:53 AM

I'm sitting here listening to the soundtrack to the new veggietales movie "Jonah". Excellent cd, folks! I got it for Christmas, thanks to Mum and Dad!! The Relient K version of the pirates who don't do anything just finished. I don't think I could hear that one too many times...:)
Another highlight would be the last song, called "Credits song" (I'm sure this would be even better if you saw the movie and heard it then, but it's great anyway...) So here are the lyrics for your enjoyment, but I still recommend that ya hear it for yourself too! *G*

This is the song that
runs under the credits.

These are the credits, so
this is where it goes.

Has nothing to do with
the movie so we'll say

Hey (x8)

There once was a song
that ran under the
credits that went with
the movie, but this is
not that song

Has nothing to do with
the movie so we'll say

Hey (x8)

Wouldn't it be nice if
the song under the
credits had something
to do with the movie
you just saw, but that's
not the case so for now
we'll have to say

Hey(x8)

There should be a rule
that the song under the
credits remotely
pertains to the movie's
basic plot. That rule
has not been made, so
for now we'll have to
say

Hey (x8)
Hey(x55)
(there's a bonus bit of fun dialogue at the end, during the 55 heys, but I'll keep you in supense so you'll want to listen to the song *G*)

©2002 Bob and Larry Publishing (ASCAP)

Okay, so there's your silly song for today... Have a very Merry Christmas!!

10/25/2002 2:17 PM

"But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Against such things there is no law." -Galatians 5:22-23

I was reading in Galatians chapter 5 last night, and came upon this all too familiar set of verses. I've known these verses for years and years... I even learned a little song to remember them by at Summer Camp back when I was about 10. So it's nothing new to me or anything, but as I read them last night, it kinda hit me. How many of these fruit do I actually bear? Patience was the first that really jumped out at me. Granted, I need to work on them all (or is it really to allow God work on me?), but Patience was the one that really got my attention. You know how when someone is being impatient, the most apt remark, is "patience is a virtue, you know!" or something to that effect? Well, I found myself thinking that the real selling point isn't that patience is a virtue, but evidence of God in your life. I mean, a virtue just sounds cheap next to fruit of the Spirit, at least when you really think about what the fruit of the Spirit means. Lately, I've found myself drawn over and over to the passage in John 15 about Jesus being the vine and us the branches, specifically verses 4 and 5.
"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine, Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart... (sorry, I lost the end of this post to the computer...it just ate it...)

8/19/2002 3:23 PM

Well, today is the first day of school...ode to joy. I made it through my first non-homeschool class. It was incredibly difficult. *L* just kidding...It went just fine. Anyway, so here I am sitting on my bed doing my english about an hour ago, and I hear the "thwomp thwomp thwomp" of choppers going over my house. 'Course I only thought about it in passing (I was hard at work doing my school!). But a few minutes ago, I found out that it was, infact, an invasion. Yes, that's right. The army is invading my house. I walked into my kitchen to get some food to power my hardworking brain, and I see them. Everywhere. They were all over my counter, and in my sink, and in a package of onion bagels. Ugly red ants. There they were, marching in formation around the garden fresh cherry toatoes that my dad is so proud of, performing maneuvers in our butter dish, and charging a butter knife with some unknown substance stuck to it. I was definently unimpressed, even with the skills these particular ants were showing. So I called in the special forces (A.K.A my brother) to make battle plans. This kitchen is my territory, and I will not yield it to a hoard of ants, no matter how organized they may appear. Anyway, special forces surveyed the situation, and quickly implemented a course of action to unarm and defeet the foes. Poison traps, and a sugar substitute that they seem to have an adverse reaction to. I then called the general (my dad) to inform him of the invasion, but I only got his voice mail. I suppose we'll just make a full report when he gets back to headquarters.

*L* that was fun...:) Anyway, I really must get back to my studies... geometry awaits my return.

Today's word is: Vicissitudes
According to my english book: Unpredictable changes or variations; ups and downs.


8/1/2002 2:55 PM

Wow, so much to say... I'm sorry for waiting so looooong to write here again... I've just been kinda busy, and haven't really had the chance to get on here. Anyway, so here I am now. So what's new with me? Lets see.... I had an awesome time at camp. God is SO amazing!! I met some real cool people there too. After that, I went to Spirit West Coast (July 24th-27th), which is a super-cool christian music festival. I had a blast there! I saw Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, Jennifer Knapp, Switchfoot, Relient K, Mercy me, Delerious, David Crowder band, Chris Tomlin, By the tree, Skillet, and a ton of others. So much fun! One thing that I found to be real neat was to be joined together in worship to the one and only true God with 20,000 other people who you don't know. It's just an amazing thing to look around you and see all these people who love Jesus, and though you don't know them, you feel kinda like you do. It was really cool.
Another cool thing is that I am taking guitar lessons. I am so excited! My first lesson was last tuesday, so I've had two now (I have one lesson every tuesday). I learned how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star last week. *L* I feel so accomplished! :) And this tuesday, I learned part of Take Me Out To The Ball Game...all the way to "crackerjacks"...I'll learn the rest next week. I'm starting to lose feeling in the fingers on my left hand, but it's worth it...:)

So here I am, home again. Today is the first day of August, and I really can't believe it. The summer went by so quickly. I start school in exactly 18 days. *sigh* I'm not really ready for that. I'm taking one class at our community college this semester, so that should be real interesting. I've been homeschooled my entire life, so it'll definently be different. I'm also taking drivers ed over the summer, and I had 30 days to complete it... So I have to be done two weeks from today. I'm definently not even close to being halfway done, so I have alot of work to do on that (which explains why I am on the computer, procrastinating as could be expected).
So anyway, there's a long post to perhaps make up for the ever-immense lapse in posts....hopefully...:) I'll try to be more consistent in the future.... *G*

Today's Question is: How many songs can you make up to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?


7/11/2002 5:13 PM

I'm writing this entry while playing spider solitare on the side. That game is so addictive! I just beat the high score by 20 points. Well, I've spent a good part of the day packing. I'm going to a youth camp with my church tomorrow morning, and won't be home 'til tuesday night. Wow! I can't really believe that it is already time for camp. Anyway, it should be lots of fun. But I just wanted to let you all know that I actually have a reason this time for not writing for the next 5 days... :)

6/28/2002 4:07 PM

There once was a silly dog, a babydog of sorts. She was cute and silly, and she liked to eat a lot. She hated baths, loathing any contact with water other than to drink it. She had a family who loved her berry much, and they spoilt her rotten. She had silky ears and a Russian hat, and a fur coat to match.

One day the doctor told her that she ate too much, and that she needed to loose two pounds. (Release the captives? I dare say NAY!) The very thought made her shake with devastation, or indignation, or was it indigestion? (Pobre tomate babydog-ay!) And so she sulked in a corner on a velvet pillow, as she schemed (dreamed?) of ways to end this plight, and feed her belly. This particular belly had been spoilt as well, and did not take kindly to the thought of not being spoilt. It even spoilt the babydog and her belly’s day just thinking of such tyranny, or was it anarchy, or was it just malarkey?

Tune in tomorrow to find out how Madame Noelle Belle DaHogg settles this nonsense once and for all, and brings joy to the peasants…and everyone around.

Written by Me, Myself, and I...and My Amazling Sister. Ta-Da!

*************

Well, I must say that I am quite repetetive. My sister pointed out that my last two posts begin with the exact same words... hehe :)

6/27/2002 5:23 PM

Well, I must say that I love California. Like dorothy says, there's no place like home. I just got back from a trip to Missouri (actually got home early Monday morning, but I'm slow like that...), and though it was lots of fun, I'm really glad to be back in Cali. Anyway, I didn't mention this before, but the reason I went to Missouri was for National Bible Quiz Finals... My team has been studying questions from 1 and 2 Corinthians for 10 months now, and have gained a fairly extensive knowledge of those books in the process. It's actually pretty cool when you get done, and you realize how muh you've learned.

We took red eye flights both ways, which was a new and interesting/tiring experience. I really enjoyed the view. I've been on day flights before, but it's pretty cool to see just the lights from above. My first impression was that it seemed like a disneyland lights parade. When we got away from the city, and the lights were fewer, it semed like the sky never ended, and new constellations appeared where the ground used to be.

There was an orientation the evening before the quiz meet, at which we met the other teams. We ended up becoming good friends with the team from Missouri. They're an awesome bunch of people, and I'm glad that we met them. We quizzed the next morning bright and early, especially for us west coast peeps (8 am MO time, 6 am CA time). We played 4 games all together: 2 against Missouri, 1 against Arkansas, and 1 agianst Virginia. Our team ended up with 3rd place, our friends from Missouri took 2nd place, and Michigan took 1st place. Lots of fun!
My Sis, Hannah, also won 1st place for poetry in the National Teen Talent Expo, which took place the day after we quizzed. Congrats Sis!:)
Anyway, that's a little glimpse into my trip...sorry it was so long...so much to say!:)

Today's Question is: Did you know that "Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream" is "Edy's Grand Ice Cream" east of the Rockies? (switch that around if you are east of the Rockies)
Today's Word is: Lethologica...that's when you can't remember the word you were going to say...:)

5/16/2002 1:46 PM

Well, I must offer apologies for my lack of entries for the last month...I haven't a solid excuse except general busyness. Anyway, here I am doing my geometry, and this song comes on the radio. Now, I have heard this song before, infact, my sis has the CD, and I absolutely love the song, and basically all of Ten Shekel Shirt's songs too...But anyway, I'm listening to "Ocean" By Ten Shekel Shirt, and can't help but stop my number crunching, and merely sit on my bed, in awe of God.

Ocean-- As Sung By Ten Shekel Shirt

Lately I've been thinkin' about You
And latly I've been dreaming of You
And lately I can't get You out of my head

Chorus:
Something about the ocean
Makes me rise up and praise
Something about the heavens
Makes me stand in awe again
Something about the sunrise
Reminds me of Your faithfulness
Something about the ocean (Your presence)
And I'm lost in love again

I'll sing until I sense a smile
Upon Your great and lovely face
And till I know Your glory's in this place
Your glory's in this place

Lamont Hiebert
(c)2000 Integrity's Hosannah! Music/ASCAP


This song captures so well how I feel about God. Every time I see a field of wildflowers, or pick roses from our garden, or gaze out at the vast expanse of stars, or watch clouds sail across the sky, or sit in the warmth of the sun, or watch the waves crash against the shore, or hear the laughter of a family member, every time I see the beauty in God's Creation, I feel honored, like one chosen to witness the most amazing art exhibt ever made. It's like God chose to let all He created reflect a little bit of who He is, just a fraction of his beauty, just a taste of how wonderful He is. It says in Genesis chapter 1, every day of creation, God looked at what he made and "saw that it was good". God has made everything good, and we have the joy of getting to view His awesome masterpiece every day of our lives. Sometimes we take it for granted, but if we step from out daily rush to notice the beauty all around us, we too shall see that it is good.

Today's Question is:Purple, Pink, or Aqua? What color do you want to win for the M&M's global color vote? (I voted for Purple)



4/11/2002 8:21 PM

I glanced out the window this evening, and was amazed yet once more at God. I think there is something incredibly special about sunsets. It's hard to describe, but it seems to hold a promise. A promise that no matter what happened today, no matter what tomorrow will bring, God's still God, and that's all we need to know. I think he puts this 5 minute show of color and beauty there, just to make us stop from our busy schedules, and just watch in wonder, in awe of Him. The sunset tonight reminded me of sherbert ice-cream, A purplish: raspberry flavored, fading to a pink: I could just taste the strawberry, and ending with a glowing orange. Mmmmmm...tasty!

Today's question is: What's your favorite flavor of icecream? (mine's actually not sherbert, btw...I prefer stuff with chocolate in it, of course!)



4/10/2002 1:32 PM

Have you ever looked at your textbook and wondered about the person who wrote it? Like where they came up with such stuff? I have this new math book--Geometry-- And the oddest thing is that at the end of each chapter, they have "projects". These projects include reports--that's right, writing....in math?--about subjects that are at best connected to the lesson by a dotted line.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And while I'm on the subject of school, let me tell you about my chemistry adventure yesterday. I know what's going through your mind--a pile of char-broiled rubble resembling a house with me in the center, my hair sticking straight up, perhaps even flaming, holding a smoking test tube........no, not quite what you were thinking?? Okay, so I have a run away imagination... *G* No, nothing quite as exciting, nor as flammable... I did spend four and a half hours working on the chapter test (thermodynamics, of course) with my fellow student/lab partner/friend though (we'll call him Bob to keep his anonymity) *Introduces Bob, wearing a white lab coat , safety goggles, and carrying a flame thrower*. Anyway, by the time we were done, my brain was fried...Chemistry has that effect on you. I'm thinking of conducting an experiment to prove it. I think I’ll call it the Chemistry-induced Cranium Combustion theory (CCC for short). Any volunteers??

Today's silly hour is brought to you by the color yellow.
Today's question is: What is a cookie? Please define.
Today's word is: Absurd
Rachel says: (2) Math books that make you write reports.


4/7/2002 5:10 PM

Can you imagine living for 900 years?? I was reading in Genesis chapter 5 a couple nights ago, where it gives the liniage from Adam to Noah... It's funny cause most of them lived to be close to 900 years old...(give or take a few decades...) Anyway, I was thinking about how it would feel to live for 900 years. That is a very long time! It's like nine lifetimes! I think it would get a bit boring to live that long. Hmmmm.... very interesting. (sorry, a bit of randomness today....)


4/5/2002 1:32 PM

Well, my week of freedom (a.k.a spring break) is drawing to a close, and I am less than proud to say that I haven't done nearly what I wanted to do. I really needed to get caught up on the school work that I was behind on, but those good intentions went down the drain... I only managed to get a small amount of that done. But I'll work real hard on it today...

Death. It's such a final word. No going back.
My dad's step dad died this week. And though I didn't really know him, it still shakes me. And it makes me realize my own mortality... And I realize that I may not have tomorrow, so I have to live today with all I've got, and not put things off 'til tomorrow...

This is something I wrote last night...

I'll dance with you tonight
wear my heart on my sleeve
and let tomorrow worry on my behalf

I'm not afraid of the darkness
'cause you illuminate my soul
I'll watch the stars
fade when you smile

I'd hang on to this moment
and never let it go
if that meant you would be near forever
But you said you always will
You always will

(c) RK 2002

Today's question(s): If someone who knew you real well could say one thing to describe you, what would it be? If someone who just met you could say one thing to describe you, what would it be?
Today's word: French Fries (yes, I know that is two words, but...)
Rachel says: Super duper tastilicious deep fried food. Very edible.


3/28/2002 6:39 PM
Did ya know that the new Larry Boy Video is going to be in 2-D? I wonder why.

Love song-- By Third Day

I've heard it said that a man would climb
a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done.
I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of calvary

Chorus:
Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away

I've heard it said that a man would swim
The ocean
Just to be with the one he loves
All of those dreams are an empty emotion
It can never be done
I've never swam the deepest ocean
But I walked upon the raging sea

(Bridge)I know that you don't understand
The fullness of My love
How I died on the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize
How much that I gave you
But I promise, I would do it all again.

Just to be with you I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Yes, I gave my life away.

Written by Mac Powell. (C) 1995 Brentwood Music
Publishing/ Little Man Big Man
Music/ gray dot songs, a division of gray dot, inc. (ASCAP)


Today's Question(s): In what ways have you changed in the past 2 or 3 years? Are the changes for the better or worse?

Today's Word: Absurdity
Rachel's definition(or really Hannah's for today): Art Teachers who expect you to read their mind.





3/24/2002 3:01PM

Okay, so I guess I haven't been too faithful in updating this blog....sorry...I'll try to be more committed in the future.

Have you ever heard the song, "The Champion", by Carman? I'm taking part in a human video of "The Champion", which we will be performing on Easter Sunday at my church. The theme is the Easter story portrayed through a boxing match between Jesus and satan. It's really neat. Satan can't touch Jesus for a while, then he gets one good punch, leaving Jesus out on the floor. Satan and the demons (I play a demon) rejoice, thinking they've won, 'til Jesus starts moving during the ten count. Fear strikes the hearts of the demons and satan as they realize that Jesus is not down for good. Then, all of a sudden, Jesus gets up, and Satan and the demons flee in haste. Jesus is The Champion!!! Ta-da! (Rachel's very abridged version)

So here's the question(s) for today: Can you worship through a song you don't like? and is it fair to deny God the worship he deserves because you don't like the song being sung? mind.


2/19/2002 6:39PM

Welcome to my pickle jar....This is the base for any and all thoughts, ideas, musings, and/or random silliness that I might feel compelled to share....:)

Sigh and a half! I feel like I haven't accomplished anything today, and it is basically true. I went to the library and Wal*Mart, read through an art book that I got at the library, painted a very un-me type of painting, managed to get highly frustrated about the annoying painting, and now I'm sitting here ranting at a computer screen. I am behind in a number of school subjects, but didn't manage to work on any of them today. So the word for today is: Procrastinate
Webster's says: To put off intentionally and habitually.
Rachel's says: To never get a round tuit. (where do you get those anyway?)
Today's Question: Do you need a license to drive someone crazy?