Campout 2008

Learning about the glories of heaven.
Drawing close to God.
Drawing close to God's people, my real family.
Lying on the docks, having good conversations.
Eating marshalades and throwing them.
Seeing the Predmores.
Singing to the Lord in the kitchen.
Calling Melinda all kinds of weird names.
Hiking up an easy hike...that practically killed me.
Boating across the lake with amazingly cool people.
Eating my mom's world-famous food.
Helping my mom cook that world-famous food.
Playing "Down by the Banks" and not feeling stupid about it.
Being silly.
Being serious.
Looking at my future with fear and happiness.
Seeing Vengeance Creek.
Trying ping pong and not caring that I FAILED.
Watching a new sport be invented (Ultimate Ping Pong!!!)
Hugging people.
Learning to trust God more than ever.
Watching four precious saints be baptized in the lake.
Crying for joy with them.
Remembering and missing Grandpa Bob.
Laughing at the cheesy and marvelous slideshow.
Counting the times people said, "It's cold out here."
Wearing the dorky life jackets.
Being honest with people who care about me.
Learning new things about myself.
Wondering about other people.
Loving and being loved.

My heart is full and yearns for heaven. But while I'm here, it soars to be with the church family that I love more than words can say. ♥

Agony!

Last night, I decided to try an experiment. A full 24 hours, midnight to midnight, with no eating. Sooo this morning I skipped breakfast. Not so hard. I'm also trying to drink lots of water (nothing else allowed). I don't like water very much.
So about noon (45 minutes ago) I started to really want food. But I will stick with it! No matter how hungry I get, I won't eat ANYTHING till tomorrow. Ugh this is hard...but I figured blogging might help. Complaining takes my mind off my tummy. :'(
I felt sort of out-of-place at church last night. Idk, it just seemed like whatever group I was in, I was the odd one out. *sigh* It happens to everybody I guess.
Mom's stopping at the movie store today, and I'm hoping she rents me Father of the Bride. Anything with Steve Martin and Martin Short has gotta be a winner. :D And it'll be another thing to keep me off the snacks.
Campout is in EIGHT days! That's awesome! I'm going to have so much fun at the mess hall, the gym, the docks, Strawberry Island, the hike, Vengeance Creek, the foosball room, the chapel, and everywhere else I go. :) Hey did you know that Calvin is bringing Eric to campout? That might be fun.
Well, I'm on my third glass of water. It's not fillin' me up. X'(

Next day!

So I hardly ever post the day after my last post. It usually seems like a waste. But here I am anyways.

So last night's dinner with Maribel went pretty well! Between Mommy and Daddy, I think she really got the gospel. I don't think she was really ready to accept it and let it penetrate, but she said she'd read the Bible verses my mom gave her as they left. But what a sweet family they are! Her mom doesn't speak any English, but her sweetness and motherly kindness showed in her face. She said to my dad a few times (translated by Maribel) that he has a very beautiful family. :) That was nice of her. Maribel also has a son named Kevin. He's eight and pretty sharp! He holds his own in a conversation pretty well (although he frequently inserts comments about Legos and Spongebob).

But guess what: Maribel thought I was 13. You all know how much that kind of thing bothers me. But hey; I've decided to not let that bug me so much. What I need to realize is this: whenever I hate the way I look, obsess over looking older, or compare myself to pretty girls, I'm basically pointing my finger at God and saying, "You didn't make me right! Why can't I be beautiful?" That is just pure sin and selfishness. So call me on it if I ever complain about that again.

I saw Megan's freshly painted room today. Very cool! It's chocolately brown and stuff. So Michelle and I chilled over there all day. We went to Macy's and guess what: Tyler was working! So we talked to him for a little on his break. I also tried a new eyeshadow at the makeup counters (yes boring to hear about). But it was really really REALLY bright blue. Kind of cool and weird.

So then the Nodurfts picked me up back at Megan's house and drove me to my house; they were coming out here anyways to have dinner with us. Daddy grilled steak. Nicey-nice! (I think people think I'm a total dork when I say that, but whatever)

And now the Nodurfts have gone home and I'm posting here at 10:45 posting. Anything else I need to talk about...hmmmm...don't think so. I think tomorrow will be uneventful. Oh, I almost forgot! I checked the bowling alley fees and there's a discount if we go between 3:00-6:00 on a weekday. So I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday? Gimme feedback.

I think I use a lot of run-on sentences and fragments in my blog posts. Never was a grammar fiend. :P

Lazing.

Is lazing a word? As in, "I'm just lazing around," or "There's got to be more to do than lazing!" Yes, it is a word.
And that's all I'm really doing right now. I did my morning chores...*huge yawn* and listened to some music...fun but I ALWAYS do that. I'm beginning to think that my brain is powered by listening to songs, because I get this weird jitterish feeling when my house is silent. And then when I turn on some songs, my whole mind just feels better.
I saw WALL•E on Saturday! It was sooooooo sweet and very incredibly animated. The characters said practically nothing for most of the movie, but that's ok. The story was just as good without dialog, seriously. And the little Pixar short before the movie...absolutely priceless! I don't think my dad and I have laughed that hard at slapstick for a long long time. Aaron and Lily weren't QUITE as thrilled about the movie as I was, but I think they like it.
Sunday's GBI was like a graveyard. With all the people on vacation, there were a total of like, 15 attenders! That included the babysitters with the kids. I got this warm fuzzy feeling during my kid-watching time. When I walked in the nursery, Caleb Smith asked, "Are you the next nursery shift?" I said yes, and all the kids cheered and jumped around! Made me feel really happy.☺☺☺
Today is Rebekah's birthday party. I still haven't gotten her a prezzie, so we'll pick one up on the way over there. I love that kid! She's so sweet and gentle. And she said I'm still her best friend. Another happy moment...kids rock!
Yesterday Aaron and I made cherry-rose petal preserves. It was pretty time-consuming, and it basically tastes like cherry jelly. With a hint of rose fragrance. But oh-well, it gave us an excuse to dress up in face masks and be the...COOKING NINJAS!!! We were going to videotape it and put it on YouTube, but it didn't turn out to very interesting videos. So scratch that.
Right now Lily's reading the Bible, Mom's at coffee with friends, Aaron's playing RuneScape, and I'm finishing this blog. A pretty average Tuesday.
Later, fiends--er, friends!

Weekend makes for very good times

So this weekend I had fun. On Saturday, we went to Blue Moon for breakfast with Aunt Lori, Mrs. Parks, and Michelle. Michelle and I completely BORED Lily to tears with talk about lots of girly stuff.
After a lovely breakfast of salsa omelette and hash browns, we stole Michelle and went to a camping/hanging out...sort of place for the afternoon. The Loynes' were there, but Megan was working so basically it was me and Bichelle with much more mah-velous GIRL talk. Lots and lots. We also waded in the creek and I found a heart-shaped rock! It's in my room now. Not sure what I'll do with it yet.
So when it was time to take Michelle home, we finagled to let me spend the night at her house, which is ALWAYS so much fun!!! We went over to their friends' house for a barbecue. I had a blast because the two little kids there have tons of wicked awesome Star Wars stuff. They actually had a classic Lando action figure with his original Jabba's palace helmet! So basically the evening was Parker and Noah (the two kids) showing me all their cool Star Wars stuff, while Michelle and Jordan made fun of me and called me a geek. Good times...
So Marinda brought her car, and she took Shelly and I to Hollywood Video. We rented a movie and Michelle bought four.
Then we went back to her house and watched Much Ado about Nothing, my favorite Shakespeare play! Michelle and Jordan went downstairs and watched The Pink Panther...I guess they can't handle Benedick's witty contemplations or Hero's tragic misfortune. But I loooooved it!!! Beatrice is my favorite character, and it's a rare thing when my favorite person in a movie is a girl.
So the next day was church obviously. Yeah and we did Communion cooking too. Not much to report there, except that I think we did it in record time! We even had time to rush over to Macy's and try on some crazy cool outfits! It was really fun, my girlfriends are so purty-ful in fancy dresses. (I looked rather out of place in a formal gown, lol)
Sooooo then there was Communion, a beautiful time of course. Except for Megan's "soft feet" comment! haha!
Robyn's coming over for lunch, so I gots to get working on that. Oh geez she'll be here in half an hour. Crap I'm gonna be so rushed!!!! Gotta go!

It's Time to Tell the World...

...that today is sunny! Yee-ha. Yesterday I vacuumed the car. Double yee-ha! I also watched Alice in Wonderland. Not the Disney cartoon...but the WAY better live action one. I think it was actually made for TV by Hallmark, but it's BAZOOOKA GREAT! If anybody's seen Napoleon Dynamite, you know the girl who plays Deb? She played Alice in this version when she was younger. I ♥ it.

Last Tuesday I had chicken adobo at the Tuesday Market, and now I'm addicted. It's a Filipino dish of really tender seasoned chicken over rice. They served me a heaping bowl for $5.50 and I scarfed it faster than anything. I got a recipe off the net and will make it sometime. Maybe some of you fine folks can come to my house and eat it with me! Huzzah!

I have a song stuck in my head. Care to share in my misery? It's Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim. Listen to it; you'll love it then hate it because IT NEVER LEAVES. Tony played it on our comp when they came for dinner Sunday. Speaking of which, I like the Varelas. Very very very nice people, and all of them hecka funny. Except it was too bad that Jordan couldn't come. He was at football camp or some such crap.

Here's the question of the day: why do children tattle? In my opinion, there are several possible explanations. What do you think?