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. ♥

Campout tomorrow!!!

Yes I'm excited. Could you tell??? ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺Today was a MAD scramble to finish shopping for campout food. We loaded up three carts FULL at the grocery store. Then we stuffed it all in our little Civic. Then we unloaded it all at home. Then we loaded it all into Uncle Don's truck. Then we drove to the church and unloaded it there. And TOMORROW we load it up again and drive it up to Clearlake. Whew! But I'm still smiling! 8D
So I thought your Jeff's friend Ben was going to come on Wednesday to church too? But I suppose I misheard. Too bad, he was a really funny fellow.
I watched a movie today called Funny Girl. It's a musical with Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif. Really good stuff. I know Streisand is kind of a nasty old weirdo in real life, but she's a really good actress. And outstanding singer. She and Dianne Weist are probably my favorite actresses. (Dianne Weist was the Avon lady in Edward Scissorhands and the evil queen in The 10th Kingdom.)
I finished packing today; it's amazing how much stuff I feel like I have to bring to a four-day trip! And I even tried to pack light this time! But what can I say: girls will be girls.
Since I'm going into my senior year of high school, it seems like everybody everybody EVERYBODY is asking me what my plans for the future are. Ugh, I don't like being reminded! How am I supposed to decide what I want as a "career" or whatever, when my ultimate goal is to get married and have kids, just like God designed. But I don't even know if I'll get that far. I mean, of course I want that; every girl I know wants that. But I just don't know if it could work. It's a little weird for me.
So I guess I should start thinking about my future on a practical level. College and work and all that lovely stuff. XP Not so lovely when I start thinking seriously about it. What's my problem? Megan wants to be a dental hygienist, Danna wants to be a nurse, Robyn's a hairstylist, Marinda wants to go into landscaping, and me? I'm completely aimless!!! Well, working with books has always sounded promising. If I could find an interesting line of work there. But it's scary to me to do anything important or to make any important decisions. I need discipline, that's what I need.

I'll think about it again after this marvelous weekend. See y'alls (or most of y'alls) tomorrow!☺☺☺☺☺☺

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'(

Not much going on here

Soooo it's been almost a week, figured I'd better make a new post. Not much has really happened this week though. I went to Oaks Park yesterday, I guess that's something. But there's not really a lot of good rides there though. In my opinion, the most fun ride there is the Screamin' Eagle, which I happen to find very relaxing. Seriously, I just de-stress when I go on that ride. And the roller coaster? I didn't even scream once the whole ride. Not that it wasn't fun, but it was just pretty simple and short.
Michelle spent the night last night. That was fun as usual, but it seems like we end up talking about a lot of the same stuff every sleepover. Taking apart the past, seeing how it relates to the present, speculating about the future. That can be either uplifting or depressing, depending on what you're talking about. I for one am rather unsure about my future. I mean, anything could happen to me since I don't really have any solid plans. Of course, I know that whatever plans I make, it's still in the hands of God. But I just don't have any clue of what I want to do! Sometimes I get scared that I'll make stupid choices and then have to live with them forever.
Aunt Lori emailed saying that the Predmores are coming to campout!!! I'm so happy! Haven't really got to chill with the whole family for quite a while. Better brush up on my lightsaber warring so I can pwn lol.
A lady is coming over for dinner tonight. Anybody at church last night during prayer requests knows who I'm talking about. Pray about it! She's not saved, and so we want to witness to her and the family she's bringing. I'm a little nervous; never met the lady.

Doing Things

Yesterday I went on a hike with friends. That was actually surprisingly fun...since I am NOT a hiker in any sense of the word. I only had to stop and collapse on the ground, gasping pathetically, one time! And I only blacked out once too. hehe. Afterwards we went to a waterfall that Pres hadn't seen. That was booooring because it's just a waterfall, but then it got fun. Megan, Michelle, and I jumped in the back of Jeff's truck; we thought he might drive like a 40 feet and we'd jump out. But we all went for a little ride down the road. It was actually really relaxing to feel the breeze. Except for when I kept SLAMMING back into Megan when Jeff SLAMMED on the accelerator. Geez.
So then I went to Michelly's for a sleepover (surprise surprise). I prob won't go again soon because I think I'm becoming a nuisance to Mr. Parks. I have been over probably three or four times in the past two weeks. But the interesting part was that Lily decided to sleep over too! And she was cool. Greg, Ben, and Tara came over for the evening. We played Settlers of Catan and an interesting version of charades.
I finally got Muriel's story proofed and typed. So there's on thing off my back. But now I have another thing to replace it! (albeit a little prob) I left my camera at Michelle's house, so now I can't upload the pics from yesterday immediately. That seriously bugs me. I wanted to email everybody the bestest ones and give Uncle Don some nice group photos.
I am depressed about the way I look again. I have had sooooooo many people tell me I look 15. I seriously is bothering me. First Mrs. Potts said it. Then Michelle said it. Then Jordan said it. Then Mr. Parks said it. Then one of Jordan's friends--who I don't even know; I met him ONCE--said it!!! Makes me want to hide in a corner like the little girl everyone seems to think I am. Forgive my self-absorption; it's just that this is my biggest pet peeve these days.
Have you guys ever been to www.totallylookslike.com? Check it out; it's pretty funny.

Psalm 33. It's beautiful.

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!

Happy 4th of July!

So I've finished (I hope) helping prep the house for our party today. I am rather sad and depressed, though. I always love Independence Day parties at my house...but look outside! It's overcast, windy, and might even rain! That really makes me grumpy-faced.
I've seen Much Ado About Nothing twice in the last week, loving it both times! For those here not into Shakespeare (or those who have never tried it), I am sad for you. The tricks, the romance, the tragedy, the hilarity of MAAN is superb! Emma Thompson amazes me in everything I see her perform.
One final note on the interesting conversation my last post sparked: if I talk ceaselessly about movies and clothes, I am sorry. I will work on that.
I have a new project that is pure genius! Anybody who was at Wednesday night Bible study this week will probably know about my sticky-note project. I am having each one of my friends take a single yellow Post-It note and write or draw something on it. Each one of those is going on my ceiling! So far I have 13. So if you're reading this blog, that must mean you're my friend, right? So make me a Post-it note! No seriously.
Guess what I watched yesterday? Space Jam!

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?

An Actual Day

Today I didn't sit around being pointless!!! Here is a fairly exhaustive list of my activities of the day:

I did some cooking. This was basically just doing what Mom tells me to do as she cooks, but it was something.
I vacuumed. Self-explanatory.
I dusted. That was mildly fun because I got to listen to my French CD as I danced around with the duster.
I washed the windows. That was fun at first, because I'd never done it before and I swirled the rag around in time with Will Smith's AWESOME track "Switch." Then my arm got really tired and it wasn't fun anymore. But I finished it and now the windows are pretty clean.☺
I moved some plants around. That was because Bama is feeling pretty benevolent and wants to give Mommy a planter full of plants (well I guess there's nothing else it would be full of), so I put it on the deck.
I hooked up my karaoke machine to the TV, which was surprisingly easy. I just hope that Dad isn't mad when the DVD player doesn't work tonight....
I sang on the karaoke machine to make sure it works. That was fun, except I think I gave a headache to my poor mother and sister. And I'm sure poor Frank Sinatra never wanted his songs to be treated so disgracefully.

Tonight Daddy is taking Lily and me out to buy Mommy a birthday present. I know what I want to get her; the only thing I'm worried about is whether or not the store will have it (and whether or not Mom already has it!)
I've gotten back into writing, and now I'm addicted to my own story. It's a good feeling.

Sorry...

Sorry I haven't updated. I found out about this new website called Facebook! It's like a safe version of myspace. So if you want you can join that.

But here's an update to any bored person or scammer that stumbles across this site. My life has been the same ol' same ol'. *CENSORED NAME* confessed to his sin, but someone still thinks he didn't do it! So I've mostly been worrying about how to convince that person of the truth without completely crushing him/her.
I'm going horseback riding today!!!! Hannah invited me and it'll be so much fun. I just feel bad for my baby sister. She was crying when she heard that she couldn't go. (when I say baby sister, I don't mean baby. Lily's 14.)
Tyler invited me to watch UHF with him and Ethan on Thursday. That'll be fun...but not as fun as my part in the deal. He has to watch Sense & Sensibility with me! lol this'll be interesting. But he said that he likes chick flicks.
Robyn's cutting and COLORING my hair on Wednesday!!!! This'll be the first time I get highlights EVER. I'm excited that there'll be a change after 16 years, but I just hope I don't regret it later. :P lol I guess you could say I'm a hair-color virgin.
I swear, Danny Elfman is a GENIUS. There hasn't been a musical score of his that I've heard that isn't a winner. Okay, maybe Midnight Run's music wasn't that great. But that wasn't conventional Danny Elfman. It was just...conventional 80's.
I went back to the dunes!!!! I only got to ride for a little while, but it was exhilerating. And I got to hang out with the Loynes family, who are the funnest people ever.

Although no one reads my blog anymore, it's good for me to write. It keeps me sane. lol it always happens that whenver I say that, someone tells me the next day, "I read your blog every day! You just never post!" Well, people, if you read my blog, please comment. It gives me more incentive to post sooner.

Keep on Truckin'

Yay, I'm back! Been a long time, eh? Yeah, well, in a month there's still not too much earth-shattering news to talk about. Let's see...

Megan applied for a job at Safeway.
The Bereans party is tomorrow and we're hoping the weather will be okay.
Bryan and Jordan are in North Dakota.
A new girl named Melinda is coming to church.
Allisa was at Bible study last night.
I tried volleyball for the first time in years on Wednesday, but quit within two minutes.
Mikhaila is spending the night tonight.
I've started writing more again.
Lothlorien seems to have been abandoned.
Personablige is now a word.
I'm wearing two braids in my hair, very unusual for me.
Life goes on.

*crunch* smack of death

I will not be posting for a very long time. So I must post now to explain and make up for missed time in the future.

I won't be able to because I'm getting banned from the computer, starting TONIGHT. Why? I, uh, well...let's just say that my parents set specific boundaries on *something* and I overstepped them HUGELY. So yeah, my dad said he wants the punishment to sting. And this will sting. Bad. Especially if I can't use Rhapsody either. Ouch, this is sounding even worse than I thought!

I painted farm animals on my fingernails. A piggy, a chicken, and a mousy! Hehe, I'll hafta take them off before church on Sunday though. That would look really dumb.

I really don't know what to post today, since nothing much has changed. But I feel like I should because I won't be able to for a long long time. *gasp* Maybe not all summer! :O

I have a list going of all the movies I want to see: Spidey 3, Shrek the Third, Pirates 3, and Ratatouille. I will mos def see Ratatouille, because I've seen every Pixar movie in theaters since Toy Story (still one of my faves).

I looked at the Oscars online today, and I couldn't even believe that Happy Feet won an Oscar over Cars! That's pretty retarded. But at least Helen Mirren got Best Actress and DMC got Best Special Effects. Did you guys see The Queen? I think you'd like it; it's really good. The only issue is language, but we have a language box anyway. I was actually surprised that I liked it, since it doesn't fall under any of the categories I'm usually interested in (meaning, it's not a comedy, romance, action, or mystery).

I am still fuming that Melinda was voted off of Idol on Wednesday!!! How is that possible? She rocked so amazing! I hope Blake doesn't win. Yes, I know, this sounds paradoxical to my other post on American Idol. "Blake is so cute!" bla bla bla bla. Sure, he's cute, but he just doesn't have the talent to compete with Jordin. She's stunning.

Do you guys have any songs that just...take you back? You know, back to the young, little-kid or preteen days. I've been on a kick of listening to stuff I was into back in the day. It's actually really fun! Quick list:
Leave It Up to Me--Aaron Carter.
Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)--Backstreet Boys.
Survivor--Destiny's Child
All I Can Do--Jump 5

Hehe, yeah, I had pretty dumb music taste. Except for the Backstreet Boys, that's still good stuff.

So tata, my dears, and remember: this virtual prison I am so unfortunately trapped in will not last forever. In the words of Douglas MacArthur: "I shall return."

XOXO,
Emily

Moving On

Okay, you guys have probably gotten tired of me saying, "Something happened! I can't tell you what it is though." So I'm shutting up about that.

Summer's comin' and I'm pumped! Our yard is looking really great since my mom put more flowers in. And now we have a hammock between our curly willows! Yay. Now I just need to throw a party to complete the perfect scene.

Can you believe that I'm actually ENJOYING my history and biology lately?!? I usually get soooo bored, but WW2 is really interesting. And don't laugh, but I'm really fascinated by cells. Seriously, it's really cool! Hopefully this should bring my grade point average up from a 3.6 by the end of the school year. I used to do a lot better.

This morning's Bible class was taught from John MacArthur's book The Truth War. It was really good, and I felt good that I could contribute to the conversation, like with Hegel and stuff. Er, is this in italics? It isn't as I type it, but the little italics button on top is on.

I like Bubbalicious. It's been forever since I had it, and I just started chewing it again. It's so much more fun than regular gum!!! I can like blow bubbles, and double-bubbles, and make huge cracking noises when I snap my gum! It's so great. Heehee.

I'm hoping to go see Spidey 3 on Saturday. I might not, because my dad will be using the car, but there's a movie theater within walking distance of our house. Has anybody else seen it? Don't give anything away, but tell me if you thought it was good. I've heard people either say it was super-great, or just okay. At least nobody hated it.

God bless always,
Emily