I don't know how many of you know, but I'm a candidate for Miss Dodge Center. We had our first practice to learn our dance that we have to do at the pageant. We're doing it to three songs from "Grease," Summer Days, You're the one that I want, Hand Jive. We're having a great time with it. We're going to wear poodle skirts that my mom is making. We have another practice for it tonight. I'm so excited!

I used to be a cheerleader and my favorite and most missed part is band dances.

I didn't get to bed until 2:00 A.M. this morning because I was trying to finish up a final project for environmental science. We had to make a booklet of "50 Simple ways to conserve." I didn't mind the project, I was just really tired of school and became a very bad procrastinator. I'm so glad that tomorrow is the last day of school. We have an early out at 1:00 P.M. and our classes are shortened to 25 minutes long so that all teachers will have the oppertunity to see all their students.

I officially have my senior project approved. Mr. Schrieber, my english teacher and school play director, is in charge of the projects and he gave back my approval packet.

I really hope that my dad will have a small break in work soon. About three weeks ago the van that I was driving developed problems. It kept dying on me. It's quite an interesting story actually.

I was on my way to Byron and was trying to accelerate on the on ramp. Well, it kept getting slower and slower no matter how low on the pedel I was pushing. I pulled over to the side of the road and let it cool down a bit. I then made my way for a mile to the next exit back into Dodge Center. I then decided I would try to make it the mile to the church or the 2 1/2 miles to my house. I didn't even make a quarter of a mile. I had to park in the park and ride. I called my mom and my brother, Jeff. Jeff came and looked at it but he didn't even get out of the driveway or the park and ride. A friend of mine took me to Byron and then brought me back to the van. I had about 30 minutes before church (this happened on a Wednesday) so I decided to try to make it to the church where I knew the van would be safe. I went two tenths of a mile to the railroad tracks and it died again. Not on the tracks don't worry. I stopped about four more times on the less than a quarter of a mile stretch to Main Street (the street I have to turn on to get to the church). I was able to make it all the way down the street but it died half a block from the church. I was getting quite frusterated then I was finally able to make it to the church. But I was just glad that at all the places it died I was somewhere where I could safely get off the road and I knew what I had to do. God really does take care of us.

This is quite new for me

Well, everyone always tells me that I don't tell them what is going on in my life enough. I guess this will be my way of doing it easily. If people want to know what's going on they can now seek me out, and if they don't I don't have to know about it.

School is almost out for the summer! I can't wait I have one full day left and two half days. I'm so excited! But I can't believe that next school year I'm going to be a senior! I'm sure my sisters don't like the thought of that either, or their friends that knew me. I often get told that people always see me as the 10 year old that I used to be because that's when they left the area so they have to keep reminding themselves that I'm 17. I have to remind myself often times.

I already feel like a senior. This year's seniors had their last day on Friday and so now my grade is the oldest in the school. That hasn't happened since 6th grade. If feels so weird to be that way. When we first entered high school in 7th grade we were the babies for three years. The school administration was switching all the grades around so we never had the other class come up to the high school until we were in 10th grade.

I also feel like a senor because at our school we have to take a senior seminar class and do a senior project. We get the option of either starting it when we have the class 2nd semester or the summer after our junior year. Since I'm training my dog to read sign language commands I decided to start mine now.

In a way I can't wait to be a senior but in others it's the scarest thing in the world. I want to grow up and have a wonderful career as a Christian family counsilor, but I miss being seven years old. When you're seven, you don't have a care in the world. Your scarest fear is that there are monsters under your bed (which I never thought was true :) ) But we all have to grow up sometime. We can't all live in Never NeverLand.