I'm so excited!! I got a call this weekend from the SCSC (Summer Christian Service Corps.) committee and they told me that I'm going to Battle Creek, MI. My friend Emily from Maryland is one of my partners and a guy named Chad who is from Washington D.C. (I think) is my other partner. It'll be a lot of fun to have Pastor Kori as my project director and I think that Jonathan's brother Matthew is going to be his assistant.
My friends Katrina and Micah are going to be coming here for their project. I'll be getting my packet sometime this week and I'll find out what it is that I will exactly be doing. I'm glad I'm going there, it was one of the places that I really wanted to go. I can't wait!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
I was going to come up with a clever title, but I've got nothing.
Well, our one act got first at sub-sections, while Anne Schreiber (Mr. Schreiber's daughter) got second place. At sections we got second and Anne got third. We were beat by St. Charles by one point. They go most every year so we were a little disappointed but now that we didn't get a chance to go to state we got to start our spring musical, "Bye bye Birdie" a week earlier.
We had auditions Tuesday and Wednesday, and we got the results today. I got the part of Kim MacAfee!!!! That was the part I really wanted and I'm so glad that I got it.
We also had a funeral for a guy who went to our church. I'm really going to miss him. He always had a smile for me. He was a very strong man, both physically and in the Lord. He could lift an 80 pound car wrench with one finger and no matter how hard you would punch him in the gut (when he asked you to) you would end up hurting yourself more than you would him. He would ask most of the kids he knew to do that, but I don't recall him ever asking me to. I think he knew that I was such a quiet, shy, little girl that I wouldn't have done it, even if he had asked me to. I didn't know how much I ment to him until I went to the funeral and all his kids would say to me that he would talk about me all the time. I didn't realize that he had ment so much to me either until a few years ago when he started having noticeable health problems and he didn't come to church as often. But everytime I saw him walk through that door, it brought the biggest smile to my face. There is a hymn that was his favorite, "How Great Thou Art." Everytime we would sing it in church you could hear his voice over everybody elses. At the funeral we sang that hymn and I swear that I could faintly hear him singing it with us. I know it was most likely just the memory but it helped because it felt like he was still there. It's funny how we value people so much more after we lose them. But Claston's memory will never be lost, it will always be locked within my heart.
We had auditions Tuesday and Wednesday, and we got the results today. I got the part of Kim MacAfee!!!! That was the part I really wanted and I'm so glad that I got it.
We also had a funeral for a guy who went to our church. I'm really going to miss him. He always had a smile for me. He was a very strong man, both physically and in the Lord. He could lift an 80 pound car wrench with one finger and no matter how hard you would punch him in the gut (when he asked you to) you would end up hurting yourself more than you would him. He would ask most of the kids he knew to do that, but I don't recall him ever asking me to. I think he knew that I was such a quiet, shy, little girl that I wouldn't have done it, even if he had asked me to. I didn't know how much I ment to him until I went to the funeral and all his kids would say to me that he would talk about me all the time. I didn't realize that he had ment so much to me either until a few years ago when he started having noticeable health problems and he didn't come to church as often. But everytime I saw him walk through that door, it brought the biggest smile to my face. There is a hymn that was his favorite, "How Great Thou Art." Everytime we would sing it in church you could hear his voice over everybody elses. At the funeral we sang that hymn and I swear that I could faintly hear him singing it with us. I know it was most likely just the memory but it helped because it felt like he was still there. It's funny how we value people so much more after we lose them. But Claston's memory will never be lost, it will always be locked within my heart.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Just a little up date
I realized that there have been a few major events that have happened within the past couple weeks.
January 13 and 14 I went down with my choir director Mr. Anderson and two other girls from my choir to Decora, Iowa to the Dorian Choir Festival. It is a festival that I have wanted to go to since I was in 9th grade. I entered the concert choir in 9th grade and that's where I found about about it. I had forgotten that my older sister had gone there too until this year. It was kind of interesting because I am one of the highest singing sopranos in my school choir, but Mr. Anderson put me on alto where I had to sing an F below the staff because I could hit it. The other altos that I sat by were pretty surprised when I told them that I am actually a soprano that can sing a high C. The whole experience of singing with 1379 other students was fun but I wouldn't want to do it again. A lot of the girls I met there seemed to be a little snotty.
We had the HVL One Act Festival that Triton hosts every year for the Hiawatha Valley League schools. This isn't a competition, per say, but you do have to be competitive. We have three judges that Mr. Scheiber hires and they are usually speech judges, state one act judges or former directors. The judges loved us this year. They said that our performance was state quality and that we performed at that rigor too. If a play is completely ready for competition and they don't need to work on much they get a "star performance" plaque. Triton had done it 15 years in a row!! That is the best record of all the schools in the HVL. The school closest to our record is Pine Island with 4, but they didn't get one this year. Last year they started to hand out All Conference Actor awards. At last years award ceremony they awarded two Thespians from each play, but this year they got really picky. They chose one from one play, two from another, but guess what happened next... they awarded the whole Triton cast the a certificate!! We were all so happy.
I had a friend from New Jersey come here for the weekend and she went to a college visit to Bethel and she fell in love with it like I did. She's going there with me next fall. It'll be really nice to already have a friend there. I'm very excited for this year to really get rolling.
January 13 and 14 I went down with my choir director Mr. Anderson and two other girls from my choir to Decora, Iowa to the Dorian Choir Festival. It is a festival that I have wanted to go to since I was in 9th grade. I entered the concert choir in 9th grade and that's where I found about about it. I had forgotten that my older sister had gone there too until this year. It was kind of interesting because I am one of the highest singing sopranos in my school choir, but Mr. Anderson put me on alto where I had to sing an F below the staff because I could hit it. The other altos that I sat by were pretty surprised when I told them that I am actually a soprano that can sing a high C. The whole experience of singing with 1379 other students was fun but I wouldn't want to do it again. A lot of the girls I met there seemed to be a little snotty.
We had the HVL One Act Festival that Triton hosts every year for the Hiawatha Valley League schools. This isn't a competition, per say, but you do have to be competitive. We have three judges that Mr. Scheiber hires and they are usually speech judges, state one act judges or former directors. The judges loved us this year. They said that our performance was state quality and that we performed at that rigor too. If a play is completely ready for competition and they don't need to work on much they get a "star performance" plaque. Triton had done it 15 years in a row!! That is the best record of all the schools in the HVL. The school closest to our record is Pine Island with 4, but they didn't get one this year. Last year they started to hand out All Conference Actor awards. At last years award ceremony they awarded two Thespians from each play, but this year they got really picky. They chose one from one play, two from another, but guess what happened next... they awarded the whole Triton cast the a certificate!! We were all so happy.
I had a friend from New Jersey come here for the weekend and she went to a college visit to Bethel and she fell in love with it like I did. She's going there with me next fall. It'll be really nice to already have a friend there. I'm very excited for this year to really get rolling.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
New year; New adventures
The new year has come and along with that comes new adventures, new ideas, new heights and new relationships. In this new year ahead I will not only be graduating from high school, going off to college and discovering who I can be outside of my home. I said new relationships, and I'm sure you are wondering "What kind of new relationship is she talking about?" Well, for those of you who are familiar with the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, I'm "going courtin', going courtin'." I was asked recently by Jonathan is he could court me. I, of course, accepted. I've never been courted before and he's never really courted anyone else before, but we are working together and making the most out of being 2,000 miles away from eachother. We keep in close contact with e-mails, IM (yahoo messenger) and phone calls. Got to love technology!
It's been a great week and a half break from school. It's given me time to relax, unwind and get to know Jonathan a lot more. It's pretty crazy how much we have found to have in common. Not by having the same taste in foods or colors, although we do have the same favorite ice cream flavors (cookies and cream; moose tracks), but we have what we are calling "kindred spirits." A lot of the time we will be trying to explain something and not being able to think of the right words that other people would be able to understand but for some reason we always seem to understand what the other one is talking about. We also found it funny how one time on the phone we both started yawning at the same time (I knew yawning was contagious, but isn't that only supposed to happen if you see the other person do it?). It's been really nice talking to him, and it will be hard to go back to school now and not have the opportunity all day. But summer is just a short time away, and we'll see eachother at conference in Wisconsin.
Happy New Year to you all, make it a great one. I know I will.
It's been a great week and a half break from school. It's given me time to relax, unwind and get to know Jonathan a lot more. It's pretty crazy how much we have found to have in common. Not by having the same taste in foods or colors, although we do have the same favorite ice cream flavors (cookies and cream; moose tracks), but we have what we are calling "kindred spirits." A lot of the time we will be trying to explain something and not being able to think of the right words that other people would be able to understand but for some reason we always seem to understand what the other one is talking about. We also found it funny how one time on the phone we both started yawning at the same time (I knew yawning was contagious, but isn't that only supposed to happen if you see the other person do it?). It's been really nice talking to him, and it will be hard to go back to school now and not have the opportunity all day. But summer is just a short time away, and we'll see eachother at conference in Wisconsin.
Happy New Year to you all, make it a great one. I know I will.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
In between Holidays
It's that time of year again; snow falls, people are caroling outdoors, shovled sidewalks, Christmas presents under the tree and everyone gathered around the tv set waiting to see the ball drop in New York City. Some of these memories have already past, but that doesn't mean we forget them.
The holidays to me mean that it's a time for families to get together and Christmas especially means to have the family around you and celebrate Jesus' birth. Christmas this year was filled with family joys. I was very excited this year because I could finally buy everyone in my family something using my own money. I had finally saved up enough that I didn't have to ask anyone else to help me get something. I really thought about what I was going to get everyone (I hope you all liked the gifts). I was also really happy when I tore off the green bags that had hidden the gift I was really looking forward to this year, thanks to Jaci and Shane, they gave me my 5 piece luggage set! Now I can travel to places and see those whom I didn't get to spend time with this Christmas.
The new year is just around the corner. I've never really observed New Year's, it's just been something that was fun to do a little with. One New Year's eve that I remember quite vividly was when I was in California at a year end retreat (I was too young for it but Mom and Dad were cooking so I got to go). Everyone went to a nearby park to play touch football and they invited me to go along. It had snowed a little bit on the mountain and it was starting to melt so the grass was pretty wet. I was just kind of standing there, waiting for the ball to come anywhere near me. My 3rd cousin Brandon was running and he slipped. I couldn't get out of the way fast enough and he fell right on my ankle. I thought I was just sore from it so I went and sat down with some of the girls who didn't want to play. George Lawson didn't want me to get wet so he gave me a Frisbee to sit on while he was helping me hop across the field. When I got back to the camp my ankle was the size of a softball. They took me to the emergency room and I stayed there for a few hours before I was able to come back. Then I celebrated the new year with the rest of the camp.
All I know is that this Christmas vacation has been the best one yet. It's going to end in a few days and I'm not going to like going back :)
The holidays to me mean that it's a time for families to get together and Christmas especially means to have the family around you and celebrate Jesus' birth. Christmas this year was filled with family joys. I was very excited this year because I could finally buy everyone in my family something using my own money. I had finally saved up enough that I didn't have to ask anyone else to help me get something. I really thought about what I was going to get everyone (I hope you all liked the gifts). I was also really happy when I tore off the green bags that had hidden the gift I was really looking forward to this year, thanks to Jaci and Shane, they gave me my 5 piece luggage set! Now I can travel to places and see those whom I didn't get to spend time with this Christmas.
The new year is just around the corner. I've never really observed New Year's, it's just been something that was fun to do a little with. One New Year's eve that I remember quite vividly was when I was in California at a year end retreat (I was too young for it but Mom and Dad were cooking so I got to go). Everyone went to a nearby park to play touch football and they invited me to go along. It had snowed a little bit on the mountain and it was starting to melt so the grass was pretty wet. I was just kind of standing there, waiting for the ball to come anywhere near me. My 3rd cousin Brandon was running and he slipped. I couldn't get out of the way fast enough and he fell right on my ankle. I thought I was just sore from it so I went and sat down with some of the girls who didn't want to play. George Lawson didn't want me to get wet so he gave me a Frisbee to sit on while he was helping me hop across the field. When I got back to the camp my ankle was the size of a softball. They took me to the emergency room and I stayed there for a few hours before I was able to come back. Then I celebrated the new year with the rest of the camp.
All I know is that this Christmas vacation has been the best one yet. It's going to end in a few days and I'm not going to like going back :)
Monday, December 17, 2007
My brother now has a frog for a sister
Ever have one of those days where you jump out of your skin and become that of another? Well, today we had our Christmas choir and band concert. We had to combine them because our band concert got snowed out two weeks ago.
The senior girls did an ensamble this year and we sang "Christmas Day." It was kind of strange to finally be singing as a senior girl and not just listening to them. It was a great song. I was surprised that we all didn't start crying in the middle of it. However, during part of the song I started to sound like a frog. All that was going through my mind was "NO! I can't be loosing my voice I have sing a solo in about 15 minutes!" We got done with the song and I told everyone of my friends to start praying for my voice. I don't know how many of them actually threw up a prayer for me, but whoever did I'm grateful. I was able to sing all of our choir songs plus my solo and no one notices my froggish voice. I made it all the way up to the "Halleluja Chorus." As soon as our choir concert was over my voice was shot. Luckily I don't need a voice for band, just a working reed. Which my good reed broke this morning because I wasn't paying close attention to what I was doing and I let my reed smack against my teeth instead of meeting it with my tongue. But everything worked out just fine.
I got home and I had to say something to my brother and he has now given me a new nickname, "Frogger."
We also had to have Jeff open his Christmas gifts early this year because our great aunt from Missory died earlier this week so my parents are going to the service on Wednesday which is Jeff's real birthday. It was great to see Jeff's face when he opened his new camera that Mom and Dad got him. He wasn't expecting it at all. I also disguised the box when I wrapped it so he couldn't really guess what it was. He just came in and took a whole bunch of pictures of me typing this. I can see his face has a brighter glow now. It's really nice to see, we don't get to see that often.
So even though there were a few minor set-backs today, it turned out to be a very good day for everyone.
The senior girls did an ensamble this year and we sang "Christmas Day." It was kind of strange to finally be singing as a senior girl and not just listening to them. It was a great song. I was surprised that we all didn't start crying in the middle of it. However, during part of the song I started to sound like a frog. All that was going through my mind was "NO! I can't be loosing my voice I have sing a solo in about 15 minutes!" We got done with the song and I told everyone of my friends to start praying for my voice. I don't know how many of them actually threw up a prayer for me, but whoever did I'm grateful. I was able to sing all of our choir songs plus my solo and no one notices my froggish voice. I made it all the way up to the "Halleluja Chorus." As soon as our choir concert was over my voice was shot. Luckily I don't need a voice for band, just a working reed. Which my good reed broke this morning because I wasn't paying close attention to what I was doing and I let my reed smack against my teeth instead of meeting it with my tongue. But everything worked out just fine.
I got home and I had to say something to my brother and he has now given me a new nickname, "Frogger."
We also had to have Jeff open his Christmas gifts early this year because our great aunt from Missory died earlier this week so my parents are going to the service on Wednesday which is Jeff's real birthday. It was great to see Jeff's face when he opened his new camera that Mom and Dad got him. He wasn't expecting it at all. I also disguised the box when I wrapped it so he couldn't really guess what it was. He just came in and took a whole bunch of pictures of me typing this. I can see his face has a brighter glow now. It's really nice to see, we don't get to see that often.
So even though there were a few minor set-backs today, it turned out to be a very good day for everyone.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Count Your Blessings
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I have to say that I have many things to be thankful for this holiday season. I have a family that loves and supports me and I have close friends that care about me. I had a friend e-mail me and wish that I could have spent Thanksgiving with him and his family this year, or that he could spend it with me and mine. And I have to say that I am very thankful for him being in my life. That brightened my day since we have postponed our Thanksgiving dinner to next week after church. Just gives me that much more time to prepare the pies that I want to make and see if there is something else I can bring to the table.
Another thing that I have to be very thankful for is that yesterday my mom called Bethel University because she and Dad have been receiving a lot of mail from them inviting them to this event and that one, but yesterday they got a letter asking for a deposit check. Mom wanted to know what was going on. So she called my admissions counselor and he looked up my name and saw that I had been accepted!!! I was so excited when she told me. I should be receiving my acceptence letter in the mail soon. I find it kind of funny that I keep receiving word about my colleges on special occations. I heard about Northwesten on my birthday and Bethel on Thanksgiving. It is truely a time of year to be thankful.
I still have not found my dog. I am strongly believing that she did go somewhere to pass away. I still have to do a good search in the woods, but I trust that I will find her when the time is right. But I can be thankful for having Angel to buffer the pain. She has been a great blessing to me, she seems to really understand what has been going on and can sense that it is now her responsibility to take care of the family now.
Dad and I have started to put up the Christmas decorations. We haven't gotten out the famous Christmas village yet, but we do have the Precious Moments village that he picked up somewhere. That has been placed on the piano. We will have the main village up very soon. Until it is up it just doesn't seem like the holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you again and seriously count all your blessing. Focus on them and not the hard times, for in the hard times God gives us even more blessings.
I want to share part of a song that I am working on. I just have one verse and the chorus, but I'll come up with the other parts soon when they are given to me.
When you feel that life has you down, just look up and all around. Look at all the beauty all around.
Thanks God for the sky. Thank the Lord for the sea. Thank God for this day; the day he loves you and me.
I have to say that I have many things to be thankful for this holiday season. I have a family that loves and supports me and I have close friends that care about me. I had a friend e-mail me and wish that I could have spent Thanksgiving with him and his family this year, or that he could spend it with me and mine. And I have to say that I am very thankful for him being in my life. That brightened my day since we have postponed our Thanksgiving dinner to next week after church. Just gives me that much more time to prepare the pies that I want to make and see if there is something else I can bring to the table.
Another thing that I have to be very thankful for is that yesterday my mom called Bethel University because she and Dad have been receiving a lot of mail from them inviting them to this event and that one, but yesterday they got a letter asking for a deposit check. Mom wanted to know what was going on. So she called my admissions counselor and he looked up my name and saw that I had been accepted!!! I was so excited when she told me. I should be receiving my acceptence letter in the mail soon. I find it kind of funny that I keep receiving word about my colleges on special occations. I heard about Northwesten on my birthday and Bethel on Thanksgiving. It is truely a time of year to be thankful.
I still have not found my dog. I am strongly believing that she did go somewhere to pass away. I still have to do a good search in the woods, but I trust that I will find her when the time is right. But I can be thankful for having Angel to buffer the pain. She has been a great blessing to me, she seems to really understand what has been going on and can sense that it is now her responsibility to take care of the family now.
Dad and I have started to put up the Christmas decorations. We haven't gotten out the famous Christmas village yet, but we do have the Precious Moments village that he picked up somewhere. That has been placed on the piano. We will have the main village up very soon. Until it is up it just doesn't seem like the holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you again and seriously count all your blessing. Focus on them and not the hard times, for in the hard times God gives us even more blessings.
I want to share part of a song that I am working on. I just have one verse and the chorus, but I'll come up with the other parts soon when they are given to me.
When you feel that life has you down, just look up and all around. Look at all the beauty all around.
Thanks God for the sky. Thank the Lord for the sea. Thank God for this day; the day he loves you and me.
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