Oops!!

Wow! It has been almost one (1) year since my last post. Many things have transpired since then, but I will not bore you with every tiny detail.

First off, I finished all of my classes last fall and was able to stay sane from biology. Since then I have completed a Jan term class and a 16 hour spring semester.

During my spring semester, I finally finished up all of my graduation requirements in classes for my undergraduate. Now, I just need to finish working towards earning the 200 chapel credits within the next three semesters; I would say two years, but my last semester is when I am planning to do my student teaching and, as far as I am aware, when you are doing your student teaching the university does not required you to go to chapel during that time. So I am racking up as many as I can while I am still able. I currently have 121 of the 200 credits I need. This is a plus.

Also, during the spring semester, I did my first field experience. It was amazing!! I did it at one of the rural high schools in the area and I loved every minute of it! The teacher I was put with was soooooo much fun, I missed going to see her and the kids after I received my 30 hours. I would defiantly put in a request to do my student teaching there.

For Thanksgiving my side of the family went to Orlando, Florida. We spent one day at Sea World, another at Disney World and that Thursday we spent at our hotel/resort. I think my older sister, the two sisters just after me and I had more fun than the 5 – year old kids there. (For the record, we are all over the age of 16).

This summer has been a little different from what I have had in the past. For starters, I have been teaching piano at the same music store I took lessons from for years. I have been teaching since October of last year; I started about the same time as my last posts. I have three students who have stuck with it through the summer. I do not know how many more I will be getting but I might be getting two, one returning and the other one brand new, on the twenty-sixth (26). Making the grand total of five (5) students. This alone has taken an hour and a half of my week for the summer.

Also, we had VBS back in July. We did Kingdom Rock. If possible, I would like to do an entire post just on what happened during that week with pictures, but we shall see how I do in the coming weeks.

I am still cleaning the nurseries at my church; this takes about one to one and a half hours a week to complete. making my total weekly happenings to be about two and a half to three hours a week I worked during the summer.

On top of all of this, back in June I applied for a job at a local furniture store in town. Safe to say, I got it; otherwise I would not be mentioning it here. I worked three days a week for four – five hours a day making it about fourteen to fifteen hours a week to add to my two and a half to three hours I already had. The position I worked was clerical.

This is what my summer has looked like. I worked Monday – Thursday and had Friday – Sunday off to do whatever happened to take place.

This coming semester is going to be fun. I am taking five English classes totaling fifteen (15) hours. This means that I do not have to walk between buildings for my classes!! To top this already good news off, all but one of my classes are in the same room.

Also, this semester I will be working with a mission team of fellow college students as we prepare to go on a January mission trip to Senegal, Africa.

The little green highlighted section of Africa in this picture is where Senegal is located.

Well, this is all I have to catch you up with. Again, I apologize for the length of time it took me to post anything. I will also not promise to write really soon either, for we all know that lately when I make a promise to write soon it 99.99999% of the time be broken.

Update

Well, I am 20 years old. I really do not feel that I should be 20 but I am.

VBS is over and done with for this year. We did SKY from Group. I really liked it.

For vacation, my family went to Branson again. We went to the Titanic museum. I ended up being Millivina Dean. She was the longest living survivor of the Titanic. The last day only my older sister, her room mate, and I stayed because we are all college students and we were able to stay a day longer. We went to see Ice Age 4. I really liked it.

Classes started on Monday. I am taking 17 hours. I might be crazy, but after this semester I will only have one more general education class to take along with the other classes I need for my major.

As I am well aware, and I am sure you all are well aware, this year was the Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony was ok. It was not as good as Beijing, but Beijing was amazing and I am sure it will be a long while before we see anything that could hold a candle to Beijing. Other than that, I really enjoyed watching the swimming, gymnastics, and a little of the track and field. Personally, I like the winter Olympics better. Primarily for the ice skating.

Well, it seems that I am not one for a long post anymore. At least I am getting thoughts down.

Summer Dealings

Well, yesterday I had my last test for my summer class. I ended the class with an A. The class was very easy. I recommend the class to everyone who has to take a second science class to take that class.

Now I am finally able to have a vacation from school that last more than two weeks.

My vacation consists of Vacation Bible School, going to Branson with family, and spending a lot of time not doing any school.

Next week is my birthday. I am going to be 20. I don’t feel like I am turning 20.

Well, at this moment, this is all I have.

Summer Time

Well, school is out for the summer!

Swimming, vacation, tans, V.B.S., and loads of family time is what is in store for my summer which is a full one.

First off, I have had this whole week off of school and I will have all of next week off as well. Then on June 4th I will start a summer class. It will be one of my two science classes that are required for my general education classes.

After June 28th, I will be done with school until the 20th of August when the fall semester starts back up.

While I am on my break from school I will be participating in my churches Vacation Bible School again. So far, we already finished a rather nice chunk of decorations that we make by hand every year. Again, I will be doing the stage area this year. Our V.B.S. is going on during the second week of July.

Also, later in July or in early August, my moms side of the family will be going on our yearly vacation. We will be going to a different type of vacation from the past.

Then, as I said previously, on the 20th of August I will start up school again.

As of right now, this is all I have to share. So, when I have more information to share, I will share it.

End of the Semester

I really can’t believe that it is that time of the school year again. I have four classes left to finish up. At the moment I have one final each day next week.

My plan for this summer is as follows:

• Take a summer class. I am taking one of the two required science classes I am need.
• Partake in my churches Vacation Bible School. I am going to do the stage again.
• Making a dint in my HUGE reading list.
• Finishing up LOST. I have a few episodes left in season 6 to watch.
• Spend a week on vacation with my moms family in Branson.

Well, that is all I have to announce at this time.

Post Spring Break Update

Well, let me just say that I have enjoyed being able to sleep in until 8 in the morning everyday this past week. That is one thing I miss about homeschooling. I am sad that I have to go back to getting up at 6:30 every morning to get ready for school. Ok, I only have to get up this early two days a week, but still, I have to be at school before nine four out of five days.

Well, my list really did not see any real large indention in the way of checking things off.

1. I finished the book I have been reading for the past month. Two of the books I had on my list to read I had already read, I was just going to read them to remind myself of what has happened up until the new book that had come out recently. I decided to just skip them since I remembered them once I started to read them. So, I checked two whole books off of my list. Yet, my mom has told my that there is another author I need to read. So I have no idea where my standing is with my reading list.
2. I have not even picked up either one of the two handcrafts I needed to finish.
3. I started one of the handcrafts and it is pretty much done. I have also started on another one, I am about half way done with that one.
4. As I am writing this post, I am watching episode 5 from season 4 of LOST. I am getting closer to finishing the show. It is sad, but exciting all at the same time.
5. Possibly getting a tan this week. Yeah right. I said that the weather was really nice in my last post. This past week: rain almost every day. Tan = Not happening.
6. The three books I have already started I did not even look at much less think about. The one I was hoping to start I was able to finally start. What I have is rough, but I at least have something started.
7. I was able to spend some time with my friends. We went out to get ice cream at DQ. It was nice.

So that was pretty much my week. I can’t wait until this summer. We have started our VBS planning for the painting of the background for the stage and the decorations for several other stations that we decorate for. We start the actual painting process this Tuesday afternoon.

That is all I have for the moment. Time for me to go and start studying for a test I have coming up on Tuesday.

A long post to catch everyone up.

Well, I’m finally wondering back into the world of blogging.

To start off, I will talk about San Diego. Then I will talk about VBS, family vacation, and finish up talking about my experience so far in the college life.

San Diego:

Well, to start, I just want to say that flying is no big deal now. Up until Kara and I left for the airport, I had never been on an airplane in my life. As my dad told me, it’s like ridding on a bus with a little turbulence.

When we got in San Diego, on Thursday around noon Pacific time, my aunt picked us up, took us to lunch, then back to her house to unpack and change into our swimsuits. We weren’t in San Diego more than an hour and a half and we were already headed to one of the many beaches in the area.

We swam at the beach, then headed back to the house, changed, and settled in. When my uncle came home from work that evening, we cooked dinner, ate, then just stayed at home for the evening to get used to Pacific time.

The next day, Friday, My aunt took us out for breakfast in La Jolla. I ordered pancakes that had blueberries and strawberries cooked into them. I thought and still think that it’s a cool idea and I have already made pancakes with both fruits twice since then. We then went out and walked around the tide pools in the little ‘bay’ area by the little cafe we ate at as well as walking around the shopping area close by.

We then went to have a tour of where my uncle works. After that, my uncle took us to another beach to swim and to teach us how to boogie board. But before we went to the beach, we went to pick up some lunch at yet another cafe/bistro where we ordered a “Turkado.” For dinner, we dinned out at Mexican Old Town where we also walked around and browsed in the shops.

On Saturday, we went to the wild animal park/zoo a little farther inland from San Diego. After spending the morning walking around the park and taking the wild animal safari tour we had a nice picnic lunch outside of the park by the front entrance. The Wild Animal Safari was very neat. We were able to see a white rhino that is only one of seven in the world. I thought that was an interesting fact. That afternoon, my sister and I were dropped off at Balboa Park. We walked around in the flower and cactus gardens for a while, then walked the rest of the park before ending up at the Imax theater to watch an Imax movie. Back at the house, we ate dinner then proceeded to get ready for our night out to the theater to watch Shakespeare's “The Tempest.”

On Sunday, we “slept” in, ate breakfast, and then got ready for our harbor cruise. For lunch we ate wraps that we made at home. After lunch, we went to our third beach of the week. That evening, we went to church at my aunt and uncles church. For dinner, we had New York style pizza. It was really yummy! Dessert consisted of cupcakes from a local bakery in my aunt and uncles neighborhood. To finish the evening, my sister and I watched the “new” Matt Damon movie The Adjustment Bureau.

On Monday, Kara and I spent the morning at the Seaport Village. It is a little “village” that is practically an outdoors mall. For lunch, my aunt took us to a restaurant on Coronado Island that serves fish tacos. I had a fish burrito that was extremely yummy! After lunch, we headed over to Coronado Beach. That evening, before dinner, we went to take part in a segway tour of downtown San Diego and Balboa Park. Let me just pause here to say that segways are AWESOME!!! For dinner, my sister and I were exposed to Thai food.

On Tuesday, my uncle took Kara and I to a cafe called Mission Cafe. I had a Mexican Hot Chocolate that I enjoyed immensely. For the rest of the morning, my sister and I walked through the two art museums in Balboa Park. For lunch, we went home and ate left-over’s. We then were taken to the airport where we flew home.

VBS:

This year my church did “PandaMania” Vacation Bible School from Group.

I did the stage area again this year. I LOVE being up on stage. For you get to interact with the kids without having to watch them the entire time. You also get to do music(of course), skits, bible stories, bible points, bible buddies that help us with that days bible point, and just get to adore all of the kids and be adored by the kids themselves.

You definitely get loved by the kids. They love to have you talk with them. They think that’s one of the best things to happen to them during the week. For some of them at least. My “team” already has several kids that have unofficially formed a “fan club” for us. We all get kick out of it.

Vacation:

We went on vacation the week after VBS. The people who went were my immediate family and extended family on my moms side. We went to the place we have gone to for several years now.

Well, we could not check in until 4 on that Monday. By the time we had arrived and had gotten all of our luggage and other necessities in and put away, it was too late for swimming of any kind. But over the next three days we all became nicely “cooked.” From which we all were pealing, or as some of us like to say on occasion, “snowing”.

College:

College life is different from homeschooling. Having to go into town everyday to class and then having something called “homework” that you have to do outside of class. I am already at the point where I have been contemplating class options for next semester.

I am enjoying this whole experience. As I am finding out, the next four years are going to fly by.

Post-Grad Life

I have officially graduated!!!!

Saturday, May 28, 2011 I graduated from homeschool high school with a life-long friend. It went very well.

There was a slide show of our lives, and we did a Praise and Worship time at the end before we went to eat and fellowship.

There was a chocolate fountain, two different kinds of cakes, three different dips with chips, home-made mints, an assortment of nuts, and three beverages.

For my presents, I, of course, received a rather large chunk of money. Along with that, I was given a three piece suitcase set, an iPad and leather case for it, a very cool, very big pocket knife that has a seascape with a boat on both sides, a BIG box of chocolates and a very nice journal and a toiletry bag. I love all of my gifts, if anyone gave me anything, I would like to say here: Thank you for your gifts and your presence at a huge moment of my life.

Now, I can no longer say that I am homeschooled. L But there are bigger and better thing that are ahead of me. My best days are ahead of me, as Danny Gokey’s single from his first album says.

I have finished up with a lot of things that I will no longer be attending as a full student. I finished orchestra and choir and private music lessons. I am sad that they finished, but I am excited at the same time as well. Is that a bad thing? Now if I ever go back it will be to visit with friends.

The VBS decoration process has started back up. This will be my first VBS not being homeschooled. It’s sad, but exciting.

As I talk of VBS, it reminded me of summer and swimming and that we opened our pool a few weeks ago and I had my first swim of this year today!! Also that I go a new swimsuit.

This past semester I have been taking a class with my grandmother. It is a class for Swedish Weaving and Huck Toweling. I have been enjoying it very much. It will be going through the summer and into the fall.

I will be going to college in the fall. I will be going for English.

I think that is it for now. I will attempt to keep up with posting now that school is over and that it is summer.

V.B.S. Update

Well, it's over, *sniff, sob.*

It was SO much fun! I'll put up some pictures later, if I have time, or find the time to do.

While V.B.S. was going on I finished the two towers and watched all of the return of the king.

That's not how the movie was supposed to end. Saruman and Wormtounge don't kill each other in the two towers, but at the end of the return of the king. And the shire is not supposed to be as peaceful as they left it. Saruman had gone there after Isengaurd was destroyed, had built mills and destroyed everything in the shire. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin have to get things back into order.

So anyway, that's my intake on the Lord of the Rings. My favorite character would have to be Sam, followed closely by Merry and Pippin. The movies made them out to be So funny. But on the whole, Sam comes out to be my favorite of all characters.

Well, I'll post again soon.

V.B.S.

We start our V.B.S. tomorrow!!!!!!! The setting up that is. Em is so excited, this being her first time to help with the setting up. Everything is looking really good! In my station that is. We'll have to wait 'till tomorrow to see how it all looks on the stage.

Well, yesterday we played "house." We all took a job, like banker, librarian, etc., and played for two hours or so. It was interesting and fun at the same time if you have younger siblings and know how it is. I'll attempt to take some pics and put them on here.

I'm Bored, Again!!!

HI...................................

You can tell that I am feeling as the title says. Bored. I don't really have anything to do today.

Earlier I had another V.B.S. meeting. It was the last meeting until Sunday, which is the day BEFORE V.B.S. I think we did a lot today. I also think that we are ready music wise, well, I am at least. But then I'm always like this every year, ready. Music wise.

Well, I'll blog later. Bye.

Something to spark your interest

Well, last night my mom, dad, and I all watched one hour of the second part of the Two Towers. My dad said that I could watch the movies all by myself, didn't know that I was old and responsible enough to do that.

Thursday is my Birthday!!!! I don't feel that I'm one year older. But that happens to me every year. It just so happens that I have a V.B.S. meeting that day as well.

One More Post ;)

Hi, just felt like putting another post out there.

Last night our friends the P.s and Micah R. came out and swam. It was fun, and scary all at the same time. The reason I say 'scary' is because Josh and Micah did this little dance when the were leaving that was, lets just say, interesting. OK more like really really scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I have a meeting for V.B.S. There is a downfall to it though. It takes place during lunch. :( But I know it will be fun. We have to come up with stage names and crazy hair styles. We also get to wear these coats that look like lab coats but are really nurse coats. Because one of the people that I am working with is a nurse. We are doing the Power Lab this year. I really like the music this year.

Catching You All Up

Sorry for not posting in awhile!!! :( I have been preoccupied with other things.

For starters, I have been working with some other people for my churches Vacation Bible School. I am working in the music station this year. Like I have for the past two years, it is just something I like doing. My favorite part of the station is in seeing the faces of all the kids when the finally get through the whole song that we had just done without messing up once. It's also fun to see if I mess up with any of the actions in the songs. I did that once last year, and it was embarrassing!!!!!!!!!! I looked out to see if anyone had caught my mistake. Only one that I remember caught it, he was a cerw-leader though, so none of the kids saw it, I hope. If they did, I never saw it. I'm known as the one to look to if anyone forgets the motions.

I still have not watched the second part of the Two Towers. It stinks, to tell you the truth. I can't remember when we started it, but it seems like it was an eternity ago. Hint to mother.

We have swam the last two to three days in our pool. It gets tiring ofter awhile. The kids were asking us older ones if we would go out and swim with them today. It was like at 10-10:30 this morning when they asked us this. We told them not today. Because us three older ones have music lessons today, my mom has to go to town at 1, and we have to get some more school done.

Well, I had better go. Blog later.

What Next?

The title practically says it all. We finished Orchestra Thursday, so I have nothing to do. Well, if you count school, music lessons, babysitting on Wednesday nights, and church on Sunday things worth doing then I agree. But orchestra was such a big part of my life that now its over for the summer, the things I mentioned above will have to do. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll also have to look forward to V.B.S. this summer as well. Yesterday felt like a Saturday, Thursday felt like a Friday, and today feels like another Saturday. The second in a row.

I got my hair cut Thursday!!!! I don't know how much(in inches) I got cut off, but I know it was a lot. If you want to see my before and after pics, go to "Kara's Blog" in "My Favorite Blogs."