Uneventful

Well, my day has been pretty much pathetic! I have hardly done anything with myself all day. I got up at 8 o'clock this morning. Lazed around for a while I waited in line for the shower. But I did do some extra reading in my Bible, so that of course was very nice. But I took my time, which I suppose could be considered a nice morning for some.
At about 1:30, I went down to the church with my family. Tomorrow night, we are singing at the church for the New Years Eve service. They are trying to recruit a bunch of families to sing, just as a nice feature for the service. Last I heard, though, they only had four families signed up, so either the church is seriously in lack when it comes to talent, r they are a very shy congregation. :)
So, that is what I did this afternoon. Then, we were down at the church for about another hour. Mom had volunteered to help some ladies in the kitchen in preparation for tomorrow night's service, and would be there until 4. So, the guys shot some baskets, and I read. I am reading a really good book right now, called "Only the River Runs Free". It is a novel about Ireland by Brock and Bodie Thoene. I would highly recommend it. I really don't think anyone reads this blog, I mostly just write for myself. But, I like to imagine that I have many fans out there, somewere, who thrive on my every word and crave another blog as soon as they are done reading my last entry! I know that is a silly dream, but let me have my fun, ok! Who am I talking to? But, to all my "friends" out there. I strongly endorse the above mentioned book.

Now, I am blogging. Not because I have anything of importance to say, just because I enjoy blogging. There was about a week, where after two entries, I did not write anything. But when I get up the motivation to do it, within a paragraph or so, I greatly enjoy typing out my thoughts and the events of my life. I am getting ready to work on my Bible study. James is my favorite book of the Bible, and I am planning on writing a study on it. I will probably post it on here, in a new blog. So, for all of you imaginary people, I will imagine you reading that blog as well, just so you know! I am also waiting for an email. Not that one is coming, I just hope it is. I emailed someone on Friday, and have not yet received a reply. I hope I hear something soon. I am dying to hear from this person!

Well, I think that is about all I have to say right now. This is without a doubt, the most random and pointless post I have written thus far, and yet I am going to post it up, just because I can.

I just want to thank all the little people, who helped me make my

I had a great time today! I went with Jennifer Dunlop, Jackie Ong, Heather Starman, Renee and Sarah Archer, Melinda, and 3 of Jennifer's old co-workers to decorate floats for the Rose Parade. I have never done anything like that, none of us had actually, but it was really fun! There were ten of us, and when we got there, we split up into two groups of five, and hoped to get on the decorating committee of a float, instead of stuck outside, cutting flowers and trying to look busy! Jenny, Heather, and her 3 friends went to work on the Jack in the Box float, while Melinda, Renee, Sarah, Jackie and I worked hard for China Airways. And, this is the best part: I was on TV! We were the only float that had TV camera's around it. There were pretty Chinese dancers and such, and they were recording us working. So, I am a star! In China, but a star still! No one can take that away from me! I would like to thank everyone who let savagely step on them as rungs on a ladder so I could climb and push my way up to this position. I had to climb many a scaffold and glue many a seed to a lantern to get to this point, but here I am! Thank you Mom and Dad, for birthing and feeding me. Thank you Bro. Goetsch, my speech teacher who gave me knowledge about acting and charisma. Thank you Lighthouse girls that I went with today. You helped me with my work, you helped me on the jobs, you shared the limelight. You are amazing! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA But, we did work very hard and had a great time! Then, we went to In&Out, which pretty much rocks my socks, and it was basically delisc! After that, we parted ways with Jenny's friends, and the seven of us drove down to Santa Monica, which is my favorite beach! We hung out there for a while! Then, we almost got killed by this HUGE pelican named Hannibal! His beak was six feet long and was razor sharp, and he weighed a supposed total of 200 pounds! My, my! This was a honkin' big bird! There was a large gathering of seagulls, so I ran around them screaming, scaring them away. Why? You may ask. . .because I am the greater species, and I can!!! But Hannibal would not be bothered, and just stood there, quite comfortable in the cool sand where he was standing. At this point, I was deeply bothered by this web-footed bird, and quickly growing frightened. This is retarded, and I am not afraid of most birds, however. . .when I was little, I got attacked by geese. To this day, at 18 years old, I am afraid of ducks, geese, pelicans, and sometimes of seagulls, as well. Needless to say, I was very afraid that Hannibal was going to go crazy and attack all of us, stabbing everyone's eye out with his long, pointy beak! Finally, he flew away, but after much provoking and polite entreaties on our part! We had fun down at the beach! Chasing each other and having races. Wading in the freezing cold ocean, playing under the pier, pulling barnacles off pillars, and seeing who could sink their feet deeper into the wet sand, and shrieking as the tide came up and froze our legs that looked like footless stubs (with our feet buried in the sand)! I had a great day! It was so nice to go and get to know the girls from church. Since I am not going back to school on the 24th, it is important to me obviously, that I have friends here. But having just moved, the only people I know are my family, and I really desire more than that. But I think the girls here are very sweet, so hopefully I can continue to get to know them, they are really cool! Well, good to be back here blogging again! Thanks for reading!

My Amazing Weekend

I am continually amazed at how the Lord works! What I view as a bad thing, He uses for good! This weekend was awesome!
On Thursday night, we had the mid-week service at Lighthouse. It was really nice! They were having a Christmas special with Danny Thomas, A KeyBoard Christmas! It was nice, great music and nice to be back at the church. My parents have been going there for a couple of months and they really like it! I went there on a Sunday during Thanksgiving break, and really enjoyed it. It's nice, they even have a College and Career age group with about 15 faithful young adults, which is something they didn't have at Faith, so I was looking forward to visiting that class. Thursday I met some new people, and saw the Pastor and one guy there whom I had met before, and it was nice to see them again. The program was fun! As much as I love Lancaster Baptist Church, it is sooo big! Being from a church of 80 people, I really have been longing for that church family feel again, and just can't feel that way at LBC. But even though Lighthouse runs about 400, they have that family feel, and it was so nice! At one point in his program, Bro. Thomas called all the kids 6th grade and under onto the platform, with their parents keys and did Gospel Bells, it was cheesy, but so cute! I really enjoyed it!


Then Friday, Pastor Dunlop had a Christmas party at his home. We went over there at about 8:40 (after Dad got off work). Mom was sick, and couldn't come, which made me a little bit nervous. At this point, I still didn't know too many people there, especially not people my age. And even if I saw them, I probably wouldn't recognize them! Particuarly with the Fillipino's, they all look alike! :) But, I had a really nice time! At first I just followed Dad around, since Robb ran around with all of his friends as soon as we got there. But then a girl in the youth group, Heather, asked if I wanted to go outside with them. I went out there, and saw someone my age, so we talked for a while. I didn't know anyone else, so it was nice to see a familiar face, since I think I was cramping my brothers style!

The next night, we went to my Uncle George's house for a family Christmas party. It was really nice. Honestly, I am often intimidated when I go to see all my family. I don't even know what to do with myself, they are all such good friends, but I don't really know them, and don't know what to say or who to hang out with. But I ended up having a great time and tasting some really yummy desserts! As I was leaving, my family was so sweet! God really used them to provide for some needs, and to really touch my heart! I had a great time with them, and I love them very much.

Umbrella's, Ginger Snap, and Bison

My second day home is quickly drawing to a close. Today it rained and rained.
At about eight-thirty this morning, I slowly started to stir at the sound of my parents soft voices
while my dad prepared to leave for work, as he had just received a call to come in that morning.
As I laid in bed, my brain started to catch up with my body which was starting to wake up, even though my eyes were still closed and hidden behind my sleeping mask.
A small smile grew on my tired face as I heard the sound of the rain beating on our roof. I could hear the water slapping the pavement outside, running into the gutters and washing into the storm drains at the end of the down-ward sloping street.
Back at school, I dread all things wet and cold, such as rain and strong wind, which of course we are no stranger to in Lancaster, CA. But here at home, I welcome the sound, smell, and sensation that comes with the falling rain.
So, I took my time getting ready this morning. Taking full advantage of the opportunity to procrastinate. I took a nice, long time with my devotions, and praise the Lord, was able to write down some answers to prayer which got replaced with more prayer requests and hopefully soon I will be able to cross those out and again write down some more.
Little things like emailing my friend and taking the dogs for a walk (in the blessed rain) took up the rest of my morning.
Wow! I sit here calmly typing on my laptop, lounging in the chair next to the tree, enjoying the colored lights from the Christmas tree, enjoying the sweet aroma of pine.
My brother is sitting next to me, and in the matter of a moment, Robb lets out a quite girlish shriek and jumps from his seat and starts to repeatedly beat the couch with book. He then proceeds to kick the chair with his humongous sneakers. After that attention grabbing act, my mom looks up and takes notice of the amusing scene unfolding right beside me and gently reminds my frazzled sibling that he is kicking the tan suede couch with his very large and rather filthy shoes. He subsides his irresponsible actions and catches his breath to explain that, horror above all other horrors, a HUGE spider savagely attacked his thigh!
Then, he has a terrifying realization:
the spider may very well still be making residence on his leg!
This results in a spastic dance to make sure that any residing creatures are flung onto the floor to be trampled underfoot. But alas, no such critter is to be found, and we are all left to wonder where it is making its new home. My mother and grandmother show a slight level of concern for my well-being and suggest a location change for me, as I am sitting in the next seat over from where the ambush took place just minutes before, but as I am quite comfy, I see no reason to move over something so trivial as a spider.

Continuing on with my only slightly eventful day:
Late in the afternoon, my frustrated papa is restless and bored, feeling rather cooped-up,
and suggests that he takes Robb and I out for coffee. Well, what soul in his right mind would say no to a trip to a coffee shop? Even for those of us individuals (and as of yet I still have not decided whether this is a blessing or a curse)
who detest or maybe slightly dislike coffee, finding it to be bitter, gross, vile, and sickly addicting for those who do like it, the trip would be appealing for there are always non-coffee drinks, even if one is forced to have a simple cup of Hot Chocolate (which in my opinion is delightful).
So, I put on my cute tan, suede winter boots that lace-up and are graced with cream-colored fur at the top, I basically live in these during the winter season.
The three of us headed out the door and I ran and slipped into the passenger seat of my grandparents burgundy Buick.
We drove down to Victoria Gardens and walked down the slick, rain stained pavement.

I am not a huge fan of umbrella's, so of course my preference is not walking under the cover of one. But, my grandpa seemed to be going out of his way to be a gentleman, making sure that the little lady (that being me) was well taken care of. So, I put on a smile and walked under the safe cover of the large black umbrella, almost being blown straight up into the dark cloudy gray sky when a strong gust of wind decided to attack me with all it's might! What a hard choice, save the umbrella and possibly my life, or try not to flash the two cute guys passing me on the sidewalk. Oh, decisions are so hard!

We continued on past the shocked pedestrians and darted into the wondrous sanctum of Starbucks. Out of the pouring rain and into the down-pour of sweet aroma and warm drinks topped in fluffy whipped cream. Times like this, I am reminded that Jesus loves me. ;)
So many choices. . .new Christmas drinks advertised on creatively decorated chalk boards all offered such strong temptation. After a strong internal battle, not necessarily between good and evil, nor the good, the bad and the ugly. But a battle between good better and best.
Which reminds me of one of my favorite sayings:
Good, Better, Best, never let it rest
Until your good is better
And your better best.
Well, my best was a Gingersnap Latte. I do not like coffee, so I am not sure why I ordered it.
Sometimes I am amazingly battled at my own thought process.
But even with my dislike of coffee, the latte won the battle of scrumptious sounding titles, so order and drink it I did. Over all I enjoyed the drink. The flavor was pleasant enough while I was drinking it, but in Starbucks fashion the taste grew bitter immediately after swallowing.

We then drove over to Pro Bass Shop, at least I think that is the name of the place.
Now you have to understand two very different characters in this story.

First: my grandfather is a hick and has a love for hunting and killing and shooting.
Second: I have to fight back tears when I see a stuffed deer or unrecognizable road-kill.
My brother is the third and final character in this scene, and as he is a city-boy, but still a boy, he is enjoying the guns and dead bison, bears, snakes, fish, elk and so forth that serve as the only decor on the floor, walls, and even the ceiling.

We walked around there for far too long in my opinion, and then finally left.


My thoughts on the store: to each his own.

This is basically the conclusion of my day.
Now I just sit here, energy from my too bitter latte dwindling.
I am warm and cosy on my couch, in my favorite seat,
while my mom chats and chuckles on the phone with a life-long friend
and my brother watches some odd crime show on TV.
Oh, I hope bed-time comes quickly!

Stay Tuned!

First Day at Home

Well, I just got home today! I felt sad to leave. One part of me was happy to be going home, spending time with my family, but the other part of me was sad. I am leaving all of my friends behind, and it's hard not knowing if I am coming back next semester. Since my family just moved from Spanish Fork, UT (yea, there's a good reason you haven't heard of it) to Alta Loma/Rancho Cucamonga, CA, all of my friends are in Utah or at school. And I am in neither place. But, I have my family, and I really do need to spend some time with them. The church they go to is a really good place, too. Lighthouse Baptist Church in La Verne. I visited there on Thanksgiving break, and the people there were very friendly. They seem to have a lot of kids my age, so maybe I will find some friends there. Besides, it is good for me to get away from the campus. I am tired, desperately needing a rest at this point. Things are great with my roommates, but I know that even though we are going to miss each other, the time away from the other four roomies is a needed blessing for all five girls. But, we did have fun together this weekend. We were just hanging out in the room and goofing off and taking stupid pictures and so on and so forth. As a result, we all grew closer together and I have some great material for future blackmail!!! So, a re-cap of the events that filled my life for the past week or so. . .WOW! Was that really only a week? It feels like so much larger of a time slot! But, no, it's been less than a week. Thursday was the start of finals, which would last until Tuesday, and since I was not taking finals yet, I didn't have to go to anymore classes following Wednesday, which was really fun. Although I did continue to panic at about 6 in the morning, feeling as if I should be getting ready to head out the door for breakfast and leave for class, but then I would calm down at the realization that my laziness and procrastination could last all morning, for I had no activities until chapel at 10:30.
Thursday night was a Caribbean Christmas, our banquet. It was so much fun! Without a doubt it was my best date ever, although I have only been on two, and the first one was so lame that I hardly count it as a date! But, Matt and I had a really great time together and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Kayla and Brittany and Rachel came with us, and it was fun to have a big group! We joked that Matt had four dates, which I think embarrassed him a little. Oh well, we got a kick out of it! ;) I worked like a dog Thurs. night through Sat., I felt as if I lived in the kitchen! It was fun though, and a blessing to get the extra hours. And since I didn't have class or finals, I could work until midnight and sleep in the next morning. So, it really didn't hurt me at all, in fact, I enjoyed working late at night. Not that I would want to make graveyard shifts a regular occurrence throughout the school year, but it is fun when it doesn't cost any sleep or energy! Saturday and Sunday night the church choir sang the Hallelujah chorus along with the church choir and accompanied by the church orchestra at the end of their Christmas musical. That was awesome! It was amazing to be a part of 300 other voices singing Handel's Messiah! Knowing it was our last Sat. and Sun. there, it seemed like the perfect ending! Monday night there was a basketball game. It was, for some un-known reason, the "White-Out" and everyone wore white. It was really neat! We won! We almost had 100, I think we ended at 97, which was about 15 (give or take a little) points ahead of Multnomah. After that, every dorm/floor had a Christmas party. The party for Sisk 2 was in the Cafe. We had a talent show, which Caroline and I won, with our song "My Fat Abides With Me". Our audience/dormies even demanded an enchor. It was really fun, especially when we got up there and saw that among our audience was our beloved Mrs. Blehm, which made it hilarious for me and very embarrassing for Caroline, which again, made it hilarious for me! ;) But, over-all, it was a great experience! Today I got up at 7, feeling very sick, hardly able to talk. The roommates were very stressed, no, strike that, FREAKING OUT! The room was mucho trashed and they were running around as chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get everything packed and out the door. I still hadn't talked to my parents, and I had no idea if the free-way was weather safe for travel, so at this point, I still had no idea when I was going to be picked up that day, or if even at all. Oh, the drama that plagues my humble existence, even so early in the morning! ;) But, my voice gradually came to me, the roommates left, along with their trash and bags, and I talked to my dad (and found out when this day I would be picked up). So, before long every problem was solved and I was able to have a carefree, even relatively lazy morning (which I do so enjoy in moderation). AMEN! So, now I am home. Growing very tired, but as I am sleeping on the pull=out couch and my family is still wide awake (seeing as how there is a Laker game on, although thankfully it is the fourth quarter, so the party will be over soon), I will not be going to sleep for a while. Oh well, it is only quarter to ten and I am not accustomed to hitting the hay until 11 each night. So, I am sure I will be able to make it longer! That is my story. I think my first blog ever is now drawn to a happy close. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up on this throughout the break, keeping myself, or my family and friends, or whoever may stumble upon and wish to read my lowly blog updated and maybe even entertained, as I am sure to either do something so embarrassing and dim-witted that merely imagining the act in one's head will bring a smile upon the face of both the easily-pleased soul and the most hardened person, or I will witness an act so humiliating and hilarious that I will view it as my civic duty to share it with the rest of the world by any means at my finger-tips, i.e. mass emails, text-messages, phone calls and emails, blogs such as this, and maybe even You-Tube if I am so lucky as to have a camera on hand. So, stay tuned and live peacably among all men in this joyful Christmas season!