just jaimie

hm.

2010-12-11T00:41:00.000-08:00

My Christian Ministries class is one of my favorite classes. It brings to light concepts and views that I had never thought of. It constantly reminds me about different interpretations of the Bible and that nobody sees the Bible the same as the next guy. For example, in class today, a group gave a presentation on homosexuality. Their interpretation of the Bible on this touchy subject, is that being gay is not a sin and that we should encourage those of the homosexual orientation to step up as authoritative figures in today's society. I don't remember my blood pressure ever being so high when I heard this. I don't really know why, because really, I don't care if someone is gay or not. Whatever floats their boat. But I knew that what they were saying was definitely wrong and it bugged me that they had the audacity to suggest that. Just thinking about it makes me ...whatever. When they were done with their presentation, there was time for open discussion. Not really knowing how I should go about this whole sitiation, I said what came off the top of my head. I reminded the presentors that God called us to "Be fruitful and Multiply", and I said flatly that it's kinda hard to do that when you're gay. Feeling a little better about things, because they didn't argue with that statement, I continued on with the story of Lot and the angels that visited him in Sodom. A few men in the town came to Lot's door telling Lot to let the angels go outside so they can have sex with them. Lot instead offers his two virgin daughters. And eventually God destroyed the city, even though it wasn't just because of homosexual acts. Right when I said that, I got shot down by a guy in the class saying "Oh please, dear God, don't bring up that scenario. That's the biggest bunch of bull I've heard all day." That left me confused. What did I say wrong? I know it was in the old testament, and that the old testament doesn't have to be taken so literally anymore, but I still don't know how to take that comment. So I just shut up.
By the way, did you know they found chariot wheels in the Red Sea?

2 papers & 3 loads of laundry later...

2010-12-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

I'm tired. I stayed up a little later than I had planned. I wrote a paper on fossils and did three loads of laundry. I don't understand why our biology topic was on fossils, but it was. A whole eight pages of it. Ask me almost anything about fossils and I will tell you. It may not be the right answer, but I'll tell you something anyways. There was recently a fossil discovered of a snake with hind legs. In the bible, God cursed the serpent after he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, and said he would from then on travel on his belly. So, assuming then that the serpent lost his legs, it's true according to the fossil. I'm also curious as to what creature God is describing in Job 40-41. Any takers?
Off to my biology test.

Dear Santa,

2010-12-07T10:14:00.001-08:00

Dear Santa,

I would greatly appreciate it if you brought Christmas a little earlier this year. I have a 7 page paper due tomorrow for my biology class that needs to be finished and edited and finished again. The topic is famous fossil finds and how it can associated with the bible. I also have a rough draft for a research paper due tonight that I should probably...start. Oh yeah, and I have a biology test tomorrow morning regarding anatomy. . . as well as my athletic training practical on Thursday at 2:45. I have to be able to perform CPR or wrap someone up or make a sling or help a choking person on que. I'm a little nervous for that one actually. Oh and Santa, I have this very large pile of laundry that I don't see myself getting anywhere near to today, so if you could just send a little elf over to help me with it I will be eternally grateful. Oh wait, tomorrow is Wednesdy right? I also have a psych quiz at 4:20. . . it's gonna be a long night. sigh.

Finished

2010-12-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

So I finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," and it was pretty good, although mildly corny at the end. I don't know if I should be inspired by Salander's self-confidence and computer-hacking talents or disgusted by the fact that she slept with a man twice her age. Maybe I'll just feel both inspired and disgusted until I find a better book. I think I'll go with Ted Dekker next time, he is always promising with exorcisms and mind controlled video games.
The Christmas spirit is definitely in full bloom here at Azusa Pacific University, complete with wreaths bigger than I am on both campuses. There was the "Christmas Chaos" party on Thursday night with a mechanical bull, a giant inflatable slide, a dunk tank (specifically for the RA's), "Create a Flake", a live nativity scene (with a dog dressed as a sheep), and a kissing booth. However, during all these fun festivities taking place on East Campus, I was taking my athletic training final on West Campus. But I'm not bitter.
And now I'm off to a dinner date ;)

Passssssssadena

2010-09-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Pasadena is stinkin' gorgeous. The weather is shiny and sparkly and warm. The palm trees rock my world. This pretty little house is definitely creaming my twinkie and the little sour patch straws are o' plenty. The pool is super duper warm too, which is fine with me. Swam a little/lot with mom today. And has anyone read "'the girl with the dragon tattoo?" It's gettin good.
Meow.

Byeee

2010-08-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my last day in Creswell for the next 3 months. Movin to Cali. Does that make me a California girl? Guess we will find out =] I move in on Friday and Classes start on Wednesday (I think). Can't wait to start my biology and psycholoy classes. Still have a bit of packing to do. Did most of it today. Hopefully I don't forget anything?!?! I think I'm mostly set though. Dad fixed my bike and I have an awesome new bike rack for my bar and a cute little basket and some lights for my bike. My bike is pretty basically set for a while =] I got the fridge...I got the coffee tmaker...I got the dishes...I think it's all there. I don't know how we are going to fit in my car though. But I heard it through the grapevine that with God all things are possible. Ready go.

2010-07-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

a ha ha. every day something new comes up that makes college so much more real to me. i don't even know why im so excited about it, because it happens to a lot of people. i watched the new movie inception last week, and it's the best one i've seen in a while. they did a great job getting everything tied together, and it all made sense. it was about shared dreaming. what if that was real??? this world would be a crazy place.

Later Gater

2010-07-18T19:55:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I wish time would fly faster. Last night I was talking with nana about goin off to college and I was tellin her about my room mates. Then she told me stories about our first times together when I was 3. I guess I stuck french fries up my nose and told everyone to look at me because I though I was a walrus... she said time flew by too fast. It's 46 days until I move down to Cali, and I am doing everything I can to make the time go faster. I can't wait.

:)

2010-03-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

I don't really have anything witty or clever to say right now. I have an urge to watch all the Lord of the Rings movies...so I'm drinking some Pepsi in hopes the caffeine will keep me awake long enough to accomplish my goal of watching all three in one night. So we shall see. It is the first night of spring break. Tomorrow is Crystal Dawn's birthday and we are going up to Salem tomorrow to celebrate it with her! And I am to spend the night and babysit the Jack-boy on Saturday night and I am coming home on Sunday. Oh what an exciting weekend I have ahead of me. I'm gonna see if I can't try to find a job too during spring break. Ooh, and I have to find somebody to job shadow for 15 hours so I can graduate. Any takers??

Facebook

2010-03-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Yay me, back in blog world. Oh the great things you remember when you're bored. Here, look at some pics of me...

The useless life of a teenage drama queen

2009-02-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a new year! And I know I'm just realizing this two months late...so my apologies to you all. =) Anyways, playing Webfoot volleyball has taken up a bunch of my time and I don't mind one bit. School has also taken up a lot of my time, and to me it's all just a waste of my time lately. I turned in an application to be a Mr. Bulldog junior coordinator, but was denied the honor because of my schedule. So now I am trying, not very hard though, because I really don't want to, to find a job. But then I think, I'm only sixteen and I have the rest of my life to work. But then my mom says, well, you have to pay for college somehow. And then a whole bunch of useless thoughts pop into my head, like, why go to college? And then that's where my life gets complicated. I would be going to college for other reasons than to get an education, in all honesty. Well, an education would be the benefit actually.... so that's a plus. Ya, so now I'm starting to think about colleges, which I have hardly even looked into yet. And today in English, our teacher handed us our papers on things we need to accomplish to be able to graduate, and another paper saying there's a career field trip coming up in a month at the lane county fair grounds. And then all of a sudden I just got so overwhelmed! It was as if a ton of bricks just hit me in the face. But it was really my friend Briana Wipplinger because I wasn't listening to her, cuz I was thinking about the heap of responsibility that was oh so suddenly thrust upon me, and so she slapped me in the face with her book "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Which I happen to be reading also at the moment, because we are in a college fiction literature class. And I personally think that book is one of the best thins I have ever read. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it's given me ... something intelligent, I don't know. But it's a good book. It's written by Ken Kesey, who apparently is a creep that lived in Springfield and had a thing for blueberry farms. He also got paid to do LSD lab studies...which is pretty sweet if you're getting paid for it. And speaking of English class, I'm taking spanish and I don't think I've ever hated anything so bad in my entire life. I loathe this class entirely and the teacher too. She has no idea what us students are saying half the time and it's annoying to have to repeat ourselves for hundreds of times over and over again. The only reason I go to that class every single day is because of one of my best friends, Larry. Someone has to help with his work! And I guess I'm the only patient (stupid) person to help him. And he's really funny too. He's actually probly the reason I failed my spanish final. I don't really pay attention in that class. We get in trouble almost all the time, so our teacher gave us assigned seating. And we are exactly opposite accross the room from each other. ...so we talk loudly :) But I don't think she minds loudness. I actually think she's deaf, because there's a lot of mexicans cussing in english pretty loudly in that class and she never hears them...it's pretty odd to me. But whatever. I don't care. Hmm....I don't really like History that much either. But, Mr. Martin is my favorite teacher. He's just a bit crazy in the head though. But he's the only teacher I've had that actually cares about the students. He's a pretty good guy. Anyways, I have this awesome trip to Las Vegas coming up and I"m pretty excited...even though there's limited things I can do there, since I'm only sixteen. But it's ok! Because I"ll be playing volleyball the whole time I'm down there. And it's gonna be amazing. We're also going to Reno one of these days. I want to take a road trip. By myself, I think. For about a month, and just go everywhere and do everything. I think that sounds super fun right now. But maybe I should get a job so I can have gas $ and just $ in general so I can actually do fun stuff on this road trip because a lot of fun these days all cost $. So...until next time my fellow Americans...and you others....

...................

2008-12-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

And again, school has been caneled because of snow. I do wish I was at school rather than at home doing nothing. We were supposed to go to the mall today and sing...but that obviously couldn't work. I am sure I will get over my disappointment soon enough. Any ideas how? :)

School

2008-12-17T22:04:00.001-08:00

Today school was dismissed early because apparently an awful storm of ice rain was going to kill us all so the people that run Creswell High School thought that we should not have school any longer. So we got out before lunch even started :) And then we go home and wait for this storm...and nothing happens. And we even had our winter concert canceled tonight because of the invisible frozen rain. So, since nothing happened I decided to go to volleyball practice. And that was MUCH more fun that going to a winter concert, which I would have had to have gone to anyways and miss out on practice. Well, I think I shall go take a shower now...later ya'll.

A Day in the snow...

2008-12-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I take back what I said about my hopes leaving about not going to school on Monday...those negative thoughts were apparently unnecessary. And I'm very glad they were :) We had no school today. Instead I stayed home and read a book, finished White Christmas with my family, cleaned the pool, and slid down Tate Road. It was very fun...and very cold! Dad brought the tractor out and made a chute for our "sled" to go down in. We had gone down it enough times that by the end of the morning we were going super super fast. And it was super super fun! A fun day. Believe it or not though, I wouldn't mind going to school tomorrow. I have a biology test that I studied for this weekend and I kinda wanna take it :) Anyways, I must get going. I hope all of you 3 faithful readers have a safe week!

The movie...

2008-12-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, I watched it. And I'm back to tell you about my experience. It's a brilliant movie, that White Christmas. :) However, I'm trying to figure out what this means...

"When what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, whats left to be gotten won't be worth getting, whatever it is you've got left". ~Phil Davis

Ya...I'm confused :) But then again what's new?

White Christmas

2008-12-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

I woke up yesterday morning, came downstairs, said good morning to my parents AND THEN looked out the window and behold...SNOW! It definitely snowed yesterday. And now looking out my window it's slowly but surely melting away, along with my hope for not having any school on Monday :( But I'll get over that. Anyways, all this talk about snow made me think of only the best Christmas movie ever...White Christmas. Which, by the way, I still have yet to watch. I might just do that this week. We'll see if it makes up for the snow that is melting. Maybe I'll drown my sorrows with candy canes and hot chocolate while watching it.

This picture makes me happy every time I see it because they all just look so cute and happy and warm in their dresses and hats and boots. Very Christmasy :)

I like this one too...don't really know why. I like black and white pictures.

And this is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I like the colors and sparkles and singing and dancing and their tall hats!

Well, I must get going now. I have some biology and history homework to do...and we're also decorating our Christmas tree tonight! Until then...

2008-12-12T16:20:00.001-08:00

Cell

2008-12-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am reading a book right now by a very good author and I'm beginning to like him a lot. But this book that I'm reading (Cell) sucks. It just seems like he is saying "Hey I'm Stephen King and I'm so famous I can write whatever crap I want to and get away with it". And that is just super annoying. This book makes no sense. It's about a "pulse" that went through every cell phone in the country at three in the afternoon and is making everybody that was on their cell phone at that time go crazy. Absolutely insane! They start eating each other and ripping out chunks of their throats and snapping necks. It's truly bizzare. And I just felt the need to blog about my disappointment :)

2008-12-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

English

2008-12-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

Today was one of the best days in Honors English I think I've ever had. We walk into the classroom and our teacher yells "Everybody sit down! I have just been inspired!" He then tells us what we are to do. We were all to sit down for 15 minutes and sum up our entire life in 6 words and six words only. No more, no less. After we wrote them down, those six little words, we gave him our note cards and he read them outloud to the class. He asked us not to put our names on them because he wanted to keep them personal. It was very interesting. I wrote down my favorites:

Lacking the courage, smiling through it

Always finds life confusing, craves simplicity

I have a good friend who marches to the beat of her own drum and I love that...this is one of my favorites :)

Be pessimistic, lazy and boring....check
(She may or may not be all these things :) )

And the normal teen:

Stupid overly trusting teen in love :)

And others:

Still waiting for you to change

Messed up family, no father figure

Day by day to the fullest

That's life...just live with it

In our class there is a girl who is one of those people where you always wonder what's going on inside her head...well here's a glimpse of it:

bizzarly sanguin outsider afflicted with wonderlust

...couldn't agree more!

And one of my best guy friends who is very very athletic!!:

Run high, jump fast, rock off ...................................... haha

And mine:
Broken, amputated, sewn together again, adapted

What's yours?

Seneca...

2008-12-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

In English we are doing some world literature and recently we are digging into some famous philosophers like Plato and Socrates etc. Seneca was a student of Socrates and killed himself because...well...Socrates told him to. He had so much respect and love for his teacher he thought it would be cool to kill himself. So..he did. And I find that very strange. Anyways, here is something that Seneca had written and I want to share it with you lovely people.

There is no such thing as peaceful stillness except
where reason has willed it to rest. Night does not
remove our worries; it brings them to the surface.
All it gives us is a change of anxieties, for even when
people are asleep they have dreams as troubled as their days.
The only serenity is the one which represents the free
development of a sound mind.

Lately I've been having 2 dreams repeatedly and I keep waking up thinking they're so real. I wake up sweating and sometimes in tears because they were so intense. And they don't go away. So I am agreeing with Seneca, this is exactly how I feel. :)

Santiam

2008-09-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the game has come and gone. We didn't win, but it felt like it. Those are the best games. Where you just play your hardest as a team and feel good about every play. But no matter how hard you play, or how good your team is...there's always someone better than you. And in this case, it was Santiam. I was super happy though, I started. This is the best team in the league and our coach has me starting. It made me feel good about myself and it just made me want to play that much harder because I knew the coach saw something and put me in there for a reason. So I played my best. They played very well too. They have 2 players that are exceptional. Their Libero and their outside hitter. We have some good players too. Chandler Gabrio is our main hitter and she is so much fun to watch! Anyways, yes we lost to Santiam BUT we beat Regius on Thursday. THAT was also a tough game. We beat them in four. You could just tell we wanted it so bad. Chandler had 21 kills. Some boys were trying to get on her nerves and so the coach just told her to show them what she had and it definitely motivated her. Good job Chan!
Now, the best part of this blog. We had a tournament in South Umpqua this weekend. We won and brought home the trophy. Yes, we are the champions of the South Umpqua tournament! It's a good feeling. It was so intense and so insane at the same time. I enjoyed every second of it. Probably because I played every second, but also because EVERYBODY on the team was playing with passion and going all out. It was a blast. We didn't have 2 of our right sides, Briana Wipplinger and Ashley Kulm. Briana is out for a couple weeks due to a sprained ankle and Ashleys grandpa just passed away, so she was at the funeral. That left us with a main setter and no right side. Our coach, lately has been pushing me to play more and more right side, so I played LOTS of right side. It was kind of fun. I like taking the second ball sometimes and hitting from the right side you get lots more kills because people don't get set back that often and so the blockers aren't expecting it. Playing middle is my true calling, though. I like it very much. :) Well, it's definitely time for me to be getting to bed. Tomorrow's practice will be tough and I need rest. I also have a headache right now. So I'm gonna go pop some pills and hop into bed. I'll let you know how next weeks games go...Until then.

My oh so interesting life in a nutshell....

2008-09-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

So, volleyball has been consuming my life lately and I'm loving every minute of it. Our varisty team is now 2-0. Our big game is on Tuesday against Santiam Christian. They are definitely our biggest competition. It should be pretty exciting. So, all of you readers out there! Come and watch...ok, there's one more fan in the crowd... :) Our first home game was last night and it was way fun. Chandler Gabrio and Chelsie Joyce...our top two hitters, got 12 kills each. That's pretty good. And our setter, Jamie McMahon got 25 assists. She's amazing. :)
School is going good for the most part as well. It's definitely more difficult than last year. But I guess that comes with the package of being older :) My classes are:
1. Choir
2. Geometry
3. Honors English
4. U.S. History
5. Biology 2
6. Spanish 2
7. Library Aid
First and seventh periods are obviously my easiest. Which is nice, because for volleyball and stuff I'm gonna have to leave early to go to away games and I don't do anything in 7th period. So...that's about it. I have nothing else to say that will be of any interest to my many interested readers. Until.....whenever.
JR out

:)

2008-08-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, so it's been a while, huh? Well, I'm sure you've all gotten over it. I'm nothing too special. :) But mucho has happened since the last time I've written. I went to volleyball camp, Clear Lake...doubles have started and I'm loving it. Volleyball has definitely been a big hilight in my summer. Camp was incredible, lots of good memories. I think I can honestly say that this has been the best summer I've ever had. I've learned so much and definitely feel better about...things. But it has definitely had it's downfalls. Like work, I like actually working and earning money and working with people that I like...but, it's also just been hard trying to reschedule and reschedule when I shouldn't have to and junk like that.
The luau we had here last weekend was a blast. We danced and ate and chilled out on the tennis court. It was pretty interesting. I loved every minute of it. :) It also helped that one of the hawaiian dancers complimented me on my dancing skills. It felt good.
Well...I have nothing else to say. If you want to know anything else...feel free to ask. But no promises on honest answers.
~James

ooga booga

2008-07-23T20:44:00.001-07:00

Most of these pictures can explain themselves pretty well, but allow me to illustrate anyways... This is Joey and I trying to show off our "sexy" face. Looks like they both need a lot of work. :)
Normal is good too...
Remember how I said pictures can explain themselves?...ya....I don't even know what's going on here
My bestest friend in the entire world! I like the fountain....

My first Gyro ever! By the way...it's pronounced Guy-Row...not Hero. :)
On our way to dinner.
We went to this awesome toy place called Magic Mouse Toys and look what we found!
Wow...
He was forced...sorry Joey

This is today. Jeanea and I went to Pike's Market and look what happens when we're by ourselves! I go kissing fish! It was awesome....
Jeanea liked the guy more than the fish....

The morning started out perfectly. I had a large piece of chocolate cake for breakfast. I love it here! Can I come more often?
And dinner was good too. :)
This is at Pike's Market. I bought myself a tiny little cheesecake. It's called quadruple chocolate. It was Amazazing!
Then we had some time to kill before she had to go to her job so we tried on dresses at this really expensive dress store. Apparently purple isn't my color.
This dress was fun. I'm going to wear it to prom next year! It was only $97. :)

I don't know what exactly this is....but...it's cute?

WA...

2008-07-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

So, as most of you know, Jeanea works at Ann Taylor. Not Ann Taylor Loft. I just learned last night that there's a difference. And for those of you who don't know what the difference is...shame on you. :) Yes, she works at Ann Taylor. One of the most beautiful, expensive stores around. Anyhoo, she was at work and I decided to drop by and say hi with Jeanel and Alaina. Then Jeanea told me to try stuff on and I found this dress...observe... Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! $138
The shoes were pretty adorable as well, but I immediately fell in love with this dress. So, I decided that when I become rich and famous at whatever, I'm gonna buy this dress and say my thank you speech in it. That is...if it's still around. :) It was a good day.
And then there's Jeanea in her adorable, cute, lovely, beautiful, gorgeous outfit here. Does she not look amazing and skinny and....tall? The shoes just make the outfit. She ended up buying the outfit, not the shoes. So, our mission this week is to find a pair of black and red shoes that pull this outfit together. It truly does make her look very very cute. I love you Jeanea!!!!!

yay me

2008-07-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

So, as of yesterday I am going to Washington tomorrow night and I am going to chill with Jeanea for an entire week! Just us! Well, Joey may hang out a little...anyhoo, I am uber excited! An Entire week with Jeanea!!! This is going to be a good week. I have no idea what I am going to do whilst she is at work, but I am very sure I will find something. I can't wait to see Arianna and Alaina, and Janelle (?) and Pastor Rob. I miss them all. I leave tomorrow evening with Joey right after I get off work. Which reminds me I need to call Joey. So much to do in so little time! I still have to pack and find my camera and I have to figure out this whole car sitiation and blah blah blah. I really need to find my camera so I can blog every night about all the fun I'll have with Jeanea. :) I should get on that right now. Well, after I finish blogging. So, tomorrow I have worship practice in the morning at 8:30, then church and I work at precisely 12 o'clock until 6/7. So I'm gonna have to ask my shift leader if I can get off at 6 instead of 7 so Joey doesn't have to wait all night for me to get off work. So, I'll have to have my clothes for work with me at church and then go straight to Washington after work. But I don't know if Joey is picking me up or if I'm going home first to take a shower (which is much preferable than just going straight to Washington in my work clothes in a stuffy little car...). If I am going home after work then that will give me about half an hour and then I can just leave my bags there and pick them up after work and have Joey pick me up at my house... You know what? Maybe I should figure this all out before I just waste time blogging about it. This blog in its entirety has basically been just me thinking out loud...or whatever. None of you can really "hear" my thoughts...just see them. Which is really weird. :) Oh well, I'm over it. Later!

The "Quick Update"

2008-07-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well, this week has been very interesting, what with Shelbea and Crystal and my friends gone and all. Jeanea, Crystal and Owen and Joey left on Sunday afternoon. So did Shelbea. My best friend Briana left for Arizona on Monday and Katie Annett, another good friend left on Sunday. Which left me practically all by my lonesome this entire week. But, miraculously I got through it! I worked on Monday and I had a volleyball camp to go to. I also had the camp on Tuesday, but I was pretty bored after that. So I had Kirstin come over and we rented "The Eye". It was basically the lamest movie on the face of the planet. I didn't get it at all. But, whatever. Wednesday I worked from 7 to 2. It was fun. I didn't get any tips though, like I did on Monday. On Monday I got four dollars in tips. It was amazing! Let's see, what day are we on now? Thursday! I worked at a different volleyball camp with little kids. And then worked in the afternoon, but that was after I went to Valley River to watch my brother Shane's grand opening for his digital advertising thing. Good Job Shane! It was very cool. There was free food. :) Don't worry, I didn't eat it all...:) And today, Friday, I worked at the camp again and I am going to work in less than 2 hours. Yay me. Well, that's my life for now. We'll see what new adventures come my way next week. Until then fellow readers....

American Gladiators

2008-07-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

So, since Crystal has moved back, she has gotten me hooked on the show American Gladiators. Just watching the show inspires me to look like this...but we all know that's never gonna happen. :) Here are a couple of my favorites. This is Crush. She has never been beaten in any game ever! She has never even touched the water. She isn't arrogant in any way, she doesn't talk smack about her opponents and I think she's really pretty.
Her real name is Gina Joy Carano. She is 5'8", 140 pounds. Her specialty is Muay Thai Boxing. Her dad played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. And she's in the coming up movie "Blood and Bone".

This is Phoenix. She's pretty insane. Her real name is Jennifer Widerstorm. She's 5'6", 155 pounds. She set the record for Hammerthrow at her high school.

Meet Helga...she isn't one of my favorites...but she's pretty.....huge. She's 6 feet tall. And huge!

My all time favorite (Hurricane), I could not find a picture of. He's one of the newest Gladiators. He's a former Olympic Javeline thrower. And really hot. :)

A Day at the Beach...

2008-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our pastor took the high school sunday school class to the beach. It was kind of a good turn out, after all. There were 5 boys and little 'ol me, so I called up my friend Karisa and she happily came to my rescue. We had a blast. We went to Honeymen Lake and even though the temperature was below 65 degrees...Karisa and I went swimming anyways. There was a dock out in the middle of the lake..well, kind of in the middle, and we swam out to it and jumped off the dock several times. Then the boys thought they'd come and jump off the dock too...or rather push us off. Either way it was great. The water was warmer than the temperature was outside so we stayed in the water as long as we could...which lasted about 45 minutes. :)

Here we are jumping in and there we are under the water...

There was a lot of bird poop on this dock. It was honestly everywhere, so we had to be super careful not to step in it. It was disgusting.

This is after we got out of the water. We went to go watch the boys and pastor Brent and his kids play some football.

At the beach.... We were scouting out a good place to hide our shoes and cameras. It wasn't very successful, because we just ended up spending 15 minutes looking for our stuff when it was time to go. Maybe next time I'll just put a stick in the ground with a white shirt tied on to it. Yes, that will be much easier.

Our feet were pretty gross, and I made the mistake of wearing my hemp anklet. There is now sand stuck in every part of the anklet. My bad....

The boys. Jared (right), Chevy, and Andy (Left). Andy is practically glowing in this picture, he's so white. It was a terrible trip home for him because he decided to go a little farther than all the rest of the boys in the ocean and a huge wave just came and ate him. So, then he decided to pretty much swim for the next hour. Poor guy.

Anyways, the day was pretty much awesome. On the way home, the sun was so bright and beautiful I wanted to take a picture of it, but I was in a moving vehicle and apparently it's pretty difficult to take pictures whilst you are moving. So I was dissapointed. OH! And we also saw a baby skunk on the way home. It was so tiny. It would have fit in the palm of my hand. It was adorable. But I didn't get close enough for it to spray me... :)

Ya...I miss then

2008-06-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

He looks good with a guitar. Without one too...

Whoa...he's come a long ways. I like his hair MUCH better now. :) Good job, Cook!

This picture is...very emo-ish. But I still think he's pretty cool.

I found this picture and thought...wow, there really is somebody else out there more crazy about David Archuleta than I am.... :)

This night was my favorite performance of his. He sang...something like... "Imagine no posessions...I wonder if you can......You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..." I loved it.

I also found this little phrase.... "No one does it betta, than David Archuleta" The things people come up with.... :P

Hey! I can play the piano too! How funny...we have something in common. (hint, hint)

And then it was summer...

2008-06-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

So this summer has basically been...ya, I don't even know. I've been trying to keep myself busy. I supposedly got a job at the gas station a little over a month ago and I'm not even on the schedule yet...which then led me to drive around Creswell and Cottage Grove yesterday to pick up applications at coffee shops. I think I would do much better at making coffee for happy people than pumping gas for angry people. People who usually get gas are more likely to be angry than people who buy a drink at a coffee shop. These people have a choice whether or not they want to get coffee and they can chose whatever they want and it's usually a fun thing to get good coffee at a coffee shop. People who get gas are normally angry, and I think it's pretty obvious why. They don't want to pay over $4 a gallon for gas. And, it's something they need to get, so they don't have a choice. Unless they just start walking or riding bicycles. But then that would make them more angry because they're excercising against their will. Or maybe during this whole process of walking or riding a bike, endorphins will be unleashed and then they will become happy again and go back to driving their cars. It's a pretty vicious cycle. :) In the words of Elle Woods... "Excercise lets off endorphins...endorphins make you happy...Happy people don't shoot their husbands! They just don't!!" She is a very wise woman. I look up to her. :)

Anyhoo, I have to rill out a resume or make one or whatever and I don't know how. And in order to work at....4 different coffee shops I need to turn in a resume. So, I'm kinda in a spot right now.

I'm also sad...because last night was our last night of summer league volleyball. It was fun while it lasted, though. We beat Willamette in 3 games and murdered North Eugene in 2. It was great fun. And the best part was I actually got to play my normal position last night. Tuesday night I had to play right side for a whole game and I hadn't played it in so long that I sucked. It was then I realized that playing middle is my true calling. I hate just standing off on the right side and watching the outside and the other middle block a ball when I could be that middle and block that ball. Blocking just gives me warm fuzzies inside.

I've also been playing some tennis with Crystal and other random people. That's fun...even though I have no idea what I'm doing and I probably look like a complete idiot out there, but I still enjoy it. I found this picture and decided that it's scary. I would never play on that tennis court even if I was paid...less than $1,000. Apparently it's the worlds highest tennis court.

An Ode to Dad

2008-06-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

First off, Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. Well, it will be father's day in precisely 9 minutes...but whatever. Second, I don't even know what an "Ode" is, or how to even spell it...so I hope that's correct. And third, I love you Dad! Here's a list of 10 really cool things about you...

1.) You adopted me. That's probly one of the best decisions you have ever made. :)

2.) You look great in this picture...

3.) You are super generous and never like to take advantage of people. i.e. when you turned down Aaron's offer to just take the private jet down to Disneyland.... :).........:(

4.) You love coming to watch my volleyball games and try to give me tips when I already know what I'm doing wrong and when my coach has already told me 3 times that night. And you took me to all 4 of my Washington Webfoot tournaments...I don't know how you did it. You're a real man among men, I guess. :)

5.) You take me to Duck volleyball games because you know I love the sport, and afterwards you would take me to go get a frosty from Wendys.

6.) You always make sure I'm never bored by putting me to work. It makes my day go by faster. :)

7.) You don't care if I can't play tennis worth the life of me, you still don't mind playing me...even though we haven't really gotten around to that yet this summer. (hint, hint)

8.) When I was first learning to drive, you were so patient in the passenger seat. I loved it. Mom was always on the edge of her seat...thanks dad.

9.) You want me to be the best I can be, no matter what. Even if it's just washing a car, you say to do the best job on it. Don't just wash it once...wash it twice.

10.) And last but not least...you are my ping pong buddy. Playing ping pong is my favorite thing in the world to do with you. Not just because of that one time when I MASSACRED you by beating you 21-8 (remember, the day before you left for Hawaii...), but also because it's our little thing. You even stop watching the sports channel to come play with me. Thanks Dad!

Happy Father's Day Dad! You deserve the best!

The small things in life...

2008-05-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the best things in life are the small things, the little things that just bring a smile. Like giving someone a gift....

Or taking a corny picture with your brother....
Getting a "Happy 16th Birthday" banana...thanks Haylee!
Figuring out the easy way to do a puzzle...
Seeing old friends at prom...
Or just being silly. I did Jeanea's hair in this picture...

I think she looks like Gwyneth Paltrow off the movie

Emma. It doesn't look as good on me I don't think. Haha.

Tuesday

2008-05-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well everybody, it's Tuesday. You know what Tuesday means? Nothing anymore...Tuesday is (was) the day that I waited for for an entire week to come...it was the day the brought me so much to look forward to...it was the day I would see my Davids on tv. But Alas! no more Davids. I woke up this morning with the refreshing thought "Tuesday..." in my little brain and it suddenly vanished when I realized that what I would be watching on tv tonight would not be my favorite show American Idol. I have yet to even see what this mystery show is...maybe I won't even watch tv...maybe I shall just go into my room and grieve. Maybe I will do homework to ease the pain, get my thoughts on to something else...other than my all too soon lack for American Idol.
ANYWAYS.....I have volleyball tryouts tomorrow night for the summer league. I am super excited about this. Playing volleyball always makes me happy...see? :) smiley face. That's right, I'm happy right now. Because I'm thinking about volleyball. You just watch, though. In an hour I will be holed up in my room doing homework and crying over American Idol...Until next time, my merry readers.

Woot

2008-05-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally happened. I now have my lisence. I went in yesterday and took my test and passed with a 95% and have already been to Cottage Grove 2 times and I took my little sister to softball practice and I drove to school and back and went to Andrew Sanders house. Am I incredible or what? Haha. I'm glad I passed and that it's all finally over. Now I don't have to take the bus home every day or ask for a ride home if I'm sick of the bus. And every once in a while I can leave somewhere for lunch so I don't always have to eat school lunches...maybe I should just start packing my own. :) Bad habit...Anyhoo, American Idol is on tonight and I'm UBER excited. At this point I honestly don't care who wins...they both deserve it and I would buy both of their cds. So, on that note, GO DAVID!!

David & David

2008-05-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I think that tonight's outcome of American Idol was fairly predictable. Syesha...so long, farewell, blah blah blah blah blah...I don't know how to spell those words. Anyhoo, I think that David is gonna win... :)

American Idol review

2008-05-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well, everybody. It's finally happened. We all knew that day would come and we were all dreading it at the same time, even though we knew it had to happen. Brooke White has left the Idol stage..... I think her best performance (for me, personally) was her Dolly Parton song Joeline. I loved it! It was the performance where Simon called the fiddle player "weird", and then Brooke told him to apologize. It was all just very funny. My prediction for this week...I'm not going to say, because I'm really not sure. People are saying America will pull another "Chris Daughtry" and one of the David's will be sent home. I really hope not. David Cook is too perfect and David Archuleta is ....well....too perfect. :) Jason Castro has a lovely voice (and a lovely face). Syesha Mercado has a fabulous voice! But honestly....I think it's anyone's game. David Cook, though, is by far the most talented. We shall just have to wait and see, won't we? ;)

Yes, more

2008-04-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

So, the house we stayed in was absolutely amazing. The pool and the hot tub were fabulous. The house was comfortable and large and just had that feeling of "AHHHH", if you know what I mean. Relaxing. I want to go back again. Disneyland and California Adventure was very very fun and tiring! My feet did not want to take my body anywhere on the third day. But I made it through. Ugh...I even on THE MAAAAAAALIBOOOMER! It's that one ride that takes you up into the air at least a million feet at a million miles per hour and then drops you for 3 seconds. It's the worst feeling in the entire world....except for going on the ferris wheel. But Shane, Jill, Shelbea and I went on it (maliboomer) at night and we could see all the pretty Disneyland lights...it was pretty nice. Actually...I think I went on it twice. Once with everyone and then another with just Shelbea and I. California Screamin was my favorite ride there. I think I went on it a whopping 11 times. I know I went on it 4 times with just Shelbea and I. Fun times.... One of my favorite parts was eating at the Blue Bayou. That's the restaurant that's inside the ride Pirates of the Carribean. It was gorgeous. It was kinda bad at the same time too because I felt totally and completely sick to my stomach and I couldn't figure out why. Oh well. So I could only eat one slice of my incredible ham and cheese sandwhich on the best bread in the entire world. And then a hot waiter accidentally dropped a roll into my lap...it was cute. Hehe. Anywho...I'm probably missing a million things...but I can assure you I will write more about it later. It's my bed time...ish. Until next time....

catchup time!

2008-04-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Oy, this was a great ride. Shelbea and I went on it twice....scary.

now this is the most fun ride ever!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the scariest ride I've been on in my entire life! Never again will I go. I am deathly afraid of heights...i found that out on this ride.

Standing in line at the Pirates of the Carribean ride ....Johnny Depp!!

Shelbea and I at the entrance to Disneyland....

No idea what this building is...but it's beautiful. ;)

My gorgeous nephew Josh....his birthday is tomorrow!

Elsa and I at the Peter Pan ride....it was a long wait, but she did wonderful.

Princess video.

Oh Goodness....!

2008-04-14T21:24:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since I have blogged. I guess I kinda forgot. Much has happened since I last wrote. I went to Disneyland, I saw nana, I have the Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival coming up this Friday, which I am highly nervous about. Mr. Stranjord just told me today that if we go to finals I am to play the piano on a song that I have never seen before today. That just makes things worse doesn't it? I have the Jazz Cafe coming up this Thursday. I have 3 more weeks until my piano recital and I am planning on getting my lisence next month. I have turned in a job application and I picked another one up and I am in the process of picking up hopefully 3 more. Open gym for volleyball starts this Wednesday and I have never been so excited about playing volleyball before. I haven't played in over 4 months. I am honestly nervous and I'm never nervous about playing volleyball. I just haven't played in such a long time that I am convinced I'm going to make a complete fool out of myself. I am way out of shape and haven't touched up on my vball skills in a bit. Mom and I just went on a bike ride this weekend (twice actually) and we rode 13 miles. My bum is still in much pain from the uncomfortable seat. So are my legs. Not from the seat...from pedaling 13 stinkin' miles. Well, until Next Time. Don't worry, I shall put more pictures up soon. :)

Java....

2008-03-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

Everybody I have terrible news.....Java has died. Let's all just take a brief moment of silence....................Thank You. Java was a good little fishie. He swam like there was no tomorrow, He ate like no one was listening, and He pooped like no one was watching. Java, you were always my favorite fishie and I'll miss you bunches. Anyways, DISNEYLAND IS IN 2 1/2 DAYS!!!!

Chekezie...Chikezie...Chekizie?

2008-03-27T17:09:00.001-07:00

Well, who called it? Yeah, I did. I wish I would have done a post before American Idol last night like my dad wanted me to. I totally said that Chekizie was going to be voted off. I just "knew" it. David Archuleta did FANTASTIC as usual...as did David Cook. Those are both my favorite contestants. My Davids.... :) Syesha did AWESOME and I don't know why America put her in the bottom 3. NO, the bottom 2! Goodness. Michael Johns was "brilliant" as Simon said. Simon also said that David Archuleta's performance was "ghastly" and then went on saying something about animated creatures dancing around him and having everybody join in. And he didn't say it was a ghastly performance on a cruise ship...no, it was a ghastly performance in an amusement park. He's funny. Speaking of amusement parks....de de de DUH! Disneyland is coming up in 7 or 8 days. Somewhere around there. I'm kind of excited. Aren't you? :P

Mono no Mas :-)

2008-03-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

So I went to the doctor yesterday and I have no more mono. Yay. But....I do have a pulled abdominal muscle and that explains why my stomach hurts almost all the time lately. I'm going to blame it on my health teacher. Lately she's been making us go to the gym and do little workout like sit up and push ups and stretches and basketball and some other weird game where you have to touch the wall with a frisbee...weird. Anywho, I pulled that muscle on the day we did the sit ups (keep in mind I haven't done anything in over 4 months...). I was the girl who did the most sit ups and push ups in my class. :) I'm very competative. I knew I should have stopped earlier but I couldn't let Zach Maillard beat me. I have a very strong stomach and I could have done probably 30 more and he was sweating badly. It was gross.... But, I just think my health teacher is reliving her P.E. teacher days.

Good Times :)

2008-03-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got bored, so I asked Shelbea if I could do her hair. She said yeah. It was fun and she looked really good afterwards. Then I decided to get a little "Click" happy. :) These are the two best pictures. It's at times like these when I love having a little sister. Shelbea can be so much fun to hang around with. And she has a great silly face!

My Bed

2008-03-04T21:25:00.001-08:00

This is my new bed. This weekend we played a little game called "Musical Beds". We (dad and I) switched every single bed in the entire house. Yes, every bed. Dustin's bed (which was mom and dad's old bed) came into my room, my trundle bed went into Shelbea's room, Mom and dad's current bed went into Dustin's room and Shelbea's bed went into mom and dad's bedroom. Yeah, mom and dad are sleeping on a full size bed...not a queen. But don't worry! This will last for only a little while. It's quite hilarious actually. They have this huge bed frame and a bed that really isn't that small, but looks very tiny in that large frame. All in all, I love my new bed. It's so comfortable, and my feet don't hang off the edge anymore. I got this comforter about 2-3 months ago and have been itching to put it on a bed that it would fit ever since. It was definitely worth the wait!

Dance Pictures

2008-03-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

Karisa, Me, Haley, Kirstin and Mariah.
Sillyness...Silliness? Whatever..... :P
Katie Annett and I. She looked beautiful!
This is my friend, Kyle Fresky. He was Karisa's date. And yes, that is a "guitar hero" guitar.

This is how my hair turned out....
Mom took this picture. It's kinda fuzzy. Look at my red heels!!!!!!
Karisa and I

The Dance...

2008-03-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was Winter Formal. I hadn't planned on even going the entire week. But on Saturday it turned out I had absolutely nothing better to do. So why not pay $4 to dance and hang out with my friends? So I went. I wore my black and white halter dress and my mother had just recently bought me some "Red High Heels". I love them. I then went to Claire's and bought a red flower to put in my hair. Doing my hair was the most fun of the night probably....

American Idol

2008-02-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

This year American Idol has amazed me. The male talent out there is incredible. The only girl that is extraordinary (in my very personal opinion) is Syesha. She is terrific. Anyways, on Tuesday night the boys sang their songs and I fell in love with David Archuleta and Jason Castro. David is extremely talented...and young...and he plays the piano. Apparently, though, he's already won Star Search when he was 12 years old. I think he's the one. Jason Castro...wow, I just wanted to take him to the beach with me after he sang that song on Tuesday night. He could serenade me. I also love the dreadlocks on him. :) Anyways, we have another Chris Daughtry this year, it sounds like. His name is Michael Johns. He's from Australia and he's 27. He sang "Light My Fire" and it was well done. Let's see...Colton Berry is 17 and he's talented. He sang an Elvis song and he screams like a girl. Danny Noriega is a character. He sings very well...but I just don't think he's "all there" if you know what I mean.... Yeah. David Cook...I didn't get to see him, because our satellite went out for about five minutes. But from what I understand he's very good. David Hernandez was the first one and I loved him!!! Great voice. Well, that's all for now, American Idol fans. I thought I'd only talk about the guys since none of the girls seem very interesting to me. :)

Snow Pictures

2008-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures from that FABULOUS snow day we had a couple weeks ago. I know they're already on MySpace....but who does that? :P Actually, I took these pictures with my very own, personal camera that I got for Christmas and I absolutely LOVE it! Thanks mom and dad. Enjoy! Tree.....................................

Our mailbox...

It was painful to see our driveway be driven on, but I guess

it needed to be done.... :(

Higgins is simply adorable!!

My Fishies!

2008-02-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

I want to introduce you to my fish...Java. I have 5 others, but we'll get to them later. Java is my favorite fishy. In the morning I turn the fish tank light on and Java is always there to say Good Morning. Well, not in so many words...he follows my hand. I put my finger up against the glass and move it and he follows it. It's so fun. He LOVES his food. When I put the fishy food in the tank he swims in circles because he's so excited. He is also the only fish that would hold still for me long enough to take his picture! Good fishy. He has a..."partner". I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl (honestly, I don't know if Java is a boy...). But his partner's name is Kinko. It's easy to tell them apart because Java has a black tail.

Here they are together. Java is on the left and Kinko is on the right. Well, maybe later I'll get around to trying to capture my other 4 fish in a photo. Until next time...

Life

2008-02-08T22:27:00.000-08:00

Life has been interesting lately. So I thought I'd start a blog. Maybe it's because I want to share my point of view with the world or maybe it's just because I can. Either way, I'm here! I'm just your typical teenage girl that goes to school, plays volleyball, plays piano and is active in the performance choir. I have friends that are dramatic, annoying, and weird all at the same time...but I love them all. Lately I've learned that life throws hurdles at you in many different ways. Whether it's through dramatic friends or simply volleyball. My biggest hurdle recently is recovering from Mono. It's not easy and it's definitely not fun. I've been sick since December 19. On Christmas Eve I couldn't be with my family at my Grandparents house because I had a 103 degree fever. Two weeks later I'm at the doctor's office with this nurse shoving a cue tip down my throat to check for strep. Of course it came back negative. The next week the doctor said I had mono. I wasn't able to play volleyball for over a month and I was stuck at home for most of that month. I couldn't go shopping or hold my nephews or play with my beautiful neice. I even got beat by my sister-n-law, Jill at ping pong. I am still recovering. It's a long, slow process. And yes, it is the kissing disease. But I can promise you I've never been kissed... :)