The Summer My Hair Turned Green

Green is not what one may call a natural hair color. Although it is a wonderful shade, I prefer to see it on leaves and in the grass than in my own hair. It all happened like this:

Campers: Haley, when did you dye your hair?

Me: I didn't dye my hair.

Campers: But Haley, your hair is green.

Me: No, my hair is yellow.

Campers: It looks green.

Me: Guys, this is called BLOONDEEE.

Campers: You really didn't dye your hair??

Me: No!!!

[Campers take picture and show it to me]

Me: Oh my goodness my HAIR IS GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would not go away. I had to go to the hairdresser's to get some sizzly stuff that had to sit on my head in the hot sun for an hour. The hairdresser said it was from our tap water. So, every time I take a shower, my hair turns a shade greener :( This made me sad. I have shampoo now that helps, but does not protect me fully.

This was my first summer home from college. My heart has been filled with different complicated emotions.

I have kept pretty busy. I worked at the "red shirt camp" and for my dad and tutored and taught Sunday School and went to town band practice and helped mom with church music some. I did not really have too much free time, but I do not mind that. I would so much rather be extraordinarily busy than extraordinarily bored.

We did move.... again. This time we only moved into a new house that was ours, and NOT across the country. We love it here. I feel so free. We are in a neighborhood, which is a completely new concept to me. I have always lived in the middle of the woods. It kind of feels like I am still living in a hotel, like it is all too good to be true. We have a pool, a beautiful mountain view and just an overall beautiful house. I thank God every day we are here.

I have also made some great new friends. Friends were always rare to come by for me. I have such definite values, that no one would even want to be my friend. I was always that "goody two shoes." I also see things differently from people. I always thought this was a bad thing, but I realize now it is not. I don't have to be like everyone else. God created me as me, and He did that for a purpose. I should not have to conform to the likes, dislikes, hobbies and theories of those surrounding me. These friends I have made are just like me. They think the same way and have the same morals. They are also the type not to give up on people or abandon a friendship. This makes me so glad. God literally placed these guys in my life.

Because it has been such a wonderful summer, being in a new house, working with kids and teens, and making great new friends, I don't want to go back to school. I need to stay, but I also need to go. I love my school so much, and there is no rather school I would be glad to go to, but it aches me to leave all the wonderful blessings God has provided me with here. I just have to look at it all with a positive attitude and think, at least I have great things to look forward to when I come home from school.

So, that is all about the summer my hair turned green. It has been one of the best summers of my life.

Tic Toc.. the time flies so terrifyingly fast

Wow has it ever been a while! I am so sorry... I suppose I forgot I even have a blog! I think it is time for me to start creating posts about my crazy adventures again.

I am at college now, and loving every moment of it. Not every girl can say they go to a school where the biggest freshman party is with root beer and a disco ball. I am so grateful for the lack of drugs and alcohol. I am so extraordinarily blessed.

Marching band was an interesting adventure. I hate saying that I am kind of glad that it is over. Our director somewhat ruined it for me. We knew his passion was not us... we knew he wasn't proud of us and we knew he didn't like us. It makes it really hard to improve when you don't have the encouragement to do better. Concert band starts next semester and praise the Lord that I have a different director. I can't wait to REALLY play my flute again!!!!!

I have made the most wonderful friends... They share my values and live by them; it is an amazing thing. I have waiting for bosom friends for a long time. I have wonderful friends from high school and earlier don't get me wrong, but it is nice to have support from friends who take a Biblical point of view and encourage me with my walk with God. I needed that.

There are good looking guys everywhere I look. It is absolutely insane. The only thing is that I don't know any of them. The most attractive Christian gentlemen walk past me on a daily basis and I don't even have the guts to tell them my name. I don't want to date though. I just want to meet the right one. If I meet him at school great, if I don't I don't. I just hope I don't miss out on any great opportunities.

I am home now for Christmas break. It feels very strange being here. So much life has passed since I have been here and I can't describe with words to my friends how amazing my school is. I feel so detached from this community. I never really fit here to begin with, but it is alright. Being with my parents is all that matters. I have missed them a lot and I know that they have missed me too. I think it must be harder for them than for me, as they are going about their normal routine as usual, which I used to be a part of. There is an empty room at the house and an empty spot at the table. While I have missed them, I am grateful for the business college gives me to not get homesick. I am always working and doing things.

I have a new roommate than who I started with in the beginning. It just did NOT work out between Callie and I. On paper we get along great, but in person, we are two completely different people. I think we were raised differently and with different values. I have a new roommate now whose name is Grace. She is so amazingly sweet. Her name is Grace and she is from the beautiful land of California ;) she is not like me at all. She has piercings up her ears, has a dreadlock, and says "yeah, man." I love who she is though... I wouldn't change one thing about her. I think we get along so well because although we have different personalities, we have the same values and habits (like sleep.... sleep is very important in college and we both like to have it). I hope that we always remain friends. I have learned so much from her about what it means to walk a Christian life.

Overall, I am so happy. I don't know how to thank God in words for all He has done for me. I know most people connect to God in trials and times of need, but I have never felt more connected to Him than now. I am so blessed with a great family, wonderful friends and a spectacular school. I hope this time doesn't fly by too fast.

173 Days Until Band Camp!

I am so extraordinarily excited to say that band camp for college is in 173 days! I could not be any more anxious for it. This is what fills my soul. God has been so good to me to find me a school where I will be able to do all the things I love and learn more about Him at the same time.

 

I already am enrolled at school and have a roommate. Her name is Callie! I will not post the name of the school in here for privacy reasons, but I will say that there is no other school in the world like it. It may not be the most academically challenging, and it isn't in a beautiful area, but it DOES have the best atmosphere. I could not sleep last night as I felt like a little girl getting ready for Christmas. It is crazy that this is my last full year living at home. I am excited to start a new adventure, but I know my parents will be very sad. I honestly do not know how I will react being 16 driving hours away. Will I get homesick? I am not sure. I AM sure though, that this school is where I belong.

Pizza, Writing and Flute

I have to start with a statement... I LOVE MY SENIOR CIVICS CLASS! I love being able to voice my political opinions in class. I am learning so much about government not from reading a textbook, but by discussing issues and debating how we would handle them right in our very own classroom. Most everyone in the class is well informed. I love being aware of everything that is happening on the news because people surprisingly listen to me on certain subjects. I have never had people really ask me for my opinions before or see if I knew what was going on. It's really great. The discussions get heated, and statistics are thrown, however never viciously. We all respect one another's opinions, which is very rare, and a huge blessing to me.

Part of our Senior Civics homework is to prepare a family dinner. I decided to cook pizza. It was good. I DIDN'T RUIN IT! I was very excited. I set the table to make it look nice and we had some really great discussions. As a class, we believe that coming together at the very least once a week as a whole family is a necessity for a properly functioning society.

Creative Writing class is over tomorrow and I am so sad. I have never experienced a greater joy in a class than in Writing. My teacher knows just how to make it fun and exciting. She is a fantastsic critic and has even published a book of her own. I will miss her when I graduate.

In a couple weeks I have music auditions for schools. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME! I am very nervous. I have practiced my butt off, but I still need a lot of help.

Thanks for listening!

Did someone say COLLEGE? (Senioritis 101)

So I went to the doctor and I have been diagnosed with senioritis. I am ready to graduate now. I like being a teenager but I am ready to be out of here. Every morning we crawl into school at 6:45 and I say "Mom, how many days left?" Yes, that is right. I have started a countdown. There is just something about looking forward to that new adventure that makes you anxious. You try so hard to find the one place where you fit and then all of a sudden... "Sorry, you aren't allowed to be here until next fall." Stinkamaroo.

I have narrowed my colleges down to three. I will not list them here, but I will say that they are all great schools. Unfortunately my favorite is the farthest away, but I believe that this school will be the perfect fit for me.

It is so exciting to hear where everyone wants to go and what they want to do. It is incredible how much of a difference this class can make. I am so proud to call them my classmates. Our first high school reunion will be a ball. We all want to outdo each other and I have a feeling that this will continue past our high school experiences.

I often wonder where I will be in the next 8 or so years. Married? Teaching? In the country, out of the country, near home, away from home. What color house will I have? WILL I have a house? I ask God these questions and he hasn't answered me yet. I suppose that is a good thing. If we knew where we would wind up in life, would we stop trying? God has a reason for everything He does and I am so blessed to know He is on my side.

The Diner

So I work in a diner. It is a great place to be. Diners truly are the heart of America. We get people from all different walks of life come through our doors from the President of the United states to the people who can't even afford to by a large drink. We get artists, musicians, teachers, politicians, girls, guys, kids, senior citizens and everyone in between. It is a place in America where we can forget our differences and just sit down for a nice warm cup of coffee. Regular. 3 creamers.

I love the regulars who come in. I don't know all of them, but I am learning about the Saturday morning regulars very well. There's this one guy who comes in and laughs at facebook pictures for two hours. He is a teacher and could never be kinder. There's also Pat, the owner's father. What a great guy he is. He is always encouraging me. Then there's the artist who draws cartoons on napkins for us every morning. I have to say that my favorite regulars is the senior couple who love to just spend time with each other. They remind me of the couple from Up. He loves her so much. He also has his own diner mug, special just for him! A lot of times we don't have to ask people if they want a cup of coffee because we just know that they do. It is wonderful!

Right now I am busing tables, but once a week I go in for waitress training. Isn't that exciting? The tips are fantastic and the people are great. I have really nice bosses too. I was thinking I might make them a cake for National Boss Day next Wednesday (I think it is.) The best part of working at a diner is that there is always work to be done. There is no time for playing games and social drama. It is a great break from high school, let me tell you!

So you have heard the good, now let me tell you the bad. The bad is that we are in a government shut down. You know why? Because politicians are deaf and don't know how to listen to the American people! They refuse to sit down and compromise. Why? I could go into very many reasons why, but for the sake of my readers, I won't go too deep into politics. All I know is that our nation seems to be in trouble, politically and morally speaking.

Politicians need to be more like diner people. They need to sit down and have a cup of coffee and just talk, person to person, not democrat to republican. They need to remember those Elementary school lessons of "learning to walk in somebody else's shoes." Maybe 3rd grade is really where they all belong right now I don't know.

They all want the same thing: to do what is best for the American people. They share a common goal. That is a start to where they need to be. Also, if it is the people they are attempting to help, why don't they try to ask the people how they feel on certain issues.

My message to Congress is this: go to a diner. Have a cup of coffee. Enjoy the warm smiling faces of the people around you. Listen to their conversations. Hear what they have to say about the issues. Make a promise to yourself that you will fight for what you think is right, not what will get you the most money. You were elected to make a difference in this country. So man up and do it.

Smile, Praise and a Piece of Chocolate

I don't think I have ever felt this lonely before. I am almost 18 years old. It is about the time when I have to start growing up: making my own decisions, making money, paying for different necessities. It is really scaring me. My parents are backing away, which is great because they want me to succeed on my own, but frightening at the same time. No more holding my hand. It's time to live the way I choose. That is a difficult thing to do when you are an indecisive person like myself.

However, that is not the only reason why I am lonely.

The other day, someone was driving me home after an NHS project. I told her how I was working at a diner. I was telling her my hours and she noticed that I had Friday nights free. "That's great!" she said. "You can still go out and party on Friday nights!" I am not much of a "party person" and I told you that. "Well, not party, but hang out with you friends." I thought about it... I don't really do that. Who would I hang out with on a Friday night? I didn't have an answer. My high school is not my favorite place. It is just a place to pass through. This town is not where I would choose to spend my Friday nights.

So you are probably thinking, well, she has to have SOME friends. I do have friends and I love them dearly. But lately, friendship has seemed to be a one-way-street instead of two. Some friends don't find me "cool" enough and no longer wish to sit with me at lunch. Others pound me with arguments. I love to debate; it is one of my very favorite things to do... However it is not as much fun when you feel as though you are being ridiculed for your beliefs. I don't just believe what people tell me to believe in. I do my own research. There are friends who never write to me first. There are also friends who worry me with their bad habits. That's a problem I have; I worry too much about others. Why don't I let them just mess up their own lives? I want what is best for others and I give too many second chances.

I am so glad that I have God in my life. I feel so lost now; just imagine how lost I would be if I didn't have him in my life! I know this is just a phase and I have to get through it. There is so much more to life than worrying about friendships. I have a kingdom to help build.

The best thing for me to do right now is smile.

"Smile though your heart is aching, smile although it's breaking. Although there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by if you just smile."

"It's what you wear from ear to ear and not from head to toe that ma-ha-atters."

Smile, and praise God for all his many blessings. And... maybe eat a piece of chocolate.