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.

Alligators Under the Bed

This morning on the news there was a story about a man who slept all night with a 300 lb alligator hiding underneath his bed. The maid found it the next morning. That was my biggest nightmare growing up. I never put my hand over the edge of the bed in fear of losing my hand. I think this fear came from either watching Peter Pan movies too much, or that amazing kid's tv show, Zabommafu. Either way, the alligator was under some man's bed. I pray he does not have nightmares for the rest of his life.

Creative Writing...

So you may see a lot of posts on here from my Creative Writing class. My teacher asked us at the beginning of the class, "Who do you write for?" A lot of people said themselves. Her remarks surprised me. "Don't you think that's selfish of you? Why do you write if you don't want anyone else to read your work?" I thought about it and I agreed with her. That's why I want to post my stories here, for the world to see. I thought and thought about it and came to the conclusion that I write for God and for his glory. If my stories may bless someone else in some way, then I need to put them out in a way that others can read it. So there ya go!

The hook to my new story!

Everyone was out on the dance floor having a good time. Annabelle wore her new pink satin dress, which gracefully floated across the room as she spun and twirled. The band played with speed and zest as couples jumped from side to side and up and down. Martin looked devastatingly handsome in his navy suit and pink bowtie to match Annabelle’s dress. The couple looked almost picturesque as they slow danced and gazed into each other's eyes. The gaiety was contagious and there was not a single person in the hall that didn’t have a smile beaming from their face. However it only took a second for the joyful laughter to turn into shouts and screams as gunshots rang through the large wooden room. As the people scattered, only three were left lying in their own pools of blood on the cold dark-wooden floor.

Write A Story About This Picture. -15 min. go.

It was as if there was nothing left for me to live for. They took everything I had: my family, my house, my land and even my soul. All of it was gone, and there was nothing left inside of me. I looked out to the one thing that was still mine- my flock of sheep. Since the soldiers burned our house, Lyla and I had been sleeping in the fields near the church, snuggling next to the sheep to stay warm. I felt a tear roll down my hot face. I did not like to think of her gone. Where was she? Dead? In prison? I did not know. As I continued to gaze at the sheep, I heard someone calling to me.
"Excuse me, sir! Sir!" I looked over my shoulder to see a woman running towards me whom I did not recognize. She was an older woman with soft wrinkles between her brows. She had a sense of urgency in her voice. "Sir, your sheep! Please, I beg you, may I take your sheep? My family will die... Please sir, please help us!" I moved my head back towards the flock. They're small white bodies were perfectly content to just stand in one place and graze on whatever grass was left in the field. Everything I had was already taken by the soldiers and soon, I would be gone too. Maybe, I thought, this family of hers might make it through. "You can have my sheep," I told her.
The lady looked at me with a tender smile. Tears started falling down her aging face. She took my cold hands into hers and kissed them. "May God watch over you," she told me. And with that she rounded up my sheep and took them back down the path from where she came.

A Day in the Life of a Shoe -15 minutes go.

It is not easy being a shoe. As a shoe you have one job and one job only and that is to protect your master's foot. For some shoes, life is amazing... Like me for example. I have a wonderful master. Her name is Haley. Other shoes aren't so lucky. My friend Clog for example has a master who never changes his socks and loves to trudge his feet through the mud puddles outside his house. Poor Clog was sad and tried explaining how he felt to his master by crying a pitiful odor. He didn't get the message apparently and Clog has gone the way of all good shoes...(to the dumpster!) Poor Clog. I hope I stay on Haley's feet. Every once and a while she'll mess up and shove my face into a half-chewed piece of gum, but she cares about me enough that she will clean me up right afterwards. We go on many different adventures together. We go to school, to Grandma's and if I'm lucky, to the beach where I can get a nice massage and cleaning.

My name is Flip Flop by the way. I am green with white palm trees and am a size 9 and 1/2. I have been working in the Shoe League for about 3 years now and am nowhere close to retirement. I consider myself to be a reliable shoe... I haven't broken a bone yet! I think I have another solid 2 more years ahead of me still. That's a long time for a guy like me! So, if you are a piece of plastic, rubber or leather looking into joining the Shoe League, I highly recommend you try it out. There is no other job in the world as interesting as being a shoe!

Why Am I So Obsessed With Billy Joel?!

"Vienna" -Billy Joel

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me,
Why are you still so afraid? (mmmmm)

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day (Ay)

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (Oooh)
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)

Too bad, but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right (you're right)

You got your passion, you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true (Oooh)
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two (oooh)
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (oooh)
Why don't you realize... Vienna waits for you?

When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

The Questing Beast, Unicorns, and a Very Stupid Knight-This is what we read about when camp is empty.

Reading fantasy books is something new to me. I love adventure, but fantasy gets a bit over the top sometimes. However, it is helpful to enter a magical kingdom when the kingdom you live in is almost completely abandoned. 

Summer is over now and everyone has left, with the exception of the full time staff. It is kind of a depressing scene. I am beginning to miss Caleb's annoying songs, Josh's amusement at God's word-choices in the Bible, Laura's singing, Jess's inability to stop laughing, Matt's obsession with Hello Dolly music, and Rob's ability to make me so frustrated with him that I just want to bop him one in the nose. Everyone has become part of my daily routine. Now I no longer see their faces or hear their voices and it is kind of eerie. As a camp kid, I kind of get used to this silence, but this year it is a bit different for me. 

School is starting up soon, if it has not started already for others. I wish everyone the best of luck in wherever they are going this fall, whether it be back home to their local high schools or to college. 

I start school on Thursday and I am not done my homework yet. I plan to finish tomorrow, just in the nick of time. I was busy and distracted this summer... However, I enjoy the reading much better if I read it cover to cover instead of little bits at a time. I like to get lost in the story.

Right now I am reading The Once and Future King. I love it and hate it at the same time. Some of the quests are humorous and some are pointless.. I would really rather not hear about little children stabbing a precious unicorn to impress their mother, who did not care about the creature anyways. That was depressing. Sir Lancelot is also a ridiculously stupid character and also quite depressing. He does things he does not want to, and lies about them. He hurts everyone's feelings although he is just trying to be this righteous man. He really isn't. Hopefully the book ends on a positive note. I know that they all die, but hopefully they will on good terms. I am not familiar with the King Arthur story.

Well, I guess that is all I have to say for now. Back to reading! 

And So It Goes

In every heart there is a room

A sanctuary safe and strong

To heal the wounds from lover's past

Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones

You answered me with no pretense

And still I feel I said too much

My silence is my self defense

And every time I've held a rose

It seems I only felt the thorns

And so it goes and so it goes

And so will you soon, I suppose

But if my silence made you leave

Then that would be my worst mistake

So I will share this room with you

And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed

It's just as well for all I've seen

And so it goes and so it goes

And you're the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you

That's if the choice were mine to make

But you can make decisions too

And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes and so it goes

And you're the only one who knows

~Billy Joel

DMV, Poisonwood, and Camp

So, as I promised, I am making a post about my trip to the DMV. And.... I passed my test! I am now an officially licensed driver! I am so excited.

There isn't much to say about my trip to the DMV, other than waiting in the line for two hours was an excellent way for God to test my patience. The "written test" is no longer "written." It is on a touch screen computer. This is okay for people like me who know how to operate computers and work around their problems, but for the 75 year old lady next to me, it was not okay. The poor thing was forced to learn how to use a bogus computer under a clock. No one was allowed to help her and they wouldn't let her take her test on paper either. When I got back from my driving test, I learned that she had not passed and that she would be back to try again another time. It is amazing how much technology has changed in the lives of these elderly people who were born in the 1930s and 1940s. My grandmother still calls the iPad we bought her the "internet box" and still doesn't know how to use it despite our countless instruction lists which include pictures AND arrows! I love her to pieces for it. I just wish that the state would recognize their inability to use technology and cut them some slack from time to time.

Sorry I went on a little rant there!

I just finished The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Tata Jesus es bangala! It is one of the saddest, most depressing books I have ever read! I am soooo glad that it is over. I appreciated learning about the Congo, but the themes and ideas that came from this book drew me away from it. Thankfully we have been reading the book of 2 Timothy for our devotions as a staff here at camp and that has been helping me greatly. The two books contradict each other in every possible way. The Poisonwood Bible teaches me how NOT to be a Christian! Oh well... I finished it... It is D.O.N.E. The next book I have is called The Once and Future King about King Arthur and his knights! I am more excited for this one I think. Hopefully I won't fall asleep as much as I did the other one! That is the hardest problem for me and books... I usually like to read them from cover to cover. But, if I am not interested, I pass out and sleep for four hours, missing my reading time! Then it takes me weeks to read a book. Ellen Foster, the easiest English book I have ever had to read, took me a week when it should have only taken me two hours because I couldn't stay awake.

Camp is going well. This week is the beginning of the teen weeks. This week is senior high, and next week is junior high. I am supposedly on the list as a counselor for the second week, but I am going to guess that that is not going to happen since we only have about 35 kids signed up for that week... =( I guess it is the hardest week in the summer to fill because of all the sport camps that happen during that week. So please pray for the numbers to go up!

That is about all I have to say right now. Life was kind of slow this week since I wasn't working. But I am back on tomorrow and ready to clean some dishes WOOT WOOT!

A Wonderful Adventure

So this past Saturday, I was able to cross something off my bucket list. I hiked the mountain that sits right in my back yard! It has always sat there and stared at me saying, "come on, I dare you." Eventually I gave in to its nagging and begged Rob to hike it with me.
It was not easy, but I managed to make it to the top. Rob was so extremely patient with me and I am so grateful; I know I am not an easy person to hike a mountain with. He is a boyscout, so his natural instinct is to climb up to the top as fast as he can, while making the trip as difficult as humanly possible. Instead, he would hike a small bit and watch me suffer through the rocky terrain. On occasion, he would encourage me along too. ;)
My legs ached and my brain was mush, but the view from the top made it all worthwhile. As I looked out, I gazed upon God's creation and pondered how amazing He is. He is so creative and truly majestic.
After taking a break and eating our snack, we headed back down. The way down was not as difficult as the way up, however I was completely fried and our journey was silent. This is the moment when you know someone is truly your friend: when they watch you at your weakest point, struggling to keep going, sweat dripping down your face, and walking in total silence... yet they are content to just walk beside you. It was a cool moment.
When we came home, my mom made us chicken fajitas. These were not ordinary fajitas either, no. These were LIME flavored fajitas. Luckily my stomach was still hanging off the top of the mountain and I was not forced to eat more than two small bites of chicken!
After dinner, my mom sent us out on an adventure to find s'more ingredients. Surprisingly, Rite Aid and Mr. Mikes did not have marshmallows. I might have to talk to their marketing directors about that! Their businesses would do much better if they offer marshmallows and graham crackers on their shelves. Just saying. We wound up driving all the way to Market Basket. Meanwhile my dad was home getting the fire ready for us. The s'mores were delicious and it was the most perfect way to end our day. Unfortunately though, marshmallows and chocolate contain sugar, which is not something I should eat right before I want to go to bed because well... I can't go to bed... and that is not a good feeling when you are absolutely positively exhausted. I felt it the next morning, but like I said before, it was all worth it.
If you are reading this and you have not hiked a mountain before, I strongly urge that you do so. It will give you such wonderful feelings of joy and accomplishment. However, unlike me, I suggest that you prepare your body for it, otherwise you will be feeling pain for the next week or so. But, then again, that's the cool part about hiking a mountain: you have to experience the hardship before you can appreciate the beauty.

Coming soon: My adventures at the DMV!

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! The title of this blog is "turning the page..." which is exactly what I am doing by creating this new blog. As I enter into this new chapter of my life, I plan to write it all down here. I am not sure how many people will read it, but this is the place where I can log and look back on all of the wonderful adventures I plan to have in life. So, next chapter, here we go!