Shin Splints

Last night was a very rainy game. We had a game at Gardiner Highschool and during Varsity's game is was quite rainy and gross. The JV coaches cancelled then uncancelled our game. We only played 25 minute halves. Mackenzie and I did some really good overlap passes. We lost 0-1 though... Also, I think I have shin splints now. They're not too bad but they're there. :/  Atleast we only have like 4 soccer games left so it won't be too bad.

Dad is borrowing a red car while a car place fixes our van. It's a small bright red Ford car. It's kind of cute! :P The funny thing is, Doug is petrified of it! He won't go near it! Dad made him go for a short ride to see if Doug wouldn't be so scared after but I'm not sure if it helped. It's HILARIOUS watching Doug avoid the car as much as possible.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Today, I have a game against Gardiner. :) I can't wait! I just LOVE soccer games. I hope we win! We've only won one game so far. Last game we didn't do so well the first half, but we did really well the second half. I hope we can play that well for the whole game today! I had a really good practice yesterday so I hopefully I'll "play like I practice" today.

Today is also one of the my soccer team member's birthday! I baked her some chocolate chip cookies! Here's the recipe...

4 sticks of margarine
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Mix.
3-4 eggs
Mix.
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
Mix
2 cups of chocolate chips
Mix.
Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

This is a double batch so if you have a small family you may want to split the recipe in half.
Enjoy!

Why You Shouldn't Swear

First off, why do you swear? Is it because it's cool? Is it how you express your anger, frustration, and maybe even your curiousity?

Swearing is bad. It's not "cool" to swear. It is completely the opposite of cool! I think it's cool to have a big vocabulary of different words, nice words. Two friends of mine on my soccer team told me one day that they used to swear so much worse in like 6th grade and middleschool because that's when they actually had the "guts" to swear. They still swear, just not as much. Guts? You shouldn't need "guts" to say anything unless you're speaking in front of a big crowd or you're about to propose to your girlfriend.

You swear to express your anger. Yeah, so you're angry... I don't know about you, but when I get angry, I don't swear, and I have a bad feeling inside me when I'm mad. I pray to God to take away my anger and He usually does pretty speedily. Expressing you're anger usually isn't the best thing to do. Take a deep breath, count to ten and think again about what made you mad. Is it really worth it? I certainly hope not. If it is, though, just tell that person (if it's a person that made you angry) in a nice way that what they did wasn't nice and you'd like them to apologize. It may not be easy, but it's turns out alot nicer. :)

I am 16 years old and I have never sworn in my life. I think it's possible to break your habit of swearing and not to swear. It'll be hard, but it's possible! I know some one who has done it.

Here are some Bible verses about swearing:

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. - Exodus 20:7

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
-Ephesians 4:29

See how long you can go without swearing. Do it with a friend and support each other. I challenge you not to swear.

Nephews are the Best!

We just officially joined Free Grace Presbyterian Church! Last night, we met with the elders and Pastor Per. I'm really excited. Free Grace is real nice and a small church. Free Grace has really good hymns and songs on Sunday mornings, prayer meetings once a month and "Digging it Deeper" studies on the sermon every Wednesday night.

Tim brought Gabe over so we could babysit him while Tim worked and Angie went to a massage in Freeport. Mr. Gabester has LOTS of energy and is very adorable! Since he's two years old he can say two to three word sentences. I love listening to him talk! He's going to be and is a smart kid!

Gabe likes to laugh at his Auntie.

Yesterday, I had the day off from Soccer. That was nice because I got to take my time on my school, catch up on my email, hang with Gabe, and relax around the house.

A Short Visit with the Richards Family

On Friday evening after my soccer game, we headed to Augusta for a Benefit Concert that Shannon and some other SMASHer's were a part of. Billy, Mom, Dad and I were really late because of our games so we only saw the very last event at the concert which was Joel playing the piano. When the concert was over we all went downstairs for refeshments. :) When us SMASHer's finished our refreshments we went outside and played ninja, sang random songs, and talked a bit. When it was time to leave for the Richards, Mrs. Richards drove up where everyone was hanging out and Rebecca, Tucker, and I got in the car.

When we got to the Richards, I took a shower because I hadn't gotten a chance to shower after my game, and then we talked downstairs with Bonnie and Taylor for a bit. After Bonnie and Taylor left, Tucker, Rebecca and I listened to some music on Tucker's iPod, then Rebecca and I went to bed.

The next day, Rebecca and I made banana bread french toast. It was SO good! After breakfast, Rebecca and I listened to music while we cleaned the house a little. Rebecca put things away and I swept a couple rooms. Rebecca then played some songs on the piano for me. She also went to go print some music sheets of off a website so Tucker and I played the card game 31 for a very short time until it was time to leave.

Mrs. Richards, Rebecca, Tucker and I went to the Smith's "to be" house. They are building a brand new one. Rebecca and I painted two ceilings, held baby Matthias, ate delicious chilli, cookies, grapes, and I played fetch with the Smith's dog named Libby (short for Liberty). Dad came and picked me up around 4:30pm. It was alot of fun! Thanks Richards family for having me! :D

Gabe in Boots

Last night I had a very good soccer practice and then our team had pasta dinner in the cafeteria. It was DELICIOUS! Thank you to the moms that helped out!

Also last night, Gabe (my nephew) came over for a few hours so Tim and Angie could go on a date for their Anniversary. They have been married for four years now. :D
Gabe is very entertaining, funny, and adorable! While he was here he wanted to try on Auntie Shannon's big boots. So, I helped him try them on and he liked them! It was hard for him to walk though. :D He's SO cute!

Auntie Shannon and Gabe with Auntie Shannon's boots on.

Isn't he cute? You should've seen him trying to walk in them.

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

Last night, I made these peanut butter filled chocolate cookies for my soccer team's pasta dinner tonight. I had made them once before with a slightly different recipe, but I couldn't find that specific recipe. These cookies are REALLY good. They're liked baked Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.  So, if you love peanut butter and chocolate combined, this is the cookie for you! :D My family loves it. Although, my Dad would prefer just pure chocolate.

It's pretty rainy today. I'm curious to see if we'll have practice, and if practice gets cancelled if we'll still have our team pasta dinner.

I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE listening to the Cello! If I could, I'd learn how to play it but I don't know anyone who teaches it, and if I even have the time to pick up and play a musical instrument. There is a band called the 2CELLOS and they are FANTASTIC Cellists!

This is a video of Welcome to the Jungle by 2CELLOS. It's REALLY cool!

How to Entertain Yourself in the Car

Yesterday I had a 2 hour bus ride to Thorndike for a soccer game against Mt. View. We lost 1-3. :/

How to entertain yourself in the car by yourself: At night, I usually listen to my iPod and text people. During the day, I look at all the car symbols on the back of cars and see if I can name them.

How to entertain yourself in the car with friends: Play the alphabet roadtrip game, sing songs, and tell or make up stories.

Here's how you play the Alphabet game. Some of you may be thinking of a different alphabet game where you're competing with others to get through the alphabet first This is more of a memory game than a competition. You have to go through the alphabet and think of something you're going to bring on "the road trip" starting with the letter 'A'. Let's use the word "apple" for example. The next person says, "I'm going on a road trip and I'm going to bring an apple and a book.". You have to continue going through the alphabet until you've reached the letter 'Z'.

On the way back from my game, my friend Sarah, Ashley , Mackenzie and I played the Alphabet game. I'll try and recite what we "brought on the road trip". We reached my stop before we got to finish the game though. 
Mackenzie started, then me, then Ashley, then Sarah, then back to Mackenzie.

Mackenzie, "I'm going on a road trip and I'm going to bring an apple."
Me, "I'm going a road trip and I'm going to bring an apple and a baboon."
Ashley, "I'm going on a road trip and I'm going to bring an apple, baboon and Cora." (a Freshmen girl on Varsity)
Sarah, "I'm going on a road trip and I'm going to bring an apple, baboon, Cora, and a dragon."

If you don't mind, I'm going to just skip the whole dialog thing and list everything off.
Apple, baboon, Cora, dragon, elephant, flamingo, giraffe, hippo, iguana, jaguar, Kelly (aka KP, the Varsity goalie who is a Sophmore), llama, mango, nut, Operation, platypus, Queen of England, ring, saxaphone, truck, underwear and velociraptor. I can't remember what 'W' was and we didn't get to X, Y and Z in time.

It's a really good memory, funny, and random game. Trust me, we laughed a BUNCH!

Various Things

I have a soccer game at Mt. View (Thorndike) today. It's about two hours from Leavitt Area Highschool so it's going to be a VERY long bus ride. Plus, it's rainy today. Tomorrow is supposed to be the only clear, sunny day of the week and it's the only day I would actually want it to rain so I can go to SMASH. Oh well. :/

On Sunday, I took family portraits of most of the families in our church because Dad, Shannon and I are making the church directory. The backdrop I dyed and sewed turned out very nicely!

I really like this song Rolling In The Deep by Adele. She has a really good voice!

Where do they come up with these music videos? Some of them make no sense.
This song also reminds me of some of my friends at Deerwander because we sang it alot in our cabin.

Movie Review on Soul Surfer!

The other night my family, Sarah, Casey and I watched Soul Surfer. It was really good! :D I highly recommend it! It's about a girl named Bethany Hamilton that lives in Hawaii with her Christian family and friends and she LOVES to surf! Bethany is VERY good at surfing and one day while she was surfing with some of her friends a shark bit her left arm off. It was a miracle she survived! But after she healed she started surfing again and touched so many people's hearts. This movie was based on a true story.
"Surfing isn't the most important thing in life. Love is. I've had the chance to embrace more people with one arm than I ever could with two" -Bethany Hamilton

Here Comes Fall!

Sniffly noses, hoodies, jeans, fuzzy slippers, and flannel shirts. It's that time of year again! It's beginning to get cold outside. Soon the crisp fall smell will come and the leaves will start to change colors pretty fast. There a few places here and there where the leaves are already changing colors.

My favorite things about this season are the crisp cold smell in the morning, the leaves changing color, the fact that I get to wear jeans and hoodies, it's the perfect time to take pictures of people because the background is really nice, SMASH starts, Soccer games, and Fall means that Winter is approaching! :D

The downsides of Fall are that it's too cold to go swimming, I won't see summer for about 7 months, the sniffly noses, it takes longer to get ready to go outside, and raking leaves.

1/3 Done!

Dad and I are going to be putting together our church's directory with family pictures and all! On Sunday I'll be taking everyone's family portrait. I'm working on making a back drop right now. So far, I've gotten one half of it dyed. I have to dye the other half and then sew them together. So, I'm about 1/3 done.

If you haven't noticed, I am learning to be a photographer. I absolutely love photography! I have alot to learn with photography though.

Here are some pictures I took this summer.

4th of July!

This is a view from a tiny window at the top of the Washington Monumont.

This is at the bottom of the Washington Monument. The sunset was beautiful.

This is a fountain in NYC. I'm not sure why it's sideways.

Best drink ever! This is in D.C. I'm not sure why it's sideways.

First Victory!

We won yesterday's soccer game! The score was 2-1. It was our first win! Mackenzie scored both goals with fantastic assists from Allison and Kelly, I believe. Awesome job, ladies!

I played left defense that game. :/ I don't really enjoy defense. Especially when I get subbed like 3 times... I normally play midfield or offense and play almost the entire game. Oh well, I hope Coach changes her mind and puts me back on offense or midfield.

Last night, when I came home from my game Tim, Angie, and Gabe were at my house. :D That was a delightful surprise! Tim was doing some work for Dad and Angie and Gabe came to visit while he worked. Gabe was very entertaining. He is also starting to talk alot more. Such as, "Auntie draw?", "Auntie have boo-boo.", *Gabe pressing two Easy buttons at the same time* "Easy big!", "Pop-pop sit.". Gabe would also make certain animal sounds like a monkey or a dog and he likes to say "Hi!" alot.

This is my nephew Gabe and I! He's telling everyone in the room, "Auntie dance! Auntie dance!".

Soccer!

Today I have a soccer game against Winslow! It's my first away game of the season but not our team's first away game. I missed our away game at Lincoln Academy because it was last Saturday while I was in Massachusetts.

I play soccer for Leavitt Area High School in Turner. I'm co-captain of the JV team. My co-captains are Sarah (defense), Eliza (offense), and Cassandra (defense). JV is alot of fun!

21 Gun Salute

As you know, yesterday was September 11th. We were at Battleship Cove so they did a special ceremony for the 9/11 attack. One of the events they did for the ceremony was a 21 Gun Salute. That was REALLY cool!
Here is a picture I took of them firing one of their 5 inch twin guns.

It was SO loud! What was so amazing was that they only used 1 pound of gun powder. They normally use 15 pounds of gun powder. I can't imagine how loud it was back when the battleship was in battle!

Here's a picture of the ceremony they had for the 9/11 attack.

Here's a picture of a piece of the Twin Towers that I got to touch.

 Overall, I had a fantastic time with my friends! I highly recommend you go to Battleship Cove.

Battleship Cove

Tomorrow morning we are going to Battleship Cove with my family (minus Mom because she has to work), Rebecca, Tucker, Pastor Sam, Mrs. Richards, Mr. Estes, Nick, Joel, Kenan, Linnea, Catherine, and Colin! I can't wait! A few years ago, my family went to Battleship Cove and had a BLAST! It was SO cool! We got to sleep aboard the USS Massachusetts, explore almost the entire ship, and check out other historical boats, helicopters and submarines! I'll be sure to blog all about our experience this weekend on Monday! :D

Tonight I have a soccer game against Marancook! I'm excited! I absolutely LOVE playing soccer.

Introducing Me

For those who don't know me already, I just realized I never really introduced myself! Hi, I'm Colleen. I'm 16 years old. I'm homeschooled and I always have been homeschooled.

I'm a Christian. I attend Free Grace Presbyterian Church.

My favorite sports are Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer, and Softball. I'll play pretty much any other sport (there's no guarantee I'll be good at it though) as long as it's not football. I'm not really a football fan. I don't really follow any professional sports teams but I consider myself a Red Sox fan and I sometimes enjoy watching professional Tennis. My Dad is a HUGE fan of Tennis. In fact, if you play, or, have played Tennis at some point in your life, I'm sure Dad would LOVE to play some Tennis with you.

I have 4 older siblings and no younger siblings. My oldest brother is named Tim and is married to Angie and they have one son named Gabriel, and a baby girl due to be born in October. :D My oldest sister is named Abbey and she is a junior at The King's College. My sister Shannon is the middle child and she is taking a CNA class in Auburn. My brother Billy is actually my twin who is older than me by a minute. My parents are fantastic people. Dad has his own business called The Geekteam where he builds websites. My Mom is a RN and works at CMMC. I also have a pug named Doug and he's adorable and has QUITE the personality. I am so blessed with the family I'm in. I love them VERY much! <3


I have a mini photography business that my dad helped me start. I've had some big and lots of little photography "gigs" here and there. I've done a small wedding, and I took pictures at a First Communion and Confirmation at the Basilica in Lewiston, sports team pictures, portraits for SMASH, I did our previous church's directory and I'll be doing our current church's directory in two weeks, and some people have asked me to do their Senior Pictures. It's alot of fun but I couldn't have done it with out my Dad's help!

This is a song I like that sort of relates to this blog post. It's called Introducing Me by NIck Jonas.

SMASH

SMASH is a fantastic homeschool group that does Shakespeare plays. SMASH stands for Southern Maine Association of Shakespearean Homeschoolers. Pastor Sam Richards is the director and founder of SMASH.

(From left to right) Ben, Sarah and Pastor Sam

Above is a picture of Pastor Sam directing Sarah how to act like Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I have been doing SMASH for about 6 years. My first play was The Merchant of Venice and I played Stephano, I was stage crew for Twelfth Night, Photographer for Love's Labours Lost, Sampson in Romeo and Juliet, Juno in The Tempest, and a fairy named Dewdrop and an attendant to Hippolyta  in A Midsummer Night's Dream. This year in SMASH we are doing Much Ado About Nothing and I have a small part named George Seacoal. I'm really excited to do this play. It's definitely one of Shakespeare's best!

First Day of School.

Woo hoo! Today is my first day of school. I'm a junior this year! Man, I feel old...

This school year I plan on doing a blogpost everyday. The other subjects my Mom has planned out for me this year are World History, English, Bible, Chemistry, a foreign language (probably Spanish) and Khan Academy Math. I'll be doing accounting math once my Mom finds a good curriculum. It's going to be a very busy school year for me because I also have soccer five days a week at Leavitt Area High School, and SMASH once a week. I'll explain what SMASH is tomorrow. This school year is going to be very fun!