Christmas Vacation!

Today, I officially received my permit because I completed my 10 hours of driving. :) I'm really happy.

Christmas vacation starts tonight so I won't  be blogging for awhile. Abbey just got home from college! :D We're about to watch Elf. Tomorrow, I'm going ice skating for the first time ever.

Farewell for now! Have a merry Christmas!

PERMIT!

Last night, I received a 90 on my permit test! :D I also got a 95 on my homework, and a 90 for my over all test average on the practice tests we took. I'm pretty satisfied. Billy got a 98 on his permit test. :) We can't get our permits until we drive one more time on Friday with our instructor.

Later this afternoon, I am going to Meti's house to help and have Mrs. Taylor teach me how to do Meti's and maybe Tigist's hair. I'm really excited! The Taylor's are such an awesome family! After we do hair, we are going to Bible study at the church!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tonight I take the test to get my permit! :D I'm pretty nervous but I'm also excited!

Last Sunday, we had a church Christmas party at the Almquist's house. It was really great! We laughed so much, ate delicious food, and sang Christmas songs and carols! Thank you for you wonderful hospitality, Almquist family!

Awhile back, we decorated the church and it snowed right as we were finishing. :)

Hot chocolate at the Road Side Cafe!

Christmas colors on my nails for the church Christmas party.

Don't forget the true meaning of CHRISTmas. :)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Saturday morning, I went with Shannon to drop Billy off at CMCC. Shannon and I went to Heidi's for breakfast. As I was finishing my breakfast sandwich, my classmates began to show up. Shannon left and once everyone arrived, Michelle (the owner of Heidi's) told us all about her starting the restaurant. We got to ask her some questions too. She is a really sweet lady! After about an hour or so, she let us go up and order a snack/sandwich. Mr. Morrison bought them all with the discount Michelle gave us! After we had gotten all our sandwichs, we walked over to the Marriott in next to Walmart. We used their conference room to discuss what we learned from Michelle. We also talked about all the little details in starting businesses, and business names. We got dismissed 15 minutes early. I waited for Shannon and Billy to picked me up and then we drove to the movie theater!

This is what you've been waiting to read about (well, maybe), Shannon, Billy, Sean, Allison, Dan, Peter (Dan's brother) and I went to see The Hobbit. It was brilliant and hilarious! :D I really enjoyed it! It was nearly 3 hours long but I don't think the movie dragged at all. One of my favorite quotes that Gandalf said was after Bilbo wished him a good morning, "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?. They did a really good job at the Dwarve's songs. Martin Freeman was the perfect person to play the younger Bilbo. His facial expressions, hand gestures, and the emotion he put into Bilbo were priceless.

After the movie was finished, I had to go home, get ready for work and then go to work. It was a good night at work!

Almost Finished With Drivers Ed!

I don't have much to blog about besides the fact I had Drivers Ed. class again last night. Billy and I drive with our instructor one more time on Monday. If the weather is really bad, we'll drive with him on Wednesday. Next Tuesday, we have about 2 1/2 chapters to go over and then we are taking the PERMIT TEST! I hope I pass!

Tomorrow morning, I have a YEA! field trip at Heidi's Brooklyn Deli. We're going there for an hour and then we are going to the Marriott to discuss our field trip and business names. Right after we get done class in the Marriott, Billy and Dan are going to pick me up and then we are going to the theater to see The Hobbit! :D  We're meeting Sean, Allison, and maybe a few other friends there. I'm super excited! Right after the movie I have to head home to go to work.

Non-stop Busy

Last Saturday, morning the Kidd family picked me up and we drove to the Wardwell's house for John's birthday party. Emily brought Millie and I inside. We met Mr. and Mrs. Wardwell, and Emily's friend Ruthie. Emily, Ruthie, Millie, and I "baked" a prank cake. We blew up a balloon and taped it to a cereal box and covered it in whipped cream and sprinkles. :) After we made that, we made peanut bars covered in melted chocolate. Emily made some hot chocolate and then Ruthie drove us and Emily's older sister to the Poland High School. We watched the guys play football in the rain for a little while and then we went back to the house because it was cold! Everyone that was playing football ended coming back too.

Mrs. Wardwell made some delicious macaroni and cheese with red hotdogs. After lunch the guys played Black Ops and other "shoot 'em up" video games. We had John cut the "cake" we made for him. It deflated. He thought it was funny and his friends were kind of disappointed. :) Then we brought down, by John's request, the peanut butter bars.

Mom and Dad came and picked me up soon after that. When I got home I did a few chores for Dad and then I got ready and left for work.

After work, Corrie came home with me. Millie and Kevin were sleeping over so we talked to them for awhile.

On Sunday, we had a good church service. Pastor Per preached on The Mystery of Marriage. 'Twas very good! :)

After church, Millie, Kevin, and Erin, helped us help Tim and Angie move into their new house in Poland. There were quite a few people from their church, Aunt Debbie and David, and Ralph, as well. It was fantastic! Loading up the moving truck took a little while but when we unloaded at the house, it only took about a half an hour! After we finished unloading the truck, we quickly said hello to Addie and Angie and then we left. We dropped Millie and Kevin off at the Crawford's house. Erin came back to our house and we baked cookies and then left for Home Group at the Taylor's house. That was fun! We had good fellowship and a good Bible study. Mrs. Taylor and I talked about hairstyling quite a bit. She does such a good job on her children's hair. I might help her do their hair over Christmas break.

On Monday, Billy and I drove with our instructor again. We did parallel parking for the first time. I didn't do very well though. :/ Monday night, I went to YEA! class. We did a little class discussion and then we worked on our business plans in the computer lab.

Tuesday morning, I did some school in the car while Mom and I drove to Poland to visit Angie, Gabe and Addie. We helped unpack a few boxes, cleaned a few dishes, played with Gabe and Addie, and talked quite a bit with Angie. It was really enjoyable. :) Tuesday night, we had driver's ed class for three hours.

On Wednesday, I drove with my instructor while Mom rode in the back seat. We drove around Lewiston for about 2 hours. It went pretty well. It only took me one try to parallel park this time! :D At the end of my two hours, we drove to the Roadside Cafe, where Billy was waiting. Billy, Mom, and our instructor went and drove for two hours while I sat in the cafe. I ordered Mac & Cheese for lunch. It was SO good and filling! It came with two grilled pieces of bread too. I also bought myself a hot chocolate. The owner of the bakery/cafe and I talked quite a bit because business was kind of slow and I was the only one there for awhile. She was really nice! I may get a summer job there.

12/12/12

I just wanted to post a blog post today because it's a very special day! It's the twelfth month, twelfth day of the month, and the year 2012! This is a very short blog post just to so I can prove that I lived on 12/12/12. :P It's rather silly but, I think it's cool.

I will have a much more interesting and longer blog post tomorrow! :)

The Dangers of Alcohol and Driving

Last night, our Drivers Ed. instructor played a rather depressing video. It was really sad, but very important for any driver to see.

The video started with two police officers keeping an eye out for anything bad at a gas station. They see a group of suspicious looking high schoolers waiting by a truck. A few minutes later a car pulls up next to the truck and an older looking (over 21 years old) guy comes out. The driver of the truck (18 years old) hands him some money and the older guy goes into the gas station store and buys a pack of beer for the teens. The police arrest the 21 year old guy and I think the teens may have gotten fined. I can't remember though.

In the next scene, the police never caught them at the gas station and they brought the beet home to a friend's house. They had a bunch of teens over for a party and shared the drinks. The police get a call from the neighbors of that house complaining about the loud music and possible under-aged drinking. They go and investigate. Sure enough, everyone there is a minor and was drinking alcohol. The host of the party was arrested and the rest of the teens got fined.

In the next scene, the police never caught the teens at the party. The 18 year old guy that owned the truck gives some of his friends a ride home. On their way a police officer who was on watch for drunk drivers spots them. She pulls the truck over. She can smell the alcohol in the truck when the driver rolls his window down. The driver and his friends lie to the police about drinking even though the driver is obviously drunk, and there are empty cans of beer in the truck. The police officer tests the driver for any drunk symptoms, and then arrests him. The rest of the teens may or may not have been fined.

Lastly, they show as though the police never caught them. The drunk, teen, driver continues driving. His steering gets really bad and some of the passengers start getting nervous and beg him to pull over. He doesn't and claims he's fine. Of course, they crash. The driver has a broken leg and other various injuries, the passengers all get pretty serious injuries. One girl becomes a paraplegic, a guy has to learn how to walk again and has to use a cane, as far as I know, for the rest of his life, two girls healed back to normal, and one girl (girlfriend to the guy with the cane) dies. After the driver is healed from his injuries, he gets fined a lot of money and is put in jail for 30 years for manslaughter.

Needless to say, don't drink and drive! If you do drink, find a designated driver.

We also watched a video on distracted driving. So, don't play the radio too loud. If you have a passenger in the car, let them tune the radio, answer your phone calls or texts. Pull over to eat, or apply makeup. Pull over if you and your passenger are having an emotional conversation. Keep yourself from getting distracted for driving for the protection others and yourself.

Also, if you're struggling to stay awake behind the wheel, have someone else drive or pull over and take a 20 minute nap.

It's a privilege to drive a vehicle, not a right. :) Most of this stuff is common sense so, be sensible.

Running Up and Down the Streets of Monmouth

Yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Kidd drove Billy, Millie, Kevin, Darby, Steve, John, Meredith, and I to SMASH. We got there kind of late. Pastor Sam taught us some of the Biblical story behind As You Like It. After SMASH class, I talked to Keisha and Elijah for a bit and then Amanda drove Corrie, Billy, Brenna, and I to Corrie's house.

Corrie and I walked down to the Monmouth library. We worked on my Drivers Ed. Motorist Handbook and Study Guide questions and answers until 5:55pm. I didn't get to finish them but Drivers Ed. class was in five minutes so Corrie and I quickly printed the questions and answers I had already done, then ran as fast as we could in the cold to Corrie's house! We walked inside the house and Billy obviously didn't know what time it was, so I told him. It was 6:02pm and Drivers Ed. class is supposed to start at 6pm. So, Mr. Donahue quickly drove us to the school. Thank goodness, Dwight (our instructor) wasn't upset that we were late, and he wasn't upset that I didn't finish my homework in time and said I could finish and bring it in tomorrow! Whew! In class, we went over the rules of rotaries,  changing lanes, passing, the different ways of parking and pulling out, and we learned about road rage too.

After class, Billy and I jogged to the Donahue's house while we waited for Dad to pick us up. Jolie had made some delicious pizza that we got to enjoy while Darryl told us about the things we should apply from Drivers Ed. He was being really funny. Once Dad picked us up, Mr. Donahue and Dad talked a little and then we drove home.

Random fact: This is my 200th post!

Driving!

Taking a week off of Facebook really helped me manage my time.  I'm not quite as stressed as I was. :) Because Driver's Ed is so time consuming, I still didn't get to read as much of the Motorist hand book as I wanted to. I was hoping to read about 12 pages a day so I wouldn't be reading like 60 pages in one day. With a little help of some procrastination (mostly lack of time), it turns out that I'll have to read about 60 pages today and tomorrow before Driver's Ed class, and answer the questions after each "Part". I think I'll be reading the Motorist book for most of the day today. :/

Last Friday, Billy and I drove for the first time! Our instructor had us drive in back roads of Monmouth, a little bit of Greene, and in the residential (not so much the city part) area of Lewiston we practiced basic left and right turns.

Friday night, I went into work at 6pm. Kaitlyn and Michaela had me work upstairs while they dealt downstairs. There were a bunch of people downstairs!

On Saturday morning, there were a lot of dirty dishes in the kitchen so I worked on cleaning them until Mom came home, and then we drove to the church to decorate it. When we got there, Ginny was waiting for us, and then Jessie arrived, soon after Jessie, the Crawford's showed up. :) Connor, Mr. Crawford, Gavin, and I decorated the railings outside while snowed. It was wicked cold but I loved the snow falling! Everyone else focused on the indoor decorations, although Ginny and Jessie put red and silver bows outside. :) The church looks extra pretty now. :)

After we finished decorating the church, Billy, (Mrs. Crawford picked him and Garrett up from class at CMCC) Mom, and I went home, had lunch, and then I worked on outlining my business plan a little. I went to work at 5pm. Corrie and I manned the upstairs while Kaitlyn and Michaela were downstairs again. Around 8:30, Michaela and I were allowed to leave. Corrie and Kaitlyn had to stay until around 10:15pm. Kaitlyn gave Corrie a ride to my house and then Corrie and I talked until her Dad picked her up. :)

On Sunday, Pastor Per preached on The Structure of Marriage. It was, yet, another good sermon. :) This Sunday, we also got to sing a few Christmas songs, such as, Joy To The World, El Shaddai, and Mrs. Kidd and Mrs. Almquist sang O Come, Emmanual during communion. It. Was. Beautiful. We also sang In Christ Alone which is sung all year round but still good around Christmas time.

After church, we had Kyle, Millie, Kevin, and Grace come over to hang until Prayer Meeting at 6pm. :) I cooked some rice and kielbasa and Billy fried some vegetables for lunch. :) Millie, Billy, Kevin, and Kyle played Four Player Chess and Risk most of the afternoon. Shannon, Gracie, and I set up the Christmas tree (its fake). I also baked some molasses cookies and Gracie helped me dish them out. :)

We had a HUGE turn out for Prayer Meeting! It seemed like almost the entire church showed up! 'Twas really great!

Monday morning, Billy and I drove again! This time we drove in Augusta. We practiced changing lanes, driving on the highway and the round-a-bout and such. The "Question of the Day" was "Which lane do you want to be in?". It was pretty fun, scary, and cool!

After we got home from driving, I ate  little bit of food, answered a Drivers Ed. question or two and then I got ready to go to YEA! class. The majority of the class we focused on the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It's really good analysis to do before you start a business and a constant analysis to do while you run your business. We partnered up with some one in the class and did a SWOT analysis on each other's businesses. I partnered with Sam because our businesses are somewhat similar. After about 5-7 minutes we each took turns going up in front of the class and listed off our own SWOT analysis and then the rest of the class added to it. It was really beneficial. :) Zoe brought in a sample of gluten free brownies. They were really delicious! :D

This morning The Piano Guys posted a new video. It's beautiful.

Swamped

Yesterday, I was just realizing how much reading I have to do and how little time I have. I have to do lots of reading for Driver's Ed, not to mention attend the three hour classes plus driving with our instructor! I also have to read three 20 page documents for YEA! The documents are about business plans. Yesterday, I read 10 pages of the Motorist Handbook for Driver's Ed  and 2 chapters of The E Myth. Here's a list of what I'd like to read before Monday:

1. A chapter or two of How to Start a Wedding Planning Business
2. The three 20 page YEA! documents
3. About 65 pages of the Maine Motorist Hand Book

And by Wednesday I'd like to have read:

1. All 85 pages of the Motorist Book

It might not sound like very much to you but, I have to do Geometry, read Psychology, read/do Learning English through the Bible, write a blog post, and my chores, every day and before Monday I have to work on my business plan, work at The Sedgley Place sometimes Friday and most likely Saturday evenings. To help with composing my business plan, I'm going to outline my business idea on Mind Meister. Heck, I'm so swamped I took the week off of Facebook.
Now, I should stop ranting about what I have to do and get to work. I may not write a blog post tomorrow, I think you'll understand. :)

Drivers Ed!

Last night, Billy and I had our first class of Drivers Ed. It was pretty interesting. We mostly filled out paperwork, did a quick eye test, and learned a little bit about the risks of driving. I have to read 85 pages of the Motorist Handbook And Study Guide in a week. I have class again tonight and tomorrow night. My teacher, Dwight, said some one is going to be driving on Friday! That is, if we go through the chapters and lessons quick enough. Pretty exciting and scary to think about.

This morning Amanda sent out the SMASH cast list for As You Like It! I got a rather small part but I'm too busy for a big part anyway. I got the part of Jaqueline de Boys. She is originally a male part (Jaques de Boys) but Amanda and Pastor Sam changed her name so she's a girl. :) I'm glad I get a female part. She only has 17 lines which will be easy for me to memorize in time.

Business Plan Research and Sambusa!

Last night, I had YEA! class again. I arrived a little late though. :/ We went around the room and said our names, what our business idea is and if we researched anything else for our business idea. I had done a little but I didn't really know how much I was supposed to share because I had missed everyone else's "shpeals". Joyce Gibson (the Dean of the college) came in a talked to us for a little bit. After she was done Mr. Morrison told us about some research we were supposed to do involving our business plan and then we all went to the computer lab and did research for awhile. I learned that couples tend to be around 25 years of age when they get engaged and they're usually engaged for 6 months to a year. In order to be successful I need to find lots of connections with photographers, florists, caterers, etc. Also, I believe 30 to 40% of engaged couples hire a wedding planner. I'm not sure what percentage that is in Maine but hopefully I'll make it higher because I'll be affordable. One of my class mates, named Ahmed, wants to open a Somalian food restaurant and so Mr. Morrison asked him to bring in a sample of some Somalian food. He brought in Sambusa (the recipe I linked to doesn't call for potatoes but Ahmed's had potatoes in it). It was really yummy! It tasted like Shephard's Pie in a fried wrap.

After class, Mom and Dad picked me up and we went home. I made myself some supper and then watched Psych. Half way through the episode Billy got home from SMASH auditions for As You Like It. I paused the episode so I could greet everyone Billy was riding with. Mrs. Kidd was ever so kind to drive Millie, Kevin, Billy, John, Steve, and Meredith to SMASH and back. I wanted to go but I had to go to YEA! class instead. I told Amanda (the assistant director) that I still wanted a part though. I was told that I might get the part of Phoebe. It looks like a really fun part! We'll find out tomorrow what parts we're getting.

I start Driver's Ed tonight! :D

Thanksgiving Break is Over

Alright, time to summarize my dandy Thanksgiving break! :)

On Tuesday, I mostly did chores and such around the house. Sean left Tuesday evening and Casey came and visited for a little bit. I stayed up until 12:30am watching Psych so I could greet Abbey when she got home. :)

Wednesday was Mom's birthday! In the morning, I made Mom toast, bacon, and a fried egg, and the rest of the family blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast, we figured out what we wanted to wear for family pictures. I made chili and put it in a crock pot for supper. After lunch, we drove to Vaughan Woods. Michael was already there. After we all hugged Michael, we walked to the stone bridge and took some family pictures and such. It was a lot of fun! I can't wait to see how they turned out. Michael knew it was my Mom's birthday so he stopped at the Dollar Store and bought a birthday hat and those birthday blower things. He had Mom put the birthday hat on and we blew into the blowers and Michael shot some pictures of us in honor of Mom's birthday. It was awesome!

After we were done taking pictures, Michael drove us kids home. Mom and Dad drove home in their car. I baked some corn bread and then served the chili for supper. We had a lot of good laughs during supper. After supper, Michael left and we went to Governors to have Boston Cream Pie with Tim, Angie, Gabe, and Addie.

After dessert, Mom, Dad, Abbey, Shannon, Billy, and I went to the movie theaters and watched Lincoln. It was a pretty good movie! :)

Thursday morning, I had breakfast and then packed some food, and got ready to go to work at Sedgley Place. I got to work around 10:45am. It. Was. Super. Busy! I worked for about 9 hours and only had the chance to eat three apple slices. But it went well! :) I got home around 7:30pm. I ate a plate of leftovers from the turkey dinner and then I watched some Star Trek and then I went to bed.

On Friday, I had lunch with Corrie at Panera Bread. We had to wait quite a long time for our food but it was yummy! After lunch, Sarah and her Dad picked us up and then we picked up Jackie and then went to Sarah's house. We talked for awhile and played Foosball. Sarah's a beast at Foosball. Casey showed and up talked to us for awhile. :) It was good to see her again. Casey left right before supper time. Supper was delicious spaghetti and garlic bread with raspberry iced tea and some other yummy drink. After supper we played Catchphrase! That was SO much fun! We laughed so much! :D Tucker stopped by for about 5 minutes and then he left. Mom picked Corrie and I up a few minutes later. When we got home, Corrie and I talked for awhile and then Mr. Donahue picked her up.

Early Saturday morning Dad, Abbey, Shannon, Billy, and I cleaned the church and then drove to Massachusetts. When we got to Massachusetts we soon arrived at the Vandykes house. :) We all talked for awhile until lunch was ready. Mr. Vandyke prepared some delicious chili, chicken noodle soup, and rolls for us. After lunch we went outside and tried shooting some arrows with a bow. Ben, Zeb, Daniel, Joanna, and I think Levi did well with shooting it. Billy did pretty well too, Abbey couldn't pull the bow string back all the way, I could pull the string back but I completely missed the target...Twice! Shannon sort of broke the bow so she didn't get a chance to shoot. We all went inside and played Apples to Apples. Rebecca and I were a team and we won! :) After we finished the game, I called Sedgley Place and found out I had to go into work that night so we quickly said good bye to the Vandyke family and headed home. Dad had to stop at the Kennebunk rest stop to get some caffeine so I quickly changed into my Sedgley uniform there so I wouldn't have to change at work.

I got to Sedgley Place at 4:30pm. Sue wanted me to come in at 4pm but I told her I was in Massachusetts and so she had me try and get there at 5pm. Kaitlyn and I were the only hostesses there that night because it wasn't very busy. I set up the upstairs seatings for 6pm, and then helped Kaitlyn downstairs for awhile. Once the vegetables for the 5 o'clock seating were needed we did those and then we got the breads ready for the 6 o'clock seating. I cleared tables for awhile until it was time for the vegetables for the 6 o'clock seating. After we did the vegetables for the 6 o'clock seating we cleared tables for awhile and then reset the tables and restocked the waitress station. The next seating was at 8:30pm so we had awhile until we had to do their vegetables so we wiped silverware and glasses until then. Kaitlyn and I got to talk quite a bit. It was fun! Once we did the vegetables for the 8:30 seating we clocked out and left! :) Kaitlyn gave me a ride home.

On Sunday, we went to church and Mr. Lepage preached on Ephesian 1:3-6. He title the sermon Chosen in Him: A Blessing and a Praise. It was good! :)

After church we went to Panera bread to meet Casey there so Shannon and Casey could hang out before Casey went back to college. Dad bought Abbey a latte, a green iced tea for me, and a brownie for himself. While we had those Ken, Linda, and Calvin showed up. Since Panera was so busy we waited for a big table to open up and then the 9 of us sat at the table and talked for awhile. Dad, Billy, Abbey, and I headed home.

When we got home I made peanut butter chocolate fudge. Shannon came home after a few hours with Casey. Tim, Angie, Gabe, and Addie came over for a little visit to see Abbey one more time before she went back to NYC. :) Around 6:15, Dad, Billy, and I went to home group at the Taylor's house. I brought the fudge to share. Home group was really good except I hadn't read the book we were supposed to read so I was a little lost. After discussing the book for awhile, we all prayed. We stayed talking to friends until 10:30pm! It was pretty fun!

This morning I gave Abbey bangs!

Before..

After!

 

Thanksgiving Break is Here!

Today is my last blog post before Thanksgiving break. Technically, I already started vacation but I had some free time today so I thought I'd write a blog post.

On Saturday, Gabe came over for most of the day. :) He's so cute! <3 Sean arrived soon after lunch. I went into work around 5pm. It was a great night at work for me. :)

On Sunday, I did the slides for the songs and such. Mr. Kidd preached Ephesians 2:8-10 and his sermon was called Not of Yourselves. It was great! I recommend you listen to it at some point.

After church, basically all the teens went over to the Almquist's house to hang out. Shannon is dogsitting the Almquist's dog and so to keep him (the dog) from getting lonely, she is living there too. Sean made a yummy macaroni and cheese for lunch. We sang songs and played Apples to Apples and just hung out all afternoon.

Monday morning, Sean, Billy, and I met Mr. Estes and Kenan in Freeport. Mr. Estes showed us how to get to the guy's house and then showed us what to rake. After Mr. Estes left, Kenan, Sean, Billy, and I got to work! About five hours later (with a few water breaks and a lunch break) we finished raking Dick's (the guy who owns the big yard) yard. We helped him get the porch furniture inside his attic and then Nick, Kenan, Sean, Billy and I checked out the British Goods store in Freeport. It was really cool! After a little while, we said goodbye to Kenan and Nick and then drove to Panera Bread.

When we got to Panera bread, we ordered some food, picked our seats, and then Dan and Garrett showed up about 10 minutes later. We all talked for awhile. We laughed so much! I have such hilarious friends! :D

Sean drove me to my YEA! class and then he went back to Panera to hang with Billy, Dan, and Garrett again.

At YEA! we each took turns going up in front of the class and having the class ask questions about each other's business ideas. It got everyone thinking about their business ideas and such. Class ended about a half an hour early so I talked to my classmate, Sam, about photography for awhile and then I left. Sam is a really great photographer and we could potentially become business partners.

After Dad picked me up, and we went to the Almquist's house for supper. I had supper and then talked to Sean and Dad about business stuff for awhile.

We went home and watched an episode of Psych and then I went to bed.

ABBEY IS COMING HOME TONIGHT! :D

Toad of Toad Hall Tonight!

First off, before I mention anything about Toad of Toad Hall, I'd like to mention that I had a typo in my previous blog post. I fixed it already but for some reason I titled Pastor Per's seromon "The Death of Marriage". It's actually called "The End of Marriage" My bad. I knew it sounded a little harsh. So, for those of you who already read that post, I apologize for the confusion.

Tonight SMASH is performing Toad of Toad Hall! It's not a Shakespearean play but SMASH is doing it as a fundraiser for Mr. Rob and his wife Allison because their old family home where their six children grew up was lost in a fire. The play tonight is at 7pm with an optional dinner at 6pm. The dinner costs a little bit more than just the show. There is also a matinee at 2pm on Saturday. It's going to be a funny and cute musical!

The End of Marriage by Pastor Per

Last night we had Taking It Deeper at church. Every Wednesday night we have Taking It Deeper to dig deeper into the sermon. Pastor Per preached on The End Of Marriage. It was a very good sermon! Although Pastor Per wasn't at Taking It Deeper last night because he is traveling, we still had a good discussion.

Here are some good points and illustrations that Pastor Per mentioned in his sermon:

• Marriage: standing side by side journeying life together. 
• Marriage is a "cat house". A "cat house" is one of those houses that are for sale that are in very poor shape and smell like a litter box. Even with all the flaws of a cat house, there's hope, a vision, for the house to become a glorious house. Marriage is when a couple shares a vision for each other to become wonderful, glorious people.
• Marriage is a cleansing. Sure, sometimes it feels like a luxurious bubble bath but, marriage is so intimate that it reveals all your cuts and bruises (flaws) that you hide underneath the dirt and it can sting. 
• You spouse is like a big truck that drives right through your heart and shows you all your cracks. You can't escape them.
• Marriage exposes your blemishes that no one else knows about. It's also a positive  and lives out Jesus' love.
• We get upset but, not at them, at their sin.
• The difference between a normal marriage and a Christian marriage is that we don't look for that perfect spouse but keep the one we have and get down and dirty to help that spouse become that perfect spouse.
• God is the only one who can make us without spot or wrinkle. 
• Grace is a grounding compound that polishes us. Without that grounding compound we just shatter or don't change at all. Our flaws are still there.
• Marriage is like two ugly ducklings. The two ugly ducklings have their flaws but they help each other out (through God) by exposing each others ugliness and with their shared vision bring them back up as beautiful swans.

You can tell why the sermon series is called "Brutally Honest yet Glorious: Marriage". :)

Baxter Brewery and Tree Street Youth!

Last night I had YEA! Class again! :) The whole class met at the Chamber of Commerce office. As soon as everyone showed up, we hopped on a bus and went to Baxter Brewing. We met Mr. Luke Livingstone (owner and founder of the brewery) and he told us a bit about how he came about starting the brewery and then a couple of the students asked some good questions in which he answered very well. We couldn't get a tour because his employees were still brewing beer. :/ Mr. Livingstone said to come back when we turn 21.

After spending about an hour there, we hopped on the bus again and drove to Tree Street Youth! We met Julia Sleeper and a senior from bates (her name was Kim, I think?). Julia shared the story of how she started Tree Street Youth and then answer any of our questions. One of my classmates, Zoe, is really good at coming up with questions. :)

When we had spent about an hour there, we hopped on the bus and arrived back at the office. We quickly had bathroom breaks and got some snacks and began talking about our field trip. Mr. Morrison had us name the things that struck us or stuck out to us during the field trip. I was going to say the passion that both Luke and Julia had but Sahro beat me to it. :P

Mr. Morrison then had us go around and tell him and the class what our business ideas were. After we all listed off our business ideas, he asked each person a few questions about it. I had two business ideas. The first one was Event or Wedding Planning and the second one was photography. One of my classmates named Sam is interested in photography too, so that's kind of cool.

We turned in a sheet a paper with a few questions on it and then Mr. Morrison assigned us two small assignments and then we were dismissed. :)

When Dad, Mom, and I got home we watched The Wedding Planner. It was a really good and funny movie. :) 

First Try at Hill Sprints

I'm little sore in the abs and legs from doing hill sprints for the first time. Billy and I did hill sprints together. Sprinting up a hill with Billy makes me feel awfully slow. Billy is super fast and used to hill sprints. I did six hill sprints. In case you don't know what a hill sprint is, it's when you sprint up a hill (obviously), walk back down (so you can catch your breath) the hill, then run back up again. Pretty simple!

Yesterday, I had a pretty easy going day. All I pretty much did was school, chores, text a few friends, hill sprints, and watch Star Trek Enterprise and Psych again. Like I said, a pretty easy going day. :)

Veterans Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day! Thank you to all the Veterans out there. :) Thank you. So. Much.

Last Friday and Saturday evening I worked at Sedgley Place. They were both pretty good nights! :)

On Sunday, we went to church and Pastor Per preached on The End of Marriage. It was very good! I recommend you listen to it. After church we all had pizza and then sang lots of beautiful hymns and a few Christmas songs. It was a fantastic time! I started to lose my voice so I took a little break. After everyone was done, Millie, Meredith and I sang My Favorite Things, and then Gracie and I sang May It Be as Millie played the piano. Grace has a beautiful voice. :)

Mom, Dad, Shannon, Billy, and I went to the Almquist's house for a little bit and then we went home. We Skyped Abbey for awhile and just relaxed for awhile. Later that evening, Dad, Billy, Mom, and I watched an episode of Star Trek Enterprise and then Billy and I watched an episode of Psych. Psych is super funny!

Mini College Field Trip and a Haircut!

Yesterday morning, Mom and I went to go pick up Billy from class at Central Maine Community College. On our way, we stopped at Central Maine Christian Academy so I could give Dan a poster for Toad of Toad Hall, my soccer uniform, and a few other things and so Dan could give me my air cast, my soccer pictures and such. After our "swap" and after Mom and I picked up Billy we went home for a few minutes to pack some schoolwork and snacks.

Mom, Dad, Billy, and I headed to Kennebec Valley to get a tour of Kennebec Valley Community College. Once we got there, we talked to our tour guide (CJ) about Billy attending KVCC to become a Physical Therapist Assistant. After talking for awhile, CJ took us on a tour of the school. It's a pretty small, but cool, campus. :) After he finished the tour we went back to his office, talked a bit more, then went to the lounge area to see Rebecca and Mrs. Richards. When we got to the lounge, Rebecca and Mrs. Richards introduced us to a fellow classmate and friend of the Richards named Josh. :) All of us (except Josh) went to the school's cafe and had lunch together there. I had a delicious chicken burger with cheese and honey mustard on it and some french fries on the side. Tucker had Algebra class so he came to lunch kind of late. During we had a great time talking and catching up with the Rebecca, Tucker, and Mrs. Richards! :D

After lunch, Rebecca and Tucker had to go to class and we had to get to Augusta for a tour of Capilos.

When we got to Augusta, we were a about a half hour early for the tour of Capilos so, we went to Barnes and Noble for a bit. Just as we were heading out, we discovered that Michael and Petra were studying in the cafe at Barnes and Noble. We quickly gave hugs, said hello, talked a little bit, hugged again, and then we headed to Capilos.

When we got to Capilos, we had to wait a few minutes until Anthony was available. Once he was available, he came out to greet us and then took us into a little conference room. Anthony told us all about Capilos and how it worked. It sounds super fun and exciting! He gave us some paperwork for applying to Capilos and then he gave us a tour of the school. It was really cool! After the tour, we headed home.

Soon after we got home, I walked over to Bethany's house and got my hair cut. :D My hair was getting really long but too heavy to handle so I had Bethany cut it about shoulder length. It's great!

Before..

And after!

2012 Election

President Obama was reelected as president of the United States. I was hoping Mitt Romney was going to win. :/ Also, gay marriage was legalized in here in Maine. God created marriage and we, as sinners, have no right to redefine it. It's going to  be an interesting 4 years. This is all part of God's plan so we'll so what he has planned for us. The Bible verse that keeps popping in my head is Jeremiah 29:11:  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

 On a happier note, I'm going to SMASH today to take pictures of everyone acting. I look forward to seeing a sneak peak of Toad of Toad Hall and to see other SMASHers. 

After SMASH, Billy has his soccer banquet. It's his high school last soccer banquet. :(

First YEA! Class!

Last night, I had my first YEA! (Young Entrepreneurs Academy) class. It was a lot of fun! At 4 o'clock sharp, we began with doing introductions again. After introductions, we did a few ice breaker games. I was paired up with a guy in my class named Ayman (Pronounced Ahmin). We had to go into the hallway, or somewhere in the class room and "interview" our partner and get three or more facts about them. When just over a minute had passed, we all got back into our seats. After the first pair, Ayman and I went up in front of the entire class and we told the class our partner's name and three random facts about our partner. The three facts I shared about Ayman were that he likes soccer, jazz, and pasta.  He shared that I am a Christian, I like pasta, and that I'm a photographer. The next ice breaker, we had to find three things we had in common with each other. Ayman and I decided we both like soccer, jazz, and pasta. :P The last ice breaker was just like the last ice breaker but we paired up with another group so, we had to find three things in common with the four of us. We all agreed upon saying that we all like sports, are under the age of 18, and like to travel.

After the ice breakers, Mr. Morrison took us on a tour of the school (Lewiston-Auburn USM). It's not too terribly big but  it's a tad confusing.

While we were on the tour, the pizza arrived. :D So, we ate pizza and drank soda for awhile.

After we were done eating, a couple of the students, Mrs. Conway, and I went downstairs to the computer lab and took an online survey for YEA!. The students who had laptops with them stayed in the classroom and took the survey from there.

Once we finished the survey, Mr. Morrison went over the class conduct, and then asked us questions about Entrepreneurs, for example, "What are the challenges and advantages of being an Entrepreneur?" and, "What are the characteristics of an Entrepreneur?". Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Grey, and Mr. Morrison then handed out our own three ring binders with stuff about the class in it. With about five minutes left, Mr. Morrison had us rearrange the chairs back to a regular classroom set up, instead of a circle. Zoe and Daniel left, and soon after they left Gabby and I left. It was a good first night of class. :) Next week we are meeting at the Chamber of Commerce for a field trip to two different businesses. I look forward to it!

Epic Estes + First Presbyterian Church + Gordon College = A Super Dandy Day!

With about 6 hours of sleep, I woke up at 5am (Thank goodness for that extra hour of sleep or else I'd be running on 5 hours of sleep) to take a shower and make a lunch for the day. Shannon, Billy and I headed off to Topsham as the sun rose. A few minutes after we arrived at the "Park and Ride" area, Nick showed up. We waited around with Nick until the rest of the Estes showed up in the big van.

The sunrise on the way to Topsham.

Billy, Shannon, and Nick waiting for the rest of the Estes to show up.

Once we were on the road to Massachusetts for awhile, we broke out the bagels and yogurts for breakfast. :D Mrs. Estes bought lots of great flavors, including Pumpkin Spice, which was really good! Next time I make bagels, I'm going to try and make pumpkin flavored bagels.

Once we arrived in Massachusetts, we picked up Joel at Gordon College and then we drove to First Presbyterian Church. Joanna and Bailey from Deerwander were the first to greet me. :) Later, Talia and her family arrived and Talia sat next to me during church. :D It was so good to see Talia, even though it was for a short time. Pastor Greg Hills preached on Great Expectations. :)

After church, Talia, Lia, Kenan, and I went outside and talked for a little while. Tyler saw me talking to Talia and came over to say hello real quick and then went to find Billy. Talia and her family left. :(  Kenan and I went inside with the rest of the group.

We waited around and talked to Joel and the Milette family for awhile. Eric (a counselor from middle school Deerwander) came and talked to us for awhile. Once the 11am church service ended a bunch of Deerwander friends came out and greeted us. It was so great to see Talia, Lia, Tyler, Elizabeth, Joanna, Bailey, Salley, Will, Ben H., Kristin, Hannah, Lauren, Nora, Megan, Colleen O., and many other Deerwander folks!

For lunch, we had a yummy soup and rolls and pumpkin cookies for dessert made by the wonderful Mrs. Vandyke. We had a great time talking with the Vandyke family. Thanks so much for your hospitality! :)

Around 2:15pm, we left the Vandyke's house and drove back to Gordon College. Joel had to go to his rehearsal so we met Malia near the Chapel. Malia gave us a little bit of a tour. Malia, Catherine, Diana and I walked to Bennett (the sports area) and then we walked to Malia's dorm and we met Malia's roommate (Julie). We walked back to where Mrs. Estes and Martin were and left Diana and Catherine with Mrs. Estes. Malia and went to Chester's and Malia bought me a Nutella Latte. It was super good! I couldn't finish it (with out burning my mouth) before going into the Chapel for Joel's concert so I let Malia finish it. :) Thanks, Malia, for the tour and Nutella Latte! <3

Joel's concert was really cool! There were two children's choirs, Gordon College Woman's Choir, and Gordon College Men's choir. It was a really great performance!

Joel and his choir. He is telling the crowd what the name and background of the song they were about to sing.

This is the men singing. Sorry, it's a bit washed out, I accidentally turned my flash on.

The Men's and Woman's choirs singing Praise His Holy Name!

After the concert we found Dan A.! We introduced him to the Estes family (he already knew Joel though). I happened to be coughing alot and my voice was getting pretty raspy while we were talking to Dan so he offered to give me some of his tea. So, Shannon, Billy, Kenan, and I followed Dan to his dorm. His tea was actually in a big tin can so he had to ask one of his friends for a plastic baggy. One of his friends had baggy with some pistachios in them, so Dan went into a random room and threw the pistachios away. We put some of the tea in the baggy and then walked to Joel's dorm. When we got to Joel's dorm, the rest of the Estes were already there. Joel showed us the pictures and posters and random stuff in his dorm and then we all said good bye to Dan and Joel. :(

For supper, we went to the Millete's house. While we waited for supper to be prepared, all of us kids played almost a complete round of Man Hunt outside. Supper was potato and corn chowder, with slices of yummy bread, and apple cider. SO yummy! After supper, we had apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. Mmm good! Mr. and Mrs. Millete, Mr. and Mrs. Estes, Shannon, Billy, Kenan, Martin, and I sat around in the living room and talked for awhile. We had some good fellowship. :) We left the Milette's house soon after that.

Most of us basically fell right to sleep on the car ride home. I woke up just before we got to the Topsham Park and Ride parking lot. Nick, Shannon, Billy and I got our stuff together, hugged those who were awake (Nick, Kenan, Mr. and Mrs. Estes)  goodbye and then drove home. I had SUCH a good day! A huge thank you to the Estes family (especially Mr. Estes for driving)!

Working Out and The Wiz

Yesterday evening I met Jenna at Planet Fitness around 4:15pm. We worked out for about 45 minutes. It was fun! I went on the elliptical for about 5 minutes until one of the Stair Steppers were open. Once a Stair Stepper opened up I went on one of those for about 10 minutes. I got pretty sweaty! After taking a water break, Jenna and I did crunches, bicycle crunches, and a few different types of planks. Once we were done, Jenna did a few exercises with either 5 or 10 pound dumb bells while I did 3 sets of squats and 3 sets on each leg of one legged, weighted calf raisers. I had Jenna do 3 sets of about 10 weighted lunges with me. After that we had a water break, stretched, and then left. :)

Jenna drove me home and then we  ate tacos that Billy made. Corrie got to our house about fifteen minutes before Jenna and I arrived. After supper, I quickly took and shower and blow dried my hair.

Jenna kindly drove Billy, Corrie, and I to Free Grace to pick up Millie and Grace. Once all of us were in the van, we drove to CLT  to watch The Wiz. The Wiz was hilarious! They had some really great singers and a lot of funny one-liners. Since it was a dress rehearsal, we got in for free. Well, they were charging $5 but they let us in for free because Billy was from "college". Billy's professor is having Billy and his other students write a paper on the play.

How I Spent My Halloween/Reformation Day

Last night Dad, Mom, Shannon, Billy, and I went to Tim and Angie's house for Addie's 1st birthday. Allison and her Dad were there. Angie made a delicious beef stew! I basically inhaled two bowls of it. Billy had three bowls of the beef stew! For dessert Angie and Gabe made rainbow jello, chocolate pudding pie, and cheesecake pudding pie.

Angie made the pie, Tim decorated it.

Rainbow jello!

Addie and Angie admiring the pies.

Mmm good!

Singing happy birthday to Addie and Pop Pop! (Dad's birthday was the 29th)

Still singing..

The birthday people.. Except Shannon.

Mom/Nana helping light Dad's candles.

Addie and Pop Pop surrounded by their pies.

Gabe helped Pop Pop blow out his candles.

Nana helping Addie eat her jello.

Typical "first birthday cake/pie mess". So cute!

After we finished dessert and talked for a bit, Dad, Mom, Billy, and I left for Bible study. It was a great study! We dug deeper into the sermon and talked about what "struck" us. :) Meredith came in her Pride and Prejudice dress, Millie, Gracie, and Kevin had "mustaches" on sticks and Scottie wore a viking costume. Mrs. Almquist actually knitted Scottie's viking helmet/beard. It was amazing! I should've taken a picture of Scottie in his costume.

Adeline's First Birthday!

Today is my niece's first birthday! She is so stinkin' cute! We're going to celebrate her birthday tonight.

 

 

 

<3

Here is a video of Blimey Cow talking about 20 misused words. They make rather important subjects kind of fun!

YEA Orientation!

Last night I had orientation for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!). It's going to fun! I'm going to learn a lot, it's going to be a challenge and I'm definitely going to be pushed past my comfort zone. It'll be good! Hopefully by the end of the school year, I'll have my own business running! I already have my own photography business but it doesn't really run well. Next Monday, we're going to have a pizza party, get a tour of Lewiston/Auburn's USM and maybe get our YEA! student ID badges. Later on in the year, we'll take field trips to various businesses, and such. Eventually we'll prepare a business plan for our businesses, and present our businesses at a trade show. It'll be intense.

This is my class. I don't know all their names yet though.

I still have a cough from a month and a week or two ago. I can't wait for it to be gone.

A Relaxing Weekend for Once!

Last Friday I got called off of work for that night so just relaxed that night. :) It was unusual for me to not have anything going on on a Friday night.

Saturday morning I relaxed and edited the pictures from the soccer game last Thursday. Billy and Dad went to help the Crosby's work on their house for the entire afternoon and evening so I didn't have a ride to work. Shannon was working and Mom was in New York City. I was going to ride the bike to work but, to my delight, Shannon had low census at work so she came home around 2pm! Praise the Lord! I was so happy that I didn't have to bike 2 1/2 miles to work. Work that night went pretty well as far as I could tell. Michaela and I got the tables ready and such. We both worked downstairs for awhile. Michaela had me do the vegetables by myself for the main room while she delivered the breads for upstairs. I worked upstairs for most of that seating. I did a lot of table clearing. When most of the guests were finished with their desserts, I helped out downstairs. Michaela left because she was there earlier than me.  I helped Kaitlyn who had gotten to work around 6:30pm with downstairs until the guests were almost all done with their desserts. Terry sent me home sooner than Kaitlyn. Since I had forgotten to pick up my paychecks, I picked up three. That's always nice!

Sunday morning, I did the slides for the church service. Pastor Per preached on The Priority of Marriage. You can listen to that sermon or any other of Pastor Per's sermons here. After church, we had Meredith, Connor, Gavin, Millie, Grace, Kevin, and Meti over to our house and then went apple picking at Wilson Pond Farm. We had a very good time!

Me, Meti, Gracie, and Millie checking the trees for good apples.

Billy, Meti, me, Millie and the others behind us after we filled the bags with apples.

The whole group minus Shannon! From left to right, Gracie, Gavin, Meti, Millie, Connor, me, Meredith, Billy and Kevin is in the tire.

 After we got back home, Meti, Shannon, and Grace baked apple crisp while the rest of us talked and played Dutch Blitz. The apple crisp was delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream!

After everyone left, Shannon, Billy, and I relaxed for a little bit and then Dad had us go shopping for nonperishable foods, and jugs of water just in case we lose power during this Hurricane Sandy.

Today is my Dad's birthday! :D I am so blessed to have a him as my father. <3

Congratulations to Coastal Christian School!

The MCSSL soccer championship game was SO intense! Pretty close to the beginning Temple scored a goal, and then later on Coastal scored a goal! It stayed tied for the rest of the game and so they did 15 minutes of overtime. Still, no one scored. About 10 minutes into the second overtime Josh (from Coastal) scored the winning goal! It was SUPER exciting! We were cheering for Coastal and I also cheered for Libby and Colin who were on Temple. That was one of the best soccer games I've been to in such a long time! Congratulations, Coastal and great job Temple! I took a bunch of pictures but I don't have time to go through and edit them all today. Hopefully I can post a few on next Monday's blogpost. While we were at the game we saw Kenan (he got a ride with the Phillips), Micah and his family from SMASH (Micah was on the JV team for Coastal), the Doughty family, and the Tracey family!

After the game, Mrs. Hughes had the brilliant idea that we (Sean, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, Millie, Billy, Dan, Garrett, and I) go out to eat somewhere. We decided to go to Ruby Tuesday in Topsham and meet Shannon, Mom, and Dad there. We all laughed SO much that night! It was a really great time! :D A big thanks to Garrett for driving Millie, Billy, Dan, and I to the game and to Ruby Tuesday!

MCSSL Soccer Championship Game!

This afternoon Millie, Billy, Dan, Garrett, and I are going to watch the MCSSL (Maine Christian School Sports League) Soccer Championship. We are all meeting in Lewiston and driving down in one car. It should be really fun! I'm not sure which team to cheer for though! I have two friends on both teams. I want Coastal to lose because they haven't lost a game in like 3 years and I want Temple to lose because they beat us in Semi Finals game. I'm going to bring my camera and just cheer for my friends, I think. I honestly don't know who I want to win.

I have Orientation for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy on Monday! I can't wait but I'm also kind of nervous.

My Soccer Career is Over

We lost our soccer game last night.  :( I believe the score was 8 or 7-0. I wish we got at least one goal. Oh well! Great job, Temple Academy, and good luck with your championship game against Coastal tomorrow! I think I did pretty well personally...Just not good enough. :P Now soccer is all over for me. :'(This soccer season was SO much fun and I am so thankful for the team I was on. :D

Elayna, Douglas, Mrs. Estes, Kenan, Linnea, Catherine, Diana, Martin,  Mr. Phillips, John, and Henry all came to watch Colin, Libby, and I. The Burbanks were there to watch Libby and Colin play too. It was really nice to see everyone and get hugged after losing my last game. After we talked for a bit we all headed over to the Estes' house. Billy, Elayna, and I got to ride in Douglas' sweet, red sports car! :D

I got this picture from Google. This is what Douglas' car looks like.

When we got to the Estes, we had tea and just talked for awhile until everyone arrived at the Estes' house. When Dad and Kenan arrived, I quickly got my stuff out of the car so I could change out of my muddy, sweaty soccer clothes.

For supper we had delicious tacos! A big thanks goes to Mrs. Estes for having so many people over and having the food ready so soon! During supper I talked to Kenan and Mr. Phillips about Sedgley Place and what I do there. After supper we had yummy brownies that Mrs. Libby made and chocolate chip pumpkin cookies that I made. Kenan, Colin, Libby, Elayna, Douglas, Billy, and I all went downstairs and played pit for about 10 minutes and then Dad, Billy and I headed home. It was SO good to see the Estes. I hadn't seen them since, like, August!

Exciting Afternoon and Evening

This afternoon my soccer team and I have another playoff game! We're playing against Temple in Waterville! I'm super excited! The only sad part is that Billy can't play. :/ The coach for Temple doesn't want him to play since he joined rather late. Colin and Libby will both be playing against us! It should be fun! If we win, we get to play Coastal on Thursday.

After the game today a bunch of us are going to the Estes house for supper. :D The Estes are coming to watch my game and so might Douglas and Elayna. I'm very excited!

Another Wonderful Weekend

On Friday, I got a letter in the mail from The Chamber of Commerce  saying that I got accepted into their Young Entrepreneurs Academy! I'm a bit nervous and pretty excited! :D

I got called off of work Friday night. I was pretty happy about that because I got to go to Angie's Girls Sleepover. It was alot of fun! I haven't eaten that much junk food in so long! I got there early because Gabe was at our house and Tim needed Gabe to be home before the girls started to show up so he could take Gabe to Giants of Faith and then to a friend's house for the night. After Tim and Gabe left, and all the girls showed up, Angie introduced me to them. I think all the girls knew each other beforehand because they go to Poland Baptist Church. After awhile we watched Finding Nemo.When Finding Nemo was over, we went downstairs for a little bit and then we went back upstairs and listened to Shannon give a talk about handling guys in a Christian sort of way. When Shannon was done her talk, we got into PJs and figured out where everyone was sleeping and then we went back upstairs and watched October Baby. October Baby was SUCH a good movie! It had me crying alot but I totally recommend it! After October Baby we all brushed our teeth and then went to bed.

The next day Allison and I talked for awhile until breakfast was ready. Angie made delicious Cinnamon Bun waffles, blueberry waffles, and bacon! We had whipped cream, strawberries, maple syrup, and cream cheese glaze on our waffles. Such a yummy breakfast. After breakfast, Shannon had each of us put a question on a little piece of paper and put those questions in a jar. Shannon, Sarah, and Angie took turns answering the questions. The questions varied from serious guy questions to what their favorite color was. It was pretty interesting!

After awhile Tim and Gabe came back. Gabe was full of energy as usual! :) Shannon took Gabe for a walk while Tim and Angie clean and Allison and I talked. Once Shannon got back, we played with Addie and Gabe for awhile until it was time to leave.

In the afternoon, I just relaxed and read The Hobbit. I went into work at 5pm. While I was working Pastor Sam, Mrs. Richards, and Rebecca came over for supper. I was rather disappointed that I missed seeing them. I got home from work around 10pm. I think it was a pretty night at work. :)

On Sunday we went to church. Pastor Per preached on The Definition of Marriage. It was great! You can listen to that sermon or any other sermon that Pastor Per has preached on here.

After church Millie and Grace came home with us. We quickly ate lunch and then we drove to Mt. Ararat to listen to Mrs. Almquist play in an Orchestra. It was really cool. I liked the second half better though. After the concert, Millie, Grace, Billy, Mom, Dad, Kyle, Jason, Mrs. Almquist and I ate some free snacks and then we left. 

Billy, Mom, Dad, and I ended up having supper at the Kidd's house. It was SO good! We had mashed potatoes with chicken, or beef and onions, or veggies. For dessert we had apple crisp with Kevin's home made whipped cream. We left soon after we finished dessert because we had to get home and Skype with Abbey.

Freeport Fun!

My team and I won our game last night! The score was 7-2. :) It was really fun! I scored a goal too! Caleb and I are tied for the second most goals on the team. We both have scored 7 since we started playing for Central Maine Christian Academy. Dan has us beat by many more goals. I'm not sure if he has even bothered counting them anymore. 

After my soccer game last night, I quickly showered and got ready to go to Freeport. Around 6:30pm Pastor Sam, Mrs. Richards, Tucker, Rebecca, and Corrie picked me up. When we got to Freeport, we ordered some food at Johnny Rockets. While we were waiting for our food, Tucker went and looked for Malia and her three friends from Gordon College. Once he found them he brought them to Johnny Rockets so we could finally see and hug Malia and meet her friends! Her friends are Ken, Cailey, and Ryan. Malia, Tucker, Ken, Cailey, and Ryan went back outside of Johnny Rockets and continued their shopping. Tucker came back to Johnny Rockets and ordered a milkshake until Rebecca, Corrie, and I were finished eating. Once we were done eating, we looked at cool hats and then we eventually found Malia, Ken, Cailey, and Ryan. We all hung out in L.L. Bean for quite some time. Pastor Sam and Tucker both bought something and then we said our goodbyes and left. On our way home, Tucker, Corrie, and I talked in British accents. I must say, they've had a bit more practice than I have. 

Rebecca: "How about you guys talk about raccoons?"

Corrie: "Oh! I like raccoons!"

Me: "Really? 'Cause I don't."

Tucker: "Yeah, I don't either."

Corrie: "Why not?"

Me: "Because they get into things they're not supposed to get in to."

Tucker: "I shoot raccoons. I put a bullet in a gun and I shoot 'em when they get in to things."

Corrie: " Really? Well, I guess I don't like them when they get in to things that they aren't supposed to get in to."

Tucker: "I don't like little kids when they get in to things they're not supposed to do either... I don't shoot them though!"

Everyone except Rebecca said these things in a British accent so it was a rather hilarious conversation! This was only a small part of our conversation. We talked about vegetables, kangroos, pasta, Mcdonalds, the fact that Corrie doesn't like chocolate and quite a few other random things. It was a rather hilarious car ride!

Excitement!

Tonight, my soccer team and I have our first playoff game! We're playing Oxford Hills. I'm excited! I absolutely LOVE playing soccer. My team is just so kind and hilarious. :) Billy is now on my team so it reminds me of way back in Rec. League when we were on the same team.

After my game tonight, Rebecca and Tucker are going to pick up Corrie at her house, then pick me up at my house, and then drive to Freeport and hang out with Malia and 3 of her college friends. It should be lots of fun! I haven't seen Malia since July!

Soccer Practice

Yesterday afternoon, Billy and I had soccer practice with Central Maine Christian Academy. It was alot of fun! I really enjoy playing soccer with CMCA. :D On Thursday we have a game against Oxford Hills. While I was working last Friday, my team played them and we wooped them. So, it should be a pretty easy and fun game. :) If we beat them, we play Temple on Tuesday.

Mom and I are having lunch with Aunt Debbie in Portland today! After lunch, Mom and I are going to a seminar on, "Creating a Culture of Innovation in your Company".

My interview with the YEA! program went pretty well, I think. I'll find out by the end of this week if I was accepted.

Sock Buns

Last night I decided to try doing the sock bun again except with two buns. I did one bun on top of my head and one on the back of my head. I didn't get any pictures though. :/ I did get quite a bit more wave than I did with just one sock bun. But my hair is now more frizzy than  pretty.

I has JUST woken up. The front.

The back.

Today, I have an interview to see if I can get into the YEA! (Young Entrepreneur's Academy) progam. I'm kind of nervous. :/

My Weekend.

Saturday morning, I made Pumpkin Scones for Kyle's birthday. Around 11:30am, Dad and I went and picked up Billy from class and then we went to the church and ate lunch until Mrs. Crawford showed up. Millie and Grace showed up soon after that. We painted and taped around the windows of the church. We left around 2:45pm because I had to get home and get ready for work.

When we got home I quickly got ready for work and then headed off to work. Work was pretty good! Getting the seatings ready in time is a little hard. Corrie and I did the veggies for upstairs and downstairs. It was really fun! :) I worked for about 6 hours. Corrie and I got home around 9:30 or 9:45pm, I think. Corrie and I gave each foot massages after work. :)

After a little while, Mr. Donahue picked up Corrie.  Millie, Grace, Shannon, Billy and I talked for awhile and then went to bed around 11pm, I think.

The next day, we got ready for church and then left early so Millie could practice the piano with the music team and so Dad and Shannon could greet everyone that came into church. Church was really good. Pastor Per preached on The Power Of Marriage (you can listen to it here). He talked about submission and how the problem about your relationship is yourself.

After church, Millie, Grace, Kevin, Connor, Meredith, Gavin, and Evie came over to our house. We ate chips, drank soda, and talked until around 2:15pm. We all squeezed into our van and then drove to the Almquist's house for Kyle's birthday party. Originally, we were going to play Ultimate Frisbee but it was cold and rainy outside so we ate lots of yummy junk food and watched The Avengers. We paused part way through the Avengers, sang Happy Birthday to Kyle and then ate a delicious chocolate M&M cake that Mrs. Almquist made and a yummy apple cake that Pastor Per made. SO GOOD! :D After the movie was finished, Meti, Erin, Matthew, and Kyle's friend Gabe all left. The rest of us stayed and talked for awhile. Pastor Per picked up a few boxes of Little Caesars Pizza and some crazy bread. :) Soon after we finished eating pizza, Shannon, Billy, Evie and I left. It was a good party. Thanks, Kyle, for inviting us!

On our way home we dropped Evie off at her apartment. When we got home, I clean up the kitchen from breakfast and lunch/chips and dip. Billy went to bed, Shannon began to study and then Mom, Dad, and I listened to the sermon again. It was a good day!