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.