Friday, May 24, 2013

Barefoot 5K

Tonight Kenan is spending the night at our house so he can run a barefoot 5K race with me. :) That's right; barefoot! About a month ago, a friend from church,  named Isaac, came over to visit and while he was visiting he told Billy and I about a barefoot 5K race. I absolutely LOVE running barefoot so I was pretty excited! Billy said he had KVACs that day so he already turned down the invitation. Isaac suggested I find a running buddy because he was going to aim to win the race, which meant I probably couldn't keep up with him. I invited Kenan to run with me. At first he said yes, then things came up and he had to say no, but those plans got changed so now he's going to race with me. :) Isaac is bringing his brother Tom to race as well. It's going to be pretty intense! The weather is supposed to rainy and in the fifties. Good thing we won't be ruining any shoes because we'll be running BAREFOOT! I'm excited. This will be only my third time running a 5K. I've never ran a 5K with shoes on, believe it or not. I hope I can keep up with the guys!

Billy's KVACs got postponed to Monday. :/

Friday, May 17, 2013

Abbey's College Graduation!

So much has happened since I last blogged. I apologize for the lack of posts, I've been busy as a bee!

Abbey has graduated from The King's College with a Bachelors degree in Media Culture and the Arts. I'm so proud of her! :) Aunt Debbie, my parents, Shannon, Billy and I travelled down to NYC on Friday. Shannon and I got to stay in Abbey's apartment.

On Saturday, it was all rainy but we made it to The Trinity Church on time, reasonable dry. The graduation wasn't boring and it was focused on God so it was great! After Abbey and her entire senior class received their diploma, switched the tassel from the right and onto the left side of their cap, they took a group picture of all of them tossing their caps in the air.

Abbey and I after she graduated!
After Abbey hugged basically every single person in her class and more, we headed to New Jersey to meet Tim, Angie, Gabe, and Addie at the hotel.

It was really fun hanging out and eating pizza with the entire family there. :) After almost everyone napped we headed to Dad's cousin Russell's house for a graduation party! I got to meet some of Marsha's (Russell's wife) family as well. Marsha's sister married a man from Ireland so it was cool to listen to his accent. I also learned Marsha's sister, Dayna, was a makeup artist in NYC and did a bunch of celebrity's makeup! So cool! Russell made us all some delicious pizza! Thank you all for your hospitality! When we got back to Abbey's apartment, Abbey showed Tim, Angie, and Gabe her apartment. Gabe's reaction to the view was adorable!

Sunday morning, we headed to the church (Christ Church) Abbey attends. It was a great sermon and beautiful songs! Since it was Mother's day, each lady was given a rose, even if we weren't mothers. It was so sweet! After church we joined their church for a potluck lunch. After lunch we quickly changed into comfier clothes and then went to Abbey's friend Catherine's house for a graduation party in honor of Catherine. It was very nice! A little challenging because everyone already knew each other but there were quite a few outgoing people that talked to us. Everyone was super nice. :) Towards the end of the party we all moved inside and hung out because it was getting chilly. Some how we ended up playing keep-it-up with a balloon with one of Catherine's little sisters. It was rather entertaining! Catherine's Mom showed Shannon and I her amazing living room and the story behind it. It was really cool!

After the party, we headed back to Abbey's apartment. Abbey, Shannon and I just relaxed for the rest of the night. Abby's roommate, Tessa, and her boyfriend, Charles, and her brother, Clinton, showed up around 10:30 or 11pm to hang out for a bit. Clinton is a musician who does Celtic/country/folk music. He actually "serenaded" Abbey, Shannon and I with three songs. It was awesome! He even sang a song called Star of the County Down which uses the word "Colleen" a lot. Made my day! You can hear some of his music on his website: www.clintoncartermusic.com. After Clinton's third song he and Charles left so us ladies could go to bed.

Monday morning, we headed home and Abbey started her internship! :) It was a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Sweet Weather = Sweet Times!

Last Saturday, Billy didn't end up coming with me to shop with Josh, Sean, and Alyssa. It was probably a good thing because Billy strongly dislikes shopping. I bought a really pretty white flower hair piece but I accidentally left it at the Richards' house. :/ I'm thinking I'll pick it up on my way to Rockland on Saturday unless Tucker drops it off sometime this week.

Last Wednesday, Millie and I schemed a plan to have a bunch of friends from Free Grace (after church on Sunday) have lunch, go out for ice cream, then play Ultimate Frisbee, then eat supper, then go to home group.

Our plans worked out really well! After church, most of the teens and preteens from Free Grace ate their packed lunches and then we drove to Dairy Joy. Some of us decided to split ice creams so we wouldn't get sick later. Kyle and I split a hard serve, brownie, chocolate ice cream in a dish. Super yummy! After everyone finished their ice cream, some of us walked and some of drove to a school field near the Almquist's house. We played a really fun game of Ultimate Frisbee. After the winning team reached 11 points we ended the game and played a game of soccer. That didn't last very long because we were all tired and soccer is exhausting when you're not in the greatest shape. We then played some ninja, did some random acrobatics, played monkey-in-the-middle, another short game of Ultimate Frisbee, played pass and then we walked to the Almquist's house for some quick refreshments and cookies! It was a very exhausting but a huuuuge blast! Needless to say, I was sore the next day.

Friday, April 26, 2013

A Rather Laid Back Week

This past week has been rather laid back for me. I had a rather relaxing class Monday night where we did a recap on the Investor Panel, Sam practiced his presentation for New York, we got interviewed by a lady from the Lewiston/Auburn magazine, talked about the upcoming trade show, and we got assigned some homework. Next week we don't have class.

Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I had my regular schoolwork and chores thought the day. I also went through some of my clothes and neatly folded all my clothes. :) Tuesday night, Mom, Dad and I met at Casondria's apartment with Ginny and we discussed chapter 6 of Instruments of the Redeemer's Hands.

On Wednesday I did school, then I did some push ups and rows and then I went for a run! It was a very good run too. :) I ran just under three miles with no cramps or stops. As I was running on College Road some guy ran past me. He startled me so badly because I was listening to music so I didn't hear his foot steps behind me. :) It just so happen that as he went on, he went on the same trail I was planning on running on. So, when I got to the trail, I noticed he started walking to catch his breath. As I passed him, we both chuckled, and he asked me where I was running from. Turns out he and I both started on Sullivan Road and he's my neighbor. I never got his name though. :) I think he just moved onto my road recently. It was a rather interesting run, I must say.

Wednesday evening, Mr. Kidd led us in a study of chapters 25 (The Deity of Christ), 26 (The Subordination of Christ), and 27 (The Humanity of Christ) from Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by RC Sproul. It was very good as usual! I learned that the Father and the Son are equal in being and eternal attributes, although Jesus is subordinate to the Father in His role in redemption. Christ's subordination is voluntary. After that book discussion we had the sermon discussion which wish also led by Mr. Kidd. :) We are to proclaim God in all that we do. Creation does a wonderful job at proclaiming His glory. His glory is proclaimed, loudly, it has a purpose, and speaks continuously. We are being conformed into the likeness of Christ. A cool thing Mrs. Kidd pointed out is that the transformation is also corporate. We grow closer and more like Christ as a church family and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The more we read and understand God's word, the sweeter it becomes.

Yesterday, I did my schoolwork outside in the sun! It seemed pretty warm outside but when I went to Billy's track meet at Oxford Hills, it was rather chilly! Billy's meet was very exciting during the short, fast events but in between wasn't very exciting.

Tonight, I am going to study the SATs with Erin and maybe Allison. Should be pretty fun!

Billy and I are going to Augusta with Alyssa, Josh, and Sean tomorrow to go shopping for banquet stuff and to hang out. I do believe a stop at Fielder's choice will be in order. :)

Monday, April 22, 2013

What a Lovely Sunday!

Yesterday was a wonderful , laid back day. We went to church, I took a few family pictures, we talked and fellowshipped with a people after church until almost 1pm. Our family (except Mom because she was working :( ) invited Isaac over for lunch. After lunch Billy, Isaac, Shannon, and I went to Mt. David (basically a hill) near Bates College and hiked it real quick. After that, we went over to the park and played monkey in the middle with a frisbee with Connor and Gavin. I laughed so much! We all had a blast. Once we were all pooped out we laid on a cement block type thing for awhile and talk to Mrs. Crawford. :)

After the Crawfords left, Isaac, Shannon, Billy, and I walked around on the river walk. :) It was lovely! I took a few pictures of the water and ducks. After the walk, we decided to eat supper at 84 Court Street. 84 Court Street was a restaurant that Isaac recommended and it was fantastic! They had wonderful customer service, declines food, and affordable prices! After supper we talked for awhile and then Isaac drove us home.

Billy, Shannon, and I told Mom and Dad about our adventures and then I went to bed. It was a wonderful day!











Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Friends + Pranks + Pasta + Games = A Good, Good Time!

Yesterday evening, Sarah and David picked Billy and I up. When we got back to Sarah's house we talked for a little bit and then we drove to Jackie's road. We decided to pull a small prank on her and pretended we walked the whole way to her house. Jackie fell for it! It was great.

When got back to Sarah's house, we had some delicious spaghetti, sauce, garlic bread, and clementines. After supper we baked an apple crisp. It was yummy! We played Scattergories and David won. :) I did pretty awful. After Scattergories, we played Catchphrase. We did process of elimination. The first road, Jackie won, Billy came in second, then Sarah, then me, then David. The second round I won, David came in second, Sarah third, Jackie fourth and Billy last. The third round Jackie won again, Sarah came in second, then Billy, then me, then David. It was super fun and we laughed so much!

We all piled into Sarah's car, dropped Jackie off, and then Sarah dropped Billy and I off. It was a fabulous time!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Spring is a Comin'!

It's super nice outside today! I can hardly believe that it was snowing on Friday and now it's Monday and it's around 55 degrees and sunny! That's Maine for yah! It's supposed to be in the mid fifties all week except on Friday it's supposed to get to 60 degrees! I can't wait!

Tonight, Billy and I are going to hang out with Sarah, Jackie, and David at Sarah's house. It should be fun!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Success and a Second Newspaper Article!

The presentations went really well on Tuesday evening! With no surprise, Sam was awarded the most investment money and was chosen to be sent to Rochester New York to present his business there. :) We all were not surprised  because he had done so well with his presentation and has some real talent with photography.

I was awarded $700 for start-up investment. It'll be perfect to get my training as a planner. The investors also gave me an idea on how to improve my business model and make it easier to sell since I'm so young.

Wednesday morning, we had another article about out presentations in the Sunjournal. Here is a link to the latest article we're in. There is actually a picture of just me which I thought was pretty cool! I look wicked nervous though. :P

Yesterday, I received a $2000 scholarship to Capilos! Woohoo! I'm super happy!

To top off all my joy and good news, I got a job as a Florist's Assistant through Sweet Pea Designs. I start on May 1st! I'm really excited. Laurie (my new boss) is a super fun lady! If I get a job at Ruby Tuesday's, I could a good amount of money for college this fall!

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Sun Journal and Presentation Prep!

Last Sunday morning I made it into the Sun Journal with my YEA! class. :) It was pretty cool! Here is a link to the article about us.


Tonight is the actual presentation! I'll be sure to blog about the results tomorrow!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Brush Fire!

Last night around 5pm, the sheriff drove down our driveway and told us that there was a brush fire way back behind our woods. It was kind of cool seeing a bunch of fire trucks and firemen sort of surrounding our house and our road.

One of the Monmouth fire trucks drove down our driveway.
This is a small part of the damage done to the field just past our property line.

Thank you Lord for keeping us safe and for the fire fighters who put out the fire!

Friday, March 29, 2013

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. This is the day Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- 1 Corinthians 5:21


And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
- Mark 15:33-39

By God's grace and mercy we are forgiven if our sins. It's incredible! Thank you, Lord!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Delightful Weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend while Abbey was home. :) We relaxed and hung out with Abbey on Thursday.

On Friday, Abbey, Mom and I got our hair cut!  We drove down to Augusta and had Bethany cut our hair. She did a great job. :)

Before and after of my haircut.


On Saturday, Abbey and I cleaned the church while Billy and Dad did some errands. When we got home, I tried Billy's tire dragging exercise. I couldn't pull it very far which made for a funny video.

That is my attempt at pulling the 165 pound tire.

Here is Billy's successful attempt at pulling the same tire.


Since my attempt didn't really do much of a workout, I decided to go for a run to make up for it. :)

Saturday evening, Tucker, Tim, Angie, Gabe, Addie, Aunt Debbie, and Dave came over for supper to visit with Abbey. It was a very delightful evening! I played with Gabe most of the time. :) Gabe and I had lots of tickle attacks. Billy made chicken breast stuffed with seasoned cream cheese, breaded, and wrapped in bacon, along with some brown rice and stir-fried veggies. It was delicious!

On Sunday, I curled my hair for church. I really like out it turned out.


After church, Shannon brought Mom home because she wasn't feeling well.  Billy went with the Crawfords to hang out at the Taylor's house.  Shannon, Abbey, and Dad came back to the church to pick me up. We drove down to Massachusetts to visit the Vandykes. A few minutes after we arrived Dad had to bring Abbey to Boston so she could catch a bus back to NYC.

We had a great visit with the Vandyke family! After catching up, we played a game of Hearts with two decks. I won, Zeb came in second, and Ben came in third. :)

After Hearts, we talked for a bit with Mr. Moore about theater and such. Levi, Dad, Zeb, Mr. and Mrs. Vandyke, Mr. and Mrs. Moore and I played Trivial Pursuit. The team Dad, Zeb, Mr. and Mrs. Moore were on won.

After Trivial Pursuit we talked a bit more. Joanna had Jenny, her friend Jillian, and Benjamin H. come in to say hi. That was really nice! After talking with them for a bit, we hugged everyone goodbye and left. It was a very delightful visit!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Welcome Home Babba!

Late last night --or should I say, early this morning, Mom and Dad picked Abbey up from Boston! She's home until Sunday evening. Woohoo! This morning I was lying in bed, too lazy to get up just yet, and I heard Abbey (on the top bunk) say in her sleep, "Haters gonna hate.". It was rather hilarious!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going to Amanda's house to play around with her hair. I had a wonderful time! We some great conversation as well. :) I'm so blessed to have a friend like her.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Presentation Practice and Tough Mountain Challenge

Last night, I practiced presenting my business in front of my YEA! class. Needless to say, I need to finish my PowerPoint and script and practice it over and over again. Our guest speaker, Kurk Lalemand, was kind enough to sit in on a few of our presentations and gave us some tips afterwards. He's one of the investors so his tips were very helpful!

The other day I registered for the Tough Mountain Challenge. I'm really excited to do it this summer. It's a bit pricy but I'm sure it'll be worth it. The Tough Mountain Challenge is a 5K on a mountain with lots of muddy or crazy obstacles. I've always wanted to do something like that so I'm looking forward to training for it and then doing it with Billy and some friends.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Birthdays!

Today is Tucker and Lily's birthday! Tucker is turning 18 and Lily is turning 7! :) Happy birthday, guys!

This afternoon, I'm making Shannon a carrot cake for her birthday party today. :) It's going to be a small, fun, girls only birthday party.

I may be working tonight. I'll find out at 2pm.

I'm rather bummed out because I'm missing The HOME Convention this year because I'm unsure if I'm working or not. :/ A bunch of my good friends are going and I can't see them. :( Also, Eric and Leslie Ludy are speaking at the convention as well.

Tomorrow, if I'm not working, I'll be going to the Estes party that Nick and Joel are having before they head back to college.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Busy, On-the-go Day

Yesterday morning, Shannon drove me to the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce building before she went to class. When I arrived the the building I said hello to my teacher, Mrs. Carroll, then went into the Chamber of Commerce conference room to listen to Kurk Lalemand from Next Level Business Coaching. Kurk spoke on "Hiring -- The Long and Winding Road". He talked about how we should hire slowly - fire quickly, train people well, keep people accountable, and the DISC personality trait system.

After the seminar was over, I walked down the road to Free Grace church. Mom, Billy, the Kidds, Pastor Per and a few elders from Presbytery, I think, were there. I ate a small lunch and talked with Millie, Grace, and Darby for awhile. Grace, Kevin, and I walked to the Lewiston Public Library while Mom and Mrs. Crawford took a walk. Soon after we got to the library, we had to head back to the church because the Kidd family was ready to leave. It was Darby's birthday so they were going to have a fun day in Portland for him. :) I talked to Pastor Per until Mom got back from her walk with Mrs. Crawford.

Mom and I drove to the dollar store and bought basically all the supplies we needed for the cast party. The Wardwells were at Walmart and so I asked them to pick up white rectangular table cloths because the dollar store didn't have any.

Shannon got home, we got home and the Wardwells arrived at our house at basically the same time. It was rather hilarious!

Mom drove me and the Wardwells to the Richards's house. Mrs. Richards told us what to do with the Christmas decorations and we quickly got to work. Rebecca and Tucker arrived about an hour after we got there. We eventually got all the Christmas decorations and tree out of the Great Room and then got to work on decorating. I won't say too much about the decorations until after the cast party. I can tell you that they're really amazing though!

After a few hours of work, Mom picked us up. Rebecca and Tucker drove in a separate car. We went to the Winthrop Hannaford to return a Redbox movie and buy some spinach. Then, we stopped at the Chick's house so I could pick up the goddess costume for Mrs. Taylor.

When we (Emily, John, Stephen, Tucker, Rebecca, Mom, and I) got home, Billy had a delicious supper ready for us. After supper Tucker and I discussed details of the cast party while everyone else talked about random things. It turned out to be a very fun evening!

Monday, March 4, 2013

As You Like It = Success!

We successfully performed six performances! It was such a huge blast! I am so thankful to God for such a wonderful opportunity and for my wonderful friends that were in the show and for those that came to watch the show. Some cast members did get sick during the shows but we were still able to continue with the show with no major difficulties. :) 

This was my last SMASH play. I'm going to miss it SO much! 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Surrounded by Sickness

Sunday morning I found out that some of the Kidds had the flu. Later on I heard that they weren't the only cast members to get sick. Basically half our cast is sick or was sick. Prayers would be appreciated. We haven't had an rehearsals this week due to the sickness. We're just going to squeeze in some rehearsing before the show tomorrow. I really hope people are healthy for tomorrow's show, otherwise we'll have to cancel the show. That would stink!

Recently I've been surrounded by sickness, infections, disorders, and such. I take my good health for granted. I should thank God for my good health everyday! Seriously, I have family and friends being diagnosed with kidney problems, eating disorders, minor things like colds, the flu, sinus or ear infections, and other things that probably shouldn't listed. I almost feel guilty being healthy. I can't thank God enough for my good health, strong immune system, and decent genes. :) It helps to have a brother and sister who know so much about a healthy diet and remind me everyday to eat healthier.

Monday, February 25, 2013

First Three Shows = Success!

Last weekend we performed three shows successfully! They were about thee hours long but they were very entertaining! :) If you haven't seen us (SMASH) perform As You Like It, it's not too late! We have three more shows this coming weekend. For more information go to Maineshakespeare.com. Please, make reservations.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

A Full Plate

Lately, I've been very busy trying to finish my business plan. Dad and I are hopefully making a wedding planning business called Wonderful Wedding Planning. Writing the financials for a business plan is very tedious and takes a bunch of research and educated guesses. On top of that, I have to fill out a web developer worksheet (that's not too bad), and fill out my PowerPoint for the Investor Panel. Once Dad and I finish figuring out the financials of my business, filling out the PowerPoint should be pretty quick.

With that said, I'm still very busy with my regular schoolwork, planning the cast party for As You Like It, rehearsals for As You Like It (I have three this week, then crunch week next week and the week after), and random projects and chores that Dad has me do. Shannon wants me to plan her 20th birthday party as well. I'm also looking for a second job because I have only worked once since New Years Eve. I'll be working on Valentines Day but I'm not sure when after that. Sedgley place hasn't been very busy. In a way, I'm glad they haven't needed me to work much so I can work on my business, but I really need to earn money for college this fall, or else I can't go.

To say the least, my plate is very full. Prayers would be appreciated. I know God has a plan so I'm praying it'll work out.


Last weekend a blizzard named Nemo came and blew snow around for two days. We now have about three feet of snow. It's awesome!









Thursday, February 7, 2013

Starbucks with Friends!

Today I am going to hang out with Elayna and Libby at Starbucks for a couple hours while Billy takes his Algebra test at KVCC. After Billy finishes with that test, he is going to take the HOBET (Health Occupational Basic Entrance Test). Mom and Dad go out to dinner with the Estes parents and I hang out with the Estes kids. It's going to be fun!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Moving, Red Claws, Soup, and Superbowl!

Last Friday evening, Billy, Dad, Meti, Ginny, Mr. Crawford, and I helped Casondria, Ben, and Michael pack a lot of their belongings into boxes. After the majority of things were packed, we ate some pizza that Ben bought for everyone. Once everyone was finished, Ben, Michael, Meti, Billy, Dad, and I went bowling. Ginny joined us about half way through the bowling. It was really fun! I hadn't gone bowling for years and years! We all did pretty awfully. Billy won with 80 points, Dad in second with 79, me in third with 78. Everyone else got around 50 or 30 points. I want to go bowling again and see if I get a better score. :) After bowling, we all went home.

On Saturday morning, we left around 9:15am to get to Casondria, Ben and Michael's place for 9:30am. There were already quite a few Free Gracers and other friends of Ben and Casondria's there. With lots of teamwork we loaded up the U-Haul truck. I loaded up their dinning room chairs into a lady named Kim's van and then Kim and I went to the new apartment and waited for Casondria and Ben's Mom to arrive so we could go into the apartment. Mom, Mrs. Almquist, Michael, and Scotty were already waiting there. The apartment was beautiful! While we waited for the U-Haul truck to get fully loaded, Mom, Scotty, and I assembled four lamps. Once the U-Haul truck arrived, Pastor Per handed people things to unload and we soon had the truck unloaded. Many hands make light work! :) Once the truck was unloaded, we went back to the old apartment to get a few more things. The Doughty family left after that and we went to a storage place and put some stuff in there and then back to the new apartment, dropped off a few things and then Mom, Dad, Billy, and I left.

When we got back home, I found out that I didn't have to go to work that night so I could go to the Red Claws game!

Before we left for the Red Claws game, I baked some chocolate cookies in the shape of footballs.

On our way to the Red Claws game we picked up Michael, Dan, and Allison. It was a fun night! They had some interesting entertainment in between periods. Dad and I bought some food at the concession stand. The line was pretty long but it moved quite fast. The halftime show was really cool! The main reason we were going to the Red Claws game was to watch the Pelletier's Karate Demo which was at halftime. I took a video of it but it's too long to upload. It was very well done, exciting and the ending was really cute. They had four guys with javelin type things do a little demonstration, then they had the rest of the Karate people run at them and the four guys defeated all but the four youngest karate students, those youngest four took the four guys down. It was so cute! The Red Claws lost against the Vipers by about 20 points. :/ Oh well.

Sunday morning, I drove Dad, Mom, and Billy to church. Church was great! Pastor Per preached on The Challenge of God. After church, we set up about 6 tables and we all had a soup, crackers, bread, and butter potluck. I had some delicious corn chowder that Mrs. Crawford made, tasty beef stew made by Mrs. Doughty, and then some yummy homemade bread that Jason made. After lunch we put the tables back in the basement and then moved the chairs into a big circle and had prayer meeting. :) It was very good.

After the prayer meeting, we went home and made goodies for the Superbowl party. I made more Football cookies, Dad made potato skins, and Billy made deviled eggs.

My football cookies.


Once Dad and Billy finished making their goodies, we left for the Almquist's house. I chose to root for the 49ers because most everyone else was rooting for them.  Of course, since I was rooting for them, they lost. I was rooting for the Patriots last year and they lost. Oh well! A few of the commercials were funny! But, quite a few were quite questionable. The halftime show with Beyonce was not very appropriate. I knew two of the songs she sang though: Single Ladies and Halo. The power went out during the game which delayed it about 20 minutes so Billy, Dad, Mom, and I left before the game ended. It was a fun weekend!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

SMASHness

I apologize for the lack of blog posts. I haven't had much exciting things to say for awhile.

With SMASH starting up, I've been really excited to rehearse scenes, get a costume, apply stage make up, figure out hairdos for the characters, and get into character! :D I'm also planning the cast party so that should be fun!

With SMASH on my mind I put together a collage of "before and after" pictures of Petra and I. We both had the most dramatic change in our characters last year.




In the good picture of Petra, I cropped Olivia out. She was sort of bummed so I made her her own collage. :)


Monday, January 28, 2013

Work, Church, and Games

Last Saturday night I ended up working so I couldn't make it to Gabe's funeral. :/ Work went well though. I hadn't worked since New Years Eve so I thought it would be hard to get back into the swing of things but it wasn't so bad. :) I nearly forgot to get the veggie plates out but I remembered just in time. I got out of work around 9pm, I think. After work, Dad, Mom, Billy and I watched an episode of Alias. Such an intense show!

Sunday morning, Pastor Per preached Isaiah 41:1-20. His sermon was titled Reality Check. It was very good.

After church, we ate some lunch and then had our home group discussion with Casondria, Belinda, David, Connor, Meti, Erin, Shannon, Dad, and Billy. After that, we had Meti, Erin, and Connor over at our house. We watched Princess Bride and I made chocolate chip cookies, and Gluten-Free Brownies from a box. After hanging out for a bit, all but Dad left to go to the Turner Home Group game night. Game night was SUPER fun! We ate lots of yummy food, played Settlers of Catan, Dutch Blitz and some of the younger kids and parents played other games.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Rest In Peace, Gabe S.

Tomorrow afternoon is Gabe's, Caleb's friend's, funeral. :/ I'm not sure if I'll be able to go but I'll be praying for the Soucy and Castonguay family.

I've always loved the song Rock of Ages. Not until recently have I really noticed the beauty of the lyrics. The last verse brought me to tears the Sunday after I found out about Gabe's death.

While I draw this fleeting breath, 
when mine eyes shall close in death, 
when I soar to worlds unknown, 
see thee on thy judgment throne, 
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
let me hide myself in thee.
 
-Augustus M. Toplady 
 
 
I believe Gabe is in heaven now. :) 
 
(to avoid any confusion, this is not my nephew Gabe)

Thursday, January 24, 2013

SMASH: As You Like It

This year in SMASH, we are performing As You Like It. Performances will be February 21, 22, 28 and March 1 at 6:30pm and February 23 and March 2 at 2pm. We will be performing at Cumston Hall in Monmouth. To make reservations call (207)370-0441or email smashmaine@gmail.com.

Yesterday, I did school in the morning and I then I went to SMASH. I got to watch Billy (he's playing Le Beau) rehearse one of his scenes with Orlando (played by John), Rosalind (played by Meredith/Keisha), Celia (play by Millie/Rebecca), Charles (played by Darby and Ethan), Duke Frederick (played by David), and Touchstone (played by Ben). It was quite hilarious! I can't wait for the whole play to come together. It's going to be a very funny and entertaining play. 

After SMASH rehearsal I did a few chores, then listened to last weeks sermon again, ate supper, and drove (with Mom, Dad, and Billy) to Taking It Deeper. It was a good discussion. :) I drove my family and I home, made hot chocolate mix, and then watched an exciting episode of Alias with Mom and Dad.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Presbytery, Orchestra Concert, and Church = A Lovely Weekend

Last Saturday morning, Mom and I drove to the church for Presbytery. I had to do slides for the church service that we had before Presbytery actually happened. It was very good. A young man named Brian Phillips preached on Called to Walk in Truth and Love. He read from Second John 4-6.

After the church service, we all had quick break and snacked for a bit. When the break was over, the elders and pastors began presbytery. It was rather interesting. I must be honest, I didn't listen to it the whole time because it was a tad uninteresting to me at times. At one point, all of us guests had to go into the offices at church so the men could talk about certain things we weren't supposed to listen to. It was pretty fun sitting in Ken's office with Mom, Mrs. Kidd, Lilly, Darby, Millie, Mrs. Crawford, Mr. Crawford, and Kevin. As Mrs. Crawford had said, "It's like we're on a long car ride going no where.".

After Presbytery was over, we cleaned up the church and put everything back to how it was supposed to be. We talked to some of the visitors from different churches for awhile and then left.

When Mom and I got home it was about 5:30pm. We quickly ate some supper, and then I drove (with Mom in the passenger's seat and Billy in the back) to Meti's house. Mom drove Meti, Billy, and I to The Franco American Heritage Center to see Mrs. Almquist and Kyle play in the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra. It was really cool that Kyle was playing in the orchestra! He was the youngest musician in the orchestra and got a special guest announcement along with two two other guests in the orchestra. :D Kyle and Mrs. Almquist had 20 people show up to listen to them. Needless to say, we were all proud of Kyle. Mrs. Almquist was especially proud.

Sunday morning we had church. :) A joy, as usual. Pastor Per's sermon was called "Your Thoughts of God Are Too Human". That title is a quote from Martin Luther.

After church, Shannon and Meti hung out in Augusta for the afternoon. Billy, Mom, Dad, and I watched a debate through Intelligence Squared. The debate was on whether or not Science refuted God. It was really interesting but I'm not sure where Dad found the actual video of the debate.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Breakfast Burrito

Yesterday morning, I sort of made up my own recipe for a breakfast burrito. There nothing super special about it but it's a change.

Servings: 2

Ingredients
2 slices of bacon
1/3 cup of sausage
1 medium sized potato
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Olive oil (enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan you use)
2-4 eggs (depends on how full of a burrito you want)
A splash of Milk
A dash of Pepper
Italian Salad Dressing
1-3 tablespoons of cheese (amount varies on how much cheese you prefer)
2 tortillas

Recipe/directions
Cook the bacon and sausage, remove from pan and onto a paper towel (for the grease). Pour olive oil in the same pan you were using for the meat. Chop the potato into bite sized pieces and throw into pan. Add Italian seasoning and stir occasionally. Once the potatoes turn golden and soft, remove from pan. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and pepper together and then pour egg mixture into the hot pan. Be sure to stir/scramble the eggs immediately so they don't stick to the pan. Add chopped up sausage and bacon to the eggs and then add the hash browns/potatoes and Italian salad dressing. Continue to scramble eggs until well cooked. Microwave tortillas for 15 seconds and then spread the cheese onto the center of the warm tortilla. Scoop desired amount of eggs onto tortilla, fold, then enjoy!



Today, I discovered a young lady's blog. I believe she is friends with some other Christian friends of mine. Anyway, she has alot of great posts for Christian homeschooled girls and for anyone else. She's very smart. As far as I have read, I agree with what she says. :) Her blog is called Cause For Joy. I suggest it to anyone but more specifically to young ladies. It's fantastic!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

First Mentor Visit

Last Monday, I had YEA! class again. It was pretty exciting because we had one of our investors come and meet us. After introducing ourselves and our business ideas, he left. A lawyer came in as a guest speaker and talked to us about taxes, liabilities, sole proprietorship vs corporations or limited partnerships/partnerships, and hiring/firing/paying employees, business names and trademarks and things like that. It was pretty interesting.

After the lawyer left, we got a 10 minute break. We got to snack on some desserts from Grants Bakery.

When our break was over, Mr. Morrison introduced us to our mentors. I was partnered up with a gentleman named Donny who works at Mechanic Savings. I believe he does something commercials so he sees alot of business plans. He basically went over my business plan with me and asked me quite a few good questions. He's smart and was recently married so weddings are pretty fresh in his mind. In case you didn't know, my business is going to Wonderful Wedding Planning.

Monday, January 14, 2013

God's Comfort

Last Friday night, Billy, Mom, Dad, and I went to a fundraiser benefit event for Sensei Pelletier. It was was awesome! There were so many people there! They had a DJ play music, there was a really cool Karate demo. My pastor and his sons (Kyle, Jason, and Scotty) all take karate. I hope to never get into a fight with them because I'm very sure that I'd lose. Gracie and I got to hold a snake that night! There was some sort of pet store that was at the fundraiser event. They had tame rats, snakes, lizards, and parrots there. It was really cool. The parrot danced! There was one HUGE snake (ball python) that only the guy who worked at the pet store could hold. We got to pet it though. :)


At one point, the snake wrapped around both my wrists like hand cuffs. It was really cool!

Saturday morning, we went sledding with Dan, Nick, Kenan, Linnea, Catherine, Diana, Martin, Tucker, Corrie, and Brenna! Joel was there but he had a pretty bad cold so he stayed in the van. After sledding and racing for awhile, we played Capture the Flag. In order to "tag" some one, we had to either hit them with a snow ball or tackle them. It was a lot of fun! I was on Tucker's team with Kenan, Mr. Stuart, Linnea, Brenna, Catherine, and Diana, I believe. Our team won both rounds. After two rounds of Capture the Flag, Tucker left to go to Hands Around the Capitol and the rest of us went to my house. We all had hot chocolate and ate lunch. We all played some card games or chess and  just hung out for awhile. Everyone was sort of exhausted from sledding. Most everyone left in between 3:30pm and 5pm. It was a fun day!

That night we found out that our friend Caleb (he used to do SMASH) was in a car accident with his good friend Gabe. Gabe died and Caleb was hospitalized. :'( Caleb was in the ICU for awhile but he's doing better now. Please pray for healing and comfort for Caleb and his close friends and family.

Sunday morning was a little rough. On the way to church Dad had us sing It Is Well With My Soul. I started to cry basically as soon as we started singing. My heart goes out to Gabe's family and Caleb's family. I was able to stop crying for awhile until we got to church and Pastor Per closed sermon (which was on Isaiah 40:1-11, by the way) and was naming examples of why we need God's comfort and he mentioned the car accident. He then prayed about it and the other struggles going on around us like Sensei Pelletier and his cancer. After Pastor Per finished praying we sang Rock of Ages, Cleft For Me ("
could my tears forever flow"). That brought me to tears as well. By the end of church, Billy, Shannon, and I were all in tears. I thank God for such a comforting God and comforting church family though. :) I had some good friends send me texts saying they were praying for Caleb and Gabe as well. I'm so blessed. <3

After church, once we stopped crying I talked with some friends for a bit and then once almost everyone left, we had a home group study on Instruments In The Redeemers Hands. When we finished with that, we went home. Casey stopped by before she left back for college. :( I took a long nap, and then Dad and I made Whoopie Pies. Once the Whoopie Pies were done, we drove over to Home Group in Turner. We had good fellowship, ate yummy snacks, updated people on prayer requests, Shannon shared how her week was in NYC, and then we discussed chapter two of Instruments In The Redeemers Hands and then prayed. It was a wonderful evening.

This morning, I woke up early because I had a dentist appointment at 7am. My teeth are "perfect" except one tooth sticks out slightly farther than the other. The Dentist said I could go to the Orthodontist to see how much it would cost to straighten it. I'm not sure if would want braces if I don't need them though.

Just a picture of my hair because I felt like taking a picture of it. :P

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

A Blessed Christmas Vacation

I'll try and sum up my Christmas vacation pretty quickly. :)

The Saturday before Christmas, I believe I finished my gift shopping and wrapped the gifts, made Buck Eye Balls, and then I worked that night.

The Sunday before Christmas, we went to church and had a lovely church service. :) After church, we went home and got the ham dinner ready and I finished making the Buck Eye Balls. Aunt Debbie arrived around 2:30pm. We ate the ham dinner around 3:30pm. It was SUPER yummy. After the ham dinner, Tim, Angie, Gabe, and Addie arrived. :) They ate some of the ham dinner and once they had finished eating, we sorted the gifts out. We went in age order and opened our gifts. I got a necklace, chocolate and body scrub, from Shannon, fuzzy socks and sparkly nail polish from the Leach family, nail stickers and bath set from Aunt Debbie, a fedora from Billy, an iPad mini from my parents, a journal also from my parents, a target gift card and a cozy blue scarf from the my Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim, a TJ Maxx gift card from Abbey, and another Target gift card from the Reagan family. It was a very good Christmas. I really enjoyed hanging out with my family. <3 They are so wonderful. But gifts are the most exciting part of Christmas, it's the birth of Jesus Christ. I am so incredibly thankful and amazed that God sent his only son to take the form of a human to die on the cross for our sins. I can't imagine the struggles and temptations He went through.

On Christmas Eve night, we went to our church's Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service. I had to do slides for the service. Billy and I both had to read some scripture for the service as well. It was a beautiful night! :)
Billy, Abbey, Catherine, Diana, Mom, and Dad. Shannon took this picture as we sang Silent Night.
After the service we had some snacks and talked with the Estes and our Free Grace family for awhile. It was lovely!

On Christmas day, we wrote a few Thank You cards and just relaxed for the day. The reason we opened out gifts on the Sunday before Christmas was because my Mom was working Christmas Eve and Shannon was working on Christmas day.

The day after Christmas, my family, Casey, and I went to go see Les Miserables. It was really good! The music was pretty incredible! After the movie, we cleaned the church and then Mom, Casey, Abbey, and I drove to Tim and Angie's house. Mom and Abbey into the house to drop off some soup. They were recovering from a flu bug so Casey and I didn't want to go inside. After that, we drove to my friend Allison's house so I could spend the night.

Allison and I couldn't do too much because she had hurt her back and it was basically a blizzard outside. We still had fun though! We hung out in her hot tub, watched movies, and talked a lot! :) It was fantastic! I had to spend an extra night at their house because the roads were bad. Thursday night, I ended up getting sick. I must have caught the flu from some one. We aren't sure it was from Tim and Angie because I hadn't seen them since Sunday. I threw up about 4 times that night. The next morning, Dad came and picked me up. I was feeling mostly better. On the way home Dad bought me some gatorade. I relaxed for the rest of the day. My Uncle Steve and cousin Katie came to visit. Uncle Steve, Shannon, and Katie made a delicious supper. I barely ate mine because my stomach wasn't quite ready for a regular meal. After supper, Uncle Steve taught us two new card games.

The next day, Uncle Steve and Katie made Eggs Benedict for breakfast. It was very yummy! After breakfast, we hung out and talked for awhile. Just before lunch, Sean showed up. For lunch we had a delicious chicken type meal. It was basically a chicken breast with cream cheese and spices stuffed inside, breaded, then wrapped in bacon. It was DIVINE! After lunch Katie left to visit some friends in Waterville. Uncle Steve, Billy, Abbey, and I taught Sean how to play the game Uncle Steve taught us. After awhile, Uncle Steve packed up, said good bye, and left. We had a good time!

After Uncle Steve left, Sean, Billy, Abbey, Mom, Dad, and I went to the Richards' Christmas party. That was loads of fun! It was so nice to see some many of my wonderful friends. I'm super blessed. I basically caught up with whole bunch of my friends.

On Sunday, we had yet another lovely church service. Pastor Per preached on Christmas as Great Joy. After church, the Vandykes came over for lunch. :) After lunch, Sean, Billy, Abbey, and I met Dan at Panera Bread. We taught Dan how to play Dutch Blitz. After we finished our game of Dutch Blitz, Dan, Sean, Billy, and I played Hearts. Strangely enough, Billy lost! Dan came in first, Sean came in third, and I came in second! I'm used to Billy winning hearts. After we finished the game, we left because Panera Bread was closing early.

On New Years Eve, I cleaned our living room floor. I had to go into work at Sedgley Place at 3:45pm. Corrie and I worked until 12:30am. We started the new year working :) When we got back to my house, we took some pain medicine, ate some cheerios, and relaxed on the couch each with a glass of sparkling grape juice. We listened to a few One Direction and Celtic Thunder songs until Billy, Sean, Abbey, and Shannon got home from the Estes around 2:30am.

The next day, Corrie, Billy, and I went to Sarah's house for a little party with some friends. I met Sarah's cousins Aaron and Adam, and got to know her friends Mac and David better. We all laughed so much! We played some hilarious games called Telestrations, Egyptions Rats Stew/Screw, CatchPhrase, and Mafia.

I started school again the next day (last Wednesday).

Thursday evening, Mom dropped Abbey, Billy, and I off at Central Maine Christian Academy. Garrett drove us to his basketball game in New Gloucester. We watched Dan and Garrett's basketball team beat Grace Christian with a score of 57-18, I think. Afterwards, we watched the girls beat Grace Christian with a score of 40 or 30 something with like 15 points. It was fun! After the games, we invited Dan and Garrett over for supper. Garrett drove us to Little Caesars while Dan followed us in his car. After we got the pizza at Little Caesars, we drove home. Shannon and Abbey were a little overtired so we had a rather hilarious and interesting supper! After supper, Dan, Billy, Garrett, and I played Hearts. Dan won again, and I believe Garrett came in second, Billy in third, and me in last. It was rather disappointing game for me. :P Dan and Garrett left soon after the game was finished.

Last Saturday morning, Billy and I went sledding with a bunch of teens and youth from Free Grace. Tim and Gabie baby went sledding with us as well! After we were finished with sledding, we went to the Almquist's house for hot chocolate and soup. SO good!

That night, as research for my Wedding Planning business, Dad, Joanna, Mrs. Vandyke, and I went to a .Bridal Show in Portland. It was a lot of fun! Although, it was a tad awkward because most of the Vendors thought I or Joanna was a bride. After the Bridal show, we went to Five Guys Burgers. Good food!