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". :)