My Schedule

This semester marks my last semester of high school. I just finished a week of it.

What my last semester looks like:
(Hope operates on the block schedule)

Tuesday/Thursday Classes:
Senior Thesis- Research a topic, write a big paper, and do a presentation on it.
Humane Letters (Medieval History)- We are reading Le Morte d'Arthur as of right now. More books to come.
Spanish- Yo aprender y practicar español.
Art- Studying surrealism.  This lady is my art teacher. She is wonderful.
note- I dropped choir for this semester.

Wednedsay/Friday Classes:
Calculus- Studying implicit and explicit differentiation. Derivatives, etc.
Theology- Studying the doctrine of Angels and Demons for now. More doctrines to come
Chemistry- Smells.
Advisory- College prep.
Drama- Preparing for a Shakespeare play in the spring. Stay tuned.

A New Year

My list of 13-

1. Act in a play outside of school (Anna Carlson, you catching my vibe?)
2. Figure out the city bus system, so I'm not dependent on a car (actually, van).
3. Win a College scholarship, any college scholarship-- I need some scholarships.
4. Read a book each month (yeah, I don't have much time on my hands.)
5. Grow as writer, too bad I don't know what that will look like other than practice, practice, practice.
6. Become a softball star! SO EXCITED for softball to start again
7. Go somewhere scary with Auryanna via roadtrip.
8. Go sugar-free for 6 weeks (I'm on day 2)
9. Watch Alandra, Lindsay, Carissa, and Anna K become Basketball stars in college! (Especially Alandra)
10. Don't cut my hair. Trims are okay.
11. Graduate. Simple enough, then go to college.
12. Go to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip. Would you like to support this? Find out more information? Click here
13. I want to volunteer with this ministry more

Gratitude {Day 2 and 3}

Yesterday was the Christmas concert. I was thankful for the holiday cheer and music that was shared last night! It was held at First Covenant church in downtown mpls. The sad part: last Hope Christmas concert. But this post isn't about sad things, it's about thankfulness (and I'm doing a wonderful job at that....)

Today we had a Christmas par-tay in Advisory class and at church youth group. #toomanycookies. It's great that I can stock up on artificial goodness, but after New years, things will have to change :)

Gratitude {Day 1}

Today my class had the opportunity to job shadow at the Downtown USbank plaza. It was a nice way to start the week off, and it was an enriching experience. We had a discussion with the Sr. Vice president of the Direct Lending department at US Bank. He asked us basic questions and shared his story. One question he asked was "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I confidently answered this question. Then he moved on to ask, "Does anyone see themselves having babies?"
silence.
Then all eyes on me.
...uncomfortable giggle.
Thanks class, but 22 is too soon for me.
Other highlights from the shadow day was participating in video conference, touring the building, and talking with employees in different positions at US Bank. Oh, and Broadway pizza for lunch was a nice treat too.

With that I am thankful for:
My class
This fieldtrip

A Week of Gratitude

This is my last school-week of 2012. I'm a little stressed because there still is plenty to do, but I won't let those things bog me down! I'm grateful for them, and in order to remember how blessed I am (and for my sanity) I will be sharing things I am grateful for each day (yay, it's Thanksgiving all over again!)

Blurb.

Benji cracks open my door, and in flies (literally) a mouse. crash! Mouse on the floor. I don't care, because it's dead.

Brothers.

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are good days for me. They are also long, why? Because I wake up at 5:30 am. Why do I wake up that early? To go to a 6 a.m Bible study. But it's worth it. I get the study in the morning, and then I have a long and full day. In fact, I look forward to Wednesdays because I know I will wake up early. On other days, I simply cannot get out of bed that early just because I want to. I tell myself at night to wake up early and if you do, you can go out and buy a coffee or go to SNAP fitness to work out, and then enjoy the day- but it never happens. Thus, I look forward to going to bed on Tuesday, because I know I will get out of bed early the next day.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your Wednesday.

A Reading

I read the The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. He wrote the book in the early 1400's. I enjoyed reading the few pages from it.  Everything written in it was solid and true. The biggest take-away I got from the reading was, "We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever." This is just soo true. I mean the words and wisdom he shared 600 years ago was all truth from God, and it is truth that is still being taught, discussed, and read today. God's word has and will remain forever! Truth doesn't pass away.
I encourage you to read, or even skim the passage. I'll definitely come back to it.

2 lessons, 2 blessings

The title of this post is a writing prompt from a book I'm reading. I'm just going to write about 2 lessons from the day and 2 blessings. Simple enough.

Lessons:

1. Don't buy a dipped ice-cream cone for a two-year old at the Uptown Art fair if it's 90+ degrees. You would think a dipped ice-cream cone would be the perfect treat for a hot day, but it's not. Within minutes the ice-cream was sprinkled all over her because of the heat and because she was 2.  I couldn't do much to clean her up because there was people everywhere. I was carrying her artwork that she just made and if I would have set it down it would have blown away.  But then it got to a point where she was sick of walking, and I wasn't super excited about carrying a sticky and sweaty 2-year old around so we walked into a big biffy and used a ton of hand sanitizer to remove the ice-cream residue. A little gross, I know, but it worked. Oh, and the ice cream cone had to be thrown away after a few minutes because it was turning into a ice cream waterfall.
2. It's good to ask for help, but sometimes you should oh, I don't know: look! I went up to an information desk person to ask where Lagoon Avenue was, and I kid you not, I was virtually standing on it, and the street signs in uptown are huge, so if I would have taken a second to look where I was before I asked where to go, I would have seen that I am right where I need to be. But hey, my ignorance (stupidity) made the guy laugh.

Blessings:

1. Aside from the ice-cream incident, the fair was fun. I enjoy taking children on little adventures, so it was a blessing that I was able to go there on this hot day instead of a playground or something generic. The young girl also had fun making a print, winning a prize, and walking around.
2. I got to babysit two young girls that I only see a few times a year. They are wonderful, and they play so well. I love their family, and it's refreshing to be around young kids who don't fight or squabble, and can do creative play with me for hours at a time. 

A taste of American Idol

While I was in Chicago I auditioned for American idol. It was fun to be apart of. I will just explain what it was like chronologically. On Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:30 am and headed to the United Center to register. I waited in line for an hour, then I got my wristband and seating ticket and was on my way. During the waiting process, people sang and yelled a lot. Auditions were not until Thursday, but it was a good idea to register early on Tuesday morning because come Thursday, those who registered early get to audition earlier. Auditioning early made a big difference, because no one wants to sit shaking in their seat for hours and hours on Thursday. We also got really great seats to wait in. They were right in front of three auditions stations, so I was able to see a bunch of people audition up-close before I went.  If I was up much higher or at a different angle, I would not have nearly as much fun watching and HEARING the singers.  One thing I should clarify is that thousands of people audition, thus the first rounds of auditions are in front of Idol producers, not the celebrity judges.

Thursday-Audition Day: On Thursday, people had to arrive at 5 am.  I didn’t come right at 5, but that wasn’t a big deal because I already registered. However, I had to wake up at 4:40 in the morning, and I wasn’t too excited to do that. When I got there, lots of people were gathered outside. I was still tired, so I just sat and people-watched. Ryan Seacrest came and we did crowd filming outside. Then at 8 o’clock, the doors opened and people were able to get in their seats. In our seats, we watched an “Inspiring” video, then we did more group-filming. Haley Reinhardt was there and she said a few words.

Finally, at 10, the audition process began. There were 11 audition stations in the middle of the stadium with 2 judges at each. A group of 4 people at a time would try out at each station. They could sing any song of their choice for 30 seconds. After they were done, he/she would step back, and the next person would go. Then the judges would give a few words of feedback and then let the group know which contestants made it, and which ones didn’t make it. Those who made it would stay back and talk with the judges for a little bit longer, and those whose didn’t make it left, had their wristbands caught off, and then went on their way. They were the "non-winners."

Now that you know that information, I will explain how it went down for me. I stood in line with my group of 4 people. The first guy was a rocker who came from Kansas City. He was in a band and was extremely confident that he would make it through. His voice was decent and he had a loud sound. The second girl was like a country version of Colbie Calliat. The third girl was like a ghetto Beyonce, if that makes sense. Then there was me. We were all under 21. The other 3 had pretty good voices. When I went up, I sang “Feel it all over” by Stevie Wonder. It was a good song choice. It fit well with my voice, and one of the judges was bobbing his head while I sang, which made me happy. Unfortunately,  no one in my group made it through. The judge told me, “I was not what they were looking for this season.” So I walked off, had my wristband cut, met my dad in the guardian pen, and left. It was fun while it lasted.