CEC Inc.

I slept outside wednesday night. It was cool to wake up and see stars....but then morn came and so did the dew. Gross.

I slept in a tent with sarah last night. We camped out. I beat everyone in Monopoly. I owned all. Curtis was a worthy opponent though.

I went to work with my dad. I ran him a work errund. I felt special. I even got a whole pack of gum for it as well. Wooty Hoooo. I stopped by Blockbuster to see Micah and then by the church to see all of those who went to camp and back as they returned. I missed them. They are fantastic people. Then I went to the Room in the Inn* campus to help clean it up. We did a lot of yard work. I am tired an sore.

Chuck E. Cheese is no fun to work at. I'm going to quit as soon as I find another job.

i'm having a sleepover with her tomorrow night. sweeeeeeeeeeet:


And I finished the night dancing to Wham!'s Wake me up Before You Go Go with my mom.

*Room in the Inn is where every Monday night at my church 12 homeless men come and we eat with them and a couple of adult men spend the night with them in the winter so that they don't have to endure the harsh weather. It's over for the summer, but it'll start promptly in the fall. I expect everyone of you to be there. It's pretty groovy.

swing

Last night I went to church with Lizzy, Christen (sp?), Tyler, and Emily and it was awesome. There was this guy from Jamaica (originally from Haiti) and his testimony and sermon were amazing. He spoke on 1 Timothy 4:12.

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

Earlier this year I struggled with why adults don't listen to the younger, like myself. I couldn't quite understand because I felt like they had forgotten what it was like to be younger, that we aren't stupid crowd followers. And I've come to realize that it's because we don't really set a good example half the time, and even if and when we do, there are others who act so obnoxiously that that's what the adults assume the rest of us to be like. It's quite understandable. I've already found myself doing that with the middle school younglings, and I love it when they astound me and make me remember, that yes, we mature with age, but our immiturity doesn't necessarily reflect upon our IQ or our observations. Because, face it-- we are always amazed when some one younger than us does something better or knows more than we do, and they do set an example.

He spoke on how we speak, how we love, how we live in faith, and purity, and it was like a week of camp rolled into a 30-45 minute sermon. He was saying thing that I already knew, and had already been thinking I need to do, but I was only thinking half heartedly. It's reaffirming to hear some one else tell me I need to do something. It makes it feel as if there is more verity in it.

I'm going to be honest. This year was the hardest year of my life, no exaggeration, and it was also the farthest I've been from God. I guess I was angry. Not really with God, but I was angry. I didn't understand why I was in the school that I was; why my grandfather had to get sick, better, sick again, and die; how my family reacted to my grandfather's illness and death; why my dad had a really bad job; how my family could go through so many cars; how my friends can do, say, or think what they did; how family friends can turn into family enemies; how I could be so apathetic towards school work; and how my family can have the financial issues that we do.

It all just hardened my heart, and I really couldn't think of anyone but myself.

But luckily I have good friends who can snap me out of it and remind me why I live...not that I was suicidal or anything...because I wasn't.

Updates in my life:
*I have been listening to the Backstreet Boys. I have fallen in love all over again.
*I went to Pinky Park and cherished how much I love to swing.
*Traci and I are planning our sleep over, and are excited to the max. We've not hung out in ages.
*I hate working at Chuck E Cheese. It's not really my thing, but I plan to stick it out for a little while.
*Still anxious about my England application. I'm just going to pray.

Tonight was good.

Change is Inevitable

Thank God.

People tend to hate change, I on the other hand embrace it full heartedly...most of the time--when I am not being selfish...which I have a strong tendency to be. Anyway, this past year as well as make my life miserable, also made me learn things.

Things like I could have prevented my life from being miserable. It's all in the outlook of life. Places, events, people are what you make them out to be. You enter something saying, this is going to be stupid, or comparing it to something else and you are already limiting the experience. Something I had to learn the hard way, and it sucks.

Boredom is another thing that people tend to hate. I find the beauty that comes out of boredom. Don't get me wrong, I hate the feeling of being bored, but it always forces me to do something. Usually something creative. Something like changing the template on my blog. People think I am a boring person when they ask what I've done for the day, but one of these days this boredom will pay for my meals. Anyway, the constant feeling of being bored helped me discover that I like painting and photography, and I'm even halfway decent at it.

Boredom makes me think as well. Reflect on my past and plan for my future. Imagine the "what ifs" and the "how would I's." I've been thinking a lot lately, and things need to change.

So back to change. There are things in my life I've realized need to change. Things like how much time I spend with God among other aspecs in my life. I'm looking forward to these changes and I can't wait to see the results.

England?

Yes, please.

Today I turned my application to return to England this fall. I should know by July 16 or 18 or something along those lines. I'm not really nervous, and I'm not really scared. I'm just kind of anxious. It's something I want so badly, and there's nothing I can do about it if my aplication gets rejected. I'm very critical, and I always remember things I should have said or should have done. I forgot to say a couple of things on my application, and it just makes me mad. But, o well. At least I turned it in on time.

I am getting more and more excited about the Chicago missoin trip. I've been every year we could go, and I love it. It's one of my favorite trips. I wouldn't miss it. Sadly to say, I am missing this year's camp. I want to go, but I am working, so I can't.

Really good bands I have found on Myspace (band websites linked on the sidebar):
The Southland
»Shadow
The 88
»Comming Home
»All 'Cause of You

I'll keep you updated.

Minty Goodness

I've had questions. "Is mint some kind of dinosaur thing?" "What does it mean?"

Well, i guess i had better explain then.

Mint.
Refreshing.
Kills bad breath.
Cool.

I needed something new because my old blog was the same repetative thing about how horrible my life was--and don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of trials this year and the past couple of years, but it wasn't as bad as I was saying it was, and I sounded emo. I wanted to continue blogging, but my blog felt stale and I just didn't have the will to care anymore. I just didn't want to write in it. It's refreshing to start something new.

Mints kill bad breath, and if they don't, you need to get stronger mints. Anyway, metaphorically speaking, I guess you could say that bad breath can also be what people say. I have a tendancy to be very sarcastic, or say things I shouldn't.

Mints are cold...and I like the cold.

In England, mint also means cool, which is where the original idea came from. I don't really think I am all that cool, but it's fun to joke around with it. So instead of saying that I am cool, i wanted to say that I live in the land of cool--which sounds retarded. So, land of mint sounds pretty cool, and I guess I could take it a step further and say that I feel as if I am constanly surrounded by cool people.

It Needed to Be

So... a new blog. A new blog with pretty much all of the same features. Why? It needed to be.

I've saved all my old posts, but I only posted a few that i felt needed to be on here. This is the real first post on my new blog.

This past year has been the hardest year in my life, and I just needed a new start. Fresh and Clean-- like a mint.

this was the highlight of my day yesterday, followed closely by texting/talking to askew, hanging with lizzy and kara.

so, i'm pretty sure i broke my toe last night. i've broken a toe before...and it feels kinda the same. it's very bruised and there's this weird little bump under the skin which i am assuming to be my bone. it's most likely broken. at least it looks pretty cool...

i'm currently in the process of filling out my england mission trip application. i'm very nervous, yet very excited...i want to go back so bad. i want to cross the pond.

uh oh...

...caught by the po-po.

so tonight was interesting, and i am sure that will and dyson jinxed me by talking about police because i got pulled over on the way home, but i guess part of it was my fault. i mean, i guess i did hit ten pedestrians (three of which died, two severely maimed) and knock over a trash can. kara flew through the window (wear your seatbelt kids). she got back into the car, and i sent her home with a bag of ice. she seemed pretty ok-she thought that she was madonna, but i'm sure she'll be alright with the passsing of time. but surprisingly enough i didn't get a ticket, and that's the joy of being amazingly good-looking.


...or maybe i just made an illegal left turn.