Highlights From the Month of January

It's the last day of January! I thought I would post a few highlights from the month, in order of their occurance.

1. Spending the first moments of the New Year with my very good friend, Amy :D

2. Making a sock puppet show with one of my best friends, Garrett~ it is about the true meaning of Christmas (JESUS!), and it is REALLY funny!

3. Hanging out with friends in general... Kerra got to come over on the 23rd, which was lovely, because she is also one of my very best friends, but like Amy, I don't often get to spend time with her. Also, getting to see friends at High School Game Night, play practices, and other events like that has been fabulous!

4. One of my co-op teachers moved out of state over Christmas break, so two new teachers took over Economics and Writing (the two classes that she had been teaching). I was a little nervous about our second semester of school, and having new teachers... but I LOVE both of my new teachers very much!

5. The Disciple concert on January 21st! It was my 10th time to see the band live! Garrett came along, too! I finally have a friend who likes Disciple, which makes me very happy indeed. Here is a picture of me with the band:



6. BABYSITTING! I love to babysit, and during the last half of this month, I have suddenly been asked to babysit a lot! I have been able to babysit for some of the familes from the Church where I work for the first time, and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity!

7. Seeing snow for the first time this winter on January 27th... there is still a little on the ground right now, but it's melting rapidly. This is a photo I took of the ice on one of our trees:


8. The peace that I have found... this month has probably been the most peaceful month I have had for a long time. God is really working on me, He is putting peace and joy in my heart when it usually would not have been there. He is teaching me to enjoy every area of my life, and teaching me to live each moment to glorify Him. It really changes the way I do things when I think that way.

Praise God for a great start of the year 2009! :)

Summer Vacation is Almost Over!

It is officially August! What a busy July I had! I did some math, and realized that in July alone, I have spent over 52 hours in moving vehicles! 52 hours + of travel in a total of 31 days! Wow...

Right now I am in South Dakota with my Grandma for the Sturgis motorcycle rally. It began today. Yesterday we got to do some sight-seeing, which included getting to see Mount Rushmore! That was pretty cool. I didn't get to see it when we lived on the road, so it was very exciting getting to see something new.

Last week (July 21st-25th) I went to camp with my best friend and her Church. It was fun. There was a lot of Bible teaching, sports, and other activities. I didn't get as much out of the teaching this year as I did last year. That was sad :( I was HORRIBLE at all of the sports. I've never really been much of an athletic person. A couple of the other activies that we did included Bible Trivia & Square dancing, though. I LOVED both of those! I could have happily sat and done Bible Trivia all day, every day of camp! The only thing that I didn't like about it was the fact that you had to wait so long for your turn! Oh yeah, we also played ping-pong, which was IMMENSELY funy in my opinion :D I actually learned the rules of ping-pong, too! I had some laugh attacks with Kerra while I was at camp as well, and that was pretty exciting ;)

Oh, I forgot to mention something. Before I came to South Dakota, I got to spend a day in Iowa visiting my some of my family members and friends! That was extremely happy-making :D God has blessed me with SUCH a great family... I am so very blessed! I can't put it into words! I really miss my family back home! It seems like I haven't seen them at ALL this summer! Hopefully I can spend some quality time with them when I get home, before school starts.

Well, I thought I should write a little update. I really want to type up some of my thoughts on this book I got called "Driven by Eternity" (by John Bevere), but that will have to wait until later, I guess. I'm going to go. So... be blessed, everybody! I miss you!!

It's SUMMER!

Oh my goodness... I love summer SO much! I feel so free! I was kind of worried about summer at first, because I thought that I was going to be GONE the whole time, not getting enough sleep, and I figured I'd reach a point of pure grouchiness. lol. Things have changed, though, and so I'm not going anywhere out of state in the month of June, & the month has been really fun so far! I have spent a ton of time with friends, it is so cool to be able to invite friends over more! We got our pool set up, and boy oh boy is that awesome! I am working 1-2 days a week, which has been great. I have done a lot of Bible study & stuff like that, and seriously, growing into a disciple of Jesus Christ is the best thing in the world. I don't want to say the best feeling in the world, because it's more than that. It really makes me realize how empty I would be without God.

In July, I'm going to go to Canada with my older brother, to meet up with my Dad & two younger siblings to spend time with my sister who lives in Canada. I am REALLY looking forward to it! I miss my sister SO much, I haven't seen her for years. I miss the rest of my family, too. I have to admit I'm looking forward to Canada itself, also. (eh?)

After I get home from Canada & rest up for awhile, I'm going to camp! I'm going with my friend Kerra & her youth group, like I did last year. I am really looking forward to it! Last year was so much fun, & I learned a lot, growing as a Christian. 'Twas splendid!

In August, I'm going to go to South Dakota (that state that is south of North Dakota, ya know) with my FANTABULOUS Grandma and Grandpa. I'm going to a HUGE motorcycle rally- Sturgis! I am SO EXCITED! I miss living on the road & motorcycle rallies sometimes, so I'm very thankful that my Grandma is letting me join her & help her out with one this summer. She did last summer, too, and it was wonderful :)

After that, I'm going to come home and start school again. I will go, "Goodness gracious, summer is over already?" Time flies when you are having fun, & God has blessed me with a summer that is going to be beyond fun. Thank You, Lord!