A Summer's End

So, summer is finally over (not that I was waiting for it to end . . .). It wasn't a terribly busy summer, which was nice. Annie and I spent a couple hours each week volunteering at our local library for their Summer Reading Program, our bedrooms and our parents' bathroom got painted,

we spent a few of our days chillin' in our aunt's pool, sometimes inviting friends to go with us,

The girl in this photo with Jonathan is our 9-year-old neighbor Dylann.

 and we did a ton of reading.

And now we've started school. Our first week is behind us and we are heading into our second. Since it's just the beginning, the work isn't terribly hard. I expect it'll get more difficult as we near the end of the year, especially since I'm now in high school (I can't believe I'm actually a freshman! Where has the time gone?), but I'm really appreciating the slower days. This year I've dropped some of my subjects from last year and gained some new ones. I'm now going through Systematic Theology (I'm kinda interested to see all that I'll learn, and it'll be nice because if I have any questions about it, I have my very own pastor to ask them to.), doing some Literature, and Physical Science. So, it'll be interesting. Of course, though, every new year is interesting. Why? Because it's an adventure. And don't we Miles' just love adventures!

It's VBS Time!!

    This past week has been pretty busy for me. Which is probably why I'm sick. But, boy, was it fun!

    The main thing that conquered our time was called VBS. From 9am-12pm, Annie, Jonathan, and I had a blast at the Grace Church of Orange. Every year, they go all out with enthusiasm and creativity. Everyone is super friendly which makes it really easy to interact with them and even make new friends. Annie and I volunteered with the Preschoolers with a friend of mine while Jonathan hung out with the fifth graders in his class.

Me with my friend from ballet, Abbi Goodyear, and Annie.

Little Ryan wanted me to draw dinosaurs on the back of his coloring page. =)

During worship time, the sanctuary was packed with kids and was very loud, but so fun! Sam was more interested in playing with Annie's hair, than singing, I guess. =)

In Missions, we learned about a missionary and life in Africa.

Water day . . . .

. . . . . can be very hectic with young kids . . . .

 . . . . but also very fun!

Overseeing the making of "Wisdom crowns".

Making elephant heads out of socks and felt in craft time.

Annie and I with Noel and Sam.

Abbi and I with the same cute little girls.

Silas was enlisting my help in drawing chalk dinosaurs. =)

Ryan, Jordan, Titus (or Sammy - they were brothers and I could never tell them apart!), and Thaddeus . . . . so cute!

Silly faces!!

    This was Annie's first time volunteering (she's been in a class the past years) and both of ours first time working with the preschoolers. I loved it! Five minutes after walking in the door, you had sixteen more little friends! They excepted you just like that without any hesitation at all! They were sitting in your lap, playing with your hair, engaging you in pool noodle fights, and calling you "teacher" in their high voices! In the time before VBS, everyone kept telling us that we'd be super tired afterwards, and we were. So much so that we both got sick! We still managed to enjoy the time, though. It was kind of hard not to with tons of toddlers hanging all over you! I never knew they could be so tiring!!
    Last week is definitely one of the many things I look forward to every year! We all have tons of fun each day and enjoy hanging out with all our friends. And even though VBS just ended, Annie, Jonathan, and I are already looking forward to when it comes around next year!

 Thank you Grace Church of Orange!!

Quiz

So, this is just a fun way to see if you know anything about me at all. If you get none of these right, then we really need to hang out more often! If you can answer all the questions, then you've done pretty well and we can stop being friends! =P Naw, you've just done pretty well.=)
 To answer, comment below with your guesses (1,a; 2,d; etc.- and no, those are not the answers!)

Let's see how you do! =)


1. Middle Name
        a.) May (b.) Rose (c.) Olivia (d.) Elisabeth

2. Date of Baptism
        a.) May 8, 2011 (b.) July 17, 2011 (c.) Sept. 11, 2011 (d.) Dec. 4, 2011

3. Favorite Candy
        a.) Snickers (b.) Butterfingers (c.) Milkyway (d.) Crunch

4. Favorite Animal
        a.) Dogs (b.) Lizards (c.) Horses (d.) Wombats

5. Dream Job
        a) Veterinarian (b) Dude ranch owner (c) Actress (d) Au Pair

6. Number of surgeries I've had
        a) 1 (b) 4 (c) 0 (d) 2

7. Book genre I like best
        a) Historical fiction (b) Non-fiction (c) Biographies (d) Fantasy

8. Favorite pasttime
        a) Watching TV (b) Reading (c) Surfing the internet (d) School

9. Eye color
        a) Green (b) Brown (c) Blue (d) Kaleidoscope

10. What instrument do I play
        a) Ukulele (b) Violin (c) Mandolin (d) Banjo

11. Favorite pizza topping
        a) Pepperoni (b) Sausage (c) Pineapple (d) Mushrooms

12. Country I want to visit most
        a) Vietnam (b) Ireland (c) Australia (d) Germany

13. Oldest sister's age
        a) 18 (b) 17 (c) 19 (d) 16

14. Least favorite subject in school
        a) Spelling (b) History (c) Algebra (d) Science

And there you go! Fourteen questions for the fourteen years I've lived so far. (No, the 'so far' is not implying anything!) Hopefully, you'll get all of them right so you won't have to endure me any more! =P
The answers will be posted in the comments below in a few weeks. 

Good luck! 

Women's Retreat

I have had a very busy past couple of days. It all started last Friday . . . . . . .

Every year, our church hosts a Women's Retreat for all the Coast ladies (duh). The past two times, it has been up the Younglife Oakbridge campus in Ramona. It's situated in a mountainous region which is absolutely beautiful! We were up there for about two days (Friday afternoon, all of Saturday, and Sunday morning). It was a blast!

Trying to do some origami. It actually turned out pretty well! =)

Listening to the sessions which were so good!

Guitar lessons during free time . . .

It was so beautiful up there!

The name retreat is so appropriate, because it truly is one. Apart from the busy city and normal pattern of life, it was easy to concentrate on the sessions and just relax. We had lots of free time which we spent in the rec room, having a dance party with glow sticks, spread out on our bunks, or plucking guitars. It was very fun! =)
This was my second retreat and I loved it just as much as the first! I'm already looking toward the next one. =)

Birthday Time!!

This past weekend had to do with me turning 14!
As it was a school day (and there was no changing that), the day wasn't that different. After being gone the whole weekend, it didn't even feel like my birthday, so I doubt having an off-day to celebrate would have changed that.
We had our special birthday breakfast which consisted of mom's homemade, edible-glory cinnamon rolls and . . . . . just that. Yeah. Then we proceeded with school. Just what I always wanted for my birthday . . . For lunch, we had TacoBell (our traditional birthday lunch, for most of us at least). Then, at dinner, well, that's when the party really started.
My grandma and Aunt Gail came over for a dinner of tacoritos and salad. After the delicious delectables (Thanks, Mom!), we slid into the living room to open gifts and devour another delicious delectable of dump cake.

Chillin' with my bro. =)

Coffee Bean!!

Clothes at Old Navy and a Starbucks!!

This is a letter opener/dagger. It's not sharp, but it's so cool looking.

One of the perks of having a sister who works at Bed, Bath, & Beyond . . .

Lovely dessert!

Even with school, it was a most fun day, and I enjoyed it a lot.

They're Gone!

Last Monday was probably the best day so far of my rather short life. It started at 9:15 am. My mom, Jonathan, and I got in the car. We drove to our orthodontist. Do you know why?  . . . . . . . . It was because we had an appointment. The best ortho appointment ever.
See if you can guess why . . .

Know what it is yet? Other than me having messy hair in the second picture . . . If you are absolutely confused, let me clear away that confusion and just state the obvious.
I got my braces off!!
Now I have two retainers and the shade of a lisp. =)
Once they took them off, everyone gathered around and sang a song made just for the moment when kids get their braces off. And for an introvert girl like me, well, I was completely embarrassed.

At least I got candy and a bottle of Martinelli's!

After getting them off and while waiting for my retainers to be ready to pick up, Mom and I went to In-n-Out's for lunch. (Jonathan had a separate appointment and Dad picked him up.) So, everyone always asks if it feels different to eat without braces. My opinion? I barely noticed I had them on, so it didn't feel that different when they were taken off. After having to live with them for about two years, you kind of get used to having metal and rubber bands stuck all over your teeth.
All in all, the day was pretty awesome! I'm not sure the candy and drink was worth having braces, but they sure tasted good!! =D

Entertaining Boredom

Perhaps some of you have been wondering what some bored teenage girls do on Thursday nights when they are home alone. Well, if so, here is your chance to get a peek at one of the things we do (if you're me, of course . . . I'm not sure if this applies to all girls . . . I'm pretty sure it doesn't . . . ).

My younger sister and I were playing Banana Grams-a game much like Scrabble except somehow more fun. When we began to be bored with that (it didn't take long), an idea popped into my head. I grasped it with both hands and grabbed my camera with my feet since my hands were full. After placing the camera and idea carefully aside, I began to rearrange the small yellow tiles. The hamster was spinning wildly in its wheel. Soon, my masterpiece was complete. I documented it with help from my handy-dandy camera. Grasping another idea (I only used one hand this time since I needed my other hand), I had a bit more fun with my masterpiece. Here is what came of it:

(I'm sorry, the pictures are a bit blurry. Just squint your eyes while looking at them, and they'll look blurry because of that, rather than my horrible photography skills. =P)

First up is Cinnamon Buns,

next is Pigtails.

Here's Baldy,

 Top Hat,

Mohawk (no, it's not a party hat),

and finally, Afro.

I hope you have enjoyed your view of my boredom and aren't permanently scarred for life. There might be more of these posts coming up, so watch out! =)

Merry Christmas!

Wow. Ever since I turned thirteen, this year has been going by so quickly. One day I just got my ears pierced, and the next I'm tearing into presents on Christmas morning! It's weird . . .

For Christmas Eve, we went over to my aunt's house (mom's side). We had amazing rib-eye roast for dinner and then opened presents. Hanging out at her house is definitely one of my favorite Christmas traditions (even if her cats do make me miserable! =P)

The cup-stacking game . . .

No, this is not the cup-stacking game. This is my brother trying to touch the ceiling with cups.

Presents!!!!!! (No, she was not the only one to get things. I just obviously didn't put any other pictures in.)

 We left there around 8:30 or 9.
 What happened next is another one of my favorite traditions. We snuggled up in the living room and enjoyed The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. Best. (Christmas)Movie. Ever!

As our parents do not like to wake up at the break of dawn on Christmas morning and tear through the packages accumulated at the base of the tree, they give us books. The wrapped awesomenesses are placed at the ends of our beds at the beginning of the night, and are usually kicked off our beds by the end of the night. Once we wake up, we cannot unwrap our books until 7pm. So, you ask, what happens if we wake up before 7pm?? We have to wait. And, as always, when you are waiting for something, the minutes drag by as slow as they possibly can. Oh, the agony!! But then, when you are finally able to open them . . . you have to painstakingly separate the tape and the paper so as not to wake your slumbering siblings. Double agony!! Don't worry. Everything turns out fine in the end, but before that . . .
For our traditional Christmas morning breakfast, we get to devour my mom's homemade egg casserole. Oh, it's so good!! As soon as our grandma arrives (mom's side), we tear into the stockings. Then come the presents. =D

Both Emily and I got the same things (magnetic utility cups)! I got mine from Annie, and I gave Emily hers!!

Emily gave all of us our own towels! We obviously decided to have a little fun. (I guess that's what you get for having a sister who works at Bed, Bath, & Beyond!)

We all received matching red, plaid pajamas from my dad's mom, and wore them while we skyped her and my aunt. =)

And then disaster hits!!

Guess we didn't have enough nails in the base! Oops!!

As I continue to grow older, Christmas becomes more and more fun for me. And it's not just the receiving of presents. I now really enjoy giving presents and seeing the reaction they create on the faces of the people I give them to.
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, actually it is my favorite holiday, and I love the reason behind it.

 "For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." 

Isn't that the best kind of present ever!

Merry Christmas everyone! And have a happy new year!