Weddings Galore!

So this past weekend was my friend, Trista's, wedding. I was a bridesmaid in the wedding and I am so happy that I was able to do that for her. It was a beautiful wedding, and everything went just perfect. I looked pretty good too =). It made me really excited for my other friend, Tiffany's, wedding which is this summer. I am the maid of honor in that wedding, and I am very much looking forward to all the festivities for her wedding! Both of these weddings are making me think about what I want and don't want in my own wedding. Which is good I guess, it seems like that's all that has been on my mind lately. So right now I pretty much have my picture perfect wedding in my head, and all I'm missing is a groom. Hopefully he will come some day. I know God is preparing both me and my future husband right now for each other, so it can be that much more special when we find each other.

Now that the wedding is done though, I have the rest of my break to just lay back and relax and enjoy Christmas, and spending time with friends and family. I have so many books that I am reading right now, and want to read in the next couple weeks. I am looking forward to reading them without having to worry about school, or textbooks on the side. That is all for now really, I don't have much going on in my life right now to blog about, which is a-ok by me!

My Semester is DONE!

I am DONE with my first semester! I don't even know how well I did on my finals, but right now I can't even care, because it just feels so good to be done and stress free of school for 5 whole weeks! I got to come home today, or should I say I got to come to my parent's house today? I guess I technically have 2 homes, and they both feel like home to me. It is good to be home, and just relax and enjoy the Christmas holiday. Once I am done with the wedding this weekend I will be able to relax EVEN more.

Last Wednesday night I slipped on the stairs and fell pretty hard, bruising my tailbone pretty hard. And it has hurt ever since, some days very badly. It hurts to sit down and stand up, it hurts to lay flat on my back, it hurts to climb stairs, and get into my car, it hurts to even bend over to pick something up. It seems like every little thing I have to do turns into a big task, which frustrates me sometimes. I just hope the pain goes away soon, because it hurts more than anything I've ever experienced!

And something that I am very much looking forward to is at the end of this month, right before Christmas, my aunt and uncle and two little cousins are coming out to visit us for Christmas! I have not seen them in a very long time, and I am so excited to spend some time with them, and celebrate Christmas with them!

The shootings at New Life Church have been on my mind A LOT over the past couple of days. I could write a whole blog just about my feelings towards that. In fact, maybe I will tomorrow. It was a scary and sad thing that happened, at the church I go to, and so close to my home! Maybe I can work myself up to writing about this in the next couple of days. Until then, this is all for now.

One Armed Barbie

It's wordless Wednesday! And even though there is a long story behind this ornament (why she doesn't have an arm), I can't share it =) Because I can't use words. Maybe I will share the story sometime closer to Christmas. But in the meantime, this was my favorite Christmas ornament growing up. And in fact, still is my favorite.

Tuesday Night Thoughts

Yay! Classes are officially over in a week from tomorrow! And then I have a whole 5 weeks off to do absolutely nothing! Well maybe not nothing, but at least no school work =) And I switched my major to Geography so I will NEVER have to take another English class again in my life! I'm so excited and thrilled that I don't have to worry about that!

I had dinner with one of my old roommates tonight. And it was weird and good at the same time. Weird because aren't close anymore, and our friendship might be reached its limit. And at the same time it was good to catch up. Her and one of my other roommates from last year are both transferring to CU Boulder next year. I hope they are happy there, but at the same time I will miss not having them here.

As far as my roommates now go, they are still great! There are a few problems there with one of them, but roommates can't be perfect all the time. I'm still so thankful that God put me in this house with these girls. I couldn't be happier and I can see these friendships turning into life long friendships.

One of my bestest friends ever, Trista, is getting married in a few weeks. And I am in the wedding! I am soo happy for her and I hope the wedding goes well. Another best friend, Tiffany, is getting married over the summer too. I have heard a lot of other people who are getting married too. Why does everyone feel like they need to marry so young? Some of these couples have only known each other for a few months, and it just seems crazy to me sometimes that they are about to make a life long commitment with somebody who they have only known a few months. But what do I know? I guess when you find "the one", you just know. I hope it's like that for me. But I know that I will know him and date him for more than just a few months before I decide to get married. I can't wait until my wedding =) I just know that God is preparing both me and my future husband for each other, and when we find each other, it will be great!

I've also been reading a lot more lately. I know I probably shouldn't be reading as much as I am, with finals and everything. But I've just found some really good books, and I can't stop! I love getting wrapped up in a story, and forgetting my own life just for a little while. It's one of the best feelings in the world! And I just love a good book!

That's all for today. Those are just some of the thoughts going through my head at the moment, and I felt like I should write them down, since I know I don't blog as much as I should. But maybe that will start to change, and I might start blogging more...maybe. Keep an eye out though! ;-)

Praying With Faith

In the past week or two I have been going back and re-reading parts of scripture that have really spoken to me in the past. James is a book that always conveys something to me. And in this past week James 1:6 really stood out to me. The first part of James 1:6 says this, "But when when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone..." This verse stuck out so much to be because of something that one of my roommates told me a few weeks prior.

A few weeks ago I was on the Navigators fall conference in Estes Park. I was really discouraged over a lot of different things, and my roommate, Casey, sat down with me and told me about "praying with faith". She told me that if I pray with the mindset that God is listening, and can and will do anything, then I am more likely to believe in my own prayers. Ever since then I have not just been walking through the steps in my prayer life, but I am really trying to put my faith into God when I pray. Since the retreat I can see a huge difference in the way I pray, and my attitude when I pray. And then when I open up my bible I just see little reminders from God, like James 1:6.

Even if I can't convey into words Casey's theory on "praying with faith", I know it's helped me spiritually so much over the past couple of weeks. And I hope that God will show me how to pass it on someday to another person who needs to hear it.

To read more "More of Him Monday" blogs, go to: http://www.sunshine-on-my-shoulders.blogspot.com/

See It Everyday!

It is amazing how you find the most perfect verses at the most perfect times. It's times like this that I feel like God is talking to me the most. I came across a few verses this week that really stuck out to me, and God was really trying to talk to me through.

The first verse is Galatians 1:10. It says, "Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." This verse was really something that I needed to hear again, because a lot of the times I am trying to impress people, and win their approval. I think it is human nature to always try to impress people and get them to like us more. But something I learned in Navigators the other night is that it is okay to have those feelings, God gave them to us, but instead of acting on them we need to focus that energy somewhere else. Okay honestly, the speaker at Navs was talking about an entire different subject matter, but I feel like it applies to this. Instead of focusing on what other people think, and trying to impress them, I need to re-focus that energy on what God wants, and getting the approval from God. Just like the verse says, by focusing on winning the approval of God, and doing what God wants, you are truly Christ's servant. And that is what I want to be.

One other verse that stuck out to me is Galatians 1:15-16. It says, "But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles." This verse doesn't necessarily speak to me in the way the previous one did, but more so gives me a good and happy feeling. It reassures me to know that God chose me and made me even before I was born. He chose me and made me how he wanted me, and that is such a great feeling knowing that I am perfect in God's eyes. It goes back to something that Aaron Stern said at The MILL a few weeks ago...that when we judge people, we are really just judging the creator. That quote reassures me as well, because when I know people are looking down upon me and judging me, it does not bother me as much because I know God created me the way he wanted, and He CHOSE me, therefore it does not matter what anybody else says or thinks.
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There are so many things I have experienced over the last week that I can see how God is working in my life. However, I don't really know how to get it all out on words. Participating in communion this past week as a big deal for me, it felt so great. It was something that I needed, and God allowed me to experience it again, the first time in a very long time. I have also been dealing with some issues with one of my old roommates, and God finally took it all off my heart. I no longer feel a burden with her anymore. All of these things and experiences are God working in my life. Plus so much more! I used to not see things like this as a sign from God, but now I can see God working in my life every single day.

go to http://www.sunshine-on-my-shoulders.blogspot.com/ for more More Of Him blogs!

More of Him!

I am going to start challenging myself to do "More of Him" Monday's! I think it will be very good for me not only to blog, but to put into words how God is working in my life. So to start, I am going to write about certain passages that I have been meditating on lately, as well as talk about how God has been working in my life.

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Every week in bible study we are encouraged to memorize a bible verse. And while doing my bible study I come across many verses that speak to me. Sometimes I feel as if God is tapping me on the shoulder, and talking to me directly through his word. This past week though I came across a bible verse that was not even in my bible study. I felt like God was trying to tell me something, so I chose that verse to memorize this week. The bible verse is...

"Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed!
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn't believe
even if someone told you about it."
--Habakkuk 1:5

This passage really spoke to me. It spoke to me because it shows that God really can do anything, and that he WILL. He can and will work wonders in my life that I cannot even foresee right now. Look around at the nations, look and be amazed! It is just letting everybody know that he created this world, and therefore can do anything! It is a very reassuring and comforting verse to meditate on, and I am thankful that God showed me this verse this week.
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The other night in bible study my roommate (who is also my bible study leader) asked us how God shows his love to us. When first thinking about this question I could not really think about how He shows us his love. I mean, I know he loves us unconditionally and more than we can even fathom, but how? There must be a way that he shows his love right? Not a minute later that it dawned on me.

At least in my life anyway, I can see his love all around me! God provided me with a Christian home with 4 Christian girls as roommates, who have ultimately become my best friends. Best friends that support me and encourage me through ANYTHING. And even more importantly, they do not judge me. This is the type of friend I have wanted me whole life. And even though I have had best friends before, I have never had Christian best friend that can give me such a positive outlook on things. I just know this was God's doing, and his way of showing me how much he really truly loves and cares for me.

He also provides for me the things I need. Not necessarily the things I want, but when I come across a struggle in my life, God usually shows me a solution. After a sermon one Friday night, I was feeling very guilty, and felt like I needed to tell somebody some things. God showed me exactly what to do, and exactly who to tell. He just provides me with the things I need given the circumstances.

These are just a few of the MANY ways God shows me how he loves me. The Navigators is another way that God is working in my life right now, but I will save that for another blog. Ever since that question was asked in my bible study, I see everyday the ways God works in my life, and how he shows me his unconditional love for me. I cannot even describe the feelings I feel. I just wish everybody would open up their hearts and be able to experience some of the same amazing works that God does in our lives.


To check out more "More of Him" blogs, check out... http://www.sunshine-on-my-shoulders.blogspot.com/

No Ten On Tuesday For Me!

Today is Tuesday! And I absolutely love Tuesday's in the blogosphere world, because it's one of the few days I can write a blog following a prompt. Because usually I feel like my life is too boring to write about, and therefore I have nothing to write about. Except when the list for Ten on Tuesday comes around every Tuesday, I actually have something to blog.

But not today! For once I actually have something worth writing about! My date!!! I actually went out on a date! I have never been on a real date before, and I honestly never knew when I would go on one. I went out with this guy named John. I met him last year through the Navigators at UCCS. And it wasn't until this school year that I actually started talking with him, and getting closer. We have been talking a lot lately, and getting closer and closer, so we decided to go on a few dates and hang out to see if maybe we should pursue a relationship. I really enjoyed my time with him last night. It was nice to be treated so nicely by a guy. Besides graduation, I have never been given flowers before, especially from a guy. But I did last night! Not only did I just get them, but he pre-ordered them and had them sent to my house prior to the date. It was a reallllly nice arrangement, AND all in my favorite color. That isn't even my favorite part though! He also had bought me the new Nicholas Sparks book that came out yesterday. Nicholas Sparks is my all time favorite author, and his new book came out yesterday, and since I was so busy all day I wasn't able to run to the store to buy it. But John had already gotten it for me :-D. To me, that means a whole lot more to me than flowers and everything else.

All together, it was a really great night. I enjoyed myself and his company. I'm pretty sure there will be more in the future. I'm happy to say that the first date I've ever been on was such a great one!

I Miss 10 For Tuesdays!

Today is Tuesday! One of my favorite blogging days! Because there is always a promt to write to if you choose. So here is my 10 For Tuesday, in no particular order!

10 things you do when you have nothing else to do:

1. Get on Myspace
2. Search Through Facebook
3. Watch Grey's Anatomy/LOST/24, etc.
4. Call my mom
5. Go find one of my roommates to talk with
6. Nap
7. Read a book that is not related to school
8. Play Uno online
9. Iron beads
10. Worry about what I SHOULD be doing

My New Home!

Here are a few pictures of my room, and my house! If you really knew me, you would be wordless because you would know that I am not this clean of a person! But so far I have been. So enjoy! :D

This is Misty! Our Dog! Well Emily's dog...

Does My Life Have A Purpose?

Right now I feel like my life is going nowhere. The last couple days I just can't help but think that my life is meant for better. I go to classes, some that I have an interest in and some I don't, and then come home and do lots of reading and homework for those classes. The reading is so long and boring and it is hard for me to see how it is going to help me in life. When I sit there and read my text about some womans life story, I just think to myself that I am meant for better things, that I shouldn't be sitting here reading this and doing this. I understand that it is part of the process of getting my bachelors degree, and from there going to bigger places. But it's pointless right now, and I feel like I am wasting my time. I feel like God has bigger plans for me. So why am I stuck doing this classwork?

I have also been struggling lately with where my life is going. I'm going to college. Right now I'm going so that I can become a teacher. But is that really what I want to do? Will I be any good at it? Is that God's plan for me? I feel like I have no direction right now, and have no idea where my life is headed. And even though I know God has a plan for my life, it's frustrating right now to not know what it is. It's hard sometimes for me to just sit back and let God be in control, but I do it, I let him have full control of my life, I just pray that he has a good plan for my life. Something I will enjoy doing, and be good at. Something that will help others in their life.

I just wish all the answers were clear to me right now. I'm tired of feeling like I'm trapped going to college for nothing. I'm tired of doing my daily activities while feeling that I am meant for bigger and better things. I wish I had some answers. I wish I knew what my future looks like. Or even just a small glimpse, just so I have some hope. But I guess all I can do right now is trust in God that He knows what he is doing with my life.

My Relaxing Tuesday...

So I made it through my first day of classes, and I think I am going to like this semester. I still have one more class to go, which is tonight, but the classes I have been to, I really like. All the professors seem really cool, and even the subject matter seems interesting enough to learn about. So I am hoping that this semester will be a good one.

And today is Ten For Tuesday. Today's topic is "10 Things You Don't Like About Your Job." And since I am no longer being a nanny, I am going to do my list of 10 for my current job, and the one I had last year. Working in the nursery at a local church. So here is my list, in no particular order...

10 Things You Don't Like About Your Job:

1. There are 2 locations, so you always have to be on top of what activities are where, and which location you are working at for that particular shift.

2. They do not pay nearly enough money for the amount of work you are sometimes doing.

3. You have to change diapers. Eww.

4. When the kids don't stop crying you have to page their parents, and then the parents are upset that you took them out of church. But it's not even our fault!

5. They don't have a lot of people working there, so they want you all the time, even when you tell them you are not available certain times.

6. Somebody calls you almost everyday trying to get their shift covered.

7. Then they get upset and hold it against you when you can't cover that shift.

8. I work during church services, which means I can hardly ever go to church myself.

9. Sometimes when they are short staffed in other departments, they make you fill in and teach pre-school, even though that's not my job!

10. Some kids just will never listen to you when you need them to stop doing something.

First Day! Ahh!

Today is my first day of my sophomore year in COLLEGE!!! I'm excited a little bit, but more than anything I'm scared. I made it through my freshmen year fine, for the most part, but what if sophomore year is different? I'm taking less classes so that I won't get as stressed out, so hopefully that will help. But I just know my classes will be harder this year. All I can do is my best I guess, and I'm going to work hard to do my best! That should be fine, right?

I've really been enjoying living in the house with all the girls! It's a great house, and I love all 4 of my roommates. We all get along really well and enjoy being with each other, so it's going to be a great year! Emily, one of my roommates, has already got me hooked on the TV show LOST. We watch is every chance we get downstairs on DVD. I enjoy it because it gives me a chance to hang out with her one on one and get to know her better and have fun! Once classes start though, I am going to have to cut back on LOST a little bit. We had a spaghetti dinner here at the house last night for all the incoming freshmen that might be involved in Navigators this year. So from 5-9 there were lots and lots of people in the house! My new house is kind of known for that, the hangout place, because Kristin, one of my roommates, cooks a lot! Which is fine by me, I like when there are lots of people here. It gave me a chance to see old friends from last year and get to know some of the new people that I will be seeing a lot this year.

I've been hanging out with my old roommate, Kristen, a lot lately too! It's been really fun because Kristen and I have always gotten along really well. She has been to my house a bit, and I've been to her new apartment a few times too. On Friday I even got to go to lunch with Kristen, Richelle, and Sammie...all 3 of my old roommates! It was really nice being all together again.

But I am going to stop writing for now, because I should get in the shower and ready to go. I'm not looking forward to classes, especially the classes I have to take this semester. But I am done by 1:30, and only have classes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That is what is going to keep me going this semester! And keep me from ditching class :-)

An Update

So, I know I have not been writing as much as I did when I first started this blog. I guess I feel like my life this summer is kind of boring, so there isn't much to write about or share. I don't really experience many new things except dealing with kids, so that is why I haven't been writing as much. Hopefully once I move back down to Colorado Springs (which will be this week!) and start school and work I will have more to blog about.

I am moving most of my stuff down to my new house today! I am soo excited! I won't start living there until sometime this week, most likely Wednesday, because there are a few things around here that I want to do before I move. But beside that, I am soo excited to move and get back to my life in Colorado Springs.

But in the meantime, I missed Ten For Tuesday this past week, no reason really, just totally slipped my mind. But since this is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it, I'm going to do Ten For Tuesday today! I could not think of 10 things for this week's topic though. So here it goes, my 5 for Tuesday...

Ten for Tuesday: 10 things you I NEVER do again! (in no particular order)


1. I will never and would never go back to middle school. Those were the worst years of my life. I had fun, but not in a good way, and got hurt a lot of times because of friends, and girls, and the way everybody is mean to eachother. Also, because that's when they start letting you eat whatever you want at lunch. So I started eating really bad food, and started gaining weight. So I would not go back there and relive those experiences.

2. I will never turn my back on God again. Not that I've never not wanted him in my life, but had a time in my life where I thought I could handle everything on my own, no matter what was thrown my way. I realize now that I can't live my life without Jesus in my heart, so I will never go back to living that way.

3. I will never work another retail job again. I worked at Old Navy for about 6 months, and hated every minute of it. I think retail is a job that everybody should have at least once in their life so they can appreciate people who are working those jobs. And I've already done that so I'm never going back to it again.

4. I will never go back to high school again and re-do and re-live all the things I wish I could. I enjoyed my high school years, but there are many things I would have done differently.

5. I will NEVER watch the movie "The Exorcism Of Emily Rose" EVER again.

Travel The World

It's Tuesday again! So here is today's topic and my list of 10. Check out this website for more people who blogged on the same topic! www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday

10 Countries I'd Like To Visit:
(yes! in order too!)

1. Australia
2. Italy
3. France/Switzerland/Germany - one of those to see the Alps!
4. Canada
5. Jamaica
6. A country in Africa to take a Safari
7. Mexico
8. Japan
9. Brazil
10. Kenya - I would love to do mission work there!

Spotlight On Snickers

Today is wordless Wednesday. So here are a few of my favorite pictures of my cat, Snickers.

Tuesday Yet Again?

Today's 10 for Tuesday prompt is "10 nicest things that people have done for you". It took me a while to think about this prompt, and come up with only 10, because there have been so many nice things that people have done for me. But here is my list of 10 nicest things people have done for me, and in no particular order, because they were all so different yet special acts of kindness that touched my heart in one way or another.

1. My 3 roommates this past year for pushing my limits and breaking me out of my comfort zone so I could experience things that I normally wouldn't think about or experience, I will never forget them for it.

2. My parents allowing me to get my kitten, Snickers, even when they both didn't like cats.

3. Grandma Dear for allowing me and The Quads to stay at her house in California for a week. And everything she did for me and my friends during that whole week.

4. My dad paying for me to go to college so that I won't be in debt when I graduate from college.

5. Mrs. Brown, my high school principal, tutoring me in math my Junior year, and helping me pass my math class.

6. Kathy, for talking me into joining the Navigators, and always including me in Navigators events throughout the whole year. If it weren't for her, I would not have joined my bible study and experienced such a powerful re-commitment to Jesus.

7. Kristin, my new roommate, for making me and everybody else dinner every Friday night before The MILL throughout the whole year. And for always wanting to get together or just talk with me just to see how I was doing, nobody else has ever cared as much as her.

8. Mr. Weissman, one of my high school English teachers, for helping me with my college essay. If it weren't for his help, I might not even be in college right now.

9. Tiffany, always being there for me, listening to me, and helping me through any problem or crisis I had throughout the past year. She was the one who was there for me when I didn't trust anybody else to talk to. She has become my best friend, and I love her for that!

10. My parents giving me the best childhood I could ever have, and encouraging me in everything I ever did growing up, even still up until this day.


Well, that is my list of 10. I'm sure if I thought about it more, it would change slightly, because there have been so many generous things done for me throughout my whole life. So thank you to all of you who have done so many nice things for me!

Also, thank you to my mom, because she made me this beautiful pretty new layout for my blog, which I absolutely love! Now I can start posting blogs again! Hehe :-)

Basically Nonsense

Just a reminder. To the ONE person I know who reads this. This blog needs a new pretty layout before it can have new and pretty blogs on it. :-)

Boycott

I have SO much to write about!
BUT...this blog is now being boycotted until it has a new layout :-D

Childhood Movies

I have decided that I am not going to try and keep up my blog daily. I found it hard to find things to write about ALL the time. So I will try and write a few times a week just on the highlights of my week. I think that will be less stressful for me than to try and keep up with it everyday.

But anyway, today is ten for Tuesday. The topic today is top 10 favorite movies from your childhood. I thought this would be a fun one for me. :-) So here is my list, in no particular order.

10 Favorite Childhood Movies:

1. The Little Mermaid

2. The Indian In The Cupboard

3. The Land Before Time

4. Fern Gully

5. Fly Away Home

6. Beauty And The Beast

7. Monkey Trouble

8. Mrs. Doubtfire

9. Free Willy

10. The Babysitters Club

Check out other blogs for today's topic for ten for Tuesday! www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday/

A Nice Summer Day

I am enjoying summer so much! Even though I have been crazy busy working, there are days like today that I just enjoy. Today was my first day off in weeks, and I got to spend it with my mom. Being able to sleep in was so nice, and then just spending a few hours in Target looking at everything possible is always one of my favorite things to do with my mom.

The reason I love summer so much is because you don't have the pressure of school to deal with or think about. Yes, I know you have to get up early and go to some type of work. But at the end of the day, that is it. For me anyway, and my job. The only thing I have to worry about is when I have to go to work next. And when I am in school, my mind is constantly going and reminding myself of what projects, papers, and tests I have at what time. It is like I am under pressure ALL the time in school, just knowing what I have to get done for upcoming dates. During summer, I don't get that at all, and I absolutely LOVE it!

Also, during summer I get to read WHATEVER I want! No reading text books, and dumb novels that professors think will be will be fun to add to the syllabus for no apparent reason other than to give us more work. No, during the summer I can read the books I want to read. And I am enjoying it so much! At night, instead of watching TV (like I did to relax while in school) I read before I go to bed. I read when I wake up in the morning, in fact, I hardly ever watch TV during the summer! Unless it's Big Brother 8 of course. :-)

I guess I shouldn't complain so much about babysitting so much. Because even though it is hard most days, I would prefer to do that then write an essay or read from a text book. But, then again, that is just how I feel today. Tomorrow could be different.

First Wordless Wednesday!

Today is my first wordless Wednesday. So here are just a few of my favorite photo's from our recent vacation in California. The place I love the most, with the people I love the most. :-) Enjoy!

This last photo is Joey Fatone. The celebrity I met on the last day we were in California. I have written about this in many blogs in the past couple weeks.

My idea for wordless Wednesday was inspired through http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/

Ten For Tuesday!

Ten for Tuesday. Today's top ten are 10 of your favorite things. Idea inspired by www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday/

10 of my favorite things. In no particular order :-)

1. Sleeping
2. My family
3. Watching TV series on DVD
4. Spending time with good friends
5. The beach in Hawaii
6. Myspace/Facebook
7. Going to movies
8. Tokyo Joes
9. Reading a good book
10. Starbucks iced chai tea latte

Yippee!

Yay for friends! The very first day of school I met a girl named Tiffany. It wasn't even the first day of school, but a pre-first day of school for one of our classes. A class that would get us acquainted with some students that would have similar classes throughout the year. I remember walking in the first day (a little late) and Tiffany was the only one sitting alone at a table, so I asked if I could sit next to her and she just smiled and shook her head. I remember it like it was yesterday because I remembered thinking what a great smile she had! So we sat down and immediately started talking about EVERYTHING! We became partners in everything we did in that class, and later realized we had a few other classes together. She became such a great friend first semester that we decided to take all of the same classes together second semester. Throughout the year our friendship just kept growing, and now I consider her my best friend! We get along so great, and have much of the same personality and lifestyle. We have so much in common and we tell each other everything. I have had best friends before, but it wasn't until I met Tiffany that I opened myself up completely and trusted her 100%. I'm so thankful that God put us together!

Since summer started though we have not gotten to talk a whole lot. She lives in Colorado Springs, and I moved back to Aurora for the summer. And since we both work A LOT, I knew we wouldn't get to talk as much as we did throughout the school year. It has been sad and I have missed her so much.

At random she IMed me last night on my computer. I was so excited to hear from her! We talked for at least an hour and a half online, and made plans to see each other for the next couple weeks! She is FINALLY coming to Aurora this weekend to spend the night with me and see my house and town and everything. And I am so excited to show her where I live! And then the following weekend I am going to Colorado Springs to spend the night with her! I am so excited for the next 2 weekends because I miss Tiffany sooo much! And we have SO much to catch up on! It's like I am a kid again counting down the days until my birthday, or Christmas. I can hardly wait, I am so excited! All I have to do is make it through this busy week, and then I get to see the bestest friend in the whole world! (for Tiffany's amusement lol). YAY!!!

A Child's Imagination

I had an overnight babysitting job last night. So to pass the time and keep the kids off each other backs, I decided we were going to have a movie night. Turns out that it was a great idea! We went and got ice cream, came back and put our PJ's on, made hot chocolate and popcorn and just watched a movie until bed time. It was relaxing for me not to have to work too hard. I even went to blockbuster ahead of time and rented two movies that I thought they might like to watch. Turned out that those movies were big hits too! The first one we watched was "Indian In The Cupboard", which was one of my favorites growing up. And the second one was "Because Of Winn-Dixie". Both were very good movies!

Indian In The Cupboard was one of my favorite movies growing up. Sure, the graphics aren't all that great, but what can you do? It was a good family movie for kids because it was entertaining to watch, but then left the kids feeling like they have an imagination too. It always made me want to go play afterwards like I had a real Indian living inside of a cupboard. I even made a fake cupboard out of a shoe box. And after watching it last night, I got to relive that memory again with these kids, as they wanted to pretend and play the same things I once did. Because Of Winn-Dixie was another great movie! I had never seen it before this morning, but after I saw it I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't make more movies like this. Kids enjoy it, adults enjoy it, and it was just a great movie that teaches kids some things that go on in the real world.

As I was watching these movies, I couldn't help but go back to my original thinking of how much this world has changed. Sure, they still make great kids movies, but it has changed. Now of days movies and TV leave little for the imagination. And it is a lot more harder for parents to find movies that they know will be good for their children to watch. Instead of movies that may be questionable, or may have questionable material in them for kids. Even Disney/Pixar movies, they are great for kids, but they also have some adult content in them that kids do not understand. Which is great, and fun for the whole family. But sometimes hard to explain to kids why they added that into the movie. At least it is that way with the little boy I babysit. I hope they don't stop making those movies though, because some of them are my favorite movies. But of course it will change, I just wonder what the movies will look like in another 10 years.

I loved the movies I watched yesterday and today, and I wish more families watched these movies instead. These are the types of movies you want kids watching anyway, movies that will give them inspiration to go have an imagination of their own, instead of sitting there filling their head with junk. I just hope they continue to make movies like these, so my kids will have something inspiring to watch!

That is all for today. I have been writing about kids so much lately because that is what consumes me all the time. I have hardly had time for a regular life the past couple weeks, therefore, causing me to always write about kids. But that's ok, because I like kids, and it's interesting to watch and see how their childhood is similar and different from the childhood I had.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I am blogging in the one hour I have left before I go off to spend the night with the two little kids I am spending over half my summer with. I watched them all day yesterday (as you know if you read my blog yesterday). And now spending the night tonight and into tomorrow, and then all day again Monday! When will I get a break?!?! I had to wake up at the crack of dawn again today to go babysit a little 2 year old girl for 7 hours. She was a lot easier to watch, but still, I need a break. I rented a few movies, bought a few bags of popcorn, and plan on making tonight a "movie night" with the kids. Hopefully it will work and they are excited about that, because I don't know how far my patience will go tonight, to be honest. Wish me luck!

On the other hand though, I have a few things in my (somewhat) near future to look forward to. I decided since last week, this weekend, and all next weekend is booked busy for me, I decided to take all of next weekend off. All day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If anybody needs a babysitter, they are going to have to find one somewhere else, because I deserve at least 3 days off after the past couple weeks! Another thing is on July 29th I am going to the Colorado Rockies (baseball) game with my bestest friends ever! My 3 best friends from high school, The Quads. We get to go to the game, meet the players, and since it is "Christian Day" we get to hear the music and events that go along with that. I'm excited to do something fun like that with them! Also, the weekend right before I go back to school, The Quads (me and the same friends from high school) are going to Vail for the weekend to celebrate Katie and Courtney's birthday! Last year we went downtown Denver for a night and stayed in a hotel down there, and this year we are planning to go to Vail for the weekend together! Definitely something I am looking forward to before I head back to school in August. I think it should become a yearly event, having a fun night/weekend together, just the 4 of us. We always have a fun time and it's kind of like saying goodbye for the long while in between summer and Thanksgiving/Christmas. So anyway, those are some things I am looking forward to! When I think about the fun things, it makes babysitting 24-7 not seem so bad.

That is all for today, I still have to shower and pack up some stuff before heading out for the evening! Pray that I get some sleep tonight!

Complaining, Rambing, Venting...

So this blog is going to be a little complaining. I'm sure it's not what my parents want to hear (or read) since they hear it all the time from me. But since this is my blog, I get to write about whatever I want :-). And tonight, I want to complain!

I was really excited when I decided to babysit all summer long, instead of getting a "real job". But little did I know the work that was in store for me, I might have thought twice about getting a job. The money is nice, and I do love kids, but sometimes I just want to scream (and even have once I've left and I'm in my car on the way out of there!). I finally have a sense of what it's like to be a mom. And I'm not really sure I am up for the challenge. Of course it will be different with more experience, more wisdom, and them actually being your own kids, but I know there are going to be those times when you just want to leave and go scream somewhere!

The kids that I babysit once or twice a week all day are ages 7 and 5. They don't really get along (except for maybe 30 minutes of the day), and don't really listen to the babysitter (me) either! They feel like they need to cry or wine about everything, even if it's just asking for something to drink. And then if for some reason you HAVE to say no to these kids, they cry about it. By the end of the day if I was going to hear one more wine or cry I was going to go crazy. Usually when it gets to this point I suggest an activity that both of them would like, and won't argue while doing it. Although eventually everything turns into a fight or argument between them. Which is why I now fully understand what it was like for my parents raising Jake and I, I'm sure Jake and I were exactly like these two. And for that, I am so sorry mom and dad! But like I always say, you guys are the one's who decided to have kids :-p

But anyway, it was a very LONG day with these two kids. I would like to say I have a break from them for a while, but I will be with them all night tomorrow night (overnight), which means Sunday morning also, and then all day again on Monday. Wish me luck, and if anybody has any good tips or activities for me to do with these kids, PLEASE let me know!

In the meantime, I am super tired (as always, what else is new?), so I am going to bed. Earliest I have gone to bed in a long time. But for some reason it seems like midnight to me. Oh well, I will write tomorrow about my experiences with a 2 year old all day!

Brighten My Day

Have you ever been in a certain mood, listened to a certain song, and it changed your mood around completely? That works either way, you can be in a good mood and then a song suddenly changes you to a sad and lonely mood. Or you could be in an already bad mood, and a song can just completely change that around.

I don't listen to music all that much. And I am not all caught up with all the correct artists and albums like my family is. But I do enjoy music when I listen to it, usually when I'm in my car alone. I just love those times when you are just relaxing and listening to the words and tune of a song and it just changes your mood completely. I've had this experience a few times in the past week or so. When I've just been down or in a certain mood, and not even a full minute of the song can turn me around. I love how music can do that for me. I'm sure it's different things for different people. But I'm sure that everybody can relate to this. And I am pretty sure that everybody has experienced this feeling while listening to a certain song at some point.

That's all I wanted to say. I'm thankful for music, and I am thankful for those moments that music can change and switch my whole day around. Now I am going to go watch Grey's Anatomy (a new show I am getting addicted to) and then going to bed, because I have an early morning and a very long weekend ahead of me.

Pointless

There isn't much to blog about today. And right now I am super tired, which I don't even know why because I got to sleep in this morning. But anyway, I've been trying to think for the past half hour what I could write about, and nothing is coming to my head. Therefore, there is no point to me even writing this blog. Except to say that I blogged today, counting towards my challenge of trying to blog everyday. Ha. I'm proud of myself :-)

I will write something worth while tomorrow, earlier in the day, so that I won't get too tired before I need to write.

For Mom And Dad

This blog is for my mom and dad.

My mom wrote a blog yesterday, talking about how she was observing a little boy and his dad while in line. She talked about how kids quickly grow up, change, and go through different phases of life. Talked about how sometimes kids grow up and get into a phase where they don't want anything to do with their parents anymore, and no longer talk to them. Here is the link to read the full blog, written on July 2nd. http://www.sunshine-on-my-shoulders.blogspot.com/

After reading the blog, I began to think about my life growing up. About the different phases I went through. And even though I never got to the point where I wanted nothing to do with my parents, I fully understand that many teenagers do get to that point. Thinking back on my relationship with my parents, it breaks my heart to know that some kids want nothing to do with their parents. It hurts because my parents are such a big part of my life.

I'm glad my mom posted this blog. To let not only parents, but kids as well, to know that life is going to change, and kids will grow up and go through different experiences, some resulting in bad relationships with parents. I believe my parents did a great job raising me and my brother. They allowed us to go through our phases (still do) but somehow guided us and helped us through our hard times.

I wanted to thank my parents for all of this. Thank you for allowing me to bloom into the person I have become today, but also for being my support when I felt like I was going to crash. Thank you for walking through each and every one of those childhood phases with me, along side of me. That's all I wanted to say. Even though I am not the best writer, or blogger, and don't always have the perfect words, I hope you understand. Thank you. Thank you for being the best parents you could be. And I hope one day I can be just as great to my kids. And I will show them how special each and every moment together is, including the times in the long lines. Because I will always look back at those times with fond memories, and know how special they were to all of us. Thank you mom and dad. I love you both more than any words can say.

Slutty Dolls And Cartoon Network

Everything has changed. From when I was a kid growing up, to how things are today, nothing is the same. This world has changed so much, and I'm not even sure it's changed for the better.

Of course, they are always finding new cures for things, and new treatments to help people who get sick. But that is not what I am talking about.

Since when did this world and society rely so much on technology? I won't get into all of the technological differences, because I blogged about that a few days ago, but if it weren't for the ipod, I don't know what kids would do these days. And how are kids suppose to afford ipods and such anyway? It's the "in" thing right now, so of course everybody has to have one, but what kind of teenager has $300 extra dollars to spend?

Another thing that really bothers me is the sex in the media! You can't even let kids watch regular TV anymore without them being exposed to sex and skin in various ways. It is ridiculous. And it doesn't help that "barbie" doesn't even sell regular barbie dolls anymore, but slutty 3/4 naked beach barbies. When I was growing up, there was no such thing as bratz, and naked barbie dolls. They have corrupted our world! So being exposed to all the "sex" at such a young age, of course, those kids are going to be more likely to "experiment" in their teenage years. That's not the way it was when I was growing up, and certainly not the way it was when my parents were growing up.

Things change though. And it also comes back to parenting. But there are only so many things a parent can do to "protect" their child. It just sometimes makes me sad knowing what kind of world kids are being born into now these days. When it seems like the only thing that matters is how your body looks, rather than inner beauty. Where you brag to your friends about how far you got with a guy/girl last night instead of just having a good time with your friends. Where you can't even turn on a cartoon channel to watch cartoons without the media trying to sell sex!

Anyway, I don't even know if any of this makes sense. I meant for it to, but all of my thoughts just kind of came out at once. And I am too tired right now to go back and make sense of it. Luckily though, I have the next 3 days off to relax and sleep in! Looking forward to it :)

Day Of Relaxation

Today was a very nice break from my busy babysitting schedule. I did not have anything I had to do all day long. I got to sleep in and finally catch up on my sleep, just to lose sleep again this week. I went to lunch with my mom and dad at this little bakery/cafe, which was really good. Then I came home and worked/finished my blanket that I was making. My blanket turned out really nice, and I am really proud of it!

All together it was a nice day, but I am definitely dreading starting to "work" again early tomorrow morning. It seems like the weekend went by way too fast, and now I have to be up super early again tomorrow morning. Luckily though, I have Tuesday and Wednesday off this week, which will be a nice break from some of these hyper kids.

I'm looking forward to the 4th of July. Not really sure why though, it's not like we have any set plans yet. But I always like that holiday, and since my dad will have that day off, it will just be a nice mid week break. Being with family and friends just having a good time. I would like to see fireworks somehow though. Which is hard, because fireworks are only allowed in certain areas of Colorado.

One thing that I am really happy about, is being baptized again this summer. I talked to our pastor at the wedding I went to on Saturday. I told him that I would like to sit down and talk with him sometime about it, but it is something that I would really like to do for myself. I've thought a lot about it, and I know it is what I want to do. I would really like to plan it somehow so that 3 of the girls from my bible study this past year could be there to see it. I will see though, I just know now that it is possible that I will be baptized again this summer. And I am really happy and excited about that.

I'm going to stop writing for tonight. I am getting sleepy, and have to be out the door early again tomorrow morning.

Heavy Eyes

I am so exhausted! I have had such a busy week! I babysat every single day this week, two of those days were full days from 7 am - 6:30 in the evening. Therefore causing me to be too tired to blog last night. Today I had the privilege of going to my friend and bible study leader's wedding. It was a really nice wedding and reception. And I am so glad that I got to go to their wedding and celebrate their special day with them. But all of the weeks events, I am so tired, and can barely keep my eyes open. There is so much I want to write about, but can't bring myself to do it tonight, as I am falling asleep at the computer. All of the idea's going around in my head will have to be saved until tomorrow and throughout the week.

I am going to crawl into bed now and think about nothing except for catching up on my sleep. For next week is another long week!

Happy Moments

Sometimes you just need to stop, and enjoy life.

Today I did that. I had a great day babysitting, I took the kids to the fountains at an outdoor mall.

We had a great time, and it's those moments that make life worth living for me.

A Few Thoughts

Ok, so I really don't even know what to blog about today. I have tossed ideas around in my mind all day, and now that it is 10:15 at night, I can't really bring myself to write about any of them.

At this point, I have already babysat 2 days this week, and still have 2 more days of babysitting to go. 2 more very long days, 7am-7pm about. Since this is my job, and I get good money, I can't really complain, but I am sure tired. I am not really looking forward to the next two days. Some days are really great for babysitting. I have a great time with the kids or we just have a lot of fun. But then there are other days where I wonder why I didn't just get a real job this summer. Like today, I had to deal with a sick child all day. Not much fun. Not much fun either when the kids fight and argue all day long. So hopefully these next two days will go smoothly.

There is something that I found out today that made me happy and excited. There is a new show starting up in July on NBC called "Singing Bee". A show where contestants are judged on how well they know the words to songs, not their singing ability. The show looks like it will be funny, but what is even more great is...guess who is hosting it?! Joey Fatone! The celebrity that I met in California a few weeks ago. I am so excited to tell and show people that I have met him!

Also, my brother, Jake, just planned last minute to go on a backpacking trip with his youth group. There are only a few kids going, and he is really looking forward to the trip. He wrote a very nice blog about his fears and expectations for the trip. And I have no doubt that God will provide, and not disappoint him. I hope he gets everything he wants from this trip, and so much more. Being alone in the wilderness for a full week with just him, a few kids, and God sounds like a great experience! I'm sure it will be an experience in which he will never forget.

That's all for tonight. I should be heading to bed soon since I have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Goodnight!

Can You Say LAZY?

Ok, I admit that I am a pretty lazy person. But as I was watching my neighbor standing on his porch this morning with a cup of coffee in his hands watching a lawn mowing robot type thing cut his grass for him, I couldn't help but think, what is this world coming to??? If you have to stand outside and facilitate the machine cutting your grass anyway, why not just cut the freaking grass yourself? At least this way you could get some good exercise doing it!

My mom told me a story a while back that when her and Jake were driving home and saw somebody driving in our neighborhood with their arm out the window holding onto a leash that was attached to a dog. Somebody was walking their dog while driving?!?! I mean come on! What is this world coming to? If you want your dog to get out and be walked, either hire somebody to do it, or get off your butt and walk around the block yourself!

Technology has a big thing to do with all of this. In this day and age, you can do almost anything with technology. They have all these programs that I don't even know what the point of them is. Like photoshop. I hear it's really great and can do cool things, and since I am not really into that sort of thing I wouldn't know. All I know is that I could be photoshopped into a picture of the family that I was not even there for! The Internet is a great thing. You can do almost anything on the Internet. You can now buy all your music online. Buy movies online, and even rent movies online. You can even now shop and get all your groceries online! It's like nobody ever needs to leave their house anymore for anything!

Even though I am usually a lazy person, I hope I never get to this point. I think things need to change, and people need to start getting out of their houses, and into the world a little more! That's all I have to say about that. Thanks for reading.

Three GREAT Roommates!

I miss my roommates! I thought by the end of the year, I would want nothing more than to get out of the dorm rooms and come home for the summer. When the time finally came, I was excited. I was excited to leave the tiny dorm rooms, to come home and be with my family for the whole summer. But now a month and a half into summer, I wish I could be back in the 6112 dorm room, with the 3 most amazing roommates ever!

I miss our Uno and Phase 10 tournaments. I miss the loud music and singing. I miss Kristen always coming into my room saying "how's life, Danielle?". I miss Sammie's expressive language toward anything, good or bad. And I miss Richelle's opinions on anything and everything that was going on in her life at the time. I miss coming back from class being greeted by the 3 people I considered family. That's kind of what we became over the past year, is a family. Living together, you get to know each other more than anybody else, and getting along as well as the four of us did, I considered us kind of like a family for the year. I miss everything about the year, including the food at the lodge. Ok, well maybe not everything.

I know we will all 4 remain friends next year, and we will visit each other a lot. But it will never be the same, like it was our freshmen year living together in the 6112. So thank you guys for a great freshmen year, I could not have asked for better roommates!

Smiles From Heaven

That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind, when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace - a new life in a new land! Romans 6:3 (The Message)

Today I went to the reservoir with the church that my parents go to. It was very hot, but nevertheless, a good time. The pastor of the church had the privilege of baptizing two adults from the church. It just hit home for me again, how special being baptized really is.

I was baptized when I was a little bit younger, along with my brother. We were baptized by the pastor of our church in the pool of the camp ground that our family, along with our church, went to every Labor Day weekend to camp. It was a special baptism, but at that age I know now that I did not know what it meant to be baptized. It was not until the beginning of my freshmen year in college that i really learned the meaning of baptism.

Seeing the people being baptized in the reservoir was such a great experience. It is so great that they want to walk with Jesus for the rest of their life, and make that dedication. And for all their friends and family to be there and witness and see them being brought out of the water into their "new life" was such a special experience.

I found this passage from the bible (beginning of blog) at the beginning of the year. It was from the version called The Message, and it made me think about baptism in a whole new way. Being baptized really does mean being brought into a new life, where you will walk with Jesus Christ the rest of that life. Leaving all the sin of your old life behind, and not having to worry about any of it, because you are filled with the love of Jesus.

God does wonderful things everyday, and I am thankful that I got to witness some of those experiences today at the reservoir.

A Story for Saturday?

Today, when my mom, dad and I were coming home from getting smoothies we saw a few of our neighbor boys selling lemonade. Since Jake and I used to do this all the time as kids, and being the nice people we are, we decided to buy some. Of course, the kids are always so pleased to see somebody drive or walk up to their lemonade stand. I'm not sure if they are happy because they are looking forward to having another quarter in their jar, or if they are just hot and bored and just want to pour another cup of lemonade.

It brings me back to the days when my brother, Jake, and I were little. My parents would always make us a pitcher (sometimes more) of Kool-Aid, and we would always sit out on the street with our nicely set up table, trying to sell our Kool-Aid. Of course, if it were up to us, we would have sold it for $1 per cup. But my parents always talked us out of that, convincing us that we would make more money if we sold it for cheaper, like .10 cents per cup. At the end of the day, splitting up the coins evenly between Jake and I, we always thought we were rich. Not realizing until later in life, that it was our parents all along who contributed most of the money for our Kool-Aid.

I remember that Kool-Aid was not the only thing Jake and I tried to sell. I remember most of the neighborhood kids taking out all of our pads of paper and markers to draw pretty pictures. When we were all finished we rolled them all up and put them in our red wagon, and walked door to door trying to sell them. Of course all of the parents of the kids in the neighborhood bought one of two, but I remember one lady in particular who just pretended to get so excited about our posters. We would sit there and show them all to her, and she would end up buying almost all of them. It brought a smile to all of our faces, including hers.

My mom tells me that Jake and I used to try and sell rocks also. We would take rocks from our yard and try to sell them to people. Now, even though I don't remember this, I wouldn't put it past us.

All these memories makes me realize how much fun kids can have with very little. And how much simpler life was back then when all we had to worry about was if we would have enough lemonade or Kool-Aid to sell. I wish I could go back to these days sometimes. When the stress of life was nothing compared to how it is now, 10 years later. But when I look back and remember these fun times, it's almost as if I were back there. Sitting on the street sidewalk selling my lemonade, without a care in the world.

I Heart California

This is all I have done today, set up a blogging account. I set it up in attempt to try and write a few times a week. Write about what? Oh, I don't know. My life, my friends, my family, movies, books, whatever I feel like that particular day. Hopefully I can keep myself motivated enough to keep it up. But I'm sure I will, since my mom blogs everyday, and she will be continuously reminding me to write everyday.

Supposedly, today is "show and tell Friday". But I really don't have anything to show and tell about. So I will briefly "tell" about my recent trip to California.

I was in California for almost 2 full weeks. I went out a week earlier to spend time with my grandma, and to work in her classroom (she is a pre-k teacher). It was nice working and helping out in a classroom. Since I want to be a teacher I thought it was a perfect opportunity to start getting involved in actual classrooms. Even though it was nice to get the experience, it was definitely not relaxing! Kids are not always sweet, cute, and innocent. There were a few challenging times during the week where I questioned if I really wanted to be a teacher. But even though it was hard, I think I am still up for the challenge! All together, it was a really great week, being alone with my grandma all week, but it went by too fast! Before I knew it, we were at the airport picking up the rest of the family.

The second week was fun as well. It always is when there are more people there. The rest of the family came out, along with my brother's (Jake) girlfriend. We got to meet up with my dad's siblings to take some family pictures, which came out really nice! My aunt and baby cousin got to come stay with my grandma and us for a few days after that. I had not seen her so grown up, so it was very enjoyable to see her at this new age! Visiting family is always great, especially if you live in Colorado like us, and the whole family lives in California. So it was nice for our family to see everybody and catch up. But nothing can beat family EXCEPT for...of course...DISNEYLAND!

I won't go into much detail, because I know it's already a long blog. But Disneyland was one of the highlights of my week! It was great to go on all those fun rides again, and be back in the Disney atmosphere! The only disappointing thing was that the new Finding Nemo submarine rides had just opened, and the wait was somewhere around 3 hours. Next time I go back to Disneyland, I will definitely make it a priority to go on that ride!

The beach was really great too. Being in Colorado, and then visiting California, the beach and ocean is always a marvelous thing to see. My grandma told me while I was out there that sometimes when she looks at the ocean, she wonders how it is that people don't believe in God. I have to agree with her. There are just some sights that you look at, and see God's beauty all around. The ocean definitely being one of them.

Just a quick final note. The whole week I was trying to find a celebrity. I didn't care who it was, I just wanted to see somebody famous! We even took a trip to Hollywood, but found nobody. I was REALLY wanting to find Adam Brody, but I guess he just wasn't ready to meet his soul mate yet. On the evening we were returning home, we were sitting at the airport waiting for our plane to board I saw somebody! I looked at him knowing he looked familiar, I later told my mom that I thought he was a member from N'sync. Sure enough, it was! It was Joey Fatone from N'sync and the previous runner up from Dancing with the Stars. Jake's girlfriend, Hollee, and I went over to meet him and get our picture with him! He was a nice guy, and I was sure ecstatic to finally have met a celebrity!

All together, it was a great vacation! I wish I could have stayed there all summer (I even tried talking my parents into it). But all vacations must come to an end. Besides the bad sunburn I got on the last day, there was nothing I would complain about!

Thanks for reading, and I will try to make them shorter blogs in the future!