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Sharing a cubicle sucks. I love my job and the experience, not the close confines of that little cube I sit in with sometimes two other people. This is a comical photo we took for a newsletter--it makes sharing look like fun. I guess I never learned the whole sharing thing. Thanks mom and dad. :)
Graduation Day. The words that I have been longing to hear ever since freshman year. Well it finally came... and went. The family photo shoot before, after, and during the ceremony was hilarious. Somehow smiling for picture after picture gets tiring. I promised myself that no one would take a picture of me with my cap on. That thing, I kid you not, is the most haneous thing I have ever seen. Somehow I could not rock that little cardboard square. My family and friends were all there, even the ones from Oregon. While sitting at my 4 hour ceremony I decided that I am going to be conveniently sick when Kyle has his next year. My school does graduations like no other; They bring each kid on stage and the dean says a speech that the student has previously prepared. Obviously I decided that mine could not be like everyone else's, so I spiced it up a little bit. My extremely silly speech was received well by the crowd as well as my dean ( I was a little worried about my dean). I didn't trip, nothing really embarrassing happened, I remembered how to shake hands and grab my diploma at the same time, I didn't get scolded for my abnormal speech, I lucked out and got to sit next to the very comical duo Austin and Justin Black, and my parents made it through without crying too hard. I would say it was a success.
When I was little my teachers used to make me watch Reading Rainbow. Back then I thought that reading was the enemy. Lately it is moved from the enemy to a friend. Here is a book that I have read a few times and found to be simply marvelous. The Irresistible Revolution has challenged me to think outside the box on many topics. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a summer read.
This is the question that I have got more than I can handle. Or wait, how about the old...that is so far away, and random. What made you decide to go there? I will briefly answer those questions. Lincoln Christian College is where I am going to school in the fall. It is in Lincoln, Illinois. No, I have not been there to visit. That does not sound like me and it is a huge leap of faith, I know. My good friend Jeff Henson tells me daily that he should have a camera crew follow me to school and it will be like the Simple Life with Paris Hilton. I hear they don't have mountains, that will be strange fa sho. I decided to go there because while I was in Mexico some random guy that goes to LCCS told me to. Just kidding. All I can say is that it is where I am supposed to go. Sorry I cant give you a better story there. Its far, yes, but I think it will be good for me to experience something other than the lights of Vegas. I can't wait to bring some party to the little Podunk town of Lincoln.
I went with my science class to Catalina Island for a week. Nerd camp was surprisingly fun and I went with my best friend Jay. The theme for the week was Breaking Fears. I learned so much that a book could not teach me--for example: Nurdles Kill Turtles. When we were about to get on the ship to the island, we ran into Horatio from CSI. He was filming in San Padro...strange because it is not called CSI San Pedro. This trip was so much fun and a great time to get to know some people that I see in the halls but don't really talk to. One night we went on this trust walk and it was so funny. I had to be in between two people that I would not trust AT ALL to lead me blind folded through the forest. Luckily I made it out alive. We had a few close calls though. Snorkeling, nature walks, morning mountain top chapels, skit night, pushing my friend Garrett off a boat instead of collecting data, stepping on a snake, turtle hurdles, bon fires, whale watching, boat ride to the island, peeing in the wet suits (that is what they told us to do to keep warm --don't judge me), being on the party bus that danced and sang 90's songs the entire way home, kitchen duty, and In N Out. I loved this nerd trip with friends and good times.
I want to go back to Mexico so bad. Over spring break I went to Ensenada to build a house with my church. I learned how to put up drywall and hammer down a roof. We went to a local church on Sunday morning and it was the best service I have been to in a long time. Everything there was so simple, and yet they were happier than the average man rollin around in his porche. One of the last nights a group of us went to a park to play soccer. Several things sucked about this late night game. It was on concrete, too many people were there, I was so stinkin tired, and I broke a guys finger. I felt horrible because the next morning we took up an offering so that this guy can afford to go to the doctor. He didnt even speak English so I could not even tell him how sorry I was. Maybe he will take girl soccer players more seriously now :) kidding. The last night I got to sing and speak in front of the entire camp. I was freaking out when I was told an hour before show time that I had to go on stage. It was good for me though. We also went to an orphanage while down there. Seeing all those kids broke my heart and really made me think. On a lighter note, the blue (not red) taco stand just outside the base was amazing. Teaching people how to play useless games such as chicken taco and big booty, getting up at the crack of dawn to go to salsa aerobics, freezing cold showers, driving in Dotty-the party van, lake Nate, playing 20 questions with Ryne and Louie on the ride down and dancing to a Spanish worship song were some of the best times of the trip. I loved it and cant wait to go back.
2008.This must be it, welcome to the new year.Every year there seems to be a string of new things that we'll conquer, or perhaps shove away into a corner and hope to forget about. This year, though, it's harder to just push away the facts we don't want to accept. High school is coming to an end, and it's time to start a new chapter in our lives. The comfort of Faith Lutheran will be gone, no longer will we walk through the hallways and recognize every single person we pass. The closest of friendships will slowly fade as we each go our separate ways. From Hawaii to California, to Iowa and Nebraska, the students of Faith will spread out across the U.S., maybe even to other countries and start over. That's what life's all about isn't it, starting over and preparing yourself for change?College application deadlines are coming and going, scholarships are being given out, and roommates are being decided. But does it really matter? What difference does it make where you go, an education at Harvard or Yale means nothing if you didn't enjoy the time you spent there, if you weren't with good company. We learn how to talk and walk, and we go to school. We go to school some more, and then work hard to get into college. More school, then we try to make as much money as possible, and we die. Game over. Congratulations, maybe you've earned the high score, but nobody really cares. Your name will soon be replaced by someone else and as you're laying in the dirt of a rainy cemetery, it just might hit you that there's more to life than bragging rights about where you're going to school and how much money you made.Resolutions.1. Be content. It doesn't matter if I'm in first place or not, as long as I'm happy. Enjoying the moment is more important than making sure everyone else notices me. Nothing is more beautiful than happiness.2. Be original. Life is a one-time thing, I'm not going to get another chance. Why would I want to be anyone but myself? It's not worth it. I respect originality over any other characteristic, because it's better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. We are all primary numbers divisible only by ourselves.3. Love cautiously. The heart is a precious, fragile object. I have absolutely no desire to give this up to anyone, as it's one of the few things that I can really control at this point.
Graduation Day. The words that I have been longing to hear ever since freshman year. Well it finally came... and went. The family photo shoot before, after, and during the ceremony was hilarious. Somehow smiling for picture after picture gets tiring. I promised myself that no one would take a picture of me with my cap on. That thing, I kid you not, is the most haneous thing I have ever seen. Somehow I could not rock that little cardboard square. My family and friends were all there, even the ones from Oregon. While sitting at my 4 hour ceremony I decided that I am going to be conveniently sick when Kyle has his next year. My school does graduations like no other; They bring each kid on stage and the dean says a speech that the student has previously prepared. Obviously I decided that mine could not be like everyone else's, so I spiced it up a little bit. My extremely silly speech was received well by the crowd as well as my dean ( I was a little worried about my dean). I didn't trip, nothing really embarrassing happened, I remembered how to shake hands and grab my diploma at the same time, I didn't get scolded for my abnormal speech, I lucked out and got to sit next to the very comical duo Austin and Justin Black, and my parents made it through without crying too hard. I would say it was a success.
I want to go back to Mexico so bad. Over spring break I went to Ensenada to build a house with my church. I learned how to put up drywall and hammer down a roof. We went to a local church on Sunday morning and it was the best service I have been to in a long time. Everything there was so simple, and yet they were happier than the average man rollin around in his porche. One of the last nights a group of us went to a park to play soccer. Several things sucked about this late night game. It was on concrete, too many people were there, I was so stinkin tired, and I broke a guys finger. I felt horrible because the next morning we took up an offering so that this guy can afford to go to the doctor. He didnt even speak English so I could not even tell him how sorry I was. Maybe he will take girl soccer players more seriously now :) kidding. The last night I got to sing and speak in front of the entire camp. I was freaking out when I was told an hour before show time that I had to go on stage. It was good for me though. We also went to an orphanage while down there. Seeing all those kids broke my heart and really made me think. On a lighter note, the blue (not red) taco stand just outside the base was amazing. Teaching people how to play useless games such as chicken taco and big booty, getting up at the crack of dawn to go to salsa aerobics, freezing cold showers, driving in Dotty-the party van, lake Nate, playing 20 questions with Ryne and Louie on the ride down and dancing to a Spanish worship song were some of the best times of the trip. I loved it and cant wait to go back.
2008.
