Summer and School

I can now say that I survived my freshman year! I am out of school for the summer! :) So far, I have gotten all A's on my semester tests, except for one B, in science, which well, that's still good! I am waiting for the results of the final one! Hopefully I did ok! Anyway, hope everyone has a great summer vacation! I plan to spend mine traveling! :)

New York City!

I had an amazing time in New York City. I would love to go back and see more sights. In just 4 days, we packed a lot in and didn't get to see all of it, but it was a great trip either way! We arrived to school at 4:00 AM on Thursday morning and headed to the airport via bus. From there, we all jumped on our different flights to head to the Big Apple. We arrived in the afternoon and met our tour guides and buses. We got transported to Times Square and got to shop for a little bit, then went to dinner at Dallas BBQ, where supper was delicious, very filling, and a lot of food! After dinner, we went across the street to Ripley's Believe it or Not. We saw many disturbing things. I'm not a huge fan of those types of things, so I started to panic a bit, because I didn't really want to be there!! But it made it through, barely! After Ripley's, we took our group photo, then went to the Rockefeller Plaza to the Top of the Rock. We literally were in a cloud. It was too foggy to see the city, but it was still neat to be up there! After that, we finally got to go to the hotel and sleep. Our tour guide was Shyrl, and that day we also had Mike.
The next morning, Friday, was an early morning. The first thing we did was travel and take our bus to tour the city. We went to Chinatown and bartered. I found a watch, one like I had before. He wanted 10 for it, I didn't feel like paying that, so I told him 5. He gave me a funny look and went to 8. I said no, and started walking. So he thought about it and said 5. Well, I wasn't so sure after that, so I had to think, I walked away from the price I wanted, which was not smart or nice!! We saw a few Chinese funerals going on, it was neat to see their traditions! We had lunch at the South Street Seaport, then after that, we went to the World Trade Center Memorial. It was interesting and really a neat sight to see. After that, we took the subway up to Times Square and got to shop. We met again, then got our tickets for the Broadway show. Let me just tell you that it was AMAZING! I cannot begin to  describe how great it was! I got a shirt and the Wicked soundtrack! Then we bused back to the hotel.
Saturday morning we got to sleep in a little bit longer. We got to walk through Central Park that day, which was very beautiful! Doug, a tour guide, was really neat! He knew what he was talking about. We performed on Saturday at the Staten Island University. Then that night we got our awards at a Medieval Times performance. The horses were trained quite well, and the show was really neat!!
Sunday we got to sleep in the latest. Then we woke up to go on a cruise around the harbor. It was really neat! We saw the Statue of Liberty! I tend to get motion sick at times, so I took a pill to help it, unfortunately the pill had side effect of drowsiness, so I slept on the boat for some of it. We then had an hour in Times Square or 5th Ave. for last minute shopping before we headed to the airport to fly home. I was really sad to leave. We had a great tour guide, she was amazing! Of course, I cried when we had to leave. We got back to the school at midnight then. Another flight didn't get home til 1!! But let me tell you, NYC is an amazing city.
People tend to sterotype the city thinking there is crime and it's really dirty too. But it was actually beautiful and clean too! If I ever get the chance to go back, I will! I fell in love with the place!
I'm sorry this post got quite long, I could have split it into a few posts, but I threw it all in one! Also, I apologize for overusing the word "amazing" :) Please let me know if you can view the video with no problems. I got an email from Youtube saying that it was blocked because of my music. But after publishing it, it plays fine! I'm not sure what the deal is! We got a 1 at Large Group tonight! Hope you're all doing well! Have a great weekend!

Well, Hello There!

Yes, I am back. After getting home late Sunday night, we've had a busy week. Vocal concert on Tuesday, meeting tonight, and Large Group tomorrow! I promise I will get the pictures up soon! I put them in a video format and had to shorten it majorly, otherwise you'd be sitting for a 30 min period looking at pictures. But I cut it down to 8 min 30 sec!
Let me just say that I fell in love with NYC! I cried because I didn't want to leave. I have a great time! We saw many things, and we were always on the go! Sleep, well, we got some, but not a lot! I was perky, apparently too perky ;) Haha, kidding! But I was in a great mood, and it wasn't hard when you like what you're doing! :) Anyway, it's late, big day tomorrow, so I should let ya'll go! Hope you're all doing well!! :)

Time

13 hours and 57 minutes til I am on my way to NYC! :)
Hope you all have a great rest of the week and weekend!! :)

Thoughts

We got the privilege of special meeting again today. They were very rich meetings. A few thoughts include:

• We can trust Him when all else fails.
• We don't want to plant our own will/thoughts in our hearts.

We heard a great deal about control, some of those thoughts are as followed:

• What is it that controls us?
• We all have a past, and could be controlled by our past.
• When we feel like our prayer wasn't answered, were we giving Him absolute control, or did we have a thought and try to control?
• We want time to do His will and our will, but that doesn't work.
• There is so much we need to let go of and let God have control.
• We control because we are afraid of something.
• For every fear, there is a promise.
• God isn't going to abandon us, that's a promise.

Those were just a few of the thoughts. I'm so glad that I got the chance to go!

This is the week I leave for NYC! I am getting excited, but yet I am a little nervous. I have everything that I need, that I know of. But I still need to pack. We need to be at the high school at 4:00 AM, then we will depart for the airport, and all fly out at different times. We have so much planned, that we won't get much sleep! But it will be fun! My cousin is letting me take her camera, which I'm glad, because thsi will definitely be a trip that I was to remember! It may be a once in a life time chance for me, so I'm glad to get to go! I hope to upload pictures when I get back! :)

Slight problem, I'm starting to get a sore throat! I hope that I don't get sick etc before I go! Anyway, I hope all are doing well!! Have a great week, and I'll "see" you when I get back probably! :)

Changes

Our plans changed big time. We didn't get to go to to speicals on Sunday. Which I was bummed out about. But as most of you know, my brother and wife had their baby, which she ended up going to NICU. When we got the call that my sister was going into labor, my mom and I hit the road and got to her other grandparents about midnight our time. We spent the afternoon and evening at the hospital, then returned to the place we were staying at late. Sunday, we had meeting, the went to the hospital, then returned to sleep. We woke up early this morning, went to the hospital with the other two boys, then brought them back, and drove home. Maggie is doing fine, last I heard. She is a cute lil' girl! Her brothers were quite interested in her. :) Anyway, that's all the news here. Specials here on Wednesday, which means company coming etc. Hope all are doing well!

More Randomness

Well, the time has come, we finally will be getting the go to a special :) Maybe I'll see some of you there! Have I mentioned how excited I am?
My oldest niece had her birthday Saturday. She had been planning her surprise birthday party for 6 weeks prior. She had everything planned out! Where has the time gone? She turned 5, which means I have been an aunt for 5 years! Where has the time gone?
Speaking of time, can anyone believe it is April already? This next month will fly by, too. I don't know if we will have a normal 5 day week of school! But I am excited for summer. I wonder where I will go. I do know though, that I'll be flying to Oregon for my brother's graduation!
Only 3 weeks til I fly to NYC. We had our meeting the other night, for parents/students/chaperones/etc. I am very excited, but I am also a little nervous. Not with the flying, but with the fears of the City. I'm sure it will be fine, but you never know!
I will get to enjoy a 4 day weekend now! What do your plans include? :) Hope all are well!

Just a Few Random Things!

1) I was looking back at old posts. I have to laugh, because they are either really cheesy or completely stupid. Like a friend said "Anything I say now, will probably sound stupid in the next few days!" I can't believe how long I've had this blog, but yet I can! I don't know, you be the judge, has my style changed? Does it "sound" different?

2) I have an ingrown toenail, as nasty as it sounds. I had an appointment at the doctor today, so he ended up looking at my toe too. It was nasty, meaning, it was inflamed, infected, etc. It wasn't a pretty sight and it hurt like crazy. So he side cutted the nail. It hurt when he cut it. I cried, screamed, and hyperventillated. (Just curious, how do you spell that?) I wonder how sound proof the walls are, because another nurse popped her head in and asked if I was ok!

3) It is March 26th, which means that in 1 month I am in the air to NYC! Can anyone believe that it's March? And with this weather? It's been a crazy winter, if that's what you want to call it! Specials started on Saturday! I am quite excited, as odd as it may sound, we still don't know who our company is, but with all the funerals etc, it's no wonder! It will just be a surprise? ;) Also, we only have 30 some days of school left! Something like that! People were talking about that today! Either way, this year has gone quite fast! Anyway, nothing else new here. I hope that everyone is doing well! Happy blogging!

Small Group

Today was small group contests. For those who don't know what that it, it is a vocal/band/piano contest, where students from different schools prepare for solos/duets/trios/quartets/etc and get rated. 1 is the best that you can possibly get! I originally was going to do a solo, duet, and triple trio. But I only ended up doing the triple trio. There were some judges who were harder than others, but some were very nice. We didn't have to sing until 2:30. We were the last freshman triple trio to sing. We got a 1! :) We were the only freshman triple trio that did!! :) So we were all quite happy about that. Anyway, that's all the news really! Hope all are doing well!

Little People #2

It's finally here!! I decided to put brother/sister together in this one. They are adorable, then again, I'm their aunt, who is bias, but I say all my nieces and nephews are adorable. :) I can't wait til the next two are born! Family time will be louder, but it will be worth it!
Nothing new here really. 6 weeks and I fly to NYC! I am quite excited! Oh, and specials start soon!! I am very excited for that!! Hope all are doing well!