April 23rd 2012

          I feel so terrible that it's been so long since I've posted!!! I tried to write something last weekend, but I just got so busy GETTING MY WOHELO and stuff. It was such an awesome ceremony! An awesome week, really.
          Monday night we picked up Nate at the airport and got a room at the hotel right outside the parking lot. But since Nate had been sitting down for five hours, he wasn't really interested in going to bed right away. So we went hunting for Cosmo's, this really cool coffeehouse. The best part was that they had an amazing GF menu!! (Gluten-Free) I'm not GF, but my mom and Leo are. We hung out with our snacks playing scrabble for a few hours and it was really nice. Then we went back to the room and watched those really stupid prank'd shows that MTV shows really late at night til almost 2:00am.
          Tuesday we headed back home. Mom tried letting Nate drive, but living in Cali has turned him into a CRAZY driver!!! (Sorry Nate, if you're reading this, but it's true) So I drove the rest of the way. Once we got home, we took Nate to Dan's for dinner. You'd think this tiny town wouldn't have anything going for it, but it has got same delicious restaurants. Dan's is this amazing steakhouse, and we always get the same thing because their steak is sooo good. Except Leo, he doesn't like steak, so he gets a burger. After dinner we gave Nate the not so grand tour of our tiny town and stopped at our, admittedly, awesome park. We all played around for awhile and Nate got Leo to drop feet first into a giant mud puddle. It was pretty hilarious.
          Wednesday I had to work, that was pretty much the only reason we bothered coming back home instead of staying in town. So I went and did my thing, no big. We just kind of used Wednesday to get used to each other again. It was really nice that Nate and I weren't down each others throats like the last time we were together in the same state. Hopefully that means we can be friends or something instead of those siblings that are always fighting. Maybe. That gives me hope for Leo, maybe someday down the road we won't feel like spiting each other for fun.
          Thursday was mom and dads fifteenth anniversary, but they didn't get to see each other until late! Dad had to work and we left for town in the morning. We got to town in the early afternoon and went around running all the errands that needed running. We got Nate some dress shoes(really they were just nice sneakers, but they fit their purpose) we got Leo new shoes, mom got some new shoes. Everybody but me :( I'll live, lol. The majority of the afternoon was spent looking for the perfect gifts for my fellow Camp Fire seniors and Hope's WoHeLo gift! And we got a few other things, but I can't remember what they were. We went to mom and dad's friend's house for the night, which was nice. They have a son Nate's age who lives next door and they went and hung out for the evening. Their other son, that lives with them, is Leo's best friend, so he was occupied all night. I just popped in a Redbox and then went to bed.
          Friday mom and I split off from the boys and went to run the last last minute errands. For instance, mom needed nail supplies. Stuff like that. We couldn't check in to the hotel until 2:00pm, so we had a ton of time to kill. Sooooo, we went to Incredible Pizza! Incredible Pizza is like this pizza buffet(that makes GF pizza to order, no extra charge) that has a huge arcade! And they have daily deals you can get, like get $20 on a card and get a $10 bonus! So that's what we did. And let me tell you, we had a blast! Now, I play for tickets, so I ended up getting somewhere around 492. Since I'm not so into the prize counter, I just gave mine to my mom. She's got an account and she always saves her tickets. I don't know what she's going to spend them on, but she saves em! After we'd all had our fill of fun, we went and checked in to our hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express right in the middle of town, so nothing was more than 20 minutes away! My father and Lisa got to town around 7:00pm, it was so fantastic to see them! It felt like Bennett and Winston hadn't changed at all! I helped them unpack and everything and we just chilled for a little while. then they were getting hungry, so I suggested we all go out to Village Inn!



More later, I promise! I just cannot finish right now :(

February 25th 2012

          Hey guys,
How's everyone been? I've been frantically trying to find a chaperone/roommate for my conference in DC, but it's either inconvenient time or too much money for everyone. I'm going to ask the women at my board meeting this Monday, but if no one there is able, I'm prepared to just give up on it. It was never supposed to be this big of a deal. I'll have to re-write my walk in speech and send a new one to Susan. But that's the easy part. I'm just bummed because I was so excited for my first solo vacation. No parents. Not like I was going to o crazy or anything, but I'd really like for my first few weeks at college to not  be the first time I'm on my own for more than two nights!
          I guess if I don't go to DC though, I can get this dress I've been eying. It would be perfect to wear for my WoHeLo. It would fit under my ceremonial attire, and look fabulous for pictures and the party. It's got a purple ruffled top and a simple black skirt. There was another one I saw too, but mom didn't feel too good about it. And I kind of want to find some super short black shorts to wear under this one dress I have. I just got these awesome tights to wear with it, but it still needs shorts, just to be sure ;-)
          Mom left for town early to spend time with her sister and then her friends. I would've gone, but I had to work yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But it works out since daddy has to be in town Monday morning anyway, we're leaving right after work tomorrow. So get up, go to church, go home and pack, go to work, go to town. We probably won't get in until around midnight, but daddy seems to be okay with it. I don't know where we'll all sleep. The place we usually stay is really uncomfortable for four people. three, sure. But unless I'm sharing the couch bed with Leo, I'm not seeing this working out. Maybe he'll sleepover at his friends house or something. Seems kind of late though. And all his friend has school.
          I just finished catching up on The Vampire Diaries.  I watch all my shows on Hulu. I can't decide if I prefer the books or the show. The show is definitely more "people pleasing". What I mean is, the producers give the audience exactly what we want. But aside from the names, we might as well be in a different story. Nothing happens the same. Caroline is a real person in the show, with feelings and stuff. Then she gets turned into a vampire. I'm fairly sure that NEVER happened. And so far there is no sign of Elena getting her wings powers. She never got turned into a vampire and then brought back. So frustrating. Why couldn't they do both as tv shows and name the other one something else?
          Right now, I'm charging my flipcam to take to town. I might try a little vlog or something. Could be cool. What do you guys think?
          Time to catch up on my beauty sleep, that's all for now folks.

February 23rd 2012

          Hey guys! I know you're not used to so much attention! But the day has come!
Today is my last day off of work before my final panel meeting for my WoHeLo!!! So I'm working on my gown, getting my last two hours in somewhere, and dancing around the house! There were definitely times in the past where I was positive I'd never get done in time or times I just plain wanted to give up! Now that I'm standing on the very edge of completion, I'm so overjoyed I did it! And I'll deny I ever said it, but there's no way I could have ever done it without my mom. I'm kind of lucky to have so many adults in my life who care about me.
          I can't find a chaperone/roommate for my conference in D.C. so it might not happen :( I'm really bummed about it. It's ridiculous because my parents are just fine with letting me go by myself, I'm just fine going by myself, but the conference people aren't. I really just need someone over eighteen who can pay their own airfare and half the room. I'm going to start asking friends and family soon. I was talking to a woman at the Baltimore Camp Fire office, but she's stopped communicating very suddenly. She just stopped replying to emails.
          I added it up, and between my bank account now, two paychecks before I leave, and my income tax soon, I should be able to afford it. That parts no biggie. And mom said she can chip in a little bit too. It's just so frustrating to be this close to something amazing, and not do it because I'm under eighteen. I'm so sick of the word "minor". All summer at camp, all through the year at Camp Fire... "aren't you eighteen yet Razzi?" I could just scream and pull my hair out!
          The other day at work, I said "okey dokey" to a customer, and he said he'd never heard someone say that except in movies. He also hadn't heard someone literally say ya'll or aight. You know how you always come up with the perfect comeback twenty minutes later? That's how I feel. I was kind of offended because he said it like I was dirty for using those words. Nope, just raised in Oklahoma...
          A few days ago, a friend of Leo's asked him to tell me I should post to my blog. I'm not sure how she knows about it, but I'm not complaining about it! I wish all the people who check my blog regularly would subscribe so I can see how many people are reading regularly. Maybe if people would comment or something *AHEM AHEM*. Sorry I had a tickle in my throat.
          So, guess what happened yesterday?!?!?!? I got my first college acceptance letter!!! It was from my second choice; I'm still waiting to hear from my first choice. I really really want to go to my first choice. If I get in, I get a full ride scholarship. Room and board is still expensive, but it'd be worth it for such a prestigious education. I think if I went there, I'd major in some sort of politics. And minor in psychology. If I go to my second choice, I'll probably get my BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing). I'd have to transfer my Junior year to a bigger school though.
          Right now mom is cracking and rolling eggs because she boiled, like, twenty this morning. She also brought home root beer, peanuts, candy bars, and caramel wraps. I think she may be trying to sweeten us up for something. I just haven't figured out what yet. But don't worry mom, I'm onto you :P. I've been trying to curl my hair with my straightener, but it's not working. I think I'm going to rag roll my hair tonight. It's so much fun when my hair is curly! And it looks so legit, people who don't know me very well assume that I must straighten my hair every morning.
          I wonder if I'll receive so many compliments if my hair is super curly. Men have asked if I'm married, called me gorgeous, told me I look pretty, told me I looked beautiful, and commented on my "free hugs" pin saying "I might not let you go!". All in all, it's very flattering but most of them don't speak English very well or are three times my age. SO I just smile and check their groceries.
          I received my Growums sale package in the mail today! For ten dollars, you can buy a miniature garden with four kinds of seeds, eight pods to plant them in, and eight tags. And their really cute! Like a pizza garden has basil, oregano, cilantro, and tomato I think. And there's different kinds of gardens. A taco garden, a ratatouille garden, an oriental themed garden. And every penny raised goes straight to YAC! We're planning on doing a F2F, which is Face to face. We want to have a meeting just so we can all get together aside from the conference calls to hang out and plan stuff. I'm pretty pumped. If you're interested and you actually know me, get at me and I'll hook you up!
          That's all for now folks!

February 21st 2012

          Hey guys, I'm sorry. I know I keep promising a nice long post but I've been super busy trying to get all the details for my WoHeLo in order. I also got a letter from Antioch today stating that I have four days to complete my application by sending in my supplemental items. See, I sent those item sin two weeks ago. But lucky for me I've got a smart Mom who insisted on saving everything and putting it in my file. So I just spent the last hour scanning documents into the computer and emailing them off to Antioch. Hopefully that takes care of that. And if I don't get accepted, it's because I wasn't good enough not because of some dang technicality. I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up. I really want to major in Psychology if I go to Antioch, but mom thinks I should go into Politics. I am pretty good at managing people and reputations. I don't know. Maybe I can minor in Psychology. Opinions??
          Today Leo had to go to town with Mom for his first ever standardized testing. And it's his worst subject. I feel kind of bad for him. But it must be done. Everyone does standardized testing at some point or another, it really isn't avoidable at this point in time.
          I had bought a Groupon for laser hair removal. I was going to get my bikini line done so I could say goodbye to awkward shower shaving at camp. But they don't have any available appointments that would work for me, so I returned it and got my $100 back. Now that money is going towards my DC conference. Mom and I counted it up, I've got my income tax coming soon, two paychecks, and two hundred in the bank. That's not enough to get the room by myself, but I just got an email stating that I am required to have a chaperone because I'm 17. Which sucks because I don't know anyone else who's going to this thing. And if I could split the cost of a room with someone, I could almost definitely afford it. I'm so thankful the board came up with the money for my flight because I can't imagine having to factor that in too.
          So I have to work this Sunday. But I have tons of meetings on Monday and Daddy has an interview in town at 10:00am. If he gets this job, we get to move back to town!!! But that's off subject right now. So Daddy's going to pick me up after work (8:00pm) and we're going straight to town. Then on Monday, I've got to do WoHeLo pictures at the park with Hope and the camp fire photographer, then I have my final board meeting, where they'll approve my WoHeLo and finalize everything, then I have my board meeting at which I'll be giving a presentation. So before I even go for my pictures, I need to print and fold 30 copies of my brochure, make sure my ceremonial attire is in order, and at some point in there I'd like to eat dinner.
          Don't let my stress fool you, I'm so freakin pumped for this! I'm ready to be done worrying about it and start celebrating! Hope and I will be presented at WoHeLoees at Camp Fire Birthday on March 3rd and I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be at the Adult Recognition Dinner. So they can fawn over us, lol! Susan says our only jobs after we get approved is to show up and look pretty! It kind of feels like we won a pageant or something! And so far I've invited all my friends, my father and Lili, my mom is flying down my big brother from California, we invited my Uncle Dean todasy when mom was on the phone with him. I hope his wife and daughters can come too, but I'd understand if they can't all come. Looks like I just might get some of my dream pictures! In your face mom! Never say never!!!
          I've only got to get 5 more hours on this last issue, and  I think it's going to be a piece of cake!
          That's all for now folks!

February 3rd 2012

          OMG I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!! I got the official news today: I'm going to DC!!! It's for the America's Promise Grad Nation Summit, March 18th through the 21st. You can't hear my happy squee's, but they're loud.
          Now I get to do even more shopping! I'm assuming DC is cold in March, and I don't have enough nice cold weather clothes! Poor mom, she'll never even know what hit her. This one is gonna be kind of short too, because I have to go to work soon. But I promise, as soon as I find time, I'll whip out a nice, long, juicy, post!

January 20th, 2012

           FIRST! Thank you Miss Aqua for reminding me to post! I would've procrastinated far longer without you! Can't wait for June!!
          Alright, alright. I know I've been slacking!! I'd like to say it's because I've been busy, but not really. Just slacking lol. BUT now I know why I really joined the National Youth Advisory Cabinet...they give me excuses to use glitter!!! We're each getting a quilt square in the mail and we get to decorate them however we want!! I'm probably using too many exclamation points, but I can't find it in myself to care. Exclamation points are like glitter...addictive. My poor friends don't share my opinions, so I don't get my glitter out as often as I really want too.           

          YAC's also got me thinking of idea's for Absolutely Incredible Kids Day. See, we have got really great incentive.  Our president, Lauren, came up with this 'master list' and for every YAC deed we do, we get a point. At the end of three months or so, she'll tally the points and send the winner a Camp Fire surprise! At last check I was tied for first. Take that Owen :P 

           In other news, I still haven't heard back on whether or not I got the travel/room/board scholarship for the Grad Nation Conference. It's driving me crazy! Because Camp Fire birthday is in March and I really need to know if I'll be in town for it because WoHeLo'ees are honored there, and it's my year! Of course, the summit is a huge deal and way more important; not that I wouldn't miss sticking a pie in Scouts face. That's another thing, At birthday, the WoHeLo'ees get to stick pies in the faces of people that get voted on all day. Scout usually gets one. 

          I was feeling kind of lost on my last WoHeLo issue, so I called up Swan* at the Camp Fire office for some advice. Now, she's in the middle of switching jobs, so I know she's super busy. Still at the CF office, just different responsibilities. Which is why I was so grateful to her for spending 35-40 minutes on the phone with me brainstorming. Of course, now I have a lot of work to do, but I'm happy for it. Because otherwise, all my hours for this issue would be blogging. Not that I have a problem with that, but the panel may raise a few eyebrows when I'm trying to get everything approved. I'm going to put together a whole 'curriculum' for a presentation on the benefits of homeschooling. I'm going to make a tri-fold brochure to give out for our kinesthetic learners. A power point for the visual learners; and of course my own notes for the auditory learners. My goal is to have something anyone can pick up, read through once, and deliver easily.

          I finally watched Footloose last night! It was amazing! I can't believe it took me that long to realize that Kevin Bacon and I are destined to be together? Lol, jk...mostly. Now I want to see the new one; just for a compare/contrast kind of thing. I think my favorite part is Ren trying to teach Willard to dance. Ren's face=perfect. 

          I guess one good thing about our new town is that everything is in walking distance. Compared to our old town where you may be able to walk somewhere, you just don't feel safe doing it. Leo and I go to the library all the time, sometimes we stop at Dairy Queen(that's another bonus, we didn't have a DQ back home). DQ and Sonic have the BEST banana splits ever! No one else has clued in on putting pineapples on ice cream yet!

          I have a board meeting and Leo has a CF meeting on Monday evening and on Tuesday, we're going to a good friends good-bye party. She's been a huge mentor to me, so I'm sad to see her moving away. But I know it's a great opportunity for her. I just hope she can come back in April for my WoHeLo, but I'll understand if she can't.

          I'm getting more and more excited for April! My dad and stepmom, Lili, are bringing my little brothers from Louisiana to come see me! Since I'm homeschooled, mom and I decided to make this my graduation. We're renting a room after the ceremony for my whole CF group to have dinner with our families. And either the day before or after, my whole family is going out for dinner. If you're one of my close friends, you know how much that means to me. One of my mom's friends is pretty handy with a camera, so I'm hoping he'll be there so I can get some quality pics with my whole family together. Oh! That reminds me! My big brother in CA is probably coming too! It feels surreal to think of all four of my brothers and all four of my parents in one place for ME! 

          While I'm in town on Mon/Tues I have a meeting with my homeschooling consultant so I can let her know how things are progressing; and of course invite her to Grand Council Fire. I also really want to stop at Old Navy because I need khaki pants for work on Thursday! I'm so excited to start!

          Toodles for now! I've run out of steam and it's almost time for dinner (Mom's meatloaf and baked potatoes...be jealous)

*name has been changed

January 6th 2012

          Well, I've almost got the job! Wal-Mart called me back (the only one who called me back) and I did the interviews yesterday. I have to go back today for the drug test and all that fun stuff. I'm not worried and I know it's necessary, but I just wish we could skip it. I want to get straight to training! Make that moolah, you know? I'm going to be a cashier, so it shouldn't be too hard. And it's barely above minimum wage, but that is alright with me! It's a steady job. Working for the Diocese back where I used to live was fun and everything, but I seriously only ever worked maybe 10 shifts. So, not really in the way of making much money.
           Plus maybe I'll meet some cool people! I really want to make some friends here, but it's hard to get out there. Plus, it doesn't seem like there are any local hang-outs. I've been walking all over town, library and Wal-Mart, and I haven't seen anybody else my age walking around.
          Leo has a Camp Fire meeting on Monday so he and mom are going back to town for the night. I don't know if I'm going to go yet. It depends on if Wal-Mart needs me I guess. Hopefully we can do everything today and they won't need me until Wednesday. But if I do need to stay here, maybe daddy and I will find something to do. But if I do go, I'll get to see Neecee and the kids!!! And I really miss Wendy. When we visited them a few days before Christmas, she was so excited! I'd love to surprise her! Plus when we moved, I found all this stuff I don't want so I have some toys for her!
          A couple weeks ago, I was nominated for a scholarship to go to this conference in Washington DC in March. I'm so antsy waiting to find out if I got it. I don't really have super high hopes just because I don't want them dashed if I don't get it. But it would be super cool!!! Just to give you a hint as to how big this conference is, last year, Vice President Joe Biden was there. Yeah.
          I still haven't gotten my Christmas present from my father. I keep bugging him about it, but I never get a response. Part of me wants to stop bugging because I don't want to look greedy. But the other part of me KNOWS he will just completely forget.
          Last night I wrote a poem! I was just laying in bed in the dark and I got inspired! I don't remember what I was thinking about, but the words just came to me. Here it is:

I've cried for a boy on the internet
If you say that make me weak, you'd be wrong
Even if my tears are for someone I've never met
It's not a bad thing, compassion makes you strong

I've cried while shaking with rage
So you might call me high strung
But you're old beyond your years, you age
My tears keep me young

I've cried while clapping in glee
While you sit, avoiding emotion
I'm at peace, my heart and mind in harmony
Though my tears could fill an ocean

Every day is a battle for you
Everyday a war
But if you'd just see your emotions through
You'd see that there could be more

If eyes are windows to the soul
I can see your glass shattering
All that dust must take its toll
But no one else is noticing


          What do you think? I kind of like it. My mom said it was good, though written from a teenagers point of view. I was like "Well duh, I'm a teenager. What else do you expect?"

Anyways, that's all for today.

January 3rd, 2012

          HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Yeah I know I'm late. But who cares, it's 2012 baby!
I had a pretty good New Years. Hope and I didn't get to check out the new club because no one wanted to come pick us up and Hope's mom doesn't like taxis. We ended up going to Step's house to hang out and watch Glee. We had some much needed girl talk and heart-to-hearts. It was a very cliche sleepover ;-)

At midnight, we decided we were hungry, so after digging through the cupboards, we found some Pasta Sides, chicken alfredo.  That's what's in the pot. (I'm on the left, Hope is on the right)
          My parents didn't give me a heads up before they picked me up, so I was a little disappointed we didn't get to make pancakes together like we planned. But on the way home, we stopped at the biggest town before home and wandered around. We went to a park and played and walked around. Then Dad and Leo went to Hastings while mom and I wandered down the strip mall into Ross. I got two dresses. A casual for every day and a business one I can wear to any conferences or board meetings. Then we went to the mall. I think the best part of the day was taking dad into Buckle. Mom decided this years craft project was him. So new wardrobe little bit at a time. It was really weird helping my dad shop in there because I usually go in there with Sketch or Doug. We ended up getting a super snazzy vest for him to wear when his boss is in town or for church on Sunday.
          After we got dinner at this chinese buffet in the mall, we went home. I was all for taking a shower and going to bed even though it was only 7:30pm. After all, Hope, Step, and I didn't go to sleep until 2:30am. But mom had other ideas. She's been borrowing tons of old classics from the library and this time it was The Bells of St. Mary's. I think I'm falling in love with Bing Crosby, lol! He's so handsome and when he sings, I get goosebumps. It's a shame he died.
          I've been working on my to-do list today, which includes WoHeLo stuff and college stuff. I had to call the college I'm going to and ask how they want my homeschool transcript. Turns out all I have to do is mail it to 'em! Super easy check! I also texted one of my WoHeLo consultants with some info on my panel meetings and emailed another one of them for her approval on my summary for my JDRF issue. All that's left now is to figure out how to finish my last issue. Obviously this blog is a big part of it, it's how I get most of my hours and I've had over 400 views. So that's kind of awesome! A few days ago, I put my blog on a bunch of websites that are supposed to get more publicity, but we'll see. I haven't seen any significant changes in the stats. It feels kind of weird to not need to do any schoolwork. I'm pretty much done with it. I've taken my ACT twice and when I talked to the recruiter for the school this morning, she said as long as I made at least a 20 on my ACT, I'm good to go. Of course mom wasn't worried about that, mostly just the money parts. Which reminds me, I need to ask her to tell me as soon as she does taxes so I can re-do the FAFSA.
          I also got the contract and personnel policies and all that other fun stuff that comes with a summer job in my email this morning! I got to put all the dates on the calendar and that always makes me a happy camper.
I saw a few things on the agenda that I really really want to do, but because I'm under age, I don't know if I'll be able. I also need to see about registering for the WSI class I want to do in March. Doing WSI pretty much guarantees that I'll be in charge of swim lessons. Which is my favorite thing besides treks. So I really hope I pass!
          I've got to go clean my room now, so that's all for now folks!

December 29th 2011

          So, I figured out how to post from my phone! Hence the post with the picture! Yay for snow! We actually got a little bit during the Christmas season. Where I used to live, we don't get snow until the end of January into February. Me and Leo and my Uncle even built a little snowman! But since we're in desert country, it melted before the week was out. Today I walked to this little strip mall near our house and applied for different jobs. Two clothing stores, a supermarket, and a little grill. I'm kind of rooting for the waitress job because I'll get tips! I've never actually had a regular job. My job at the church where I used to live was on an as needed basis, and I wasn't needed very often. I wonder what it'll feel like to have a regular cash flow! And by flow, I mean into the wallet and back out into the economy. Lol, I have no self restraint when it comes to shopping. My biggest weakness would have to be sunglasses. Yesterday we took my Uncle to the airport and we got to town early on purpose so he could see the city. We ended up going to this huge upperclass outlet mall. I say upperclass because it was all high end stores like Coach, and Nike, and Saks. Right up my alley. Now, Leo doesn't really have any knowledge of brand names and the like. So I took him in Saks and told him to tell me how expensive a pair of sunglasses were. Now, he knew it was an expensive store so he guessed really high...$50. I think he almost choked when I told him the pair he was holding was about $400 on sale.
          On the way home my phone started malfunctioning big time, so since we were already in the city, we stopped at an AT&T store to get it fixed. That was probably my best experience ever with AT&T customer service. The guy was very knowledgeable without making us feel dumb. That's a talent, I tell you! Oh yeah, I can't remember if I told you or not, but I got the position on YAC! It was funny actually, I found out when I went to see Nutcracker with my dad. I was picking up my tix from Swan and she yelled congratulations as soon as she saw me. Now, being in the middle of a move, I hadn't checked my email in two days. I thought she was leaking secrets or something. And that made them think they might be in trouble until I remembered I hadn't checked my email! So it was pretty funny.
          I can't wait for New Years!! My friend Scout turns 21 tomorrow, so we'll see him on the 31st to wish him a happy birthday. Plus mom wants to buy him a drink in honor of it being 21st and all. After that, I'm spending the night at Hope's. We're hoping to check out this teen club on its grand opening. It's wayyy bigger than OYP. I checked the website and everything, but they don't say if there's a cover charge. I'd imagine there is, but you'd think that if their target audience is 13-18 then all the information is on the internet. But no. I even called and left a message, but their machine was so annoying! We'll have fun either way. Lol, she's trying to set me up on a blind date. But seeing how disastrous the last one was, I'm a little bit nervous.  I'm not averse to the idea, it's New Years Eve after all. Just, apprehensive.
          That's all for now folks!

October 25th, 2011

   So, I had an amazing weekend!!! I left Thursday morning around 8:30am and went to Kansas City for Camp Fire USA's National Leadership Conference and Youth Summit! The hotel we stayed at was soo swanky! I think on my list of nice hotels I've stayed in, it's #2. I went with a bunch of women from my Camp Fire council and my bestie, Hope!* Since it was only Kansas City, we drove. I met a lot of people who flew in because it's a national conference, so there are a lot of different councils represented from all over the country!!! We got there Thursday, late afternoon, so we had time to check out our surroundings!! Oh, and my friend Sparky was there too, she's just a firecracker of fun! We dropped our stuff in our(supah nice) rooms and went shopping nearby. One of the women really wanted to go to this one shoe store, so we went. And very quickly got bored because she wanted to spend HOURS in there. And it wasn't even THAT great of a shoe store lol. So most of the adults went back to the hotel. Sparky, Hope and I went down the street to check out a halloween costume shop, and the one woman stayed at the shoe store. There were so many fun wigs! I tried on a lot of them, but my favorite was the giant afro wig. I wish you could've seen me, it was so funny!

     After we finished window shopping, we walked back to the hotel to get ready for our first dinner. Everything was so fancy, so we all dressed really nicely. I'm so glad I took Swan's(our chaperone) advice and only brought one pair of jeans for casual. Our first dinner was spectacular! I don't remember what the food was, but it was delicious! And every single meal the whole weekend was 4 stars! Like, waiters and three forks and three courses and two wine glasses. Our first speaker was Joseph Michelli. He wrote this book that I'm DYING to read, it's called The Starbucks Experience. Anyways, the whole speech was very engaging, and I didn't get bored one time! After everything was finished, before Hope and I went to our next workshop, I went up to him to shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoyed the speech. He told me I had amazing poise for my age to be able to walk up to a stranger and compliment them. It was awesome! 

     The first youth workshop was pretty much icebreakers to start getting to know the other youth. We played this game with skittles! So, you pass the skittles around and tell everyone to take as many as they want. After everyone has them, you reveal that for every skittle they have, they have to say an interesting fact about themselves, putting a skittle in their mouth for every fact, without shewing until they finish! Now, I've played this game before but with toilet paper. So I knew to only take a few skittles LOL!!! But other people had at least 50!!! It was hilarious! Some people were getting ulcers in their cheeks because the skittles were just eating away at them!

     So the first night was pretty great, getting to meet everyone. I also got to talk to Elizabeth Darling, the new chair of the board of national trustees for CFUSA. She was pretty cool, because at first, you just see this sweet looking older woman. Then she starts telling you how she enjoys scuba and skydiving in her spare time!!! Friday we spent doing workshops and hearing keynote speakers. My favorite workshop on Friday was probably Finding Your Voice. We had a guest who came and talked to us about what your voice is and how to use it to your own effect. My friend Sparky was actually helping to lead this one, and she was AH-MAZING!! One thing from that class that really stood out to me, was this "Passion X Message=Voice".

 Its really just been stuck in my head. We did two other things that day too, we learned about and wrote Elevator Speeches and we came up with practice action plans. See, Elevator Speeches are ironic to me now, but I'll get back to that later ;-). So, an elevator speech is a very short and concise speech you can give to someone you just met in an elevator. It should have all they key points including how to get involved and some of your own personal experience. We each got about 10 minutes to write a speech, then we did speed speeching! Which is similar to speed dating, but with speeches. We had one minute to read our speech to the person in front of us, then the other person had 20 seconds to give feedback before we rotated and did it agian adding the other persons feedback into our speech as we go. It was pretty cool.

     Then the practice action plans were to get ready for the youth summit on Saturday. My group made a plan on how to prevent domestic child abuse. It wasn't fail-proof, but it was definitely a good start. And I don't mean to brag, but ours was the most thought out and we had the most information.

     Friday night we had off, so our whole council went out on the town! We had 7:30 dinner reservations at this tuscany place in the KC Plaza called Brio's, so we left the hotel around 5:45 to have the valet park the car and go shopping for awhile before dinner! We went to the Betsey Johnson store, Northface, Eddy Baur, Hallmark, and Hope and my favorite, FOREVER 21!!!!! There was a huge Forever 21 down the street from a store that the rest of the women wanted to go in, so we begged our chaperone to let us go by ourselves....and she did! It was amazing! I got three cardigans and a long sleeve shirt to wear under them...for $16.00! So many deals, so little time! Everybody laughed when we came back and I had this huge bag while they had their little bitty Hallmark bags! Dinner was sooo delicious! Our executive director, who is so sweet, bought Hope's and my dinner! I didn't know that she was personally paying for it until we'd already gotten home. I thought the council was paying for it! If I'd known, I would have payed for it myself. Now, Hope is a really picky eater. And she's really small. So she was searching the menu for something to eat. finally, she saw "roast chicken $15.00" so she ordered that. The rest of us got some form of pasta. So finally, the waiters start bringing out our food and we all have our regular sized pasta plates and they carry over this HUGE platter for Hope. It's a whole chicken. The whole roasted chicken. It was so hilarious, the rest of us could not stop laughing!!! I think she got through maybe a fourth of it by the time the rest of us were done and she was full!!

     So we go back to the hotel and decided to check out the pool. The brochure said it was heated and it has a jacuzzi! So we get down there and make the (bad) decision to try out the jacuzzi first, which was delightful.  But after we finish the jacuzzi, the pool which felt so warm 25 minutes ago, is now freezing cold because the jacuzzi was so warm. So we went back to the room to grab our money to hunt down some snacks. I had the brilliant idea to knock on some girls from the conference's door a little ways down the hall. So they all decide to come with us. By now, Hope is on the phone with her mom telling her about all the fun we've had so far. So I told Hope to take the first elevator, and we'd all take the next one. So she could stay on the phone and not have to listen to us all chattering all the way down. (Here's the ironic part) So our elevator comes, and two more girls from the conference are on it, about to go check out the pool! So, we started on the 9th floor and had buttons pushed for the 5th floor, pool deck, and the lobby, snacks! Around the 5th floor, it sounds like there is a ton of pebbles falling on the elevator, it stops, and on the inside it says we're on the lobby floor. Obviously something went wrong, so we start leaning on the alarm button. Because the doors won't open. So in case you were wondering, it's me, the two girls who were already on the elevator, the three girls from the room down the hall, and their chaperone. So thankfully, I'm not the adult in the situation. The chaperone used the phone to call the elevator operator people, you know, the emergency phones in any elevator you've ever ridden in. Between all 7 girls in this elevator, there were two cell phones!!! It was amazing how bad our luck was. I used one of them to call my mom and give her the chaperones phone number and ask her to call Swan and tell her so that my council would know that I was stuck in an elevator!! The worst part was when they told us that if what they were trying next didn't work, they were going to turn off the power and drop us. Now there are two things to note here. 1: The inside of the elevator says we're on the lobby floor, so we're a little confused as to where they're dropping us, exactly. 2: I'm not a religious person, but right then I took hands with everyone else, bowed my head and prayed with everyone else. I haven't quite figured out what that means yet. Luckily, what they were trying DID work and there was a terrifying moment when the doors shuddered open for a couple seconds and closed again, but I still saw the signs outside the elevator saying we were on the 5th floor, NOT the lobby. Then a couple minutes later, the doors opened and looked like they would be stay open long enough for us to get out. I might mention that I was still in my bathing suit from swimming with Hope. The whole time. I was so cold. This all took about ninety minutes. Now, I'm the kind of person who can hang onto the shreds of composure until AFTER the event is over. So as soon as I got out, I started crying so hard. Then I walked up four flights of stairs to get dressed, then walked down four and had to take another elevator to the lobby so we could go over the accident/incident report. Of course the hotel management was in a tizzy over all of us, so a couple of the girls got blankets and I asked for some orange juice because I was shaky and dizzy and still very shook up. But the hotel guy never came back with it. So after we finished talking about it, we went out in the lobby to wait, and finally Lucy, one of the women from my council(I love her, she's pretty awesome) decided we were done waiting, so she went into the bar in the lobby and demanded some orange juice. It was decidedly cool. So I got my orange juice and finally felt steady enough to walk back up stairs. They left Hope and I there, and we went about getting ready for a long due bedtime (it's around 12:30). So I went to take my shower, but I was still feeling nauseous. Of course, I couldn't keep my OJ down, because I went into shock. I'm a trained lifeguard, so I know what shock looks like, and I knew that was what it was, my body just couldn't handle allllll that stress. But I called Swan anyway to let her know, and she and Lucy brought me some saltines and green tea and sprite to help me sleep. Eventually, it was the green tea that did the trick. 

     Of course, the elevator girls were the talk of breakfast. Luckily it was the day of the summit, so it didn't last long! The summit was actually pretty exciting! we had our 30 or so Camp Fire youth and then over 150 KC youth form different organizations came for the day. We all sat through the opening remarks by several different important people including CEO of CFUSA, Kathy Tisdale and KC Interim Superintendent. And there were several KC Councilmen there to watch and learn. After breakfast and the first few speeches announcing who all was represented at the summit, we split up into our breakout sessions. Mine was about peer mentoring. So all these different groups were attacking the problem of not enough youth going on to post-secondary education. Or even worse, not even completing their secondary school. And we were all looking at it from a different angle. My classes angle was how to get the youth excited for post-secondary education. Tyler and I (we're both CFUSA youth reps, and he's from D.C.) were paired with these two teens from the boys and girls club in the KC area. It was probably because we intimidated them with our excitement, but they didn't really contribute much to our brainstorming. But oh well, Tyler and I worked well together. After our breakout sessions, we went down to lunch and there was a DJ and everything! Pretty cool if you ask me!! He played the Cupid Shuffle, and easily 40 youth went up to the front and started doing it! After lunch, we split up into groups based on our organization. Since CFUSA had so many youth, w split even further into our own councils. So Hope, Sparky, Swan, and I came up with a pretty good action plan that would work in our council. I was "volun-told" to present it to EVERYONE there. So I got the opportunity to stand up in front of A BOATLOAD of strangers and talk about my idea's. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time! Afterwards, everyone told me I did a fantastic job, so it can't have too terrible.     

     We had an hours break after the summit finished up so me, Hope, Tyler, And Jason(Tyler's chaperone) decided to walk to the National World War One Memorial! We didn't have a ton of time, so we only walked to the bottom of the top....which had to have been five staircases at LEAST. But it was still pretty fun. The view was fantastic from where we were! We even got a picture of the three youth planking KC!! My first planking picture!! I admit, I kind of liked Tyler, so that just made everything more exciting lol! Anyways, CF is very "no purpling" so nothing happened.  

     After we walked back, it was time for our last dinner!  Everyone was dressed to the sevens(I would say nines, but it wasn't THAT fancy). I guess the coolest part of that dinner was that the president of the NWBA was our speaker. And I got to shake her hand. And at the very end, they played Edge Of Glory as our theme song, and even the CEO of CFUSA was dancing!!

     Then we had thirty minutes to change into something more comfortable before the youth "party". I still feel like we got conned into a service project... First they lured us in by putting party on the schedule and then getting us an ice cream bar. Then they trapped us with, and I quote, "An hours worth of reflection". So we did that, and then our "party" was the service project. We chopped up Wal-Mart bags to send to a church in KC who will crochet them together and make waterproof pads and blankets for the homeless. Which is cool I suppose, if you aren't expecting a party. We had to leave the next morning, so nothing really exciting happened between KC and home. Not that I really wanted anything too happen....I have had enough excitement for one week! 

     But this Thursday I have a Halloween book club party where we'll be discussing Poe(what else??), and then a Hitchcock marathon party at my friend Mark's House, then Saturday through Sunday evening, I'm helping out with an event at Wagamoo!

*For the people who actually know me, all names are changed, so hopefully you can figure out who you are! If not, FB me and I'll tell you lol. I have a piece of paper with all the pseudonyms on it so I don't get mixed up!

October 17th 2011

     I had such an awesome weekend! My Dad came home Thursday, to spend the long weekend with us before he had to go to work! Unfortunately, he left this morning, but it was so nice having him home. My little brother conned him into playing a game of Civ 5...he was over the moon.
     Saturday, I went to the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes and finished raising my $100 dollar goal! I met my friend Hope there, and we hung out. My friend Doug(Hope's brother) was there too, but he was helping with the event so we couldn't talk for very long.
     After the walk, my parents wanted to go to some chili-cookoff that Hope and I weren't very excited about, so they dropped us off at the mall. We wandered around and browsed. I had my camera, so we had this idea that if we saw any really cute cashiers, we could just say we were on a scavenger hunt and we needed a picture with them. But this was the ONE day where no cute guys were working. It was crazy. I had to get some shoe inserts for my boots, because I'd never worn them for that long before, so I have blisters the size of quarters on my feet now :(.
     After we got bored at the mall, we walked across the street to the Halloween store and  killed time there until the movie we wanted to see was ready to start. We saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I saw it with my Father when it first came out in August,  but Hope hadn't seen it yet. It was good enough to want to see again! My Mom picked us up after the movie and we went back to Hope's house. Doug was home by then and completely asleep on the couch. So we turned the TV up loud enough to wake him up and still pretend we didn't mean too ;-) I convinced them to watch the first episode of Grey's Anatomy(on Netflix) with me, and now they're as hooked as me! It's such a poignant, funny, cool show! I think we watched five episodes before we decided to go out for dinner and games at Dave & Busters. Doug got some free $10 game cards for working at the JDRF Walk, so all we had to pay for was drinks, food, and the D&B card activation fee! It was so much fun. We had dinner at their house, so all we pitched in $5 and got drinks and an appetizer plate of cheesy fries.
     We pooled our tickets to all get something. Doug got a miniature bat, I got a squishy little monster thing, and Hope got a nerd rope. The funny thing was that we spent most of our game cards at the 6 person trivia game! We ended up playing with three other guys, and we won every time!! I think we each won once, it was so much fun! And they had a giant Fruit Slice screen. That was pretty epic, especially when me and Hope played multi-player!
     After we finished, Doug drove us back to their house and we watched some more Grey's Anatomy before bedtime. I think we finally went to bed around 12:30am because Doug had to go to work at 12:00pm the next day. My phone was dead so my Mom had to call Alyson's phone in the morning to wake us up in time for me to be ready by the time she got there. We had some leftover pizza for breakfast(yumm) and waited around until Mom got there. The rest of Sunday was pretty uneventful.
     Today, we all slept in and then went to IHOP for a late breakfast. I had the most delicious stuffed french toast! It was soo good, except that Mom started having sweats and chills. She woke up feeling sick,and it's just been getting worse all day. After we dropped Daddy off at the airport, I drove us home and Mom curled up on the couch so we could watch Glee. My Mom and I don't have a ton in common, we're pretty much polar opposites...but Glee being awesome is one of the few things we can agree on. We have differing opinions about the characters and plot lines and songs, but it's still awesome!
      Now I'm trying to plan for Camp Fire USA's National Leadership Conference and Youth Summit. My council is sponsoring me to go, they're paying for everything for me and Hope! From the registration fee to the hotel room, including food. It's so exciting! However, we didn't get all the details until this morning because our Program Services Coordinator was away on business! So now Mom and I have to go shopping for nice pants that aren't jeans! I was planning on wearing nice jeans all weekend, because I look great in them, but apparently it's much more formal than that! Not that I mind shopping, but Mom's not feeling well and shopping is on her "hate to do" list. Other than that, I'm set. I even went through some closets and found some jewelry my Mom never wears, so no matter what, I'll be stylin' lol!

Sep 23rd 2011

  Yesterday I had my first book club meeting of the year! I was very excited because it was India themed and our leader spent a lot of time making traditional Indian food! To be honest, it all tasted like different chili's. We just finished reading Life Of Pi, which is NOT math themed like I thought when I saw the title. It's a really good book about how strong the will to live really is and the importance of storytelling. My book club is all homeschoolers, so that's another place I get to hang out with my friends.
  Being homeschooled, I like to think I have little bit more variety in my life than someone else my age going to school everyday. We talked about the differences between routine and ritual yesterday and I think school is all routine! Now, I have a morning routine. But it generally doesn't last longer than 9:00am. After that, my day is free reign. Anything could happen. I might decide to go to the library or ask Mom for a driving lesson. I could go sit on the couch playing with my iPod or we might go meet my Grandma for lunch.
  Now, you might be saying "Well how can you join a marching band? Or go to prom? What about the traditional things that schools offer?". There are a lot more homeschool opportunities nowadays than there used to be. Some of my friends are in a homeschool band and they play at different football games. There's a homeschool football team and every year there's a homeschool Prom. There is almost nothing that schools offer that you can't find a homeschool group to join. And if on the off chance you can't find the homeschool group for the activity you want to do, start one!
    What kind of activities do you enjoy doing? Do you agree or disagree that homeschooling has just as many activities to offer? Why? Let me know! I really am curious!