its 2009!

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winter cleaning

Thought of the day: Don't hold on to the past, you won't need that tube of gold lipstick in heaven

Today has been spent cleaning. My goal was to clean my room. I've been trying to organize all my things from Christmas. I was trying to put away my new clothes but I didn't have room in my closet. I took everything out and organized it better when I put things back in. I have a self unit in my closet. It has shelves in it and places to hang things. Its nice to have a lot of shelve space but I only have half the hanging space compared to if it was a standard closet. I found a lot of extra hangers that were taking up space. Its much better now.

The other place I cleaned out was my vanity/desk. It is an old computer desk that has been painted light green to match the rest of my furniture and I use it as a vanity. I went through my hair products and nail polish that was old and I never used. I have a makeup organizer that I store most of my makeup. I have more than what could fit in it. I found lip gloss and eyeshadow from when I was 12 and 13! That's like 5 years old...gross..! They went straight to the trash. How did I not think to toss them out before? I guess I never have time and I'm doing good on time if I even put any makeup on. So my work has made progress. Very few people have seen my room maybe it will be clean enough now! :)

THE gift

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I wish you all a wonderful day. We have finished with our family gifts here and in less than an hour we will be headed off to my Grandmas. I got a cute pink fuzzy bath robe, purple heart earrings from Tim, a purple shirt from Meli, and a whole bunch of new things: Boots, hoodies, steering wheel cover. I almost opened this one gift when I still had a few left. My mom saw me grab it and stopped me from opening it and told me to wait until Meli opened hers with me. I knew it had to be THE gift. THE gift is usually something expensive and really exciting. In the past THE gift has been our American girl dolls a few years ago, digital cameras another, and last year it was our Zunes. I had no idea what it could be. Not a clue. When our last gifts came we opened them at the same time and it was new LG Scoop cell phones! I was shocked! I didn't even ask for a new cell phone. I knew the contract on my razor phone was coming up but I would of just of been content to keep it another year if I had too. My mom told Melissa she could take her phone because she didn't used it and all this stuff to trick Melissa into believing she wouldn't get a cell phone. We laughed when my mom told us all the things she used as tricks now because then we had believed her. I love this time of year!:)

My debate

11 days til Christmas!

Ok I have been super busy that I just now have found time to sit down and write out a post to my blog! We got our Christmas decorations up today and I feel more in the Christmas spirit. Last night's progressive youth dinner was amazing! Thank you Mrs. K and Mrs. G! It was fun and we even got to squeeze in visiting the live nativity. It was a long day due to the fact I had to wake up at 6:30 on a Saturday to take my ACT for the last time. I managed to stay awake. We all had some hyper moments!

School has been keeping me very busy. All the teachers are trying to get tests and assignments in before Christmas. In Government we all have to debate. I debated embryonic stem cell research on Friday against one of my friends who wanted to go against some one she felt comfortable around. I spent two long nights working on it and tried to perfect it the best I could. For the debates the teacher doesn't grade us, our classmates do. We are graded by how we support our side by writing scores on a grade sheet. So we vote for the person with that, not for what side we are on. We also have to make a rebuttal and answer questions from our classmates. I was able to give an answer for every question that I was asked. At the end my teacher tallied that score sheets and said Lauren won 16 to 7. I was really happy. I went to look at the grade sheets and my teacher told me I have a different way when I speak and it was good. I wasn't sure if he meant my speaking voice or the way I worded my statements, either way I knew from the expression on his face it was a good thing.

Thanksgiving!

These are 50 things I'm thankful for:

1. God and all that he has done for me!
2. Family
3. Friends
4. My bunny
5. art
6. my camera
7. dancing
8. food
9. a warm house
10. having movie nights with just my sis and mom
11. clothes
12. running
13. music
14. laughter
15. freedom
16. all my blogging buddies (even though you all count as friends)
17. books
18. my own room
19. theater
20. writing
21. creating
22. tea parties
23. seasons
24. sunshine
25. phone calls
26. the unknown
27. Christmas
28. text messages
29. God's voice
30. puppies and kittens
31. growing
32. board games
33. Walmart
34. make-up
35. Starbucks
36. the mall
37. shoes
38. ice cream
39. vacations
40. hope
41. peace
42. joy
43. sunrises
44. musicals
45. sunsets
46. church
47. a car
48. kindness
49. love
50. today

Thanksgiving is such a positive day. I hope you all enjoy the food and family time!

p.s. Meli if there are some of the same things on my list I didn't copy you. I looked later and realized we put some of the same things.

blue shoes

I was bored and looking up shoes on google images and this little guy came up. I thought he or she was funny!

Location: home all day today, Canton and Akron yesterday

Emotion: cold, happy

Today is a snow day! yippy! Yesterday I went to visit more colleges. Malone and Akron U were on the list. Mom and I started the day at Malone. I visited there last spring but they made huge changes in the art department since then. The art department used to be only these two rooms joined together. I wasn't that impressed. They told me they were moving it. So I got to see the new place. Malone bought a church that is now a part of the campus and one of the hallways and all the rooms off the hallway are the art dept. They have separate rooms for everything now instead of cramming it into two. The art professor I was supposed to meet wasn't there. I was showed around by another professor. The class I sat in on was missing people and there was a grand total of four people in the class. They were all really nice and easy to talk too. After the class I needed to go to lunch so one of the girls in the class took my mom and I there. She first stopped at her dorm before taking us were we needed to go. Her dorm had a living room that was kinda like a hall way then 3 bedrooms and a bathroom were off of "livinghall" as she called it. We had lunch with the art professor that we didn't get to see earlier. We ran short on time and skipped the tour which I went on last year so it wasn't that important.

We have almost gotten lost so many times on these trips. We had to call and find out were the parking lot we needed was. By the time we got to Akron it was snowing and the signs were hard to read. Akron had a lot of nice things but I don't think its really the place for me. The lady in charge of the art department was really nice and showed me around. From there we sat in of this session explaining the school. I was getting sleepy by then. We finally got to go on the tour. The student center looked awesome and had some of my favorite places, like starbucks, Auntie Anne's, subway. They also had a nice rec center and pool. It was cold and blowing outside and the snowflakes kept getting in my eyes!

ATF

location: Cleveland ATF
emotion: indescribable

We had a lot of fun! I tried to pick a few of the best pictures to show all the fun we had. We all got along really well and had a blast.

This is me and the friend I brought, Hope. In the background meli and pinkchicky were giving us bunny ears! ashley is in the background too. hehe.

As payback, I took this picture while they were laughing. One word description: priceless.

This was of the lights during the Jeremy Camp concert. It was an amazing weekend and everyone who went would agree. I still have more pictures I'll put on a later post. :)

I've been tagged!

7 things about me...

1. I'm left-handed except I use scissors with my right hand.

2. In kindergarten I wanted to be a firefighter (no clue why).

3. I had three ear piercings but the third piercings closed up.

4. I've never dyed or highlighted my hair, its just the sun.

5. I've never been out of the US, but I've always had a dream to travel to Asia or Europe.

6. I love tea parties still and so do my old homeschool friends. We try to get together and have them every once in a while. They used to be American Girl doll parties but we have more grown up ones now!

7. I'm sort of a pack rat, not as bad as some people are. I just keep things I don't really need but think I will later on.

Ashland Visit

location: Ashland University

emotion: thoughtful

I spent Friday in a bit of a whirlwind. Mom and I went to Ashland, which was a two hour drive. When we got in the town of Ashland we missed the street (mom was driving and I was the one reading the directions) so we called the admissions office to ask how to get there. We found it and got there just a little behind time.

We were given a tour by one of the students, after meeting one of the admission representatives. We had to cross the street to the other side of the campus, when an Amish buggy passed by. Mom and I looked at each other and laughed. We didn't think to see that there!

Next was lunch, which was amazing! Their cafeteria has been awarded as one of the best in the nation. It was really hard to chose. We ended up getting a calzone, potato skins, and finishing it off with a piece of cheesecake! We were really full. Then I had to rush back to sit in on an art class. I think it was an art history class. It was really different being in a college classroom. Everyone had their cell phones out on the table and water bottles, which are two things we aren't allowed to have in our high school class rooms. From there I talked to the cross country coach. I'm not sure if I want to continue to run competitively in college, I'm just exploring my options.

One of my friends goes to Ashland and I was able to meet up with her. We meet up in the bookstore. She showed me her dorm room. It was a short visit because I had to get back to my school for senior night. All the seniors that are in either a fall sport or band got introduced. We also picked up my brother's bunny. I'm sure you will hear all about it at church!

Happy Fall to everyone. Enjoy the pretty colors! Go outside and take a few pictures. ~Lauren

Homecoming Pictures

location: outside enjoying the fallish outdoors

emotion: excited

Alright I know Meli has had her pictures up a while ago. Life for me has been extremely busy! This is the last week of cc. Drama has started so some nights I have both activities to balance. When I find some time to write I will. I miss you all and I will try to get around to reading your blogs.

Away football game

location: Cardinal HS



emotion: awake



This Friday night football game way away, but at a school not to far, so we went to go watch Meli. When we got there the visitor bleachers were full so we laid down a blanket on the ground. The only problem is we couldn't see anything. So before halftime we went to the home bleachers, since there was room over there. I tried covering up my GV hoodie on that side! We know quite a few people that go to that school. So I found some familiar faces. Our band did their show then the other school had their homecoming queen anounenced. I wasn't happy when I went to get a pepperoini roll and they were out. We lost the game. We closed the gap of the score (I don't remember it) but not enough.



In other news this is the first weekend I didn't have a cross country meet. I got to stay up late and sleep in. I haven't done that since before school started. I got to be a helper for sunday school. Now I just have to go finish my Bio 2 homework and get ready for youth group.

He is always with us

location: home, school

emotion: overwhelmed to confident

This past week has had some downs, ups, and all arounds. Staying positive is easier said than done. I have had an overwhelming amount of homework, tests, and reading to do. My head has been spinning. Then all kinds of others things didn't help either, like a comment my Principal made. I had to ask him a question and I saw he was standing in front of the art room. So I asked him the question I had. He answered me then asked if I had been crying. I'm thinking what crying?!? I guessed my eyes were red from my contacts so that's what I told him. Since he didn't know that answer to the question I went down the hall to the guidance counselor thinking why would think I was crying? Later for sculpture class my art teacher told me that Mr. S the Principal said I was too quiet to be an art teacher. How rude can this old guy be? First he says I look liked I cried then he says I'm not going to make it in the profession. He doesn't even know me! It made me really mad. I hate negative comments. He has never seen me when I go down to the elementary school or help in Sunday school class. He isn't very sensitive to the comments he makes.

So I took all my whirlwind emotions and used them by pushing myself at running practice. It worked because I ran my best time ever this weekend! I am really working to allow God to take control of everything thing in my life because its not possible for me to balance it all. He has better things in store for me that I have no clue about. He is the one that cares about every little thing. Nothing is to small or big for Him. I woke up this morning and realized how blessed I truly am. No matter what the world says I will listen to the voice of truth. Maybe there is some unknown reason for the negative comments that maybe later down the road I'll realize. Thank You God for being with me and for all those who keep me in their prayers!

free day

location: home during the day

emotion: joyful

No school today, what a great feeling. Due to all the power outages we got an extra day off. We went to town to do some food shopping, we did have power today but nothing to eat. The power was out last night so I just went to bed early. I was complaining about how badly my hair needed trimmed a day or two ago. My mom said that I don't have time to go, she is right. Today I had time. We went to best cuts before shopping.

This past week homework levels have increased. We had a project in Bio 2 that we have to make a model of a cell. Me and two other girls made a eatable cell giant cookie. It was fun. We got to eat it in class. Another group made pizza. I was too full to eat lunch that day.

The cross country meet a muddy. I mean really muddy. The one girls mom took pictures after we were all finished. We wrapped tape around our shoes so they stay on better. During the race my tape started to unravel and wrapped around my ankle which really bugged me. We washed our legs in these huge puddles (they were on cement so they weren't muddy). Later I saw girls washing off with hoses by the school. Now mud is nothing!

rainy rain

location: Champion High School



emotion: accomplished



Another rainy cc meet, that makes two so far this season. The other two have been extremely hot. I ran a good time this weekend, so I'm happy about that. This weeks workouts are going to start to be focused on speed and hills. Getting us ready for the next upcoming hard courses.



School is going, the homework has started to build and I've taken one quiz. Trig is the class that I've been getting homework in. The other classes haven't been to bad yet. Of course, some classes like computers will never have any homework. Its nice having a few of those! On Fridays I have papers due in Gov. and in English. Oh and I forgot when I wrote biology on my schedule blog to write biology II.



I have begun my job as a Sunday school helper. I'm helping Mr. List and Mr. Collin's class. The kids have to call me Miss Prax which might be hard to get used to.

Mom's Birthday!

location: Nelson's ledges & friends house & Presque Ille



emotion: happy



First of all Happy Birthday Mommy!!!!! Best Mommy/Best Friend Ever! I enjoy watching chick flicks when it rains. Going to Walmart at 11:30 pm for stuff we need. Shopping in Mentor then eating at the Jade Tree. Cleaning super fast before someone comes over. Being there to talk too. None of these things would be the same without you! I love you!



I have had such a fun weekend! We went to Nelson Ledges on Saturday. I've been there a few times, but it a place that doesn't really get old. Very cool things to see there, like trees growing up though the rocks. We spent time at my friend Alli's house for a harvest party with neighborhood friends on Sunday afternoon and evening. All my buddies from the days of early homeschool and before where there! Some of us girls picked mini pine cones off this tree. I kept a few, not sure what I'll do with them but they look cute because they are so tiny. We went on a walk in the woods with a whole bunch of people. When we got back, I chatted with my friends who didn't go in the woods. My mom and I tried some yummy pecan tarts. I kept eating cookies when I was there. We were going to go see a movie for my mom's birthday but we missed the time so we just stayed at the party longer. Alli and I played a card game and colored a coloring book page when it started getting dark and buggy out.

Today for a fun Labor day/ Birthday Event we went to Presque Ille, up around Erie. It was the perfect day for the beach. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch. Its been a while since all of us as a family have been at the beach together. :)

senior year

location: Kent Geauga Branch for the Bershire early bird cross country race

emotion: (as of now) productive

I haven't got around to putting up the pictures from my race last Saturday until now. The first one is the start of the race. It gives you a good idea of what the start looks like and just how many people are in these races. There was around 200 girls there and that's not even the biggest race we go to.

location: school

Schedule:

Government- seams like a cool class and a cool teacher. Good class to start the day off with

Trigonometry- First day of school we were given a speech on how trig isn't that hard or scary if you do your work. I had the same teacher for algebra 2 and he was glad that I got to take trig after I thought I might not be able to due to schedule conflicts.

Art-Nice class, looking forward to what this year will bring.

Computers-typing has begun. Keeping a blog over the summer has helped. ;)

Biology- haven't started anything yet just got an overview of the year and we'll get to dissect sheep brains and hearts. yummy.

English-got a book and finished my Friday paper early because I won't have time on Thursday night due to a cross meet

Lunch-yeah I know not a class but its worth taking about. Sitting with buddies+everyone is happy=all good

Creative writing-total of six people in this class! Started a story today.

Sculpture-looked at slides of my art teacher's work. very cool. I Love being in the art room twice a day.

I hope you all had/have a good start to your school year!

Blackberry Pie

location: kitchen

emotion: hungry

My brother, my mom and I went to visit my grandpa. His garden has been productive and my mom planned on getting a few vegetables. Nearby the garden was a blackberry patch, so Tim and I got containers to put berries into. I was wearing long sleeves so the prickers didn't scratch my skin but did stick to my sleeves. We got all the ones in the front and most of the good ones were in the back. I had an idea to find a stick and push over the front plants to get to the back ones. This worked for a little while until my grandpa came over. He just pull those pricker plants over and got right in the middle of the surrounding plants. Right to the juicy ones. In the end we had so many we could make a pie.

At my house we have a few blackberry plants but most of them are not ripe. I picked a few berries to add to the collection. So I was off to start the pie. Now I'm not the type of person that is real into baking. Usually its always Meli who bakes things but I wanted to. One thing I can do is follow a recipe at least. Of course a word might come up that I don't know. It really wasn't that bad making to and it turned out delicious. We ate it with whip cream on top (I would of taken a picture of a slice but we ate it before I remembered). I guess taking Home Ec. wasn't a waste of time after all.

cheerful

location: in the present

emotion: peaceful

Lately I've felt like I've been in a good cheerful mood the past few days. That is always a good thing, but I'm not really sure why. I guess I shouldn't ask, I should just enjoy that I'm not moody and gloomy. It could be that I got the proofs from my senior pictures. Now I have no clue which ones to pick. What one to put in the yearbook and all that great stuff. I brought them with me to youth group and some people saw them at church. Mrs. C did an excellent job!

The first track meet of the cc season is Saturday. We have all been working hard and I should be ready for it. We ran the oh-so-wonderful 5 mile loop with scary dogs. Yikes! I watched one of the distance races at the Olympics. Those people are just crazy to run 25 laps! I've also watched lots of the volleyball. Thank you to all who left comments about the Olympics. I enjoyed reading about them :)

Tomorrow is an orthodontist appointment for Tim and I. Then school clothes shopping for Tim. He has grown over the summer and all his pants are floods. School starts next week and I still need school supplies. I'll be making a trip to Walmart this week then. Good old Walmart comes in handy.

Olympic post it note

location: in front of the TV

emotion: inspired

I added a new thing to my blog that keeps updates on the medals from the Olympics. If you click on it, it should take you to a page where you can find a schedule. You can type in your zip code and what type of cable or satellite you have and it brings up the channels its on and whats showing. So far I've only seen some swimming (which is awesome since Phelps keeps breaking world records) and a little of the men's volleyball. Last night I tried watching it but it got too late and I ended up falling asleep. I would love if you left some comments about if you're watching the Olympics and what sports!

senior picture photo shoot

location: Julie Charlton Photography

emotion: chipper

Yesterday, I went to get my senior pictures done. It was a blast! I was greeting by Mrs. C and her assistant Pinkchicky. Then off to the photo shoot. I brought along my bunny as one of the props. The pictures with the bunny came first. Surprisingly Honeysuckle stayed still! Of course as soon as she was on the ground she tried hopping away. I brought some art supplies for props. I forgot a sketch pad or any sort of paper. Mrs. C found something, good thing! I really like the way she arranged all my sports stuff. I had a lot of it, Letterman Jacket, team tee shirts, uniform, two pair of training shoes, and two pair of racing shoes. Some pictures I've seen make the sports look tacky but not this job.

I was all over the place. Inside then outside then new out then repeat. Pictures by the dock, by the swing, by the barn. Oh by the barn, Pinkchicky had an idea for a pose and the camera. I can't wait to see how it turned out. The pond/lake is so pretty there. A great place, in my opinion, for pictures. It was so much fun and I want to see the proofs so bad!

Now for today's short update. I survived the first week of practice. It was a hard one. Tonight I'm off to the wedding at church. Its been a while since I've been to a wedding. We got invited to three this year but the other to where sort of far away (one being in Mass). So, it should be nice.

second day of practice

location: at the track, loop around town, weight room



emotion: sore

Note: somehow this never got published, so its really from two days ago. I'm not sure how that happened.

Today the team meet at the track for a 800 meter warm up (2 times around the track) to start the wonderful second day of practice. The first day consisted of a enjoyable 6 mile = 1 hour long run with some hills and no shade. So by the 2nd day you can really feel the soreness from the day before. Lunges and a couple other things were added to our workouts. From there we went straight to the 4 mile loop around town and back.

During my run today I was thinking how much running is my thrapy, I think we all need some way to go to another world to think and deal with things that come up. Once I start running I think 'Oh is my form right? Am I breathing to hard? what am I going to do later today?' and before long I'm caught up in my own world.

August has begun

location: by the creek

emotion: hopeful

The flower is one of the wildflowers in our creek. The are called Cardinal Flowers or Lobelia cardininalis. They are some what rare around here and some years they don't grow. This year we have a lot of them.

My mom and I went for a run and we were cheered on by a fellow blogger! 2.5 miles with a good amount of hills. It was such a nice day and a number of people were enjoying the out doors. Afterwards, we stopped at walmart. I got three black frames for my bedroom wall. Since I've changed my room around last there has been very little on the walls. I'm planning to pick some of my photos that I've taken to put in the frames. For now I cut out pictures from magazines so I can hang them up.

The month of August has arrived. I don't know if anyone else has noticed that it has no holidays. Maybe that's way most of the county fairs are then. I always look forward to going to the fair. I don't know if I have an exact reason but I just enjoy it.

KSU visit

location: Kent State University

emotion: impressed

Yesterday was spent at the KSU campus for their discovery day. My mom and I went with our friends Alli and her mom Eileen. We took our van down there since it has more room. There was a lot of people there, so many there wasn't enough chairs to sit down for the welcome part of the day. From the welcome we went to look at dorms. They were mock dorms to preview different layouts. Alli said she didn't like the beds with desk underneath. I thought those were cool, I liked sleeping high up when I and Meli had bunk beds. Next we looked at the art building. It was under construction but we found a computer guy to show us around. He showed us the art education class rooms. He tried to show us the drawing room but his card/key didn't work. Since Alli's mom is an artist it was helpfull having her along to ask question I wouldn't of thought of.

From there we went back to the student center, where we started, and looked at a bunch of tables. The tables had a number of majors and some had information about admissions and those sorts of things. After viewing the tables and talking to the professors at the tables we went to eat lunch. Flash the mascot was walking around and my mom made me get a picture with it! The Kent people with Flash wanted a picture and had me write down my e-mail address to send it to me. So I got two pictures with Flash.

Since we had some extra time we went for a quick look at the bookstore. I saw someone from my school there. From the bookstore we split ways with Alli and my mom and I were off to the art tour. The art tour was really exciting! We went to all the buildings that housed art classes but weren't in the main art building. We saw the rooms for Jewelry making, Sculpture, Textiles, and Ceramics. We didn't get to see Glass Blowing, but that would of been awesome to seen.


This picture I took is of a huge planter made out of newspaper. Its biodegradable art that will change during time. It was large, maybe 7 feet high and I don't know how wide but in took some space. We looked at the sign for the Kent State shootings but I forgot about the camera so I don't have any pictures.

The last thing we went to see was the Wellness Center. It had a huge gym floor and a swimming pools. There was lanes from walking and running around the place. By this point we had walked so far we didn't feeling like walking back but we had to since the bus that took us to the Wellness Center was the last one. Overall it was a fun day with a lot to take in. :)

My butterfly picture I took this past weekend
My brother doing some weird nose thing

location: in the sunshine

emotion: awake

My brother is giving up all TV, computer time, video games, ect. This means trying to come up with stuff for him to do. These things are replaced with playing board games and Legos last night with him (yes I was playing Legos!!!). Now he thinks I'm going to play with him all the time. I only played with him because the rest of my family wasn't home. Sometimes a second brother would be nice at times, but then the thought of two Tims!! I don't think I'd be able to deal with that. :)

I've been running hills in my past few workouts. Its much harder trying to run up hill, but it gives you more endurance and helps for the hills in races. The best part is of course running down hill. I love feeling the wind against my face and the boost of speed! The other day my shoes got wet so I've had to run in my old pair. My old ones don't fit as well and I always have retie them.

Tomorrow I'm going college visting so I'm sure I'll have somethings the write about. Until then have a wonderful day.

Grrr...

location: my mind

emotion: annoyed

I'm bugged...no more than bugged, I'm flat out bothered. The worse part is its only getting worse! I ask myself, am I letting little things get to me? No Lauren, you should do something about it. Yes Lauren, just sit there and keep your issues to yourself. I believe in real. Real people doing real things. Not to impress people, or put others below themselves, but because it is being themselves as a real individual. I suppose it comes down to people and problems are put in this world to make life more interesting. Dear Lord, I think I just might need large amounts of peace and grace.

(Several months back I wrote a post of my thoughts. I chose to write from this perspective again to only help ease the overwhelmed feelings. The ideas and thoughts are a limited view to some daily issues I believe we all, as human beings share.)

summer of 08

location: indoors and outdoors

emotion: relaxed

Last night I spent some time taking pictures of my mom's flowers. I've been taking pictures over the past few months, you may have noticed the side pictures are all taken by me with the exception of the bunny (it looked like mine so I had to add it). One of the pictures that I will post when it gets downloaded on the computer is a butterfly on a flower! I would like to get a picture of a hummingbird on a flower but I haven't had my camera around when one shows up. There are a lot of pictures I haven't added but hopefully I will remember to include one with my posts more often.

The total miles I've run this week is 18. That's more than the past few weeks. Thursday coach had us run a five mile run around the town. He drives around to make sure we all are doing ok. It was a bit of a killer. We had one new kid come and run with us, hopefully the rest that signed up will show. CC is one of those sports its hard to get kids at my school to even think about it.

One thing I'm looking forward to is getting to watch the summer Olympics next month! Last time they were on I remember watching gymnastics, swimming, and some volleyball. I find both the summer and winter Olympics to be very enjoyable to watch. During the winter Olympics I like watching figure and speed skating.

hot summer day

location: bike trail, friend's house, my house

emotion: happy but a bit warm

I started my day trying to pull myself out of bed. I finally did and ate a quick breakfast then out to run. My mom and brother wanted to walk on the bike trail so that's where I ran. I really had to push myself to move after 2 miles I think I only did 3 instead of 4 like I wanted. Yesterdays harder run soreness was kicking in. blah. Even running has good and bad days.

On the way home mom said we should stop and see our artist friend and her daughter Allie. We passed up the road that we normally take so we took a less traveled road that I only have been part of the way down. Allie answered the door and told us her mom was down at the other house. Allie's brother lives there but her mom's studio is in one of the rooms. When we got there Allie's mom was outside by the flower garden painting a sunflower. She asked if I had been painting (gulp no....feeling guilty). Allie and I went inside since it was cooler. We drank cream soda and she showed me around the basement. Since boys live there it was messy and Allie said she got roped into cleaning it the other day. We ended up inviting them over since it was a warm day. So the rest of the day was on and out of the pool!

cute little post it!

My Cute Little Rabbit "Honeysuckle"

The Holland Lop

location: Surrounding towns

emotion: hungry (is dinner ready yet?)

I went all over the place today! From the library to Walmart to the pool place to the doctors to a different library to home. Tomorrow I start running twice a week with the cross country team. I'm looking forward to this upcoming season. Now I feel like sleeping or watching TV or reading. Hope you like my picture!:)

good times

location: my hometown

emotion: happy

Yesterday my mom, my sister, and I drove up to the nearby bike trail to go for a bike ride. The weather was perfect for it! We rode 4 miles took a break then turned around making it a 8 mile bike ride. During the ride, a nasty horse fly landed on my forehead, so now I have a bite there. You can't really see it but right now its starting to itch. I haven't gone on a bike ride in a while. By the end I was feeling sore from sitting. It was good to cross train, use different muscles other than running.

For the past two days Meli and I have been helping our dad stain the deck. Its all finished now and looks so much better. The sun beats down on it so it dried fast and we were able to swim within a few hours. We've been swimming a lot! The water isn't the warmest but on the hot days we have been having it feels so good! I guess I've been cross traing a lot.

Last night I had a friend over. We played the game LIFE with my siblings. Meli had a full van of kids and became upset when she passed a "baby girl" or "baby boy" space! I was soooo behind everyone on the board. I was still in college when everyone one else was married, had a house, and was beginning to land on baby spaces. When I finally got out I was a doctor (no wonder I was in college so long!). I started with the highest salary but it got taken away and I got the second highest. Meli took that away so I ended up with the lowest salary. Somehow at the end I won the game!! yippy!

4th weekend recap

location: Outside with cousins Mary and Issac

emotion: cheerful

I spent the holiday weekend full of activities. On the 4th we went to our family reunion, on my mom's side of the family. My dad's side of the family doesn't have anything like that, plus half the people I don't know (mostly likely never will) and are floating around in Germany or Yugoslavia. We haven't been to our reunion in a few years and people didn't know which one was Lauren and which was Melissa. The last time they saw us I think we were the same height, but even then they still didn't know who was who. I don't think I'll ever go to a reunion without getting called the wrong name. It doesn't really bother me any more, it did a few years ago. Some relatives came up from Arizona, the last time they were in Ohio I was really little and the lady asked my mom something about my mom's twins! Melissa and I were sitting next to our mom and started laughing. When my mom said 'These are my girls,' motioning to us 'and they are just sisters.' The lady looked surprised. I guess she was expecting to see two twin girls instead of the two girls that had been sitting in front of her the whole time.

The rest of the activities included the garage sale. We sold a few things, hopefully if we have another one it will do better. This one guy did buy 12 VHS tapes, so I was surprised. I went to see the Chardon fireworks. It was a very nice show this year. Afterwards, we went to DQ! Oh I love ice cream! On Sunday, I saw the newest Disney/Pixar creation Wall-e. So cute and a must see! It also had one of those short movies beforehand. I like watching those. They are entertaining. I also went to a friend's and watched fireworks there. Wow two fireworks shows in one weekend!

Happy 4th!

location: outside in the sun

emotion: crazy

Happy 4th of July everyone! I've had a wonderful start to my day so far, a three mile run. Exercise does wonders I tell you. There is so many benefits from it. I need to start doing some ab workouts and some weight training. I used to be one of those girls that stayed as far as possible from sports. I did try in swim and gym and later in gym class at school. So I can't say I never tried. I just lacked coordination in most sports, so I turned to dancing. Dancing really was perfect for me. During my homeschool years I spent 4 to 5 1/2 hours a week at the Grange. For a while dancing was my sport.

A few years later I started thinking about running after I heard my freshman English college prep teacher, who also was a track coach, had thought that I should run cross country. Before that I almost signed up to be on the track team but in was more of an after thought. My french teacher asked me to help with stats at some of the little meets. I agreed and got the chance to see how it works. So the fall of my sophomore year I signed up for CC. I had no clue what I was getting my self into.

Yeah well here I am now spending my summer mornings running. I've been running since March with a short two week break in between track and cc. Now with my run over with I can enjoy all the wonderful things the rest of the day brings. I'm not realty sure what those things are since being at Grandma's put me a little out of the loop but I'm sure its something.

I like summer because...

location: outside (mostly)

emotion: joyful

I like summer because...

• Flip flops- those little white lines are so worth it, while freshly painted toenails get all the attention


• Ice cream- no words can describe how truly wonderful it is...ahh!


• Sunscreen- smells funny but is way better then looking like a lobster!


• Watermelon- seedless or seeded no summer is complete without it


• Lightning bugs- I'm always afraid that they are going to escape their jar when we catch them and keep them inside for a night


• Fireworks- stunning to both young and old


• Kiwi- and anything else in fruit salad


• Beaches- the ones by the ocean are my favorite


• Swimming Pool- water is so refreshing and fun on the hottest day of the year


• Sunglasses- too cute and stylish, have to go everywhere


• Late nights- no bedtimes just time to relax


• Pink lemonade- I want some right now


• Fresh cut lawns- think summer is here to stay


• Cookouts- chance to see people and eat yummy food!

There are really sooooo many other things to add to the list but I only picked some of my favorites!

location: here and there

emotion: sleepy

Today I went to the track with my mom and brother. It was an easy run today just a mile on the track. Tim ran then stopped then ran then stopped. He hung out around the long jump a lot. After running we stopped at the library. Story time was going on and I told my mom how I remembered being smart then! They were singing some bug song. Tim was in a crabby mood but could help but smile when he heard the silly song about bugs.

I have been cleaning my desk but its a work in progress. I would like to begin scrapbooking. I've started a scrapbook but it only has one page complete and one other started. I just need a clean area to get going on it again. Also, I'm going through things and finding this to put in my scrapbook. I've found lots of things I've totally forgotten about. The scissors keep getting lost every time I need then to cut out something that my name or picture is in the paper for. I'm trying to down size and cut out only what I'm in, instead of the whole newspaper.

post it note 3

location: inside

emotion: cozy

Its a pretty chilly sort of day outside. Where did summer go? It needs to come back! That's all I have to say. Yesterday I wore jeans and a hoodie! I was going to go for a run

but I went to bed late, woke up late and said forget running today. I'll

make up for it on Saturday (the day I was going to take off).

That's how things go sometimes. Not real sure what I'll

do today. It feels like one of those days you could

curl up with a book and read for hours.

I'm currently reading

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

ACT

location: Kent Trumbull

emotion: productive

Last Saturday, I took my ACT. Sitting there taking the five part thing ahhh!! It was like forever until the tester guy told us we had five minutes to finish that section then the seconds flew by. I was glad that we had a short break in between so I could stretch my legs. One thing I have to say is that I am so glad my mom gave me those standardized tests in my homeschool years (even when tears were involved). That along with taking some practices tests helped me to feel most prepared for it.

During the test one girl accidentally filled out the wrong part of the test in the wrong section of the answer page. The guy in charge of giving us the test had to go talk to someone in change of him to see what to do. From there they had to contact the ACT people to see what to do. The girl was not allowed to complete the test and has to wait until September to take it. Bummer!

After the test was over my mom and I looked around at the building I took my test in. It had a theater in it but we only saw the entrance way. We stopped at a local subway for lunch. Subway is so yummy!

an amazing weekend!

location: outside in many places



emotion: rockin



This weekend has been really fun! On Saturday I went to grad parties with my friend Bethanna. The first one we went to was for two people, the German foreign exchange student and the girl she stayed with. I thought it was really cool that they had theirs together. They had a lot to look at! It took us a good 40 minutes to look though all the scrapbooks! I had to look at them all because I'm like that! We ate a little bit then talked to our friends. The two girls looked cute in the summery dresses they had on. There was a lot of people from school.

We said our good byes and were off to the next one. When we got there all we saw was a bunch of older people sitting in lawn chairs. We looked at each other and wondered where was the party!?! A guy standing around must of read mine and Bethanna's confused expressions. He told us it was in the garage, a side building with sign that said Grad (duh, if I could of only read). We greeted our friend then sat down at a table where we knew people. One kid got really bored and scratched a picture into the table cloth!

Soon all of us got bored inside so we got up and went outside. Some of the boys started tossing around a Frisbee and Bethanna almost got hit! We had to keep moving out of these danger zones! Someone suggested kickball, so the party shifted to this part of the yard by a pond. The "diamond" was out of shape and had some interesting bases. First base was the corner of some farm equipment, second a random mailbox in the middle of the yard(!), and third was a pear tree. Bethanna and I had on flip flops so we just sat in the grass and watched. One of us noticed some slugs in the grass. The more we looked the more slugs appeared. We began to wonder if we were perhaps sitting on any! Whooossshhhhh! The kickball came inches away from Bethanna's head! It scared both of us really bad! We paused out of fright then exploded in laughter. We watched the game then the slugs came back to are focus of attention. Whosshh! Again the kickball flew past our heads surprising us once more. We said we better not worry about slugs and instead pay attention to the kickball! We didn't end up sitting on any slugs and so many other adventures happened that to blog it would take hours!

crazy lunch

location: school

emotion: hyper

Today is a birthday of a few people I know. My brother is now 11 and my friend Mya is 18. Mya's mom showed up at school today to wish her daughter a happy birthday. Now her mom is one of those people that is super friendly and the events I'm telling aren't made up and is flatly the truth. Her mom gave her a teddy bear and teddy cookies. They were sitting on her desk when she walked into math class.

Lunch is a whole story by itself. She didn't know that her mom was still at school during lunch or that she was getting VIDEO TAPED!!!! Her mom was behind a vending machine with the video camera! She sat down, unaware of the surroundings. The other girls came from the lunch line and had seen her mom. Two of them didn't know it was a surprise and told her. We whispered that it was a surprise. So when Mya asked if they were joking they said they were. We were glad she thought it was just a prank. She was serving us some of her birthday cake when the real surprise came. Four guys came in with balloons and flowers. They came in behind her then one of the guys started singing a birthday song she turned around then turned bright red. Now be aware that all the lunch room is paying attention. Her mom has come out of hiding taping the whole planned out thing. Mya's mom baked a ton of cookies that she set on an empty table and random people were coming up to eat them. Her mom was making her so embarrassed! At the end of lunch her mom said she wasn't done yet. At the end of the day I saw Mya's car covered with ribbons! I'm glad all I had to go through is a little clapping at lunch for my b-day!

bye bye

location: school

emotion: sad

Today was the end for the seniors. I'll miss them. When I talk to my friends that graduated last year its so different. You don't see them all the time like you used too. Some of them really change. Everything will be different for me, now an almost senior. Drama kids I'll miss a lot. Those long hours of rehearsals, you become so connected and learn so much about people. Our German exchange students will be going back home. I get to know people every year and this is the class (08) that I've known for a while with the exception of my class (09).

Yeah so the seniors were in and out today taking and finishing their finals. The parking lot was empty since they only had to come for the periods that they had to take finals. Most of the seniors weren't at lunch. My lunch table had two of the few seniors. that were at lunch. One was a German exchange student, her table was empty and didn't want to eat alone. The other senior was finished with everything but stayed to say goodbye. (tear). I'll see everyone at Graduation but it won't be the same.

Art consisted of 4 people! I liked it that way. There is some I won't miss! I felt like I could think and focus for once this year. Overall it way a good day. New adventures await me!

Memorial day

location: hometown and nearby town

emotion: patriotic

My mom woke me up early to go to the pancake breakfast our town holds every Memorial day morning. The pancakes are really thick and filling. We got there and there wasn't a line like last year. They were good as always. Our neighbors sat by us and were telling us some funny local stories.

We got there early before the parade. Meli came along then joined the band when they arrived. H-town parade is small and goes around the circle of town. After the parade finish and the band was getting on the bus, mom and I went to the little town my school is in where they would have the last parade of the day. We parked at the school then walked into town waiting for it to start. That parade was the longest. They stopped in several places. I saw a few of my friends. We walked back to the school so we got a mini workout for the day.

Tests!

location: outside

emotion: delighted

I've spent a good amount of time today soaking up some sun rays. I love that feeling of almost summertime. The past few days have been much cooler. For my last track meet on Friday I had to wear extra clothes. Speaking of the meet. It went well and I am pleased with the way my season ended. Now I can take a few weeks off and focus on some other things like finals eek! I have never been a fan of those end of the year tests. After that is over with then I have to go take my ACT. Tests are haunting me! Life is full of them. I really try hard and sometimes its just so hard.

Things have been a bit crazy but I guess I'm writing to tell about it(lol)! I have a lot still ahead of me. Maybe I'll find a little more time to blog soon! One thing I'm happy about is this three day weekend!:)

outside

location: school and outside

emotion: cheerful

Off to school today. I drove everyone instead of taking the school bus. I felt like a mom taking my bro and sis in the mini van. Not the coolest feeling! :) I'm not the only one and I don't really mind. In art class I'm working on this cool little book. I painted the pages with watercolors today. I plan on including pictures and different mixed media. I hope it will look good in the end.

Yesterday I was feeding my bunny when I realized above the hutch on the light shade was a bird nest. Several baby birds were chirpping away. I tried taking pictures but the light is so high up its hard to get the angle right. I used the zoom, but i haven't seen them to know if they turned out or not. I have been taking a lot of outside photos lately. I love how colorful and bright things are this time of year.

A pleasent friday

location: home (at 3:30 this hasn't happened since the musical!)

emotion: thankful

No track practice today! Next week is my last week of track. We have districts so it going to be a crazy week. We are going to have to get out of school early to go to Independence for the meet two days next. Not really any home work for the weekend and no early Saturday track meet. Things at school are slowing down, well in most classes. Algebra 2 doesn't fit in the slowing down category, sadly. People are getting back from college now. In art today Maggie came to show us her work from CIA (Cleveland institute of art). She just completed her first year there. Next year she is going to focus on her major. I forget what the proper title of her major is but I know it has to do with drawing pictures for text books and such. I always look forward to looking at other people's work. Maybe it will inspire me to pick up a pencil or paintbrush. That's something I've neglected to do in my own time. Very sad really. Maybe when I take a 2-3 break from running, it came be my therapy again. It will have to wait until tomorrow since I'm going shopping tonight.

Prom

location: a banquet hall



emotion: excited



This past weekend was my prom. It was a lot of fun! I now have painted toenails (pink)! My hair was held up by a little over 40 bobby pins and took an hour to get done. I loved the way it turned out. It was fun seeing everyone dressed up. The theme was minight masquerade. We got to take home a glass, a picture frame, and a mask. I've added a few pictures, if you want to see more I'll be bringing a photo album to church.

mock crash

location: school parking lot

emotion: chilly

This week is prom promise week. The whole week different issues were addressed. Today we got out of class to watch the mock crash. When we got out to the parking lot two cars were badly smashed to give the full affect. Some members of the drama club were the people in the cars. They had fake blood all over them. The fire department, ambulance, and a helicopter came to the scene. It was really chilly outside. Afterwards, the grim reaper paid its visits selecting its victims. So for the remainder of the day those chosen had fake blood across their face spelling the word dead and couldn't talk. The message was that these thing don't just happen around prom these things can happen to anyone at anytime.

location: a place in sweet silence

emotion: energetic

This week has been taking its time making each minute longer than the last one. In home ec. I'm sewing a stuffed animal lobster. Most of the class is making teddy bears, with the exception of 3 people. One person is making a monkey, the other is making a seal, and then there is my lobster. Oh, I didn't mention its pink! I don't know what I'll name it. I picked a lobster because I had a red lobster beanie baby a while ago. I only remember that he got a hole and I was sad. :( poor lobster. Anyways back to sewing, its going well only its the first class of the day and I feel bored after a while. At least I'm making some progress for as slow the day drags on.

I'm looking at pictures of our track team at our race last night. One of them is of my stretching before I run, I look kinda grumpy. Pictures of people running are always interesting. I personally don't like ones of myself. The pictures from last night are ok. I've seen some ugly looking ones during my first year running. Ok maybe these pics aren't so bad some of the other peoples look weird! the faces look so funny its making me laugh!

post it note 3

location: a warm cozy place where phantom of the opera music plays softly in the background

emotion: thoughtful

I found this bunny picture and I had to inclued it as part of a blog! Its truely too adorable to pass up! The whole things is so sweet. Just looking at it and thinking about what it says can make your day.

enjoy!

birdy

location: anywhere

emotion: quiet

Back to writing, well not for long since Meli says she needs to use the computer for something. I feel like I'm moving nonstop, all day long. I've been staying up way too late the past couple nights. 11:00 pm isn't the time I should be going to bed at all! There is somethings that I need to do but they take time that I can't find like painting my toe nails. I guess since I wear regular shoes and not flip flops nobody sees them. Another thing to add is blogging except people can read the old ones. I also need to clean my room, wow this list is getting long by the minute!

Ok changing subjects before I get a complex! lol jk! This little ity bity bird flew into the field house (the place where the sports locker rooms and weight room are) and hurt itself by flying into the window. The kids were trying to get it back outside. The bird wasn't moving, it was still alive just not flying. Finally one of the boys picked it up and put it outside. poor birdie!

Races

location: Laker Invitational

mood: angry, competitive, and happy (at different times)

Track meet was a big one today. A total of 12 schools there. I had a series of different emotions going. The first race I started strong and fast the first lap but totally died the second. It was a relay so I felt like I sort of drew back from what we could of done. I hadn't run that race since 2 weeks ago. The mile wasn't were I want it to be. I felt like I was running on a treadmill because I felt like I was staying in one spot. I had a hard time changing my pace. Grr. The two mile started out like the two previous races but then I mad a move and managed to pass one girl then another. the one girl was one my heels until the last 100 meters when she speed up and passed me. I got a good time on that race so I ended on a somewhat happier note.

simple pleasures

location: home

emotion: peaceful

Finally a break to my typical long day. I'm done with running my legs off for today and school is over except for a few little things to be called homework. some people are counting down the days left until school is over but I think its too early yet we still have a ways to go until June 6th. I want to go shopping. I want to go to the new target that I haven't made into yet. Every time I think of target I think of the "hello hello" tune that plays every time they come on TV. I wore capris for the first time this year. School can be a freezer so for most the year you are stuck in hoodies. One class you get super warm and the next is really cold. So being able to wear spring clothes is amazing. I really realized how lovely the spring time is when I went for my run. The trees are all blossoming and the scent from them is heavenly. I guess its the simple pleasures that we learn the most from.

A mountain reached

location: a mountain peak

emotion: ecstatic

My mind is now at rest from the beginning of the week! I felt like I was on a journey up the steep side of a high mountain. It took me all week to climb it but now I can look back on my obstacles and feel satisfied with the results. Running and prayer are good cures. Running get you moving, gives you a challenge, and keeps you focus on that finish line. Spending x amount of minutes feeling the worse feeling. Yet when its over you feel amazing. Prayer is very similar. You have to stay focus on what prayer needs answered. You have to keep moving in faith that God will grant you the desires of your heart even when its challenging. :]

Now I have so many things to be thankful for! I know there are still mountains to climb and new challenges ahead of me but I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

MMMMnnn...

location: my head

mood: nervous

Today has been nothing but a whirlwind of thoughts! I was being bugged by something and couldn't get my mind off of it. I doubted and thought of every possible thing that I could in order to ease my mind. Stressful over thinking, is a good way to describe it. Only to add to all of this I have a track meet tomorrow, this tense feeling will be there as well as the normal pre-race jitters. Perhaps running will get my mind off it or it just might remind me of it more. It isn't anything to be overcome but instead to wait until it passes, waiting to see what its own way will be.

(Now of course this will make little sense to anyone with knowing so limited of a view. Yet it is the complexity of one's mind that holds a high level of rapid changing that tells a story in its self. A story without knowing details, people, or subjects.)

post-it note 2

location: here listening to music

mood: relaxed



Spring Break is almost over (tear). So very sad but I had a wonderful week! I get to go back to waking up at the bright early hour of 5:45. Leaving and getting to school by 7:20ish. Well, I'm just going to enjoy this afternoon by reading, maybe drawing, and later eating pizza! Wow, I get amused over simple things! :)

spring break fun

location: a number of places

mood: giggly

Spring break! yeah! cheers! What are fun time of year. You have just the right amount of school left until summer vacation. Anyways on to what happened today. I went shopping! A fun event. I feel like I accomplished the typical never ending search for a swimsuit! I found one right away, what a concept. I'm still in search of shorts since nothing caught my eye and the selection was limited. I found a few other cute things.

A funny moment of the day was when my mom and I were on the way home. My mom was driving the speed limit but this van passed us. When they passed us this dude in the passenger seat stuck his head out the window and made that rocker hand thing and had a crazy look on his face. They passed someone else and did the same thing!!!! We got a good laugh.