Softball is my Life

Is Anyone Out There?

2012-01-04T15:40:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted in years. Literally years. I had forgotten my password and had to get a new one. A lot has happened. I graduated high school, got an AA from NCC, and in the fall will start attending NWICC. I am still a gymnastics coach but now I coach team. My specialty is bars. Our first meet of the season will be in 2 weeks. Sound the dramatic music now. I have decided to keep this post short.

White Out

2009-01-15T06:25:00.004-06:00

So this winter is we are getting a lot of snow! It's the powdery snow that when the Iowa winds blow creates a white out. We started the 2nd semester on Monday. On Monday, we got out at 11:30 because of the blizzard conditions. When we got out of school it was perfect. A couple of hours later... On Tuesday we had a late start because the Monday winds had blown the snow over the road. Tuesday night it snowed so on Wednesday we had another late start. Today (Thursday) we are not supposed to get above 0. It's supposed to be -20 w/o windchill. Brr! That's cold! So today will be our first full day of the semester.

My new schedule...

Study Hall

American Literature II

Home Room

Physics

Calculus

American Government

Open Campus

College Prep English

Novels and Films

In novels and Films, the first book we are reading is of Mice and Men which we read our sophomore year. Our second book will be the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, again, a book we read our sophomore year. After that, we will be reading 2 other books that I haven't read. Our teacher for Government is crazy (and not the good crazy).

Santa Claus: An Engineer's Perspective

2008-12-06T06:06:00.002-06:00

Since I haven't posted in a very long time, I thought that maybe I should post something humours. My Physics teacher gave us this... (that is who you should thank/blame)

WARNING: If you believe that Santa exists, do not read farther!

There are approximately 1.74 billion children (15 years of age and younger) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, or Buddhist religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to about 38% of the total, or 660 million.

Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 3000 visits/second, assuming two children per home. This is to say that for each Christmas household with a good child, Santa has about 1/3000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh, and get on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 330 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purpose of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.8 mile between homes; a 11,830 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a pokey 27.4 mi/s, and a conventional reindeer can run 15 mi/h.

The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child receives two pounds worth of gifts, the sleigh is carring over 660,000 tons. On land, a reindeer could pull as much as 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer could pull ten times the normal amount, the job cannot be done with eight or even nine of them - Santa would need 440,000 of them! The entire load, including the reindeer, weigh 726,000 tons or roughly sixteen times the weight of the Titanic!

In addition, 726,000 tons traveling at 2370 mi/s creates enormous air resistance - this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft reentering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 186 quintillion J/s each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake.

The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 3 ten-thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the second house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 4740 mi/s in 0.00017 second, would be subjected to centrifugal forces of 4.6 billion g's. A 250 pound Santa would be pined to the back of the sleigh by 1.14 trillion pounds of force (that is, if the sleigh had sufficient structural integrity to withstand the acceleration - which is ludicrous!), instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing hm to a quivering blob of pink goo.

Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.

Going to Switzerland

2008-11-04T05:18:00.006-06:00

Juliet statue in Verona, Italy

Market place

Traveling to Lucern Switzerland.

More pretty landscape.

The church.

Even more pictures of Venice! (Will I ever be done?)

2008-10-04T16:49:00.016-05:00

So, three out of my six cousins from Michigan came down to Iowa for our great-uncle's funeral. They came and rode our ponies. It was funny. Seth's feet almost touched the ground. I'll have to put pictures up when, if ever, I'm finished putting up pictures of my summer! We didn't have school on Thursday and Friday because of a teachers in service and the funeral was on Wednesday, so I had a 5 day weekend. I am not looking forward to going back to school. Not even mentioning the school work I'll need to catch up on... I have the house to myself! Bwahahaha (but only for a little while)! I will soon have to go over to itchellmeh's and babysit Dillan. Remember in Italy when the other tour group got it's bus stolen!? And Athena and Kim got kissed by an Italian guy? I wore jeans that day becuase they said that we were going in a religious site and it turned out to be optional. It was really hot that day and we spent forever there. Bathrooms were a euro. The really cool stair case outside the palace! Woohoo! Carvings on the end of the really cool stair case The one really weird clock in the town square. Random tall building in the square. The alleyway to the glass blower shop. The glass blowers made astounding figures. The first one he made was a vase, the second, a horse. I wish I had cought a video of him since none of my picutres turned out really well. Hannah finally catching a pigeon. I have a ton of really cool pictures I wish I could add. More pigeons... Will the pigeons never end? Cute little boy with pigeon. Our gondolier. All of us in the gondola. The grand canal. Me in the mask I got Sarah.

Elisabeth and Hanna infront of a small stall.

Venice Italy!!!

2008-09-22T06:05:00.012-05:00

Hey! So in Jr. NICYO, we are playing Farondole (Bizet). But of course, our version is arranged, so it is different, easier. I hate it. I would rather play the real thing. Yesterday, I had a Sr. RCYF (teenager church group) grill out. I played with our group leader's little girl.

Part of our actual deck in our hotel in Italy. Our rooms were on the roof. Our "deck" was the roof of the hotel. The view was amazing (see previous post). Elisabeth and I shared a room and Paula and Hannah shared a room connected to ours. But of course, by the second night, everybody but me had dragged their mattress onto the deck. I slept with the window and door open. A sail boat on the water that we had to cross to get to Venice.
Paula and Hannah on our boat. Cool buildings of Venice seen by the boat. A canal. The really cool statue were we started our whisper headset tour. The courtyard of the palace. The really cool staircase with statues on top!

Going up the golden "ambassador's" staircase.

I remember this... I had to change both my camera battery and my memory chip.

Notice the golden glow of the stair case in the back ground. I unfortunately do not have any more pictures of the inside of this palace because we could not take any pictures in the rest of it. We did go to the dungeon though, it was actually fairly well light.

Innsbruck to arrival in Italy!

2008-09-17T19:15:00.014-05:00

Did I tell you I am now a gymnastics coach? I think I have. One of the kids asked me if I had any kids. When I said no, she said that I should have some. How would you respond? Tonight was '50's night at church. So I handed out handfuls of chips this year. After the Italian Dinner, I always try not to get the serving job. Last year I think I served though. Hannah stuck under her seat. On the bus ride to Austria. More pretty scenery.

Hanna and I in Innsbruck Austria. We stopped there briefly for quick sight seeing, shopping, and going in Swarovski. Pretty designs on the building.

Paula, Elisabeth, me, and Hannah in a tree in a park.

My favorite living statue! Amazing crystals at Swarovski. A church that Hanna and I stopped at. Leaving Innsbruck, we are heading to Italy. We took a brief stop at a McDonald's, were you had to tip to use the bathrooms. Italy has very pretty scenery. Lots of mountains and vineyards.

The view off or hotel in Italy.

Munich to Dachou and back to Munich

2008-09-09T17:12:00.018-05:00

In Drawing II, we are doing either space scenes or underwater scenes with hog markers. To all the city kids out there, hog markers are very messy, bigger versions of oil pastels (sort of). In case you didn't figure it out, they are used to mark livestock. I am going to do a sea scene with an octopus, shark, seahorse, and some fishies. In Mexican History, we are going to use clay to carve our names in hieroglyphics. I hate flies. I hate crickets. James is at a cross country meet. I don't think I've ever mentioned my new schedule. Study Hall, Gym (with a new teacher who actually makes us do stuff), Homeroom, Physics, Calculus, Statistics, Drawing II, Mexican History, and College Prep English. You guys need to come down and ride our ponies! We now have free time in Munich! This is the fish fountain that we had to meet at. This is the really cool church/town hall/what ever it was that was by the fountain. The carvings were incredible. Me imitating a statue with Mike's sword. A really cool statue of a knight spearing something. Really cool clock/church. The statue in the middle of the compound at Dachou. A prisoners jacket. A model of the compound before they tore down some of the barracks. Bunks.
More bunks.

Lockers.

A wash station. The crematorium. Arbeit Macht Frei. Paula, Elisabeth, Hannah, and me eating ice cream in a park in Munich after Dachou.

Kim and Elisabeth at the Hard Rock Cafe in Munich.

Even more Munich!

2008-09-06T16:42:00.010-05:00

Hmm... What to say. Homecomming is next week. On Friday, the teachers have an inservise of so we have a half day. Since it is homecomming friday, we will have about a class and a half and then go to the pep rally. Today I went to the gymnastics gym. Saturdays are optional for both coaches and students. Since it is the first week of gymnastics, only one kid showed up, so I helped with paper work. Ok, um, this is yet another random cool building from our incredibly boring tour of Munich.

Nymphenburg palace . This is the place with the whole bunch of pictures of the women.

The ball room of Nymphenburg. It was very ornate, bright, and very pretty. Paula and Elisabeth in the ball room. Me sitting outside the palace. Paula with her broken sunglasses.

One last picture of Nymphenburg (I think that's what it is...).

Hannah. That explains it all.

So, about, 1/2 through Munich! (By next year, I should be finished)

2008-09-05T06:20:00.010-05:00

So, what have I been doing recently? Um, in Gym we ran the mile. Actually, it wasn't quite a mile. Do you want to now why? So we have a new gym teacher, the football/old softball coach. He made us run 2 laps for warm up, then 14 laps around the gym instead of the 13 laps. I was dying! On Wednesday, I saw an ad for a gymnastics coach. So I called for more information, not sure if I actually wanted the job. Well, I got it ane it started yesterday! So after school, I quick ran home, took a shower, then delt with little kids until 7:30!

I think this picture is actually on the way to Neuschawstien, but I forgot to add it in with the last bunch.

I think we were goining to our hotel in Munich now.

Elizabeth, on the bus.

This is all of us at the table. Remeber? They fed us Snitzel?

Us all sacked out in our room.

All of the details on the building are painted. Cool!

One of the cities gates.

Some Random Building.

Another Random Building from our bus tour.

The long awaited Rothenburt to Neuschwanstien

2008-09-01T09:32:00.014-05:00

I just realized how far behind in pictures I am. I have to do all of Europe, Rocky Mountain High, Rie (our Japanese girl) pictures, and pictures of our ponies, Marco and Polo. I am such a procrastinator, so this is probably going to take me all year...

Ok, we are in Rothenburg. These are the STAIRS OF DOOM!!!!! Just kidding. These stairs led to the top of the wall around the city. Sorry, I didn't know that the picture setting was on large. The view off the wall was amazing. The houses were very pretty. Hanna and I (with Athena) were going to the Torture museum and stopped here to take a picture. Here I am in the stockades.

Ok, we're out of Rothenburg and going to Neuschwanstien. Pretty mountains and scenery. Here is the Yellow Palace accross from the Castle. Remember walking all the way up the Neuschwanstien? For those who didn't come, we walked up a mountian. I walked down the road a ways and took a picture of the lake. VERY PRETTY! This was my first taste of paying for public bathrooms. Now I'm going to have a ton of pictures of Neuschwanstien because it is one of the prettiest castles ever. Anyone who is in Germany must see it. Here is another picture of the outside. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take pictures inside. They would, however, let us take pictures out the window. This is actually a picture from when Brantner, Garrett, me, and some others were rushing to the top to get some pictures.Here is a picture from the bridge.

Here is another picture from the same bridge, only a closeup of the castle.

Because I went up to the bridge, I had to hurry down the mountain, only pausing enough to take this picture.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

2008-08-19T07:08:00.002-05:00

SCHOOL STARTS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!! MY SCHEDULE IS TERRIFYING!!! Just so you know, I tried posting some pictures, by my stupid blog wouldn't post that blog! I will have to try again! (for coming down, my mom suggests over labor day weekend

No, I did not drop off the face of the earth

2008-07-31T10:49:00.003-05:00

So after meeting Charity and Dad at the airport we drove home. On the way, we stopped at Perkins and got something to eat. About an hour away from home, Dad asks me if I would like to drive b/c he is very tired and Charity had been driving all day. Of course, at this time I've been up for about 30 hours and running on about 3 hours of sleep. So, of course, I agree. I could have just drove for 15 minutes, but I decided to drive all the way home. 4:30 in the morning and I am wide awake, so I decide to spread the joy by waking everybody else up and handing out gifts and showing them all my pictures. 5:30 am and I finally go to bed and sleep for about 18 hours strait. I wake up at 11:30 pm and am finally able to get back to sleep after watching some House episodes online and reading for a while.
Sunday was Sunday, but on Monday, we got our two ponies, Marco and Polo. Of course these two ponies have hardly been ridden at all. Tuesday, our Japanese girl, Rie came (and got my room). Thursday I left for Rocky Mountain High (Colorado). I just got back on Wednesday. That is a story for another time. Hopefully a time and computer that actually has my pictures on it.

hez

2008-07-16T00:23:00.002-05:00

So, I am in Germanz again (Heidleburg). I loved Austria and Swityerland. Italz was ok. Sarah, no pics because I can't load mz pictures onto the hotel computers. I have gotten zou all gifts (except one, which I will soon get). This is the first free computer since our first hotel. The Tennessee people left us this morning at 5 (Zehaw!) We will be leaving for Paris at 8:15. I will soon be home. I miss all z'all (but not too much) and have sent some post cards.
Becka

Germany

2008-07-08T23:31:00.002-05:00

So i am in Germany and the keyboard is all messed up. The z and the y are switched. Last night we came in at about 2:50. We didnt (sorry, no apostrophy) leave until 4. The group from Tennesse (that wasnt even supposed to be with us missed their flight. So our walking tour was pushed from lastnight to this morning. We had to run through the Chicago airport because we were running late, but we made it! Sleeping on the plane was verz uncomfortble.
Our wake up call was at 6:30, but like freaks, we were up at 5:30 so at 6:15 we were down readz for breakfast. The beds were amaying and we had a shower!
Tell zou ALL about it later!

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-04T15:21:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I'm really bad at blogging lately. Actually I should have blogged sooner, but you guys need to know details about the 5th. I finally talked to my dad about what time we were leaving. He wants to stop at the bank before and it opens at 10. So we will leave at about 10.
I really should blog more but my cousins are down, I just got back from a Sandbulte thing, and I am helping getting ready for our Hooyer thing at our house...
I can't wait! It seems so soon! Arrrg! I'm running out of time!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Softball is my life... Still

2008-06-20T08:30:00.009-05:00

So last night JV won their first game in FOREVER! We played against Sibley-Och. By inning 5 it was 10:0. In the 6th inning, the scored a run or two but we creamed them. I was the 10th batter and got up to bat twice. I got 2 doubles!!! Both were over the outfielders heads :) I didn't pitch, but that was ok. Varsity lost 3:2. In the last inning, someone hit the ball into the outfield and so coach sent the person on third. She got home fine. He sent the next girl too. The outfielder threw it in and it was way in front of the plate, but the runner was slow so she got out. Game over. Please play again.

In case you are wondering, the girl in the blue poodle skirt is my cousin Randi. On the last day of VBS (Friday) they always put on a "skit." I was actually going to post this two days ago with this video, but the page froze up. I also tried to load it as a picture so it took forever.

On Monday, we went to Sioux Falls. On the way home, we got a TON of fireworks. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! We were joking that we would crash and all the fireworks would go off. It was kind of funny, were we got them (South Dakota) it is illegal for people from SD to buy them, even though it is legal for them to shoot them off. People from out of state (say Iowa) could buy them, but it is illegal for us to shoot some of them off.

I have a tournament this weekend. I will have to leave home at 11. Not fun. Coach says that I will pitch some of the games. It has been fairly hot lately so it probably wont be fun. It has been like 80 degrees out, so actually not that hot but before, it was really cold lately, sweatshirt weather, so it seems really hot.

A couple days ago, I had to mow part of the lawn and it was really really high. I want to say about 3' high but I'm really bad at judging heights/distances so family feel free to correct me. The lawn mower kept getting clogged. The garden, we actually planted it all this year and let me tell you, I HATE WEEDING!!!!!!!!!! I'm all for buying sweet corn next year and beans and peas and radishes, and potatoes, and pumpkins, and watermelon, and whatever else we have in there.

Hmmmm. Not much else to say. Mitch, come over sometime and take one of our splotchy kittens or one of the black kittens. I can't think of anything to to say. This video is taking FOREVER to process. Here are some pictures of us at VBS and Mitch at the Rascal Flatts concert. The absolutely cute kitten is my kitten Hector named after the guy in Troy.

VBS

2008-06-12T11:08:00.004-05:00

Ok, so my hopes of blogging every week just went down the drain but I plead very busy schedule. First of all, big huge tournament. Then last week vbs. Now this week I have a game every day.

So let me first rant about vbs. I was a helper this year, my first year being a helper. We had 4th graders when we had requested 5th. They were very annoying especially a kid named Trey. But we got to tie up Mitch, literally. I even helped this year in the skit which I had to were a squirl costume. It was ok since I got to make fun of the main character. But my absolute favorite was music and one of my favorite songs was Days of Elijah (video above). On Friday, the last day, there were horse cart rides (very fun). The concert was also on Friday. One of my softball team mates didn't have a ride home or back to church so she came home with us. I took her to Eugenes and we went on the trapeze (she took about 10 minutes, no kidding, to convince that she wouldn't fall off and it was safe). Then we went to my grandparents house and we went on the swing, jumping off the pay loader bucket.

Then on Saturday, mom's work had this free thing that was alot of fun. There was food, a carnival, a circus and a RASCAL FLATTS CONCERT!!!! The only bad thing was that we had to wait for an hour for it to get dark. Ok, I have to go... I'll try to post later.

A lot of Stuff

2008-05-28T06:24:00.011-05:00

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a while. Softball is right after school and after that, I don't feel like doing anying. But yesterday, I only had to be there for finals, 1st and 9th. 9th was Math and on friday, I missed the fist half of the final so I had to take the first half after 1st. 1st was English. EASY. 60 vocab matching. I'm fairly sure I got them all right. So the class periods that I didn't have tests, I could go home.

Here are some of my art pictures. I like the hands and Tigers the best. The Tigers look slightly odd because the picture that I took of it is at an odd angle. I have so many pictures of things that I need to post. This could take a while. We had to use oil pastels for the fruit. We had to take colored construction paper, do each fruit individually, then cut them out and paste them to a seperate paper. The pinapple and bannana's were the worst to do. It's hard to draw bannana's when they are facing you.

When mowing, my dad found two baby bunnies. The next picture is of them in my dad's glasses. We named them Flopsy and Mopsy. After a couple minutes we let them go though. They are very cute though.

We also went to the Tulip Festival in Orange City. Very cool! Make sure you chech out the video below. That took forever to upload. But everyone was dressed up. Okay, this is a very long post, so I'll post multiple pictures of the Tulip Festival in my next one. Sorry that I haven't blogged in a while. Blame Softball. I'll try better. Good luck Paula in your new job.

Clogs on Parade

2008-05-28T05:38:00.003-05:00

Here is a clip of the Tulip Festival. It goes to the ground twice for which I apologize. The first time I thought I had turned off the camera, but I didn't push it hard enough. The second time, again I wanted to shut it off again, but it didn't go off right away so you get another shot of the ground. But the sound that the clogs make when marching are really cool. You can't hear the clogs very well until the middle of their band. You will notice that the uniforms do not match. That is because it is two different bands marching together.

8 and 1/2 Days of School left!

2008-05-14T19:08:00.002-05:00

So, softbal has started. My first game is next week monday. Today we had a scrimage. I got on base and ran to second. The catcher threw the ball, I was about 10 ft from 2nd base. The second baseman laid her glove right before the base, so if I slid, I would run right into in and be out. So I staid up and went over her and touched second base. She never touched me. Coach called me out because I ddin't slide! I would have been out if I did and this way I was safe! That call bugged me so much!!!!
Playing softball, I have decided to not take lessons (violin/viola/cello) until softball is over. I don't have time to. I do have a picture of my cello in my case, but I am on the other computer that doesn't have the pictures on. I also got my artwork back and I have a really nice picture of some tigers that I will have to take a picture and post it on.

So, we meet again

2008-05-08T15:11:00.002-05:00

Softball. Ugh. Sorry I haven't check/posted/commented on our blogs in a long time. Softball started on Monday. We ran. And ran. And ran. We had drills which consisted in running this way and that as fast as you can. 2 and 1/2 hours. And in the morning, I had to go to school early b/c I have a project in Computer Application (a slide show w/ a partner on Queen Elizabeth I). We have to present soon...

On a happy note, LESS THAN 3 WEEKS LEFT IN SCHOOL!!!!!!!! Next week all the seniors graduate! Ha! No more of them in the hallways!!! Of course, that means my lab partner will leave... One of our cats has 4 kittens who's eyes are open and they can walk. Another cat has 2 kittens w/ eyes open and can walk. And another cat just had 5 kittens. One of them is white!!!! And I think my cat will have kittens sometime in the nearby future.

Mom and Dad are working in the Garden. Charity has a job at Wal-Mart. We are for sure getting a Japanese student and are trying to think of what to do w/ her (hopefully not him).

Toto, I don't think we're in Wisconsin anymore!

2008-05-01T20:10:00.003-05:00

So, today I had softball pitching practice. Supposedly. On the way there, there was a tornado watch (meaning touched down) in Viborg. I was the only one who had heard it. Coach decided that we were going to have practice anyway. Then a siren went off. Brooke (our catcher) asked if that was the 6 o'clock whistle. Since it was 7, I said no! Coach decided that we would have practice at his house. On the 3 blocks to his house, we saw 2 tornadoes! They looked like walls of smoke. Coach canceled practice and confined us to his house. While there, we saw another tornado form. There was another tornado at Rockvalley (6 miles away from our house). Charity was home alone (mom, sarah and boys at tae kwando, dad at a field a couple counties away) and saw a tornado 1/2 mile south, then went north 1/4 mile west of us. It went right through the Horsemens (our neighbors to the west of us). Grandma called and said that Mitch's electricity went out and the Horsemens. Ours are still on and we are in the middle of them.
Dad, when telling me that I could go home, said look out for electric lines on the ground. That is very scary driving home by yourself looking for tornadoes and electric lines! These are my first tornadoes here, and other than driving home, it was pretty cool.
Charity says that there are now tornadoes the north county and east county now, so we think we are ok for now.

We all live in a yellow submarine

2008-05-01T06:48:00.002-05:00

So yesterday, I had to make subs for Jr RCYF. We all (about 30 of us) had to sell subs for a fundraiser for Rocky Mountain High. We had to sell a minimum of 7 dozen! I sold 20 dozen and someone sold more than me! Yesterday, after school, I went over to our chunch and made subs until 7:45. Many many many many subs. Then afterwards, I had to deliever all of them. The boys had their pinewood derby at church at the same time. I don't want to see a sub for a month!

Call me Hercules

2008-04-24T19:26:00.006-05:00

Remember the story of Hercules? One of the tasks that he was given was to kill the Hydra. Every time he cut off a head, 3 more would grow. That is the way with flies in this house. You go on a rampage, kill about15 flies, you don't see any more, you think you got them all. 5 minutes later, they are BACK!!!

What Hercules finally did, was burn the stumps. So if you see a nice bonfire by our house, you know what happened.

On a side note, Prom is tomorrow. Juniors do not have school since we took the ACT! Naturally, I am not going to prom. Here are some more of the pictures from the Hole 'n the Wall. Of course, I am leaving off some really great pictures for the sake of size. In one of the pictures, I was in our room (2 stories) sitting on a beam overlooking the bottom of the room. It was a really nice (though not enough beds). The two adorable kids in the picture are Jolee (cute but bossy) and Ethan (just cute). I believe that they are both four. There is a picture of my dad and his siblings (and his mother).

blogging just to blog

2008-04-19T13:59:00.002-05:00

So, I haven't blogged in a while so I figured that I should say something. Yesterday, for General Business, I had my mock interview. I had to dress up and interview with the superintendent, Mr. O'Donnel. It went ok, but I never want to do that again. On a different note, for Orchestra, I haven't been there in 5 weeks. Last week was the ACT, the week before that, we were at the Hole 'n the Wall, then you were down for the week before that, and before that, we had 2 weeks vacation. Our concert is next weekend. AHHHH!!!!
Sarah and Charity are tilling the huge garden. Dad's doing something or other. Mike is watching a movie, and James is on the computer that has all the pictures on it. Mom's in Sioux Falls working. James and Mike are also sick.
On Thursday, we had the Gate's Test which is reading/comprehension. It was really really easy. It had words on it like facade, words we had in our spelling book that Mrs. Bleeker tests us on. But not anything really interesting going on.

Hole 'n the wall

2008-04-12T13:26:00.008-05:00

So, a week later, I finally get around to posting pictures of it. Gregg here is amazing! I love the guitar, especially the Spanish guitar. He should get some Spanish songs. I had so much fun that weekend as you can probably tell from the pictures. There are more pics/movies at Sarah and Charity's blogs. Movie's take forever to upload.

Today, I had the ACT. It wasn't that bad. But since I had the ACT, I didn't have orchestra. This is my third time missing it in a row and before that, we had a two weeks off for vacation. I will have missed 5 weeks. Either next week or the week after that is is the dress rehearsal! Oh no! It is snowing again. I want 70 degree weather!!!

My video is still loading (13M of 46M) and I still haven't put any pictures on!!!! Basically, I'm listening to music on you tube. Ohhhh, I just got to 17M's (whatever that means). I can't think of anything interesting to say. Charity drank all of my lemonade, which is ok since I gave it to her. (Yay! 22M).

We didn't start the fire.... We listened to this song in AP History and I decided to listen to it again. Now I watching Road to El dorado clips. Which, by the way, is a great movie for little kids (and big kids). Now it is Processing video... I've been doing dishes and it STILL isn't loaded yet!!! Ok, I just finished drying dishes and it's still not processes? You know, there are so many good pics, I'll post some more later.

2nd half of the trip

2008-04-08T06:20:00.011-05:00

So this weekend, we went to the Hole in the Wall. FUN!!!! By the way, we missed you Janet. I will post a ton of pictures next time. As for solo ensemble, my time was at 11:22. I met at a church at 10:45 to meet with my accompanist. By the time we got to school and to the room I needed to be at, they were waiting for us so I had to quick take out my viola. AND there were other people in the room watching us. I don't know who it was. There were the judges, my parents, and some random people! That made me even more nervous. I don't think I did very well, I didn't stick around to find out because I wanted to get back to the Hole in the Wall.

On Sunday, we had to be out of there by 12 and my cello was in, so my dad, charity and I went to Sioux Falls to go pick it up. Of course, Schmitt was closed. So we turned back around and drove home. Yesterday after school, we went and picked it up. It's beautiful!! It's so pretty! I will have to post some pictures of it.

I have run out of things to say. I'm waiting for more pictures to load. Hmmm. Pictures of pigs, tattoos, and trapeze, just like I promised. What else to say...

In school, nothing interesting is happening. This computer wont do what I want it to do.

first 1/2 of trip

2008-04-03T06:16:00.012-05:00

Thank you all so much for coming down to Iowa!!!! I'm sorry I haven't blogged since, I've had a hard time getting on the computer. For anyone wanting to know what happened, Paula has a great description on her blog. I had so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Picture of me walking 1/4 of a mile in the MUD to help pull them out. Also, at Casey's. I'm posting the fist half of the trip. If I don't post a picture that you really really want to see, just comment (i.e. more pictures of mud).

So I'm just rambling on while I wait for the pictures to upload. We got SNOW on Monday AND Tuesday! It was really slick out and they didn't cancel school! On Monday, we were getting big huge snowflakes basically all day and we didn't even get out early! I was disappointed.

Yesterday, I did my persuasive speech. I didn't think I did very well, but my teacher did. She said that I was very convincing. We needed a visual aid, and I was going to use a clip on the Internet, but I couldn't find one so I had to find a new visual aid. I was disappointed. But I think that my second visual aid worked better than my video would have.

Oh, here we are at the small chapel ( I think It's called the Wayside Chapel?) Anyway, I think that that's enough pictures. Here is a teaser for my next post. Pigs, tatoos, and trapeze!

2008-03-27T15:45:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know that it has been forever!!!! since I've blogged (according to some), but really, nothing that exciting had happened. Yes, some Nebraska cousins came up. Yes, they brought my grandparents their very first computer (which they call us for help for difficult tasks like turning it on). Yes, we got a new computer game that means that Dad, Sarah, and the boys are always playing so no one else can get a turn (if I could get on the regular computer instead of on Dads business computer, I could post some pictures). Yes, I finally broke the batting stick (yay me!). But as I said, nothing really interesting. Until this morning.
We got snow. Ok, maybe that doesn't sound interesting to some of you, but I WAS FINALLY STARTING TO SEE GREEN!!!!!!!!!! We should have had a 2 hour delay, but we are already going late at the end of school. I was going slow. Maybe about 30. I started fish tailing. I went in the other lane. I tried to get back in my lane. I went into the ditch. No this ditch wasn't a shallow city ditch. This was a deep steep ditch. When the car came to a stop, our nose was in the dirt. The person behind us stopped. My sister Sarah who was behind them stopped. I used a cell phone to call my dad to get the car out. The person behind us was related to us somehow and volunteered to take James and Michael to school. Sarah stayed with me until Dad got there (which was forever). It turned out that Dad decided that it would be a bad idea to try to pull it out so he drove it out. Looking at the car, I hadn't thought that that was possible. The car was ok.
But what really surprised me were the number of people who stopped to see if we were ok and if we needed help. Ok, so most of them were relatives, but not all. When I got to school, everyone knew. I walked into my 1st hour class (4 minutes late) and they had heard. It was weird.
But what really made my day was that in science class, my teacher lit a firecracker and through it into an adjourning room. It was hilarious.

Tour Two

2008-03-17T18:28:00.010-05:00

So a couple weeks ago, it was really really nice out. I have decided that it is time for another digital tour.I blame Sarah. She has a photography class and wanted to go around and take pictures. The fist place we went was near Hawarden by the blinking yellow light (don't you love directions in the country?) Apparently there are old boots on fence posts there. My dad says that they were always there. So here is a nice picture of them. On the way back home, we came over a nice hill and I thought it was a nice view. I also realized that I didn't have many pictures of me (not that you would want that!) so I took a picture of myself.

After that, a on Saturday, Sarah took me to Dordt College. It is here job to look after the animals there while they are on Easter Break. On the way there, I took the picture of the Eagle feasting on the pig carcass. It looks like a random picture of landscape, but if you zoom in on it, you can see the bald eagle. We actually have a lot of bald eagles around here. Charity actually had one glide up by here car on the way to school. She actually had to slow down so she didn't hit it. But at Dordt, there was a black snake. I was actually very scared of it, but I touched it! There were also 7 grey mice there. Over the break Sarah will have to feed them to the snake. The mice are actually very cute! There were also around 3 frogs there too. They were very very gross but I got a cool picture. They liked to hide under the rocks so they looked like the witch in Oz (squished by the house). There were 2 tanks of fresh water fish and 2 tanks of salt water fish. There was another snake too but we didn't pick him up because apparently he's mean. In that room there were jars of really really gross things like octopus tentacles, spiders, crabs, and other gross things. Have you realized that things look 10X as gross when they are in jars? Well, I hope that satisfies your need for me to blog!

2008-03-08T12:56:00.005-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while and I have heard about it. Umm... what's new in my life... Thursday we started pitcher/catcher open gym at school. I am still sore. I thought it was going to be informal, come when you want, leave when you want. I was wrong. I showed up in jeans to find that it was a very structured practice.

Coach VR: would you like to change?

Me: Ummm... no?

Brooke (my catcher): you can pitch in jeans?

Me: (I've been pitching in the barn all winter. You can pitch in shorts but you wont be pitching in shorts more than once) Ummm... yes?

Then, coming back, it was like a blizzard. Instead of going 55 mph, we were going 25. In some parts, you had to stop until you could see the road again.

In speech, we are done with our story telling unit. I read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Now we are doing a persuasion speech. This is a picture of a random guy that I drew. My birthday is on Tuesday!!!!!

One of the many mind-boggling things about a rual community...

2008-02-22T19:02:00.002-06:00

So today was my fist day back in school. I got a lot of comments on it from class mates and teachers. There were a lot of comments to the effects of me "rejoining the living" and so on. But the point of this digression was that I learned, to late to do anything about it, that today was bring you tractor to school day. Driving to school, I noticed 3 tractors in the Hardees parking lot (for those who don't know what Hardees is, it's like a McDonald's). Strange. I didn't know at the time that it was take your tractor to school day. When coming home, I made a point to look in the back parking lot. There was about 10 tractors parked out there! If I had known sooner, I would have taken one of Dads (regardless to the fact I can't drive it by my self).
Since today is a day dedicated to tractors, I feel that I should rant a bit about my dads tractors. He has two. Their names are 21 and 22, since my uncles tractors are already named 1 and 2. My Dad's mechanics call them the new tractor and the old tractor. One is 1/2 year older. They are bright orange AGCO tractors. For those who have seen Cars, they look sort of like the tractors that Lightning goes and "cow tips" They are more sophisticated than our cars. They have a lot of expensive electronics in it so dad can go in a strait row (I'm sure there are other reasons that they have. I've just never learned them). The seat is heated. It has a CD player (none of our cars have one). They have other things too, but I should stop before you go into a coma from boredom.

ICH BIN KRANK!!!!!

2008-02-18T17:16:00.003-06:00

For those of you poor individuals that didn't take German and are wondering what my title means (cough cough Mitchell)... I AM SICK! I just heard from mom that you are too Mitch.
Friday was a 1/2 day with monday off. First James got sick. His record high... 103.4 Then Sarah got sick, dad got a cough, Now I'm sick though my high is only 100.4 Mom says tomorrow I shouldn't go to school, though James might be better by then.
The people who aren't sick? Michael. Charity was comming down with it this morning but she went to school anyway, leaving the 2 sick children she was babysitting (Andrew and Casey) with my Aunt Brenda. The reason my sister is babysitting? There parents went down to Mexico!!! My Aunt Judy and Uncle Phil were going down too. They have 4 kids. We were supposed to get the second oldest but we didn't want to get him sick too, so he went over to Mitch's house along with their second youngest, Isaac.
I checked and our Easter Break is March 20-25. Any of those days match up?
Oh, since we're Juniors, I'm sure you're getting as much college mail as me. One that actually looked interesting was an American College in Rome.
Dad: Ooooh! Cool! We can come visit you!
Mom: We'll never get to see her again!
Me: ...
Dad:You could go for just a semester if you felt like it!
Mom: She'll meet an Italian Guy and we'll never see her again!
Me: ...

Fun w/ Translators

2008-02-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

So, Chartiy showed me on youtube a movie where they did a skit, translated it to french, then to German, then back to french, then finally to english. It was hilarious. So I decided to do that with Psalm 23. Actually, it didn't turn out as hard to understand as the skit. They had to use subtitles. Anyways, here it is...

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not in need.
2 I am more in green pastures,
It leads me in the quiet neighbourhood close to the water,
3 He restores my soul.
I guide on the path of righteousness
Because of its name.
4 Although I
In the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I fear no evil,
For you are with me;
Your machine and your colleagues,
They comfort me.
5 You prepare me
In the presence of my enemies.
Anoint my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Sure 6 goodness and love will follow me
Every day of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Always.

Sorry in copying, it got a little weird so every line is a new paragraph

Kits Cats and Quartets

2008-02-04T07:01:00.000-06:00

Well, its official, our cats are the cutest. Ash, one of the wild ones (grey) is now officially tame. It's so funny. Tiger (Orange) will follow you around, esp. Dad when he's working. I came home and he goes up on the hood. He then comes arouond and goes on the side mirror and rubs his head against the window saying 'pet me! pet me!'
On Saturday, I went to a NICYO (sp?) concert (Im in Jr NICYO). My Aunt Sarah, my cousins Heather and Holly and my violin/viola teacher was in it. It was awesome! They had a quartet that's like really famous that sang too. It was really fun. The Orchestra played the Superman theme and the conductor dressed up in a superman shirt and a red cape.
We had Youth Sunday yesterday. I was in a skit. I didn't like talking in front of everybody.
It's really weird. We didn't have a snow day when it was -40 w/ windchill (that was COLD) but it is 28 out right now and we are having a 2 hour delay! Well, I'm not complaining. Lucky you guys for having 2 snowdays in a row! Don't worry! I will talk to Cherry about Mitch the Midget.

GOOD LUCK AT ITALIAN DINNER!!!

I Obey Every Command O Jade Jewel Of Jersey!

2008-01-25T07:32:00.000-06:00

Charity said that I needed to Blog more, or maybe it was Mitch. Oh well. So this is a quick blog before school. Janet, the reason I don't have you on my list to other blogs is very simple. I can't operate computers. Oh sure, the easy, non complicated things or the things I've done a lot I can do, but Sarah was the one who set up this blog for me. I don't know how to do it and I haven't gotten around to asking Sarah to do it for me. This weekend, this day, Sarah will come home from Grandma's. I ask her to put you on. YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, JANET, THE JADE JEWEL NOT FROM JERSEY!

ES IST KALT!!!!

2008-01-20T14:34:00.000-06:00

So the Radio Shack people were unable to fix our old computer but they transfered all our stuff onto a computer. So I can finally blog at length.

As you can tell by my title, it is really cold down here. Here are some signs of a Iowa winter...

Snow drifts across the road (actually its very pretty)
As soon as the gravel roads clear from the last snow, we get more snow
On cold days, we get -30 degree windchill (school was NOT cancled)
Icy roads (then it clears up and we get more snow/ice)
Ice coats every thing
Today is a nice day. It's 7 degrees (really, it's really really nice out. There's minimal wind and everything)
One car wouldn't start yesterday

But you get the picture.

This was our fist full week of Sem. 2. My classes include...

Speech and Writing- actually I really like the teacher so it isn't bad
Computer Application- will this class NEVER end?
Home room- Yay 15 minute reading time!
Study Hall- boring
Chemistry- I hate this class
General Buisness- Anther boring required class which I hate
Drawing I- I like the class, dislike the people in it
Phychology- No matter how the class sounds, it's really fun. I like the teacher and enjoy the class
Geometry- (more like trig) a nice easy class at the end of the day

Like I said, it's about 7 degrees out right now, (the computer is very helpful and tells me these things) and my dad takes me out to the barn and has me pitch!!! It wasn't as bad as it sounds. Like I said, it's a nice day out and there's a heater in there.

GGGRRR!! ARRGH!

2008-01-10T07:06:00.000-06:00

So, I finally went in to change my license. When you first get your license, you have to stay accident/ticket free for a year. I was supposed to get my full license in March. Well, I have to have the probationary period for ANOTHER YEAR!!! I am not happy. I have to stay accident free for 2 YEARS!
In other news, my aunt Natasha had her fist kid yesterday at about 3 am. His name is Lucas Ross.

Belated Merry Christmas!

2007-12-28T08:23:00.000-06:00

Well, my first Christmas in Iowa. Of course, we did all our shopping last minute. The last present was bought Christmas Eve. On the 22nd, we had our Hooyer Party. BOWLING!!! FOOD!!! SKIT!!! BOGGLE!!! APPLES TO APPLES!!! RESISTING GOING MAD!!! It was fun. Actually, the guy there (supervising, helping, or going slowly mad) was the same as last year. I was very surprised. We actually had it at 8 in the morning instead of at night. Needless to say, we all came late. Here's me playing Apples to Apples with one of my favoritest Aunts. I like this picture of my cousins and my dad. (Dad, Jolee, and Kayloni) Jolee is wearing my dad's glasses. The next picture is of Jolee and Ethan. Very cute. The next pic is of our Christmas play we put on every year. Also a picture of the sheep.

After the the Party, we went to my Aunt Sarah's house. There I played Cranium and came in last! I hate humdingers!

On Christmas we opened presents. I got movies, music, and misc. I finally found the picture of the dog! If you can't tell, I had fun with pictures.

Well, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chapter 2

2007-12-17T19:24:00.000-06:00

Becka Butterfly
Or, A Hint of a Quest

Mitch walked despondently down the path. He had no home, no friends, no purpose. A lonesome call rang overhead, a piercing screech. Through the leafy foliage he could just make out a jay hawk circling overhead. As he watched, the lazy swoop turned into a sharp dive, murder glinting in its eyes.

He threw himself to the ground as the streak passed him and dive bombed into a bush behind him. His pounding heart slowed than quickened again when a frightened “EEP” reached his ears. Pivoting, his searching eyes found a defenseless hare fighting for her life. Without thinking, Mitch grabbed a short branch lying next to him and whapped the killer bird. Stunned, it reeled away into the sky.

Silence reigned in the forest once again, when suddenly a beautiful blue butterfly popped into existence in a flash of blue. Flitting, it landed on Mitch’s finger. He brought it up to his face, and was enchanted by her intelligent eyes. “Mitchel. You have acted selflessly in defense of Bunny Beth from the evil Count Jamie Jay Hawk. I have searched high and low for someone like you to come to my aid. You will rescue Sarah Princess from the evil dragon Charity Chomper! Continue down this road, and more answers will come to you.” With another flash, she was gone.

Story

2007-12-10T19:38:00.000-06:00

Well, me and my sister are going to write an ongoing story. One chapter will be on her blog, the next on mine. (Charity's blog incase you want to read it). So if one day you see a chapter 2, do not be alarmed. You are not loosing your mind. Charity's blog describes it better so if your interested, read hers for a better explination.

This does not mean I will stop posting other blogs. This story will probably be ongoing between blogs.

Dogs

2007-12-01T12:26:00.001-06:00

Well, I did take a pic of my braces and the dog, but I accidentally saved them somewhere and I don't know where. I'll find them eventually. Well, the dog is gone. (excuse me while I cackle). Yesterday, I get home from school and I found out that the dog had eaten one of the little grey kittens. He was also chasing cats. Spooks was limping. Charity was so mad that she was ready to shoot him. She would have too, but we don't actually have a real gun. We only have BB guns. So me and Dad took him to Rock Valley (15 minutes away) and let him loose in town, and took a round about way home so he couldn't follow us.
One of the other cats, Skunk, might die. We think its because he's so cold. I want to blog more, but I have to get ready for my concert.

Teeth and Dogs

2007-11-28T18:53:00.000-06:00

Well, I have my braces and so far, I've been staying on Ibuprofen. I hate them already. They really didn't hurt (thanks to meds) but they're really annoying. But they are metallic purple and pink. Today is my Dads and brothers birthday. In art, we went around and decorated windows. It was a lot of fun, but I wish I had more time. I got to skip the hardest classes!
Yesterday, my red-headed neighbor/cousin found a stray dog. So, he brought it over here. I dislike it very very strongly. It it too much of a people person. It will jump all over you. It tripped Michael and it will jump on the cats w/o noticing while trying to jump on us. We are trying to give it away. Mitchell, I WILL get even with you!!! (pics of both teeth and dog hopefully soon).

Braces

2007-11-22T07:51:00.000-06:00

Well, it's final. I'm getting braces. Yesterday, I got spacers. They didn't hurt to badly, so I didn't take any Tylenol. It hurt a little to chew, but it was ok. Today, it really really hurts. I can hardly chew. Today is Thanksgiving, so that was just bad timing.
Today we have a Sandbulte thing at an elementary school somewhere. Saturday we have a Hooyer thing.

Life as a traveling saleswoman

2007-11-01T18:21:00.000-05:00

So for RCYF (reformed church youth something) we are doing a fundraiser so we can go to Rockie Mountain High. We are selling coupons for free large pizza's, chicken, or cactus bread from Pizza Ranch (which has the best chicken!!!). Everyone else got them on Sunday, but I got them yesterday. Normally, I don't do fundraisers because I don't know anyone and all my friends are doing the same fundraiser. But since I am related to about 1/2 the county here, I had to do it. (everyone on this list bought some)

first stop: my uncle Al and Cal (twins). they bought some and then we sat around and watched bull riding, roping, etc. My brother decided that he wanted to be a bull rider. I said "I'll sign your cast"
today: grandma & grandpa S. there we got a bag of milky ways and fake clown noses
my great-aunt: we talked. phone rang. answered. we talked. phone rang. answered. we talked. phone rang. we left.
my aunt and uncle (Brenda & Greg): they found a viola when cleaning (their 3 daughters are amazing musicians) and gave it to me so I could see if it was better than the one my Aunt Sarah (who was using it for decoration) gave me. (we stopped at my Aunt Sarah's but no one was home)
my aunt Maria: we talked. She recommended my aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark
my aunt Debbie and my uncle Mark: We talked about dogs, chickens, cows, and wanting their son to get married and have grandchildren. Also gave us food.

After that we went home. My aunt Judy would also want some but my mom might buy the rest because we wanted some. My uncle Gene said he would buy any that we have left, but I don't think he's going to get very much.

This blog was totally random but who else do you know that in selling things, would get candy, fake noses, and a viola? I'm not even sure I want to go on the trip!

Sorry

2007-10-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

I know you all were planning on this and canceling things so you can come, but it wouldn't work out this week. My grandpa just died this morning. On Sunday, we're having a family thing so we wouldn't be able to take you back. Also, I don't think you'd have much fun right now. I would still love to see you sometime. Maybe a different time?

HAPPY MOLE DAY!!!!

2007-10-23T16:11:00.000-05:00

In chemistry, there is a mesurement called the mole. It is Avogadro's number (6.02 x 1023). So it starts at 6 am on the 10th month, the 23rd day. We had cupcakes that looked like moles, chocolate, and pop. We did something for 5-10 min. and for the rest, we talked. Also, everyone else (I ran earlier) had to run the mile today. It was really cold b/c we are 1st hour :)
Friday, we have a pep rally so we get out at 11:30! (Go xcountry team)

2007-10-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe Paula will be the first to get why this is such a big deal. Today we started throwing (is that correct sp? oh well you know what i mean) pots. I got it the first day, the first time. I'll explain for all y'all who weren't in my pottery class last year. It took me about 4 weeks in class and after school to throw 1 cup. It took everyone else about 1 week. My pot is actually really cool. I'm happy.
My sister had a dentist appointment today and she was supposed to pick me up after. She didn't. She is still gone. My uncle took me home. AM I INVISIBLE!!!!! GGGRRRRR!!!! Oh well.
icantwaiticantwaiticantwaiticantwaiticantwaiticantwait...

Random

2007-10-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

In my grade, there is a kid named Ian. His parents are Glen and Viki. Glen is my Dad's cousin and Viki is my mom's second cousin. So actually, he is more closely related to me than any of my actual cousins (but I don't know him really well). Apparently, he got in an accident at around 5 yesterday. He broke his jaw, lost some teeth, and apparently, something is wrong with one of his eyes. But they say that he is a lot better than what they thought at first.
I emailed the Steigerwald's & Megan directions because their parents are the ones driving. If you need any clarifications, you can email/call/blog and I relay it to my sister. About what time are you leaving (1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc?) I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Yay!

2007-10-04T05:01:00.001-05:00

Of course, as you all know, my friends are comming down to Iowa to visit me!!!!!! I desided to post again b/c we had like 35 comments on my other one. I can't wait!!

Here is a couple pictures of me on the tramp. Two days ago, I ran over a racoon. I was following my dad b/c we had to drop one of the cars off somewere and he hit the racoon, then I hit it. It was rolling from when I hit it so it was very strange to see.
Also, here is some pics of some kittens that you will see very soon.

Ummm... what else to say? Yay!!!! Hey, if you are leaving early from school, that means I'll have to too! Yay!!!

Virtual Tour

2007-09-29T12:04:00.000-05:00

Since y'all have been after me to post pictures of my house and stuff, I've finally stopped procrastinating. When I went to Orchestra, I took Charity's camera with me.

The first couple photos are pictures of our house from the porch. Then I went to Orchestra. There were pictures are of Dordt, but they were really boring so I left them out. After that I drove by School. That picture was boring but I included it. The picture is of both the middle school and high school since they are connected. After that I drove by the library. About 5 years ago (or longer), someone threw firecrackers in the drop box and the library burned down. Now they are in the old high school (in the gym- you can see the basketball hoops). They are building a new building but the pictures of that were boring. After that, I drove home. Here are some random pictures (the children's park, a field, sheep, my uncles long barn, my other uncles semi crashed into the building (kidding), and a picture of our house from the road). I took other pictures, but that would have taken way to long of a time to load.

Most of these pictures I took while in the car. Sometimes I stopped, sometimes I was still driving. You can see parts of the car
in the pictures.

Random typing while waiting for my pictures to load... The long barn is about 350-400 yards. It holds cows. It used to be my Gramdpa and Gramdma Hooyer's farm. So my dad grew up there. They sold it to their oldest son (my uncle Paul). It once collapsed when my dad was young because of a whole bunch of snow on it. All done. Can quit ranting now!

Um...

2007-09-27T18:26:00.000-05:00

This week, we had ITED's (Iowa Test of Something). So we sat in really uncomfortable chairs in the auditorium. It went from 8:15 to 2. It was kind of like the ACT tests.
Has anyone noticed a trend? So far, my school hasn't had a week were there was no interruptions. I think in a month or two, there will be one full week!!! (Gasp)
Today in Gym, we ran the mile for 'practice.' Gym was first hour. My legs still feel like jelly. There is a mural by the gym. On it is a violin. It bugs me every time I see it. It is disproportional, it has no chin rest, the end of the violin is missing parts, and the bow doesn't have a frog. It doesn't look like a bow. Like I said, it bugs me.
Ooooh, my favorite author (Terry Pratchett, a satirical master) came out with a new book and I just finished it! Yeah!!!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE EURO TRIP!!!!! MISS YOU! MISS EAU CLAIRE!! MISS TREES!!! MISS WATER!!!! MISS MEMORIAL!!!!!

Ranting

2007-09-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

For the county orchestra, I'm first viola. NOT FUN! I like having to have someone to listen to in case I get off. Also, not one of the other violas can keep a beat. It's annoying. Plus, they are playing really easy songs, and we are playing The Gift! I remember I hated that song. Don't remember why, but I did.
Also, Tuesday, we had the equivalent to Arrive Alive. They had a driving simulator. You started out sober and slowly got drunk. It would give you a second delay simulating the alcohol delaying you. I'm sure you're all happy to know I crashed. I kept on swerving and I either hit a building or a car. I forget.
Tonight, we had '50's Night at church. We served hot dogs and rootbeer and stuff like that. It was sort of like the Italian Dinner but instead of having 2 seating's, people came whenever they liked so it was busy all the time.
Oooohhh! My parents saw a couple kittens under the deck!!!! I haven't seen them, but I can't wait to catch them, get all scratched up, and tame them.

1/2 Day Today

2007-09-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

Weekend: boring. I babysat and washed tents. On Sunday, my uncle took me to a RCYF party. It was ok. It rained but they fed us. They also had really cute kittens.
Yesterday: Geek Day. Homecomming is this week. I petted Ashley (the wild cat). She went away a couple steps aferwards. Not much else to say.
Today: Pink Day and 1/2 day. It was kind of funny seeing guys in pink. Some were wearing girls shirts or bathrobes. Also our school server crashed. I still don't have a place to save things there (the U drive). So in computer App., we were allowed to serf the web. At memorial's web site, you can go to 'a day at memorial' or something like that. For 6th hour orchestra, it's a picture of Paula, Elisabeth, and me. Also I got to take home my clay lizzard today. I have viola lessons later today. Nothing else to say really.

Freshmen

2007-09-07T16:45:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of nice Froshies out there. I even sit by some at lunch. But 2 of the freshmen boys are almost driving me to INSANE. (Just kidding-but they really are annoying)
One guy in my computer app. class once was poking my shoe. For no reason. And today, SC was playing MOC (our rivals apparently who wear purple). Because I was wearing my Memorial Old Abes shirt, he started hitting me over the head with a rolled up piece of paper.
Today in Art, some guy in front of me started hitting me over the head with a ruler! What is up with froshies and hitting me over the head?!
Like I said, don't get me wrong. There are some really nice people down here. Some of the guys will hold open doors for you or let you go in front of them. But hitting a girl you don't know over the head? No one in Memorial would have done that to me. From now on, I will wear my Memorial shirt whenever they have a football game.
On a different note, I think my sister is slightly color blind. She thought my black bandanna was blue. She says that sometimes red seems orange so here blue/yellow things might be messed up. Random picture of my sister being spider-woman. Ooh! In art, I met a girl who'd also lived in WI (I forget were). She also agrees that the water here is disgusting. I mainly drink bottled water now.

Iowa Rain

2007-09-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

This summer has been really weird in terms of the weather. We went a whole month w/o rain. Let me tell you, everyone down here was really worried. Then we started to get rain just in time for the crops. But today I got my first taste of a "real Iowa rain" as my dad put it.
We had just jump started our car because dad had left the lights on. He decided to give the car some more time, we would go over to my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark. So we went there and talked for a bit. We also got ice cream and strawberry's. Yum! But then it started to down poor. The car was about 40ft from the door. We ran as fast as we could to the car but in that short time, I was soaked. My hair was wet all the way through and so were my close. When driving home, we couldn't see 10ft infront of us and we were only going 25 mph!
On a different note, we had 'Warrior Time' today. It is every Thursday. Classes are shortend. If you have missing work or are failing a class, a teacher will ask you to stay after school. If not, we can go home early (instead of 3:20, we get out at 2:35).

Odd things in Iowa

2007-09-05T18:46:00.000-05:00

Tractors driving down the road
Really REALLY old tractors driving down the road
People riding down town streets with lawn mowers
People riding horses down gravel roads
Trees only by houses
Sunday: most buisnesses are closed
NO BOOK STORES
Old appliences (like old stoves, etc.)
My Grandma still washes all her dishes by hand
My Grandma doesn't own a computer
Sarah, Charity, anything else you can think of?

3 day weekend!

2007-09-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

Well... What to say. Nothing much except family. This is my first chance this weekend to blog. The rest of my family has taken up the computer. My sisters had school today. Bwahahaha!!!
On Saturday, I babysat. They weren't that bad this time.
Today, we went over to my grandparents to eat Dinner (Lunch to those who aren't Dutch). Our Great-Aunts Grada, Arlene, and Harriet were there as well as our Great-Uncle Howard. When we were eating, my Grandpa told us about someone praying in Dutch and there was only one phrase that people could understand. He told it to us, and all the old people started laughing. I cannot tell you how weird it was. The punch line was in a different language. Living in a Dutch community is weird. A lot of last names start with Vander, Vande, Van, De, etc. (i.e. Vander Lugt (pronounced Vander Luckt), De Jong (De Young)). We also played this fun game called penny Rummy.
Do you all start school on Wednesday? Freshmen tomorrow? You guys ready?

Random

2007-08-30T15:44:00.000-05:00

My sister asked me to blog more often so she knew what was happening at home. Well, not much. Sarah moved in with my Grandparents so she is close to school. She forgot her backpack so I had to bring it this morning. Tomorrow I will pick up Charity unless she emails otherwise.
Not much is really happening. Apparently my Aunt and Uncle walked over to our house (for those who live in Iowa it was Paul and Maria). When they left, they looked behind them and following them was a string of ducklings... wait, kittens. (They do that too when I am waiting for the bus). So Dad had to put out food so my relatives could make their escape.
School. I'm done outlining the car and am starting to ink it. I'm also done w/ my lizard and we're starting to make a slab 'mode of transportation.' Chemistry is still the class I despise the most. Bwahahahaha!!!!! School starts next week for you'all

Saturday fun in the Sun

2007-08-26T08:08:00.001-05:00

Well, maybe not. It was in the sun at least. 1st off, I had to go to the college to try out for the Youth Orchestra. My D string didn't like me for tuning. The people who told me which scales to play were wrong. They told me to play the violin scales. I hadn't practiced those. My solo went ok though. Same w/ sight reading. That was really easy because most of the kid in there will probably be a lot younger than me. I think I impressed the person.
Then I went home, changed, then went to my uncle Ross's. He's building a place for cattle. My dad was helping him dig holes for fence poles. I helped. Then I got home, ate, then I mowed the lawn. My mom had started w/ the push mower. Since the side of the lawn we were mowing is really really big (huge), doing it w/ a push mower is a pain. So I got my dad to wire on the muffler (remember Sarah broke it) so I could do it w/ the riding one. Then, when I was almost done, Sarah came home from work and mowed the rest for me.
On Friday, when I picked up Charity, I watched the 'Battle of the Classes.' It was a slime fest. Well actually, they had a big horse trough that they had to fill w/ slime. So they ran to the middle were there were 3 trough's for each grade, filled up there cups, then ran back. They could only use kids sand buckets that had holes in the bottom. Sophomores won and Freshmen came in second. Since my sister is a freshmen, I didn't stay for the rest.

School! School! Dreadful School!

2007-08-24T16:16:00.000-05:00

Well, actually it isn't dreadful. My English class is awesome (she mixes history along with). My computer App. teacher is cool (even if I'm w/ froshies).

Today, I switched out of Algebra II. That's what I would have been in Memorial. But here, it was all stuff I'd done before. So, I went back to Geometry which I took last year. EXCEPT... this Geometry is more like Trig. So. Actually, I really like the class and teacher. but that meant I had to take Chemistry 9th instead of 8th. But that's ok. I like that class better.

Today in Chemistry my teacher was saying that when describing candles, we shouldn't use 'wax.' It could be made out of mothballs or other weird sounding things. The then set a candle on fire and ate it. It was a potato and almond. Cool.

For the first 4 periods and part of 5th, we took a test that is supposed to show our aptitude.Everybody here is really nice. People (mainly girls) wil. come up to me and ask me how it's going, how I like the school, if I want to sit w/ them, etc. I don't know most of them. At lunch, if they see someone sitting alone, everyone at a table will get up and move to that person. I've seen that happen twice.
It's really cute how our cats follow us to the bus stop. The picture is of me on the swing goofing off. That is were I also sometimes wait for the bus. One bad thing is that the water here is terrible, especially in the school. At home we have to have a filter and it still tastes gross. I usually drink cool-aid or something from a bottle.

First day of school

2007-08-22T16:32:00.000-05:00

My school starts at 8. My bus comes at 7:30. I went to gym (Western Civ was full). My gym teacher seems fairly nice. Since we have a big 1st hour (30 students instead of the normal 10-15) he said that if we didn't like the unit we were doing, we could walk instead! Yeah! Next was American Lit. My dad had her. She, too, is really nice. We don't have a seating chart and she says that we wont read any books that she doesn't like (i.e. Moby Dick). Next is Home Room. About 15 minutes of reading. It's there technically for announcements or if someone needs to talk to you. Then I have Computer App. Same teacher as HR. He seems really cool but we had a Junior meeting so he didn't get to talk about the class. Ceramics is next (like pottery). We have 5 other girls in that class (no boys). Or first project is to make a clay reptile. It sounds like a lot of fun. Study Hall has 65 students in it and even more when choir joins us. In the middle of Study Hall, we have lunch. Hot lunch only has 1 option and the potatoes are terrible. I ate by someone who I think was named Amanda. She was nice. Then I went back for 20 more minutes of Study Hall. Then I went to design (art). We are going to draw old cars w/ ink. Chemistry looks horrible and I got homework in it. For my last class I have Algebra 2. It looks really easy. My teacher let us talk for the last 20 minutes because she didn't know when we got done. Count them. I have 9 classes (including HR and Study Hall)
I miss you all and I miss Memorial. I miss lunches and eating them w/ you all. I miss the variety of class options (i.e. German, Orchestra, Ancient & Medieval History). I MISS EAU CLAIRE!!!!!

SCHOOL!!!!!!

2007-08-21T17:56:00.000-05:00

ARRRGGGHHH!!!! School starts tomorrow!!!!!!! enough said. I still need some school supplies. My dad says can't use our car unless I have something after school. My sister ran the lawn mower in to the ditch and it got stuck. We had to remove it with our Pickup. Our air conditioner isn't working. It's hot. I don't want to go to school. Have to go to school now!

Kits and Cats

2007-08-16T18:51:00.000-05:00

I've apparently forgot to say that we got a new kitten from my cousin. His name is Spooks. You have to sneak up to him to pick him up (the black kitten is Spooks). We also have a grey cat that hangs about that we've named Ashley because he/she is ash colored. We can come close to him/her but not close enough to touch. I like how the kittens will sit on your shoulder (the kitten in the picture is Houdini). Today Tiger climbed up a pole by the barn and went up on the barn roof (which is metal). He looked like he couldn't get back down so I had to lift him down. It's kind of funny watching them. They stay close to the house unless they are following you. Tiger once followed my parents on a walk. They come w/ me to the barn were I pitch. It's really cute becuase the'll be trying to pounce on the balls which are inside the net. We have to be careful so they don't get tangled though.

Here is a picture of the bell chior that I told you about. He's pretending that his music stand was a type writer. It was actually very cool.

Bells and Canoes

2007-08-12T07:31:00.000-05:00

On Friday, we (my my dad and my sister) went to the Glee Hand Bell Choir at the mall. Basically, they were from a Japan christian school that I think my church supports. It was actually kind of cool. My favorite songs were the pink panther and the typewriter one. Since my sister took Japanese, we dragged her up to say hello. I was going to add a picture of them, but I can't get the picture link to work.
Yesterday we went river canoeing w/ some of my uncles and 4 of my cousins. It was fun. I rode w/ Sarah. That meant I could paddle or just sit there. I helped my cousin Dilan find clam shells. He also caught a minnow (who died) and a toad which he promptly named Dragon Slayer. My sister took this picture, I don't know why but I kind of liked it so I'll put it on.

Harry Potter Question

2007-08-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

Ok, my uncle Gregg just called me and had a question about the last HP book. I had no idea, so I decided to put it on here and see if anyone has any idea.
In the end of the book, Neville had the had and pulled out the sword of Griffindore. He then proceeded to kill Voldimort's snake. The question is, were did the sword come from? The last you saw it was w/ the goblin. Any ideas?

The Iowinian life

2007-08-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

First thing that you need to know if you are planning to life in Iowa is that roads are a myth. A pleasant myth, but a myth the same. Most Iowinians swear that there are roads but for the months I've been here, I haven't seen the slightest sign of them. They have 3 types of things that they call roads. 1st, the gravel 'road.' This is made out of, (any guesses?) gravel. When you drive down the center of it and in small cars, you have a hard time getting any faster that 40 mph even though they say you can go 55. You also can fish tail When you meet someone on the side of the road, you have to go to your side. Meeting someone at the top of a hill can be dangerous and scary. Also, after going after a grater is something you want to avoid. 2nd, highways. They are narrow so if you are pulling something or someone else is, you have to be really careful. You have to also be really careful in regular cars. Last and not least, town roads. They, so far, are ok but I haven't seen them to much because of all the road construction.
The next thing you need know is that the weather is NOT a casual topic. You can be making small talk and accidentally mention the weather. If this happens, you are in for about 5-10 minutes of how it was, when you might get rain, how good the last rain was, etc.
Iowa is very small. Your neighbors are anyone in a 6 mile radius (or so they tell me). One day I would really like to meet 'they,' 'them,' and the like. Everybody knows each other. You mention your last name and they start playing what my dad calls Dutch bingo. "Your mom and dad are blank. Were the the mother and father in law to your cousins aunts grandchild other cousin." "Oh, me and your blank go way back..." "Is blank your mother, cousin, aunt, etc. (fill in necessary)" They also have a grape vine that I unfortunately haven't been able to infiltrate. It's amazing how the word gets around. My grandma will call me about someone I have never heard about. When I was playing softball, I would have people who I've never met before come up to me and say, "So your Becka right? I've heard your a really great pitcher! Call me if you ever need a catcher." It's weird.

Ice Skating

2007-08-04T08:24:00.000-05:00

Apparently, were these people normally skate, there was a competition so they couldn't use the ice rink. Someone knew the person who owned the rink here. So they came and practiced here. Yesterday, they gave a free show. Except for the 2 new teams, they were all Medalists, Champions, etc. We had the 2007 Midwest Sectional Champions, 2007 Junior World Champions, 2007Midwestern Medalists, stuff like that. And of course, I forgot my camera. They were all really good. There was this one team w/ 2 little kids. I think they were either the Junior Nat'l finalists or the Midwestern Medalists. I forgot. But they were really cute. But I think my favorite was the team that skated to I'm a Barbie Girl. It was really funny.
Afterwords, I went to my Aunt and Uncles house. There we played the dictionary game. The word I picked for the others to define was Qua-hog. Any guesses? (no looking it up)

Sioux Center fire

2007-08-01T21:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, an ethanol truck was loading it on the train and it exploded. My dad was in town and said that you could see the flames from a long ways off. They had to evacuate lots of buildings close by including the mall. Apparently there the train car by it was filled w/ some stuff and they were afraid it was going to blow too. I go a picture of the train car today. The orange is from the flame. You can see were the truck that was holding the ethanol was. The ends are still there but the middle is gone. As far as I've heard, no one was killed. It might be in the news over there too.

I started violin lessons today. I really like my teacher (Jennifer). She is really nice and she also teaches viola. She has a small son and is expecting. I think I'll like her a lot.

I promised picture of me in that one dress so here is one. I also liked this picture so I'm putting it in.

I BLOG, THEREFORE I AM

2007-07-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

I helped shingle the pastors house. Actually, most of it was done yesterday. I didn't do much, except lay shingles were they were supposed to go.

Our cats love to climb the kitchen screen. I think thats Sweet Pea and Tiger, but I'm not sure.

Last night, I had a dream that I was in Memorial/South. The lunchroom and a big computer lab was upstairs but the rest was Memorial. I didn't know what class I had first and it was the first day of school. The first bell had just rung. The hallways were empty. I think I have anxieties about school starting. I'm not sure where my first class is (its in the college) or what time school starts/ends. I think I'll have to email someone at the school.

Our garden gave us our first corn (4.5 ears). We have 2 types of corn. The little corn was planted earlier so that's were we got some corn. Most of it's not ready yet. The bigger corn was planted later so their corn isn't at all ready.

Summer draws to a close!!!!!!

2007-07-26T14:58:00.000-05:00

I finished the HP book days ago (actually,the day I got the book from my sister, I started it at about 10 am. I finished it at around 8 pm), but I've just been busy.
I helped my dad take down a tent in Viborg. Don't ask me where it is and expect an answer except that it's in SD near Sioux Falls. There they had Danish Days. (That's like October Fest, except that theirs not enough Germans to justify calling it that) They had a building that they could of used, except that it wasn't the same as having it in a tent! It was actually kind of fun learning how to take it down except that it was was very hot. It was by the fire station and they had a fire truck that looked like a brand new old truck. It had a sign on it saying, "Thanks to your support, We Still Make House Calls!" I thought that was funny.
I don't think that I can make a trip up to WI b/c school is very close, and my sister, who I'd planned on taking the trip w/, is working. So maybe during the school year. If our vacations don't match up, I can come w/ you and sit in on your classes.

WE'VE GOT THE 7TH HARRY POTTER BOOK!

2007-07-24T11:53:00.000-05:00

Enough said. My sister read it all last night so I actually have it this morning. I'm liking it so far.
Last night I helped my dad take down a huge tent. Not much else is happening. I'll type more when more has happened and I've finnished the book.

Odds and Ends

2007-07-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

OUR COMPUTER IS WORKING!!!!! Enough said.
Yesterday, I helped stain my grandma's shed. I have to go back on Monday but I don't mind. I also went up to Sioux Falls (SD) My sister needed new tennis shoes. While there, we went into an actual BOOKSHOP! (there are none in Sioux Center) I spotted a shop that had some cool oriental fans and stuff. I convinced them to come in and looked. There I got a cool dress that sort of looks like a camino (sp?). I'll have to get a picture of it.
A couple days ago, we got 2 more rabbits. There is an all black buck that we named Cricket. We also got a brown female that we named Brownie. Again, I"ll have to get a picture of all 3.
Today, instead of doing housework, I'm helping clean/spray down tent sides for some guy who I think his name is Stan. 1 side of 1 curtain took me 1 hour. There are a lot of tent curtains. But I get to use a power sprayer that looks like a gun:)

4th of July Belated

2007-07-19T07:14:00.000-05:00

Since our computer is broken, I haven't had time to tell you all about my 4th. I'm babysitting and the kids are still asleep.
The 4th of July at our house is full of tradition. In Iowa it is illegal to shoot of a type of firework, I think the air kind. But in near by South Dakota, it isn't. So we always get illegal fireworks. Then, we have a fire were kids roast marshmallows and get unbelievably sticky.
Then there is the timeless tradition of people almost getting killed. This year, my dad had a box of fireworks that shoots up. He accidentally put it upside down. They went everywhere. My grandma was still muttering about the firework that went under her chair days latter.
The next day, the last of my cousins from Michigan left.
On a different note, 2 days ago, I saw the HP movie. It was way better than the book and by far, my favorite movie.

Someone please fix our Computer!

2007-07-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

The phone people didn't find anything wrong w/ the connection, and had us take it to a repair shop. They couldn't find anything wrong w/ it either. I'm again babysitting and they're watching Dumbo. Our email isn't working either:( Can one of you please email Megan and tell her about my computer problems and blog? I think she's back from Europe. I don't want her to think I'm ignoring her.
We have a fair going on and I wanted to see the greased pig contest, but I missed it. I'll see the mud volleyball though. I saw one of my softball people there showing rabbits. She is going to sell us a buck and a doe after the fair is done.
I got a 3 on my Euro test. I think most colleges count 4's though:(

Still can't blog!

2007-07-14T19:27:00.000-05:00

Our email and internet is still down. I'm babysitting so I can quick comment. Yesterday, Boots, Michael's cat died. I'm not sure how, but I'm still sad. Thursday was our last JV game but this week I still have softball! Terry, my dad's cousin says that he'll soon have some rabbits that we can have. Got to go now, my kids are comming upstairs! I'm not sure when our computer will get fixed or I can babysit again to blog:(

Computer problems!

2007-07-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Our internet isn't working and I'm not sure when that'll be fixed. I'm actually babysitting right now but the kids are playing together. I had to take them to swimming. I'll also babysit them on Wednesday.
I have games all week except for Friday. On Wednesday, my cousin who moved and her husband will be here so were are having a get together at my game because lately, we've had so many people at our house for fires. All type more later when our internet is working!

Lazy Saturday

2007-07-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Where to start. Well, in the beginning, we (me, Sarah, Charity, James, and Michael) filled up water balloons. We had a Vander Lugt reunion. Like all reunions, we were in charge of games. We always do it the same. Water balloons. At noon, we went to the children's park. When the games started, no one was safe. My uncle and Charity ganged up on my Aunt Sarah. I managed to stay dry. We then visited my cousin who works at the mall and she made us smoothies that had weird flavors. I had Kiwi Peach.

Later, we all went down to Sandy Hallow. My uncle set up a zip line. It was funny. I then left because my cousins from Michigan were coming.

Today the rest of the cousins came from Michigan. I finally saw my second cousin. He's cute. I had a game. JV lost and varsity won. I hit a double and a really nice single. We are actually having a Sandbulte get together at our house and we are having a fire. My cousins from Nebraska are here too.

Double click on a picture to make it bigger. Also, to see kitten pictures and discriptions, go to Sarahs blog. It's on my favorites list.

WE BEAT BOYDEN-HULL!

2007-06-30T09:10:00.000-05:00

As you guessed, we won both our JV and varsity games last night. For both we came back from behind to win. For JV, I played 1st and then came in to pitch for the last 2 innings. We had bases loaded, and we got 3 outs w/o them scoring any runs! For varsity I just pinched hit for Hannah when there were 2 outs. I got on and eventually got in.
Sarah babysat my Aunt Sarah's kids so they were at my game so she could go golf w/ her husband. Charity babysat another of my cousins. I actually have a sort of free day to day! I do have a Vander Lugt reunion today and the some more of my aunt and uncle are comming down from Michigan and they are also taking my cousin. My cousin got married and now lives in Canada and her husband and kid. I haven't seen them since their wedding and have never seen their kid.

Random

2007-06-28T18:33:00.000-05:00

Today I babysat 4 young boy cousins. It actually went fine. The best thing was on the way there, my aunt Sarah hit a large bird. There was actually a little streak like when you hit a bug except larger. My uncle Al had to have surgery on something and it was his mom's (my grandmother's) 81st birthday. I'll visit him tomorrow.

In practice the coach was trying to fix my batting style just because it is different than what he is used to. I actually am the only one who connects with the ball on a regular basis.

The pictures are my cousin Mitchell (aka the red-headed stranger), and me pitching at Heartly. He came to see my game.

School

2007-06-28T07:21:00.000-05:00

For those who don't know, my new high school is about as big as one of my elementary schools. I did get done signing up for classes and I know what my day will be like. Unfortunately, they don't offer German, high school or college. 3 years down the drain. Since they don't have much in extra-cirricular activities, my dad talked me into taking Spanish 1. I needed a full schedule and right now, I have 1 study hall each semester. The weird thing is, even when they have a class full year, it could be at a different hour. I miss Memorial. My English teacher apparently had dad her first year teaching and also my uncle Greg. Greg never turned in an assignment. I wounder if she will connect our last names together. They also have a tradition that they paddle all freshmen. LUCKILY I'll be a juniour.
I babysat for my aunt and all they wanted was Snow Cones. Since it was just after breakfest I said no but they still complained. Today I also babysit 1-2 of the same kids and 2 more of my cousins. I also have practice.
We lost yesterday's game. It wasn't my best pitching ever. It was sand on the pitchers mound so I sank every time I pitched. Thank you Mitch for comming to my game any ways. Withour further ado, my schedule...
1st semester:
Western Civ- since I fullfill all their history requirements with AP US and AP Euro, I'm taking this the college just across the street. Luckly it's only every Monday, Wednessday, and Friday. The other days, I can come late to school! They don't have AP but they offer college courses at school and at the college so NO AP TEST!!!
American Lit- English
Home Room- about 15 minutes were they can pass stuff like year books out
Computer Applications- required
Ceramics- I think it's like pottery class
Study Hall- which is in the 'new commons' a big empty space\
Phys Ed- required all years
Chemistry
Algebra 2

2nd semester:
spch & writing- english
Computer App
HR
Study Hall- last 3 things I'll have with the same teacher
Chemistry
General Bus.
Drawing 1- I needed something to fill my schedule. They have nothing! I so wanted Ancient & Medievel History:(
Psychology- Senior year I can take the college Psychology wich I wanted to do in Memorial
Algebra 2

Random

2007-06-26T12:01:00.000-05:00

Hey Y'all!
I get to sign up for my classes later today. Yesterday we had a game and JV won!! I hit a double and 2 singles. I also pitched. Varsity didn't do to well. I was the only one who hit it out of the infield. More later!

Hey Softball Fans!!

2007-06-23T19:03:00.001-05:00

I just got done w/ a varsity tournament. The first people we played on Saturday 12 run ruled us in the 3rd inning. The second game I really don't remember other than it was hot and I got to pitch the last inning. It went really well. Today, we played at 11 am. I had to get up at 7 because we were meeting at 8 and that's hard in summer. We lost but I got to pitch the last inning again. That went pretty well. I also had a really nice hit that was caught by the center fielder. The person on 3rd should have tagged up and scored, but didn't. The second game, Maci, our main pitcher got cleated. She was tagging someone at home. So I got to pitch 1 inning and then Rylee, our other pitcher went in. They were hitting me fairly well because I didn't get any warm up and my pitches weren't as varried as they should have been. Well that's all for now!

My first attempt at blogging

2007-06-21T22:07:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody. I'm trying this newfangled thing that will never really catch on... like the wheel. My day has been typical. I woke up, helped my brothers name their new kittens, returned one of their kittens, and then went to softball practice. We did infield and for how many errors, we divided it by 4, and that was the amount of times we had to run around the bases. We then watched a movie on how to bat. I love my kittens. Michael's new (smaller) kitten is named Boots. I miss Wisconsin and the library, and the resturants, and my friends (sorry about being 3rd), even my school, and tap water.