For Gina :)

We got very few pictures of our walk up Treman because the camera ran out of battery. But since Gina asked (and I love her), here are two:

It was a really beautiful day and I'm glad the camera cooperated to get this one last picture before dying. The falls were so awesome. It made the whole hike worth it.

Tenderfoot

My poor feet. It all started on Sunday afternoon when we decided to hike Treman Park. After two miles of going uphill, we rested for a little bit at the top and watched the falls. And then when we left I only took a few steps before I was in pain. It felt like my toes were scrunched into the front of my shoes and I wasn't looking forward to the mile of stairs I had to go down. So, like any sensible person would do, I took off my sneakers and went barefoot. Mind you, this was my first time going barefoot this year. The stairs were all good as they were stone. Then came the trails. They actually weren't too bad for the most part. A lot of it was packed down earth, but there was also plenty of little rocks and roots and twigs. And then I stubbed my toe really bad and my toenail ripped. No matter. I just sang "I Will Get There" from the Prince of Egypt to keep me going. After a mile and a half of walking in bare feet, they were pretty sore, so I put my shoes back on, and I'm not sure which was worse. But I discovered that if ones feet are sore, it is better to run down the hill as fast as you can rather than to slowly plod down it. More pain at once is better than a little pain drawn out forever. And so I did "get there" and thought my worries were over.

But my feet weren't through with their tribulations. I was getting dead falls in the woods later that day to get a bonfire going and got stabbed in the foot with an inch long thorn. After bandaging up my wound, I went on collecting wood and got stabbed not once more, not twice more, but four more times with thorns. They went straight through my foam flip-flops and into my feet.

But besides having a bruise on my toe from stubbing it, and an indent from the thorn, my feet are alive and well and once more running all over our yard.

It's Over

Anna and I had our third performance of Pilgrim's Progress this past Saturday. It is now over! Sort of relieving, sort of sad. We had it at a small theater in Deposit which was fun. Both casts got combined, so we had to share a bunch of parts. It worked out though. Victoria and I in our amazing demon makeup after the play.

We all went outside afterwards because it was so hot inside the theater.

Anna in her merchant costume signing a book. We all got books that everyone got to sign which was pretty sweet.

Some of the cast in front of the sign: David, Victoria, Cassie, Jenny, me, Jeff, Corina, Ravi, and Mr. Tombs with the camera.

I had such a fun time doing this play.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister-in-law Michelle!!!

She turns 25 today. I love you Michelle!!! :D

Miss California

I must give mad props to this girl right here.

On the Road

Well, I did it. I drove for the first time yesterday and lived to tell about it. Dad lived too. We took a bunch of country roads that I had never heard of and I stayed on the roads, missed everyone's mailboxes, and didn't run into any oncoming cars. A very successful first time. :PIt feels really weird to drive a truck, 4-wheelers and snowmobiles are a little different.

As we were nearing our driveway Dad said, "All the other kids missed our driveway on their first time coming in, maybe you'll be the first to make it." Well, I almost did. I slowed down and began turning and then took my foot off the brake and the truck zoomed into our field. Stupid truck. So the tradition is still unbroken and Anna is our only hope. :D

Hiking at the Falls

We went hiking Sunday afternoon because it was so amazingly beautiful out. They had a short trail to these falls here, but then you could just hike other places. That was pretty awesome. They had trails, but who needs 'em? Emily and I in the cave beneath the falls. It was a pretty sweet cave.

Teresa at the top.

I loved all of these rock ledges everywhere.

Crossing the great divide.

Dad, Mom, Emily, Anna, Teresa, me.

All the girls with Chris. (Teresa's boyfriend)

The parental units.

After bow staff fighting, we stopped at an ice cream place. It was a great day. :)

All Beware

Today I got my permit!!! I got 100 on my written test. It was really easy actually, after studying the manual for a while and taking tests online. I would drive today, but alas, it is nasty out. Rain and wind don't make the best driving conditions for a first time. Maybe tomorrow...

Pilgrim's Progress

The play went really good. We had a performance on Friday night and on Saturday afternoon, and then we have another one this Saturday at a little theater. I was mainly in the Friday cast, (we were Cast B, but were picked to go first) and then I just sang and was background people on Saturday for the other cast. So it was a lot more relaxed.

Anna played Pilgrim's wife. Me being "Help" who pulls Christian from the Slough of Despond. But then I fall in and have to be carried off the stage.
During the "Cross Scene" we all sing When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.
Christian after his burden falls off. Yeah!

But wait! His troubles aren't over, because three scenes later he has to go through the Valley of Humiliation. I'm the demon on the left. The people on the ground are the lower class demons who are more like snakes. My favorite part by far. It's so fun to be evil. Mwahahaha!
At Vanity Fair now. Anna plays a merchant who tries to get Christian and Faithful to buy our stuff.
But then they won't, so all the town people are angry. Here we are listening to the charges against them. You can't see me because I was on the other side of the stage. Then we kill him.
To lighten things up, enter leech commercial. I'm the nurse. Slightly disturbing. But it was fun.
Anna was the salesman. I'm showing off the leach jar and the teeth extractors that you can get if you buy the jar within the next week. Buy now! Peasants are standing by...
Me playing the slightly crazed "Difidence" in Doubting Castle.
"Hopeful" and "Atheist". The latter is Anna.
The ending scene. They got to Heaven, yeah! It was so hot in those robes, especially since we were holding candles.

Anna, Teresa, and me at the end of the play.

Play Practice

So, we've been crazy busy getting ready for the play Anna and I are in. We're doing Pilgrim's Progress and we open this weekend! We only have one more rehearsal tomorrow. Yesterday we did full costumes and just ran through both casts (they split us up into two), today we did no costumes and just polished up some rough spots. A bunch of the girls also got their hair done. I didn't because I was in most of the scenes we were working on, but Anna did.

Gracie, Anna, Elaine, and Megan. All the girls except for Elaine have their hair done, Elaine isn't even in the play, she was just watching.

The amazing hair dressers doing their job.Jenny and I.

Working on the last scene which is supposed to be in Heaven. Don't we look simply angelic? Don't answer that.

Waiting For Green

(taken on a walk today up in our woods)

He Is Risen!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Web Caming

My mom did a very grandmotherish thing when Ted, Michelle, and Zoe left a month ago. She got a web cam and Skype, and now we get to see this cute face "live" on weekends: It's kind of weird with the delay, the video is more like a series of pictures pieced together every few seconds, and sometimes the sound goes in and out, but hey! at least we can see Zoe!

Straight Teeth

Yesterday was the day I was supposed to get my braces off. After waiting in the orthodontist office for 2 hours, I only got my bottom braces off. There was a slight gap between two of my teeth, so my Dr. decided to wait a day to see if it would close up. I had to go back today anyway to get my bottom retainer. So that's what happened. I went in, the gap was closed, he took my braces off, I got my mold, and then Mom and I waited at an ice cream place while my retainer was being made. So now I have straight teeth! I love them! The retainers I have to get used to, they feel larger than life, like my braces when I first got them on. My s's sound a little weird, but other than that I can talk.


Here's some pics:

Tea Time

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea."

-Bernard-Paul Heroux

And The WINNER Is...

After 2 weeks

...

After 7 contestants

...

After 232 questions

...

We have a winner.

...

And it is: (drumroll please)

...

MELANIE!!!!!

(otherwise known as reesepeanut13)

...

Congratulations Melanie!!!

You're going to love the prize!

Thank you to everyone who participated, it was grand fun. I was amazed at how many questions I got to answer! It's been a great first year of blogging, and it's been a great first giveaway. :D

Answers Part 10

Puddle Jumper asked:

216. Do you like mustard, ketchup, relish, or all of the the above on your hotdogs? (I know this sounds like a hokey question but in actuality it is super important because you never know when we might get stranded on a desert island somewhere and I need to know what condements to bring!)
All of the above. I used to think I didn't like relish, but now I really do! Make sure to bring that.

217. Can you picture a purple monkey with a green tail, yellow stripes, and blue eyes dangling from a basketball hoop? If you can, I'd say you are a pretty visual person and bound to excell in moecular geometry!:)
Yes, I can see it now. And his name is Ned. But I must disagree with your future prediction. I will never excell at any kind of geometry, me and math aren't the best of friends.

218. Do you have a favorite cook book besides your homemade one?
We have a Pampered Chef one that I really like.

Nikki asked:

219. Do you like horses?
Mostly.

220. Do you have to look in a dictionary a lot?
I use Google for most of my looking up.

221. What's your best hobby?
Croquet is my speciality.

222. What do you want to do when you grow older?
I want to be a traveling anvil salesman.

223. Favorite book? Whose the author?
This Present Darkness by Frank Paretti.

224. Are you better at taking pictures or videotaping?
Pictures.

225. Have you been baptized? If so when?
Yes. September 16th, 2001 in my freezing pool.

226. Do you watch animated movies a lot?
It's a mix.

227. How you ever moved?
6 times.

228. Whats your favorite olympic sport?
Ice skating in winter, gymnastics in summer.

229. Have you ever seen a live moose in real life?
Nope.

230. Do you talk to yourself? (I do)
Yes. I'm a great listener.

231. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Yes. My left molar three teeth back.

232. Do you like frogs?
If they are little, cute, harmless, cartoon ones.

Trampoline Trouble

On Saturday we decided to put up our trampoline. The sun was out, it was warm, the snow was gone, perfect! Emily, Anna, and I went into the basement and found the skeloton of the trampoline and hauled all the peices out into the yard. We had it up in a few minutes (it went surprisingly fast) and put all of the rather rusty springs all around. Amazing how fast rust forms I thought. I could have sworn that last year the springs were completely rust-free. Oh well.

We searched for the mat and the spring cover but to no avail.

When Dad got home he told us that we had put the wrong springs in, that the rusty springs were from our old trampoline. He found the new springs in the barn and so we went around the trampoline again and took off all the old springs and put on the newer ones. The mat was also in the barn and he brought it out for us. Odd that it should be there.

After dinner we put the mat on, but opted not to jump because the mat was sagging on the ground. And then it dawned on me like a ray of light on a cloudy day: We had the wrong frame. Right springs, right mat, wrong frame. And so we took the whole thing down.

We found the correct frame in the barn where all the other "right" stuff was. And then I remembered putting it away in the barn last year with Dad, and I also remembered that we had done the exact same thing last year! I guess we didn't learn out lesson the first time. So we put up the right frame which took longer than the first one because it's a tighter fit, put the springs on for the third time that day, stretched the mat, put on the spring cover, and jumped for joy. Literally.

Moral of the story: If you have an old, rusty, worthless trampoline frame: throw it away!

Answers Part 9

Puddle Jumper (formerly known as Naty-Bat) asked:

209. Do you bring your pillows on trips and how many?
Anywhere I can I bring my two pillows. When flying, no. When driving, camping, or hitchhiking, yes!

210. How do you respond to the question 'how does it feel to be (insert recently turned age here)'?
I say, "It feels BEawesome!" (compound word for beyond awesome) Actually that's what I'll say ever since seeing Bolt, but in the past I've mostly just said, "It feels the same as last year." Which is a lame answer. I like the first one better.

211. Would you rather rake leaves, shovel snow or mow the grass?
Definitely mow the grass because we have a riding lawn mower and I like mowing. If I had to push mow my whole yard, I'd pick shovel snow. If I was handed a sand shovel, I'd pick rake leaves.

212. Have you ever chosen to stand instead of sit on the metro and then wobbled all over like a tourist while you were trying to look cool?
Ha,ha! No, but I know someone who has...

213. When you play games do you like to be the captain, leader, etc. or would you rather be a follower?
It depends on who I'm with. When most of the people are older than me I'd rather follow, or else it's just awkward. When they are younger I like to lead.

214. Have you ever had an epiphany in the bathroom?
Can't say that I have.

215. What would your memoir be titled if it was ever written?
I Am Sitting In the Bottom of a Pickle Barrel Contemplating My Naval - The Story of My Wonky Life