Ice Cream Woes...not this time

So last night was fun...but kinda unexpected. I got ready for church, actually i got ready for church nursery where i was supposed to be. Well, mark has been telling me about a surprise for a few days, and when i got to church Colleen and i started talking and figured out that Mark and Colleen's friend Susan were coming to our church. Which is great, cause i haven't seen anyone from school (except Jamie and Trisha) since we got out. But of course there was the nursery dilema, and the fact that i was dressed for nursery (i looked like junk) not exactly what i like to wear when i actually sit in service. Anyway, my good friend mary took nursery for me and i got to stay in service with my friends. After service, we all wanted to do something, but we had to wait for Colleen to be done on the piano and Trisha to be done scooping ice cream. Yep, it wasn't me doing the scooping this time!

I am going to interject (like the big word?) something here. Who in the world thinks any kind of mint is a good ice cream flavor...give me vanilla any day...i'll eat chocolate chip cookie dough...strawberry is awesome, but MINT??? Seriously, whoever is trying to freshen their breath with ice cream needs some serious help anyway. I know most of this world disagreed with me on the milky way thing...but i think i'm right on this one. Tell me what you think! Anyway, the ice cream i grabbed at church last night was Andes mint...as you can tell i didn't exactly like it.

The night was fun...i think the fun started when Mark stole a note that one of the girls in my church had given me and i chased him across the parking lot. I stopped when i realized him reading the note would be far less embarassing than me slipping in the wet parking lot and falling on my face in front of everyone. However i am surprised i stayed off my face when i was running in the shoes i had on. They weren't exactly cross trainers. Then a bunch of us went out to Applebee's. We had fun. I got to talk to Susan for the first time in a few years (besides a few times on messenger), and she is a really sweet girl. Colleen was so excited that she came...i thought she might break out in a cartwheel, but she restrained herself really well. I hope they drop by again before the summer is over.

Anyway, let me know what you think about the ice cream thing. I know it's random, but without the random stuff, life would be so...predictable.

Snickers or Milky Way

So i have been informed that i haven't blogged in a few days...i guess time just got away from me. So i went to DQ sunday night with a bunch of my friends, Ryan and i got in a slight debate about which blizzard flavor is the best. He almost jumped when he saw snickers...personally i prefer Milky Way to snickers any day, but i don't think Milky way is a blizzard flavor, but i brought it up anyway. Of course Tammy took Ryan's side just cause they are dating...i am convinced that anyone with common sense would agree with me. I mean who would want to ruin that caramel goodness with nasty peanuts??? Anyway, Brian, Ted, Danny, Sarah, Alyssa, and Rachel all agreed with Ryan, but i had Charles, Kelly, Katie, and Colleen on my side. The disagreement kinda stopped when we both agreed that reese's is awesome...but then came the question, peanut butter cups or reeses pieces (reeses pieces any day). I am sure this little debate will surface again. So let me know...whose side are you on?

Keep praying for the job thing!!! I am still trying to figure everything out.

Highs and lows...but mostly highs

So have you ever been on a spiritual high just to have something happen that brings you so low, you just don't know what to do? Well, that definitely happened this week. NBT brought me to a spiritual high...it was awesome...Then Friday afternoon, i got a call from the job that i was supposed to start on Mondy...i say "was supposed to start" because they called to inform me that they aren't having training this week. They didn't know when the next training will be...so i am praying about going back to my temp. service on Monday, yeah that would mean i would probably be working in a factory for the remainder of the summer. Well, i am not going to let that get me down. I know God wants me back at Crown, so i just have to swallow some pride and get to work.

Anyway, last night was awesome. Charles got first place overall for Teens, and first place for scripture memory. He is praying about travelling for NBT next summer. He would be great at it. I sat with the primary kids (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade). They were so good, even during the preaching. One of the girls in my class (she doesn't go to our church normally) came running up to me when i got there and gave me a big hug and introduced me to her mom. Pastor told us today that 4-5 adults got saved. That means over 50 people got saved this week. All the kids sang and were presented with awards. After the program was over, we all went outside and signed t-shirts. Every year the church orders t-shirts, everyone gets them signed and then some ppl wear them to Cedar point when the youth group goes.

Here is a picture of Charles with our two evangelists. They were great. You could tell that they really loved God and wanted to serve them with all of their hearts. They are probably the two best evangelists we have ever had for an NBT week. The kids all loved them. They are starting a week on Oregon tomorrow, and we are all praying for them.

Today we had Charles's graduation party. Not a lot of people came, but he has already made out better than i did. However, because less people came than we expected, we had food coming out our ears and we will be eating meatball subs for the rest of our lives. There was a hilarious highlight to the party. We had it at my grandma's church in the gym...well, they doublebooked the church and while we were having a graduation party in the gym, there was a wedding in the auditorium...so we had guys in tuxes walking into the party and looking at us like "what in the world are you doing here?" and we had to tell them how to get to the wedding. I don't know about these people, but if it were my wedding i would have been a little upset about it.

Anyway, i really need to get some sleep before church tomorrow...please pray about the job thing.

Firetrucks and cream pie

So i know you're thinking, what in the world do cream pies and firetrucks have in common. Well, last night was our water night for NBT. They brought in a fire truck to wet us all down for games and other activities. The night was reversed, the preaching was first and the games were last, but you don't really want 71 soaking wet teens sitting and getting pneumonia...So maybe you're still wondering where a cream pie ties into all this...well they had a skit called "extreme spelling." They picked two teens for a spelling bee, and any time they spelled a word wrong, they got covered in that item. Of course, it was all planned, so even if Nick spelled his word right, Rachel still got to cover him in whatever the item was. Well, it started out with chocolate syrup, then came the eggs, followed by cream pie and a 2-liter of Coke. Well, the skit was pretty funny, but everyone obviously forgot about it when the firetruck came because no one cleaned it up. So 4 hours later as everyone was going home, that became my job. Good thing i was still in my wet clothes because the garden hose doesn't have a great seal and water pretty much just goes everywhere. Anyway, it is near impossible to clean dried cream pie and eggs of a concrete floor, especially with a demented garden hose, but i finally got it done.

So by the time i got home, i had pretty much been in wet clothes for about 4 1/2 to 5 hours, and i was chilled to the bone. i couldn't get warm for anything. i tried changing into some super comfy, warm clothes and covering up with a nice fleece blanket, but it wasn't enough. Eventually, i just gave up and went to sleep. I have been exhausted this week and i slept really well. Actually i slept in this morning...not good, by the time i got up i had 15 minutes to shower and get ready...needless to say it wasn't a good hair day.

My second grade class is awesome. They all are so excited to tell us when they do their study or say their memory verses. I actually have one 2nd grader that has said 30 verses so far this week. Well, i have to go get ready to go back for our Destination Unknown. This is always the best night, but i don't think we are going to have a bonfire this year, which will be kind of sad. Well, after this week i have to start work, so pray for me.

Ok so obviously my fool proof way of posting pics didn't work

so exhaustified....but so worth it

So Neighborhood Bible Time is in full swing. I am helping in both the morning and the evening. I love it!!! Tonight we had a kid get saved. You can really tell that God has been working on his heart. Last night i got to counsel a girl that wants to witness more to her friends and unsaved family. It was really special to see her heart. We had 74 teens last night and 70 tonight...and it was so much fun!! Last night they had a pizza eating contest (the picture of charles). I felt so bad for Charles because he volunteered before he found out it was olive and goat cheese pizza. Just the smell of olives is enough to make Charles sick, and i don't want to even think about what that goat cheese tasted like, but he did really well with it. They had a girl blindfolded and then had her trying to feed it to him. It ended up being pretty messy, but great to watch!! After they finished with the pizza eating contests, they picked two girls from each of the teams. The girls had no idea what was about to happen, but they were ready to go. They were told to smear pizza on each other's faces. Once again really messy. Those poor girls had pizza everywhere...They are probably still trying to get it all off. Tonight was a pretty messy night too. They played chocolate marshmellow drop. That is where they mix marshmellows with hershey's chocolate and then try to drop them in the other person's mouth from a few feet up.
Tomorrow night is water night. It is always great with thousands of water balloons and a few fire trucks. They play a bunch of games that are just way more fun with super slick grass and a fire hose blasting you in the back. The evangelists this year are great. You can just tell they love God want to serve Him. And they can really sing!! I can't even pick up a tune, let alone carry one, so i really enjoy when i can hear someone that really can sing or play an instrument. The one guy plays the guitar for all of our services.

In the mornings, we have a time for all the kids ages 4-6th grade. i am teaching 2nd grade and i love it. Today i had 11 kids in my class, and they were all really into it. It amazes me how much kids can remember...but they all remember exactly what happened in the stories (i'm teaching Pilgrims Progress), and are eager to hear what happens next. We start the morning with registration and then we go to rally time, where the evangelist tells stories and interacts with the kids. After that we go for snack and game time. We got a dino jump, and the kids love to jump on it. Class time comes last and we teach our Bible stories.

OH...as you can see i finally found a way to post pictures, almost without fail!!!!! That means you can see more of my life than i was able to share before. I am definitely a shutter bug. I love my digital camera!!

OK, so i am pretty much falling asleep sitting here staring at my screen...i know you are too cause you are so sick of reading about NBT...so i am going to get some sleep. Give me a call or send me a txt...i miss talking to all of you online all the time...danielle, i miss our morning chats...yeah i know i stole the title from you.

So much to do, so little time....for a change

Ok, so i know that those of you who don't read my blog just about everyday, end up reading a book when you get on. Sorry about that. If you do decide to read these entries in their entirety, pace yourself.

So today was another not so eventful day of decorating. Charles had to work, so it was just me. I got to the church at about 11...and worked until 4. The first hour or so, i worked with another teacher that shares the room i have...she traced posters and had her kids color them...it wouldn't have been so bad except they used block crayons (crayons made by melting down other crayons and molding them in an ice cube tray). After they left, I worked by myself for about 2 hours. Finally Kate got there...she is a last minute substitute teacher, and was coming to help decorate the room she had. Well, the other teachers had already finished the room so she came over and helped me with some of the cardboard decorations i was working on. I kept wondering where Ted and Tiffany were, since they both told me that they would be there...well, ted finally showed up about three, again suggested getting a playstation for the room, and then left about 3:30...Tiffany totally just skipped out on us, but that's ok, i got pretty much everything done.

Anyway, Rachel was there decorating her room and decided that we should do something tonight. She wanted us to go to her house, but i wasn't about to go anywhere looking as grubby as i did, so we decided to go out later and invite Charles and Kate. This is pretty much the first time all summer Kate and I have gotten to hang out (since she works all the time...she has like three jobs). Kate goes to PCC, but we went to high school together...actually we went to school together all the way back to kindergarten. Charles and i picked Kate up and we all squeezed into Charles's little Chevy S10...needless to say, we felt really close. After meeting up with Rachel and eating dinner, we hit the mall. Kate is one of those people who can find fun in anything. We roamed the mall trying on hats, sunglasses and anything else, and making fun of pretty much everything. Once again i have to ask the question...why do malls close at 9? Anyhoo, we left the mall at 9 to go get some ice cream...as i said before, anytime we want ice cream, the machine breaks...so after everyone else got theirs, i stood at the counter for about eternity waiting for them to fix the machine. Anyway, i know you probably couldn't care less, but i thought i would tell you anyway...well, i have to get some sleep, tomorrow is visitation, a birthday party, and about a thousand other things...I prob. won't be on much next week with everything going on, but give me a call...If i'm busy you won't get through anyway...i don't get signal in my church's basement. I would love to keep in touch with you guys, even if i don't keep in touch with my computer.

***LOOK PICTURES POSTED!!!!!! Well at least one...

Too much decorating...too little time

So today we started decorating for NBT. Most people came at 1, but Charles and i got there at 10. Of the four teachers that share my room, i was the only one that could make it today. Charles traced posters while i worked on other stuff. I put up streamers (crepe paper...it should be called creep paper...i hate that stuff). Then we started coloring the posters that Charles had traced. Remember when you were a little kid and you would ask your mom for coloring books and crayons? Then, you would color it as neatly as you could, all in one direction and inside the lines, and give it to your mommy to hang on the fridge. That was never me. I never really loved coloring...i preferred playing outside and reading (yeah, i was a loser as a kid too). Anyway, i spent just about forever coloring. Finally, just when i was almost done, Ted got there. Until then i was pretty much the only one working on my room (after tracing some of the posters, Charles left to help other teachers or do something with his friends). Anyway, ted and i tried to figure out where to hang the posters so the best ones would be seen, and the ones that weren't so great would blend into the background. Then we went to spy and see how the other rooms were doing. Needless to say, our room needs some serious help. We were trying to find an interactive decoration for our room, ya know something the kids can play with. Ted is hilarious, and we had ideas like bring a playstation, build a fort by stacking tables on top of each other, or get a live band (Ted plays guitar and i called the triangle or the kazoo). None of these ideas would ever fly with the other teachers, but we enjoyed making fun of our room. Finally Tiffany got there, and we made a sword and shield for the armor of God. Ted got a pretty good idea to make a wall decoration with tacks and tissue paper...so he started putting it up and then drafted his little sister and Tiffany's little sister to put the rest of it up. I have to admit, i wasn't really super comfortable letting little kids play with tacks, but hey, they enjoyed it. We decided to wrap the "day of fun" up at about 4, but we didn't even make it out of the building until 4:30...a bunch of little jobs kept popping up that we had to finish before we could leave. We have to go back tomorrow and finish our room up...at least i hope finish it.

Charles's graduation party is next Saturday, and i wanted to beat him for having it the day after NBT. I have been drafted as the caterer, the photographer, the decorater, the memorablia table coordinator, and a thousand other things, so i have a busy week ahead of me. I am working on a scrapbook right now of Charles growing up. He was a pretty cute kid, but i refuse to put some pictures in because i refuse to let anyone see me in them. I had the dorkiest glasses, and our parents dressed us both in some pretty scary clothes. You know the pants with elastic around the ankles, or the red plaid dress paired with the pink rain boots, the super frilly pink Easter dress topped off by the white hat...oh yeah, there was the dukes of hazzard shirt. Don't laugh, look at pictures of yourself as a kid...your parents did it too.

Once i heard insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, i guess i have officially reached the point of insanity. Against my better judgement, i once again tried to add pictures to a blog...of course, they didn't post...