Spring Break

It is officially summer now! Last summer I blogged almost every day, and if not I doubled up and wrote about the day I missed. School got out May 25, so yesterday was our first official day of summer! And I didn't write. Yikes. Not only do I have tomorrow to cover, but the last almost two months! I made a list and am going to try to hit some of the important, exciting, things I have pictures of to remind me of type events!

Friday March 30 Dan, my mom, Maria, my friend Sarah, and I all piled ourselves and luggage into the van we rented and sat. Well we sat and tried to entertain ourselves by watching movies and texting and making friendship bracelets and reading and sleeping and laughing and playing road trip games, while Dan drove.

That night we stayed in a hotel room (yes all five of us. in one room) in Tennessee. Something wasn't quite right. Apparently when it comes to pull out couches they have a different size chart? Maybe in the opposite order as beds? Because Sarah and I were supposed to have a queen bed and we could hardly fit both of us on it.

Saturday March 31 we got back in the car and drove. Almost all day. Doing the same things as the day before and occasionally stopping for gas, bathroom breaks, and food. Finally we made it! We were so happy to be out of the car, but mostly happy to finally see my Grandparents! We hadn't seen them since they left for Florida. Maybe that was in November? I can't even remember.

Our days consisted of going to the beach where we laid in the sun, took pictures, did handstands, found sea shells, walked to the dog beach, and played in the ocean. One day we even got my grandparents to join!

We rode bikes around the park where they live. And played bocce ball and once we managed to find the pickle ball court open to play! We also laid out and swam at the pool and went to exercise class with my Grandpa.

During the week we also ate a lot. Fresh strawberries and ice cream from the Nokomis Grove and yummy ham on hard Chicago rolls from Publix grocery store. And a few nights we ate out. Our favorite was Rosebuds like always.

 Oh and we also went to church on Sunday April 1 which was Palm Sunday! And was retold the story of when I was younger they called the children to leave mass during the readings and homily for sunday school so they could learn and listen on they're level. Apparently I remembered the Knight's of Columbus selling tootsie rolls after mass when we'd go to Florida (and at home sometimes), thought that's what the kids were all leaving to get, and confidently joined right in. Why my parents didn't stop me? I have no idea either.
We visited old friends like Marv & Fran and Bonnie & Dick. And we even saw Pepe!

Of course we also got some shopping in. We hit up Target which is sorely missed in our town and the souvenir shops.

We tried to catch a few sunsets, but we never really successful.

It was a lovely, relaxing, fun week. It was really nice weather and the sun was almost always shining. We did have two rain storms, but luckily they were both at night!

We got packed up again and left Friday April 6. It was sad to leave my grandparents and the sunshine, but we knew both would be back home soon! Again, we spent the night at a hotel and got up to drive all of Saturday, finally arriving back in Crawfordsville.

Sunday April 8th was Easter. We went to church and unpacked and did laundry. In the evening we had a lovely meal and Josue came over to share it with us. I made and gave him his first Easter basket ever! I was happy to be celebrating Easter with my family. But I was sad that not only were we not in Iowa for Easter this year, but also my Grandma Demeter was not in Iowa gathered at her house with the rest of our family, and making her beautiful lamb (shaped) cake. She usually decorated it herself for as long as I remembered. Then, one summer I took cake decorating in 4-H and somehow that qualified me to help. Oddly. So every Easter after when we were in Iowa I got to help my Grandma (and sometimes Aunt Elaine too) put a frosting flower necklace on the lamb's neck frosting flowers in the green-dyed coconut grass it sat in, and make the face. I really miss her still, but especially at Easter when I thought about all of the years we spent at her house helping decorate the cake, eating lots of food for a late lunch and always being hungry for dinner which consisted of the same things from lunch, eating those meals in the basement with the other kid cousins, going to mass, and taking a picture afterwards before we could change into play clothes, lots of dying and decorating hard boiled eggs that I never ate, finding Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts with my cousins outside in the yard.

Guess what :) My wayyyy overdue 101 post

I am sorry to my self and to my blog and anyone that has checked it only to continuously find my 100th post (espcially Aunt Michelle and Aunt Wendy who have been asking). A lot has happened since I last posted and I made a list of bigger events and such to blog about. When I have time.

But for now I thought I'd post this paper that I worked really hard on and put a lot of effort into. It was sort of a blog entry type. It's about reading throughout my life.

A Journey of Reading in my Life

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” –Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

I have always taken advantage of the opportunity to be read to. Even when I was too young to understand the words being said, and the meanings of each story as a whole. I vividly remember cuddling up in my big girl bed besides my mom as she read me nighttime stories. I loved when she read Love you Forever by Robert Munsch and would make up her own melody to the song the mom from the book sang to her son. I listened and looked at the illustrations, watching the young boy grow to be a man. The roles changed and the book ended with him growing up, taking care of his gray haired mom. I dreamed of what life would have for me as I too, grew up someday.

            I remember making room for my small self in my Grandpa Ludwig’s chair where there was not extra room to spare. I crawled into the soft blue leather recliner, embracing the warm and kindness of my grandpa, as he would read to me. Likewise, my Grandma and Grandpa Demeter would spend time reading aloud to me. The book M.A.D.L.Y. specifically stands out in my memory, a book they bought me for my birthday one year and read to me after I unwrapped it. The story was about bears whose parents wrote “M.A.D.L.Y.” on tokens for their children to keep with them. It was to remind their children “mom and dad love you.” I loved the secrecy of the tokens, only understood by the parents and their kids, and how close the phrase and title of the book was to my name, Maddy.

            Even as I grew older and could read the words printed on the pages by myself, I continued to enjoy being read to. My mom no longer read pictures books like Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Little Critter, The Berenstain Bears, Goodnight Moon, and Rotten Ralph. These were put aside for my younger sister, and I got to hear chapter books! When she read books from The Boxcar Children series, I used to imagine the young family of adventurous kids in my own back yard, by the creek I loved to play near. These books sparked my imagination, as my sister and I used to play outside pretending we were orphaned kids. Similarly, she read the American Girl Doll series to me. My favorite were the Molly books, she was my first doll and therefore my favorite, not to mention we both had brown hair and brown eyes. I loved learning about what life was like growing up in a different time period, the 1940s. Sometimes as she read, I envisioned myself growing up alongside Molly. My mom also read me books that my grandma had read to mom when she was a young girl like me. I vaguely remember the stories of A Little Princess and The Blue Willow, but I remember her reading them. Both were hardback books without book jackets. The covers were each a different shade of blue fabric.

            With a few exceptions, this is also what I find to be true of my memoires of being read aloud to all throughout school. I can recall the titles of many books, and which specific teacher read them: in first grade Mrs. Zimmerman read Caddie Woodlawn and Where the Sidewalk Ends, in third grade Ms. Drake read The BFG, in fourth grade Mrs. Kirtley read Hatchet, in fifth grade Mrs. Harris read A View from Saturday, in eighth grade Ms. Gunn read Define Normal, and as a junior when I was a student assistant during her English class Mrs. Lewellen read Of Mice and Men.  I can envision the different classrooms and the chair each teacher sat in as she read; sometimes we sat on the floor near her and in other classrooms stayed in our desk chairs. I loved when my teachers would use a different voice for each character, making them come alive. Being read to has always been something I’ve enjoyed. More than anything, it is soothing hearing someone’s steady and constant voice as he or she reads stories. It makes me calm, relaxed, and sometimes even sleepy.

            There are four books, all from middle school, that will always be unforgettable. In sixth grade, Mrs. Haas read Don’t Look Behind You and Ten Little Indians. Both of these novels were full of mystery and suspense. They kept my interest and were too exciting to dismiss their plots. I remember anticipating her class throughout the day, waiting to hear more, and always wishing she could read more than we ever had time for. In seventh grade, Mrs. Streetman read Seedfolk to my class. Her voice was always smiling, making the story even more pleasant. This book was about a community garden in the middle of a city. Each chapter revealed a different character that we would take notes on as she read. I loved seeing the connections and interactions between the characters whose lives overlapped by sharing in this garden. Eventually, we even planted our own seeds in Dixie cups in her classroom and let them grow along the window. Then, in eighth grade, there was the unforgettable Thirteen Reasons Why. Ms. Gunn read this book aloud to our class, though she skipped some parts and never finished it. The book was about a teenage girl who committed suicide. Before ending her life, she recorded the thirteen reasons why on cassette tapes. Throughout the novel, a classmate plays the tapes and her reasons are revealed. The plot itself was creepy and unsettling. Though we liked the book and wanted to hear the end, there was always a weird stigma my friends and I placed on it. During the rest of the school year, and years to follow, we would have random sightings of the book. Once it was in the hallway at school, once brought to our tennis courts by a girl on the opposing team, and once in my cousins’ van when we met to tour Butler University.

            During many of these years when I was read to, I could, and did, read on my own. My first memories of learning to read were with the Reader Rabbit program on my dad’s computer. My brother had started it, and I was excited when I was old enough to. There was a computer game portion, as well as small white books. There were multiple books for each level, and each level had a different pastel color incorporated on the cover. It was challenging, but achieving the next levels and being handed the next plastic sandwich bag of books from my dad was always rewarding in itself.

            As I have gotten to be a better reader, I read more advanced books like Amelia Bedilia books, Junie B Jones books, and Animal Ark books. Though my parents and teachers encouraged me to read, I felt most compelled to read through programs that rewarded reading. At school, there was a book it program. I cannot remember how it worked exactly. Maybe you just had to list books your parents read to you, or you read alone each month. There was a number requirement and if you met it, you got a little certificate, bookmark sized, that entitled you to a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. I was also very involved in the summer reading program at the library each year. There were different types of books you had to read and different projects you had to do, earning points for completing these tasks. With the points you could pick out different small prizes. The kids’ area at the library was always an exciting place to go, even if it was not during the summer. I loved to check out books, and was always, and still am, guilty of judging books by their covers.

            The school libraries were also places that captured my interest. In elementary and middle school, my friends and I would always find books together. Sometimes we read series like The Amazing Days of Abby Haze and would each check out a different book, other times we found books that had multiple copies and checked out the same book at the same time, like The Music of Dolphins, and still other times we would just have to wait until the other person had read the book and turned it back in, like I was a 98 Pound Duckling. I have never really enjoyed watching movies twice, nor liked to read a book more than once. However, Laci and I each read The Music of Dolphins many times. The book was so fun because it was about a girl who was raised by dolphins and was now being taught to talk by humans. The size of the font often increased and the chapters were always shorts. One night Laci asked me if I had gotten to the part where the girl was reading in the bathtub, I was bummed to find out that if I had read a few more pages I would have been reading in the bath as I read about the girl from the book reading during her bath.

            For many birthdays, I received a Barnes and Noble gift card from my Great Aunt Madeline. I found the bookstore to captivate me just as the library always had. I loved having the freedom to roam the aisles and select whatever books I wanted to purchase. I knew what books I like, realistic ones where the main character was a girl my age or a little older. I also preferred there to be some sort of love story woven in, or something that was a part of my own life to be included such as soccer, dogs, or the beach. Over the years, some of the books I bought included Pretty Tough, Skye’s the Limit, The Secret Language of Girls, books written by Sarah Dessen, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.  The hard part was always deciding which book I would dive into first.

            In school, I found that reading was different. I enjoyed ssr where we could read our own books, but did not like being assigned specific books to read. There is always an exception, to almost everything. For this specific subject of being assigned books to read on our own, it was in fifth grade. We were in small groups that each read the same book. Luckily, my group had Walk Two Moons. I still to this day remember the section about when the girl’s grandparents told her of when they got married. The grandpa had been chasing after the grandma and asked her father if he could marry her. Her father simply replied, “If you can get her to stand still long enough and if she’ll have you, I guess you can.” When the grandpa finally asked her, she did not answer right away. Instead, she starting asking him questions, about his dog. The grandpa anxiously answered each one, telling her that his beagle sleeps in his bed, greets him by jumping up and licking him when he gets home, and that he pets her as he sings to calm her down. Eventually, the grandma said, “You’ve told me all that I need to know. I figure if you treat a dog that good, you’ll treat me better. I figure if that old beagle Sadie loves you so much, I’ll probably love you better. Yes, I’ll marry you.” Since I read that, I have continued to pay close attention to the way people treat their dogs, my dog, and how my dog responds to them. I believe the grandma from the book is wise, and that the grandpa was a fine suitor and lucky catch.

            I wish I could say I have been that connected and interested in all of the books I have been assigned to read over time, but that just is not the way things have worked out. Especially once I got into high school and took honors English, reading became different. It was no longer something I enjoyed in my spare time. Books were constantly being assigned, even in the summer before classes started and over spring break when students are supposed to relax, and take a break from schoolwork. I never seemed to understand exactly what was going on. In class, there were many reading comprehension quizzes that I seemed to do poorly on because I could never remember the details or even understood the main ideas. I eventually gave up on working hard to get the reading assignments done, because whether I read or not my scores would be about the same. I no longer connected to books, and no longer felt connected to my friends through reading, even though we were still reading the same books. However, unlike the library books we once shared, we were not selecting the books we read.

            Being in these demanding English classes during high school has limited my reading for pleasure. There was almost never time where we were not reading a book for class. Once we finished one, we were assigned the next one within days. I never was able to read to books at once because I could not keep the stories separate, not to mention there was never time to read a book that I would have picked out on my own. There were occasional opportunities for us to choose our own books for class, but they still had requirements in place, such as “it must be a ‘classic,’” that stopped me from being able to select something I actually wanted to read.

            I have been able to squeeze in a few books that I read for pleasure and loved, though the list is sparse. During my high school years, I have fallen in love with the stories of Cold Tangerines, Stories I Only Tell my Friends, Two Kisses for Maddy, Start Something that Matters, and Bittersweet. Coincidentally these novels are all true stories (I still do not know if that classifies them as fictional or non-fictional). I have truly connected and sympathized with the honest stories each writer has shared about his or her life. Each of these books is written well, but still simply enough that I comprehend what is happening. I did not spend time physically reading them only to find that I absorbed minimal of the context I do with the majority of the others books I read for class. The writing itself of these books has also been inspirational to me. They have helped me to find my own voice and style in writing which I execute as often as I have time for on my blog. Though it is not reading, but writing, blogging has been a vital part of my life since the day I started when school ended last May. It has helped me to remember, to reflect, to connect, and to invest in each day-making it something for others to read about.

             

This is my 100th post!!

High lights of last week. Then the good stuff. (Saturday-Monday).

Monday March 19 I wasn't feeling so great, and was completely unmotivated and sick of school. I stayed home and did a little homework catching up and blogging and mostly I cleaned a lot.

Tuesday March 20 was my mom's class's singing performance. Josue came over and we were going to go. But decided it was too much. So he stayed with me until I went to my dad's house for the night. I don't like that my dad is gone, traveling for work a lot.

Wednesday March 21 we got out of Health Careers early to deliver thank you notes from our class to all of the different units we shadowed during clinicals. I loved it. The idea of it. And that they were handwritten. And seeing some of the hospital employees again. And that Hannah and I had enough time to stop for drinks and McDonald's before heading back to school.

Also Wednesday I had rotary. I must have been feeling professional, and good about myself being all dressed up, well whatever the reason, I was very productive with letters of recommendations for the many scholarships I'm working on. I got all of them covered-which included asking three different teachers and two community members.

After school Wednesday I had to taxi around Maria to the doctor and Michael to the Ford car place. I was trying to help my mom out so we could make it to exercise class. When we couldn't I was so frustrated that I decided to walk Maggie on the trail. The full route-about 3 miles.

Then the night ended with Josue coming over and eating dinner with the family and watching Modern Family with us.

Thursday March 22 I also got a lot done. During my study hall I may have made a trip to DollarTree where I bought the tissue paper I needed to finish my present for my sunshine lady-I finally got to reveal myself to her! and I bought items to donate to the family crisis shelter for NHS. After school I went home and napped. Then went on a long walk with Maggie and Laci and Laci's dog Shaylee. We had a lot of good talks on the walk.

Friday March 23 after my daily nap, I babysat for Maddie. I hadn't babysat her (or her brother who was out with their parents) for a long time and was happy to spend the evening with her. Then I went to my dad's house for the night.

here's where it gets good

Saturday March 24 my dad and I woke up early for The Lord's Pantry. But this time, on our way out of town, we picked up Josue! I brought an extra pillow and an extra blanket and both of us slept on the car ride there. (Josue and I. Not my dad and I).

When we got there I was sent to help out in the kitchen, and separated from Josue. I was a little worried about him, and feeling bad leaving him. But I quickly made friends with the three other girls there were helping bag the flour for churros. They were so nice and so funny. Eventually I was back with Josue who had been helping my dad. I love working beside him. Not only to be by his side, but to watch him work hard at the tasks we were given, and take initiative.

After my dad's talk (which I was really happy when afterwards Josue told me that he liked it-and it really did make him think about his life and how blessed he is) we lined up to help hold bags. Then something happened. So exciting! The girls that made the kids packs didn't want to hand them out-so I jumped at the opportunity. Josue and I got to stand back in the corner with Tayler and hand them out. I have been longing to get this job every time I come to volunteer. The kids are so cute, but they're even cuter when they are so happy and excited to get their kids pack which is filled with snacks just for them. My favorite part of it was when Josue would talk in Spanish to the kids and tell them that to get their bag they had to smile.
 

After cleaning up, and eating yummy food from the kitchen, we headed home. Josue and I both fell asleep again the whole ride.

I napped again when I got to my dad's house, then mowed the lawn at the Newman Center. I loved seeing all of the beautiful flowers that were blooming.

Later, when I went back to my mom's house Josue came over and watched the movie To Save A Life with me. Though it is an emotional movie, I really like it. I also liked that we talked about all of the issues that the movie brings up-bullying, suicide, drugs, drinking, pregnant teens, college, God, faith.

After Josue went home, Sarah came over! We decided we needed a girls night stat- and there she was. We laid out on the big couch and talked a while before falling asleep.

Sunday March 25 I packed my bags. So did the rest of my family. After dropping Maria off at her friend's house, my mom, Dan, and I were on the road to Saint Louis. I was so excited when we could finally see the arch in the distance!

After checking into the hotel, we went to mass. At SLU's gorgeous church. The most beautiful church I have ever been in. In all honesty, I almost cried. But that was also mostly due to the communion song they played which I believe was played at my grandparents' funerals. I just miss them. Both of them. I hope they were looking down on me that day-just so they too could see the beautiful church.

 

We went back to the hotel for a while. Then to dinner. Then for a carriage ride. Because, "Everybody has to be a princess once in their life."

Monday morning came fast. Well actually slow. None of the three of us slept much at all in the hotel-between the loud air conditioner that wasn't even cold enough and waking up due to dreams of frogs on you head. We woke up an hour early to get ready and to eat our breakfast in bed that we ordered in preparation for a long day ahead of us.

We checked in at SLU then heard a welcome presentation. It was really good I thought. Much better than Xavier's. For many reasons.

Then we went to the medical part of campus to hear about SLU's physical therapy program and see their classes for it. This was also much better than Xavier where I was assigned to a history class. Once we got back, I was seperated from my mom and Dan. It was scary waiting in line for lunch all by myself. Until the girl in front of me (Jennifer) turned around and started talking to me and a few other girls around us-Maggie and Natalie. They were all so sweet and so nice and very genuine. I don't know how many of us, besides Maggie who only applied to SLU, will end up there next year-but I would love to become better friends with all of them.

Then we went to another building where we sat and asked questions to the student panel. Not just we as in the girls I ate lunch with, but all of the students attending the preview day. I loved hearing the experiences and viewpoints from the different students that answered the questions. I just love SLU and what it is all about. After that there was also a presentation given about the lifestyle and also housing at SLU.

Afterwards, we met back up with our parents for other break-out information sessions. They were helpful. But kind of repetitive of stuff we'd heard earlier in the day. Plus it was getting to be a very long day.

We took a quick stop at the bookstore, then headed home. Once we finally made it home, Josue came over. We bought him a SLU shirt before we left to thank him for taking care of Maggie for us. He put her in her kennel Sunday night and even took her outside before school Monday. We were so grateful that he did that. And I think Maggie was too. She loves him and loves that he is always willing to play soccer with her.

Tuesday March 27 was hard. Hard going back to school. After it ended, Josue needed a ride home so he ended up just coming with me. We went with my mom to the vet and brought Maggie along for the ride. Then we both fell asleep on the couch and he went home after eating dinner with us.

Wednesday March 28 I got to sleep in a little because we didn't have health careers today. Though I didn't get to as long as I would've liked, it worked out. Because I ended up with a breakfast date to steak n shake with Marlee.

Then fourth period I got to leave with JD and go to our last week at rotary. I will miss being a part of their meetings.

The rest of the night I have spent trying to get stuff done. I napped. Then ran some errands and worked on a project and a scholarship and some english homework and watched Jeopardy with the fam and am finally caught up again on my blog! Yay! Yay for this being my 100 post. Though I wish I wrote more about my blog itself and how much I love it and all that it does for myself, I am so happy I got to write about The Lord's Pantry (with Josue-bonus!) and about my trip to SLU.

March 11-18

I hate having to blog in big chunks about lots of days. I like to blog about one or two days at a time and use lots of pictures and be able to write exactly what happened and the way it made me feel. I'm hoping that after this other week I have to catch up on, I will start blogging more consistently like I did back in the summer. Maybe it will happen.

Also I don't like it because the time gets all messed up. Normally when you read blogs, its most recent at the top and becomes days that were farther away the more you read. But when I write about lots of days, I write about what happened a while ago and eventually get to the most recent day at the end of the post. Then things just get all seperated. But that's okay. It's still blogging. And it's still something I love.

Sunday March 11 my dad, sister, and I got up for 9:30am mass. After mass, when they were doing the many anouncements, I was awarded the Knight of Columbus Scholarship that I had applied for a month ago! I'm so thankful for recieving it. Not only for the money that will help go towards college, but the honor of being the chosen female recepient. St. Bernard's was the church I was baptised in and have been to ever since. So many of the people that go there have helped me and shaped me throughout my lifetime.

After church I took a nice nap. While my dad so nicely cleaned out, and worked on my car for me. A double win.

Then Hilary and her family picked me up to go see our high school's Footloose. Everyone did such a good job! And it was actually really funny.

Then, I went to Josue's house and watched the movie we were supposed to watch Saturday before I took the babysitting job instead, and went back to my mom's house for the night.

Monday March 12 my morning wasn't going my way. I was running late and didn't have my essay finished that was already a week late anyways and when I was about to get in my car, I spilled my juice all over my pants. So I had to run back inside and change and was even later. But then when I got to the cancer center for clinicals, everything turned around. Both of the therapists were so nice, but Frank especially. He was so awake and full of positive energy and enthusiam that morning.
After school my mom and I went to the park and rec center for an excercise class. It felt so good to workout and it was kind of funny. I mean it actually wasn't. But I was laughing.

Then Josue came over and we walked Maggie who was happy and excited to be walked.
Tuesday March 13 I worked after school. It was just me and Candie and we got done an hour earlier than I was scheduled for which was nice to get home early.

Wednesday March 14 I went back to the cancer center for my last clinical rotation! I have loved it sooo much. I love seeing and hearing all of the medical, real-life situations. I love the friendly workers and the patients who are full of gratitude. I love that it worked on my people skills and forced me to introduce myself and to ask questions and to be involved and come out of my shy shell. I love when I'd see employees I had shadowed another day and they smiled or waved or said hello even though I wasn't with them on that day.

Then JD and I were all dressed up during the day and went to rotary again. This time was better. The speaker, a soilder who had served in Iraq, captured my interest more. Also Julie Hess sat beside me! And I saw and talked to my preschool teacher!

It was Dan's birthday all day long and we celebrated when he got home from work. The Country Club was closed so we had steak dinner at our house. It was fun getting to eat with the whole family-including Michael and Lexie and Josue. It was also really funny that we used the birthday cake from Michael's birthday and that we didn't have the right number candles, so instead 35 ended up being stuck on top of the already cut cake. Then we watched Jeopardy and Modern Family together.

Thursday March 15 we started CPR training in Heatlh Careers. It was a lot harder than I ever expected it to be- the chest compressions. Not only do you have to press really hard, but you have to do a lot. About 100 per minute. Wow.

With it being so nice outside, we have started taking advantage of the lunch tables outside. I love it. I love sitting at a square table and being able to talk to everyone rather than a long rectangluar set up and I mostly love being outside and feeling the warm sunshine and fresh air.

Then Thursday night I went to work. We served in Deutcheon to some of the honors scholars that are seniors and have been admitted to Wabash. I love all of the people I work with- Marianne and Quinn and Alicia were all so fun. I also saw Hamilton who said hi to me! From OLAB. Not to mention I got my new nickname of Mighty Mouse.

Friday was our dress-up-look-nice-for-our-class-picture-day in Health Careers as well as continuing CPR learning about infants and children. I love this class and all of the students in it.

Then at school we spent seventh period setting up for the Spring Fling that night. It was kind of fun testing the music and the black lights.

I couldn't go to the spring fling however, because I had to work. Then after work Josue came over. We talked to my parents a while then watched The Help. But I fell asleep almost right away.


Saturday I woke up and went to work. Like Friday, it was a meal in Chadwick-the basketball court- for the honors scholars weekend.


Then I took a nap and woke up in time for a family shopping trip. Lindsay and Sarah also joined us. It was so much fun shopping with Sarah. Half of the stuff I ended up purchasing was due to her convincing and saying "ya buy it! Just buy it!" I bought three pairs of sandals and a vneck and leggings and underwear and a swimsuit top.

Afterwards we went to Texas Roadhouse. We were all so worn out from shopping and so hungry from waiting until 9pm to eat dinner that we were very slap happy.

Sunday March 18 I woke up and went to church with my family. Farther Dennis, who was psyched about IU's basketball team, talked about the misconception people have of "God punishing me." Also a really cute couple was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. He asked them to share marriage advice. She said "you just have to love and love each other and have religion too" and he said "listen and obey."


After church I did a lot of spring cleaning and laundry (including my sheets to my bed even!) and had my windows open and fresh air flowing.


Then Josue came over and helped me make apple crisp for the gymnastics banquet which he came to with my family.

I am so thankful for gymnastics and for the coaches and for the team. This was one of our best seasons yet. Not only did everyone letter and get a medal for breaking the school's record for the team score at 92.5ish, but all of the individual event scores and all around score for the school records were broken as well. Besides just being successful, we are truly a family. Full of love and laughter and encouragment and sometimes frustration and tears. I love them all so dearly.

Afterwards, we hung out and watched Untold Stories of the ER which was crazy and sat outside under the magnolia tree with Maggie and took pictures since we were both dressed up. Props to my mom and "Tulip" for the lovely photography. Which I will upload later when I have the energy to fight my computer who wants to rotate them the wrong way when I upload them.