16 Oz Water Bottle --> 32 Oz Gatorade Bottle --> 128 Oz Milk Jug!!

We started off collecting coins in a water bottle for Relay For Life. There is a lot of stuff the 3 of us heading it up want to do, but we need money to get it started. So we started collecting coins during school in a water bottle. The regular sized ones, nothing fancy, but with 5 of us collecting we thought it would add up.

When I went home yesterday I emptied out my piggy bank ($31.78 in coins... geeesh!) and realized the rinky-dink water bottle wasn't going to do. So I upgraded to a Gatorade bottles. All the coins barely got to halfway, and I set my goal to fill up the entire Gatorade bottle.

Goal achieved!!

When my best friend Renee brought in a bag full of coins for me to add to my Gatorade bottle to Bible Study tonight I was ecstatic. I could see the Gatorade bottle slowly reaching the top. Then Mrs. Tiffany's son brought in a bag of coins too tonight from her to donate. In my head I was picturing the Gatorade bottle possibly reaching the top.

Possibly??

When I came home to add the coins, not even 1/3 of Mrs. Tiffany's would fit in the Gatorade bottle, and I haven't even started on Renee's yet. I had to go downstairs and transfer some milk to another container so I could use the milk jug! My new goal is to fill that milk jug up with coins! It's currently drying right now from when I washed the milk smell out of it, so I'm not sure how realistic that is in comparison to how many coins I already have.

But after 2 days I have already raised over $150 for Relay For Life benefiting the American Cancer Society!

As much as I HATE pennies, and coins in general, they really do add up!!

Riddle Time??

Mr. Hallmark's Riddle in Pre-Cal Today:

There were 3 hunters than went on a hunting trip together. On the first night it was cold outside, so instead of sleeping in their truck they decided they'd stay the night in a motel.

The assistant manager was at the front desk when they arrived to check in. The assistant manager told the 3 guys it would be $30 total for the night. Each guy paid with a $10 bill, for a total of $30.

When the manager came back he told the assistant manager that there was a deal going on for $5 off the cost of the motel room. So the assistant said he would go give the 3 guys back the money that they were overcharged.

The assistant wasn't stupid and realized that each guy would want his own part of the $5 back, so grabbed 5 $1 bills. When he got to the room, he pocketed $2 for himself realizing he couldn't split the 5 evenly, and then handed each of the 3 hunters their $1 back.

So each guy paid $9 for the hotel room (9X3=$27), and the assistant manager kept $2.

But wait. There was $30. 27 + 2 = $29.

Where's the missing dollar??

Askin' for Patience

Lesson: when you pray for more patience, God gives you situations that test your patience so eventually you become more patient.

I realized the other day that with little kids I have tons of patience, but when it comes to kids in my onlevel classes that just don't care about school my patience is very fleeting. I've been praying for more patience.

The morning started off in first period (swimming) when our autistic kid came up and gave me a huge hug. Typically this kid annoys me to no end, maybe because he stalks me (not kidding) and maybe because it's first period and I'm tired, or maybe because he calls me and texts me "spam spam spam" over and over again. Well when first thing, 7:10 this morning he comes and gives me a hug, my first reaction is to get mad at him and tell him that is wrong. But today, I though half a microsecond and my reaction was different. Instead of getting mad I shrugged from his grip and just said goodmorning! And moved on. No frustration, no getting mad. Patience.

Then in art I sit at a table with 3 special Ed kids. Normally one of them is always pulled out, and one of them has an aide in there. So it's typically an aide, 2 boys, and me. And I usually love it. They say the funniest things and are normally so sweet. Well today all three were there and no aide. And one was in a funky mood which threw the others off and put them in weird moods. They were loud and became angry at the slightest things. I was ready to get out of there and go draw my skeleton at another table before I got frustrated, but decided to put my own skeleton down and help them with theirs. In the end it was really cool seeing how with a little help they turned their projects into something really cool. Patience.

At lunch I had to go deal with counselors who were already busy enough and inquire why none of my AP tests were showing up on te registration lists. There were hundreds of AP forms, it was crazy. I was ancy and hungry since I was missing my own lunch and didn't want to be waiting on them to figure out why they messed up. Patience.

Last class of the day. On level BCIS (how to use word programd etc. Totally dumb but easier than comp sci and needed to graduate). I sit next to a really obnoxious senior who has trouble working Word, let alone Microsoft Access. Typically I do my days work in ten minutes and escape to the pool before he can get too confused and need help. Today I answered his questions (which were already answered on his instruction sheet) and with a little help he figured it out. He was trying so when he would ask the same question that seemed so blatantly obvious I just took a deep breath and explained how to save the file and whatnot. Patience.

God doesn't give us patience when we ask for it, but He gives us opportunities to test our patience and ultimately become more patience.

I've been asked if I ever considered special ed teaching in addition to early education. Honestly, no. But maybe it is something to think about. As long as the kids are little. It would take a lot to make me teach middle school or high school.

Song of the Week: March 28

I've been thinkin' about this for a while, and have had these "songs of the week" for quite some time. A song that kinda tells my story right at that moment, a song that inspires me to be who I want to be for that week.

Song of the Week: March 28-- Lifesong by Casting Crowns

"Lifesong"

"Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Let my lifesong sing to You

I'm trying to let my Lifesong sing to Him this week. That's my goal. That's the Song of the Week.

Unrequited

Last night I was told by some guy that I had unrequited love. That my inability to hate him for what he did made me immature and that I should learn to hate people and stop loving people.

My reaction: "WHAT???"

I do have a hard time hating people. You can hurt me over and over and I'll forgive you every time because I can't "hate" anybody. I can dislike you greatly, but I will never hate you.

I'm a people's person too. I love people, and I love being around people (most of the time). I've learned to love a lot of different kind of people. You love your teammates, you love your youth group, you love your best friends, you love your family. There are different types of love, and I have learned to love numerous different people. It takes time to earn that kind of love, but the fact is, I will love everybody in their own way.

I don't hate people. That's not who I am.

Jesus called us to love everybody. That's what I am trying to do, love everybody. Love those who are rude and abnoxious, love those who get on my nerves EVERY night at swim practice, love the people in my elective on-level classes who are immature. Love everybody. Jesus called us to love everybody, and that's all I was trying to do. I don't care if you love me back, I don't care if you're rude to me back, I'm still going to try to love you.

So if that classifies as "unrequited" love, the fine, so-be-it. If in my attempts to be who Jesus wants us to be makes my tried love for others "unrequited" then fine. I'm doing my best and if you can't accept that, that's not my problem.

I'm going to go on loving others just as Jesus called us to love. Because in the end, some guy who wants to get a reaction out of me won't matter in the end. He just fueled my fire to try and be the best person I can be.

Progressive Dinner!

So, it's a Saturday afternoon and we're heading out to Willies for lunch because our house officially has NO food in it at all. So we are driving and I found out that not only is Kole going to a party all night, but my parents are going out too, so I can do whatever I want. SCORE! I realized I haven't seen Megan and Renee outside of swimming and church in months (no exaggeration) so the wheels start turning. We ended up coming up with a BRILLIANT plan: progressive dinner!

STOP 1: FAZOLI'S
So to start off a Progressive Dinner event, you have to have appetizers, yeah? Yeah! So we go to Fazoli's for some of the best breadsticks on the planet. We got some stares as we ordered a dozen breadsticks "to-go" (because you can't order breadsticks if you are eating in, they're given free then.. it's weird) and then went to sit down and eat them.





STOP 2: CHICK-FIL-A
The next step in a Progressive Dinner is the entree. Well, this had many possible options, but we figured we could not go wrong with Chick-fil-a. So we progressed down Highway 6 a little ways for the best non-hamburger fast food! We all got chicken strips of some form, although Megan got chicken soup with hers, Renee got some carrot squash soup mush salad thing, and I got a kids meal :) (which came with a "Why do things happen" book... bad idea MEGAN!) It was very yummy, and we enjoyed just sitting and chilling and making fun of each other, because at times, I'm pretty sure that's what the three of us do best!




STOP 3: BASKIN ROBBINS
The last stop on a Progressive Dinner is dessert of some form. We figured some good old ice-cream would be simple enough yet delicious (and was still on our journey down HWY 6.. just the opposite way), so Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts it was. (Only later did our friend MK suggest we should've gone there. IRONIC!) We all got a different kind of ice cream. Megan had some chocolatey peanut butter thing, Renee got strawberry, and I got Reeses. They were all very yummy, or so each other said. We spent quite some time at that place just chilling out and being, well, teenagers. We laughed at the most idiotic of things, made the weirdest faces, said the darndest things. We just got to be us, plain and simply, us. Megan got to be Megan, Renee got to be Renee, and I got to be me. We're all so wacky and different, yet all so close and similar at the same time.




The night couldn't have been better. We decided Progressive Dinners will have to become a regular thing for the three of us, as the fun that we had couldn't have been matched at a single restaurant (not to mention that you can't be loud and laugh hysterically at some restaurants on a Saturday night... and we never had to wait for our food like we would if we went to a sit-down restaurant). The night was perfect. I don't think I have had so much fun in a long time. I couldn't have been happier :)

Ready, Set, TEACH!!

I can't believe that my junior year of high school is almost done. That means studying for AP tests, doing everything you can to boost your grades so you aren't stressing at the end of the year, and.... signing up for classes for your SENIOR YEAR!!

Technically, I only need an English 4 and government/eco to graduate. but, I am thinking about college and knowing having a lax senior year will kill all study habits and everything I have finally figured out. So I am going to take a 5th math, a 5th science, swimming (only if there is a polo season) and I wanted to take this class called Ready, Set, Teach where you get to go into elementaries and teach.

So I filled out the application and...I got in!! The RST teacher just happened to be my preschool teacher, so she knew who I was and I didn't even have to go through the interviewing process. SCORE!! The program has a really good reputation and looks good on transcripts and blah blah blah. And it helps you get a job in CFISD later too!

So (tenatively) next years schedule will include:
Calculous BC DUAL/AP (calc one and two combined for college credit. I know a bunch of people who are taking it next year that we can help each other)
Environmental Science AP (college credit science)
English Four DUAL (college credit)
1/2 year government DUAL (college credit)
1/2 year economic K
swimming
READY SET TEACH

For those who arent aware of the lingo:
AP----> advanced placement. You take a HUGE (hints what I am studying for now in US History and English) test at the end of the course and if you do well enough you get college credit, so the college credit is not guarantees. The course is only on the same GPA as an upperlevel K class, but looks better to colleges.
DUAL----> Guaranteed college credit to any Texas University if you pass the class.
K-level----> same as upperlevel.

Relay For Life Anticipation!!!

I GET TO PARTICIPATE AT RELAY FOR LIFE!!! Originally I wasn't going to be able to (for why click here, it's my previous blog post that explains what Relay is, and etc) walk in it, I was only able to help sign people up to participate. I sold bandanna's and raised money, but couldn't actually go to the event because of a church retreat. But with the retreat canceled because of band consuming the rest of my youth group, I'm able to go to Relay For Life!!!

Relay is 29 days away. The event is 7pm-7am April 23-24th. Cy-Falls has 135 people signed up to go, more than any other group (and ultimately beating Cy-Fair High School) which is outstanding for us! We're selling bandannas that say "Team Cy-Falls" in green and gold, carrying around money jars getting donations, setting up fundraisers the day of the event (like a Nerf gun shoot-out, selling brownies, making bracelets, etc), all to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Recently it seems like SO many people are batteling cancer, and I felt like all I could do was sit back and watch and couldn't make a difference. That time is over. I can and will be making a difference this year. And I couldn't be more excited.

On April 23-24 I will be walking in the Cy-Fair Area Relay For Life. For Warren, Grandma Max, Layla, Devin, and Mrs. Katrina. I will make a difference.

Barnes and Noble Experience..

So this week I've realized how close all of my AP tests are.. only 5-6 weeks away. Yikes! So I've begun studying for those, and am finding that those Princeton AP Review Books are l-i-f-e-s-a-v-e-r-s!

Well today, I came to another realization. My SAT is May 1st. That's just a little over a month away. Uh-oh. Mina Zirlott told me about an awesome study-packet, the SparkNotes SAT Power Pack that includes workbooks, flashcards, and is a really useful tool. (And we are so familiar with SparkNotes anyway because of English the past few years, that I have grown used to the fact that they can dumb anything down to where it's easy for us to comprehend. So, I took a break from physics (which has seemed to become my after-school life.. but that's another story), and headed off to Barnes and Noble to get one of these Power Packs.

I'm skipping the horrendous traffic, the yucky rain, the idiotic drivers, and the creepy people who were sulking around Barnes and Noble to the check-out point.

Check-Out Lady: "With your Barnes and Noble Membership, that brings your total to $19.43"
I hand her a $20 bill.
Check-Out Lady: "Ummm, how much change do I owe you now?"
I think to myself 'seriously?' but politely respond "53 cents"
Check-Out Lady: "Well, I think you are going to do extremely well on your SAT!"

If only 20-19.43 was on the SAT...

A Dog's 6th Sense

After going to the doctor today and being told, again, that my cholesterol levels are WAY too high, thanks Daddy, I wasn't a happy camper. We've known this for years, somehow the genetics that has been on my Dad's side of the family (only affecting the guys) somehow got given to me. BLAH.

The answer to some cholesterol issues for people are either a) more exercise or b) lose weight. I already work out 4-6 hours a day, 5 days a week swimming and playing polo. I don't think that's the cause. And as for b), I was also told I needed to gain more weight. I'm perfectly happy where I am, but obviously what I like isn't necessarily what I need. BLAH.

So what is left? I was told to eat FISH. I don't like fish. I've NEVER liked fish. I didn't even like fish sticks growing up. I guess considering the water is my second home , I feel for the fishies and I can't think of even EATING a fish. Catching them is horrid enough. And gross. Eating them wasn't going to be an option. Solution 2: Fish Oil Supplements. Can you say EW?!?!?!

Well I was going through a freak-out (disgusting + huge pill I couldn't swallow + the typical drama that comes with an overly-tired, stressed out teenager who just got out of a freezing cold pool after turning purple it was so cold + stubborn me who doesn't like when she can't do something perfectly the first time) it wasn't pretty. My puppy came over and started whimpering. In all honesty, I wasn't in the mood for her whimpering and whining.

My puppy though is one smart puppy. She could tell I was upset and crying and frustrated and wasn't wanting anything to do with anybody. I picked her up and held her to get her to stop her whimpering (it's a pathetic whimper, but a whimper/whine none the less). She gave me the hugest puppy kiss known to man (or me I guess for that stake). I just held her close, she sure knows how to make a situation better.

I think that is a dog's sixth sense. The sense to tell when something is wrong... Even if "wrong" is classified by teenager meltdowns.

Music?? SAY WHA??

Oh yes, music is now incorporated :) I'll figure out how to rotate the songs so they aren't the same ones first/second/third everytime. I feel very high-techy though (hint hint: tech support? Inside joke with the people Mom works with).

Now I should probably go do pre-cal though. and Physics. and look up STUPID ENGLISH CURRENT EVENTS that have NO relation to English III at all. I mean, you know, because Greece needing money from Germany is so important to me writing/analyzing essays. Yahoo sarcasm to the MAX!

Sunburn in Comparison to Life... YES, it does in fact relate!

I got FRIED over Spring Break. The new nicknames I've come to acquire consist of Cayaan Pepper, Cherry Tomato, Hot Sauce, Lobster, the list goes on and on.

So, inevitably, I've begun to peel. It's gross. First the sunburn is uncomfortable (it doesn't hurt. I don't think sunburn hurts, it's just annoying), then the peeling is itchy and irritating. Then, if you're like me, your skin is rubbed raw and gets "sore" (I still think it's just annoying). Aloe Vera helps out a ton when the burn does hurt. Finally your skin heels and you're fine again.

I've been told I make the weirdest analogies (especially in school when trying to memorize vocabulary or whatever) so this is not outta the ordinary.

The whole sunburn process is like life.

Yes, I will explain. For all who know I lost my best friend of 6 years a little over a year and a half ago. I'm usin that situation in my explanation.

You get in a fight with your friend and it hurts (sunburn). You try working things out and realize that no matter how much it hurts, you are better off without that person and they're just dragging you down (peeling). Then you feel lost and don't know how to move on. You feel guilty for what happened, and even though you know it's for the best, you're still hurt because you shared so much with this one person. It seems like there is nothing left for you to rely on and you're "rubbed raw" (Rawness). You turn to the only thing that won't ever ditch you or stab you in the back, God, and He provides comfort and relief from your troubles (Aloe Vera). After a while, you move past and form friendships that are so much stronger and are for the right reasons. (skin heeling).

Yes, I know, weird connection. But it's me we are talking about. Would you honestly expect anything different??

Hardest Year of my Life

I just found out my friend's Dad passed away from a heart attack this week. I wasn't particularly close to Regan or the Jenkins, but I still cannot imagine. So much has happened this year, from fights with friends, to friends diagnosed with cancer, to Clay and Mr Mark and Layla entering Heaven.

Through everything we have to have faith that Our God does indeed have a plan for all of us. Through it all, He is there.

Lake Brownwood--Spring Break 2010

This year for Spring Break we headed up to Lake Brownwood located north of Austin, a good 5 hours away from Cypress. We rented a cabin with the Krolczyk family (Tina, Shawn, Colton [9] and Avery [6]) Tuesday-Friday. This is the first time we've ever not tent-camped, but it was fun none-the-less.

We rented the Fisherman's Lodge cabin which had 5 bedrooms, a kitchen (well.. kinda), 2 bathrooms, and a living room/dining room/stomp all the mud off your shoes room. It was really nice that we could turn on a heater if we needed to, and that if it rained we wouldn't be stuck in a tent (been there, done that, don't care to do that again).

Tuesday we got up to Lake Brownwood around 3:00. We spent most of that day just unpacking and relaxing. Av and I went on a bike-ride and exploring which was fun. We grilled pork for dinner, and Mom, Tina, Av and I played Taboo. The boys went down to the lake and went fishing. The lake backed up to our cabin which was nice for them.

On Wednesday we all woke up and got ready and ate breakfast on our own. We then went out on what we thought was going to be a little 1.5 mile hike. HA! This isn't the first time we haven't read the map correctly though. It was a really pretty hike, and although the trail was muddy, it was fun. Dad navigated at one point and we ended up walking on some rocks by the lake, nowhere near the trail. He had a goal in mind though, to stand on top of some big rock he saw off in the distance. Well.. we did get up there! Daddy ripped his shorts too (take note: first thing broken/damaged). The rocks weren't very stable, so Av and I ended up holding hands and keeping each other from falling. At one point I let go of her hand and she said "NO! You can't let go! I'm going to fall if you don't hold on to me", it was so cute!! Mom found the trail though and we continued our hike. By this time we had been walking over 2 hours, and it was way past lunch-time. We finally made it up to the end of the trail which was at the WAY front of the park. We guesstimated we walked about 4 miles. Av ended up on my back and I gave her a piggy-back ride a ways. (When she was little she wouldn't talk to me at all, but she talked my ear off the entire time, so it was worth it). We got back to the cabin finally and made hotdogs and sausage for lunch. Then everybody loaded up in the back-end of my truck and we went over to some softball fields and the 3 softball/baseball kids had batting practice. I even got up there and realized exactly why I quit softball in the first place.. HA! That night Shawn made steaks, and we all hung out. The boys went fishing that night too. We made a pretty big campfire and everybody grilled smores (YUCKK!) and hung out.

Thursday we all slept in. About 11:00 we were all up and ready to go, but ended up eating lunch before heading off on another "adventure excursion". We made deli-sandwiches and had leftovers. Then we went on another hike, luckily this one was shaded, non-muddy, and ended up being 3 miles. This trail though was interesting.. it had many different forks or paths you could take. On the way back we split up girls/guys and raced back to the cabin. I carried Av a little while and in the end THE GIRLS WON!! (We didn't even bribe the boys playing on the unstably sound bridge [as Colton and Kole named it] to slow down the boys... Or did we?). We came back and the boys went fishing. Mom and Tina read books, Av played on her DS, and I chilled. I read a little bit of The Moon in the Mango tree, possibly napped a little bit. Av and I drew pictures (well, I drew my stupid sketch for art class), and went down to the pier to walk on the rocks on the water and skip rocks. It was times when it was just Avery and I where she talked and talked and GIGGLED so much that I absolutley loved. Thursday night we went out for a "night on the town". Note: Brownwood the town is VERY small and out-of-date. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant named "Mexican Restaurant", I kid you not. Mom ordered a margarita (the whole reason we wanted Mexican, the parents wanted margaritas) and the waitress looked at her like she had never heard of one before. She ended up getting a water. Colton said "How can you not know what a margarita is? What kind of town is this?" It was pretty funny. Oh! And then the restaurant didn't have fajitas. I ended up ordering a hamburger. It ended up okay though, because Kole's enchiladas were practically fajitas and he didn't eat all of them anyways. We then made a pit-stop over to Walgreens because Colton had some weird bite of some sort on his ear that was bothering him, and Mom and I were in need of some Aloe gel. When I walked in the store the lady at the checkout counter said (very loudly) "Ouch! Looks like that girl hurts pretty bad!". In all honesty my sunburn didn't hurt very bad. Oh wells. Whatever makes people laugh! We then headed back to the lake, the boys went fishing and the girls hung out by the fire. There was a marshmallow fight--YUCK-- and many funny stories. My favorite line of the entire night came from Avery- "boys have a penis. girls have a vagina" which she took from Kindergarten Cop. Coming from her it was priceless! We were rolling with laughter.

This morning we woke up and packed up to head back home.

It was a really fun break, and a much needed relaxation. When we finally got cell phone service back I had 23 new text messages. It was nice though not having to worry about that for a while, although knowing if something happened I couldn't call Renee or Megan to talk didn't make me too happy.

All in all it was a great few days! I'm so blessed to have awesome family friends like the Krolczyk's to go hang out with and have a great time!

Now off to swim practice. Blah! Back to reality.

Our Wally World Experience

We are heading to Lake Brownswood tomorrow, and since we haven't been camping since our disasterous experience in subfreezing temps, we needed to make a Wally World run.

As dad said "it all started off when that lady parked in te handicapped parking spot when she wasn't handicapped" and it all went down hill from there.

Side note: marshmallows are in the weirdest locations at Walmart.

It only took us about half an hour to get everything we needed (thankfully groceries can be bought at Wally World so we could make a super-run) and we were actually surprised.

All of the checkout lines were full so we picked the shortest line. Well. Let. Me. Tell. You. Us Suddendorf's are HORRIBLE at picking lines.

Wally World honors competitors coupons. Well. The lady in front of us took that to the max. I'm pretty sure we stood behind her for atleast 20 minutes. It. Was. Horrible. Patience ran low and the fact that the lady spoke little to no English didn't help much.

When we finally got out of Wally World Dad was already frusterated beyond belief. And then when nobody was working the parking lot and shopping carts were askew, oh my.

I was going to end this blog post here. Key word: WAS.

As we drive home a car is being an idiot and holding up traffic. All we can do is laugh.

Baking Extravaganza

I'm not one to typically step foot into the kitchen unless I'm grabbing a glass of apple juice and some crackers, so spending 3+ hours baking today was not a typical experience!

333 cookies/pretzel things later...

4 cups of butter (3 boxes)
2 bags of chocolate chips
5 cups of sugar
8 large eggs (didn't know you could buy different sizes of eggs)
11 cups of flour
3 cups of brown sugar
1 large bag of M&M's
1 bag of Hershey's Kisses
1 pound of "Bach's Star Candies"
3/4 cup of Peanut Butter
1 Can of chocolate syrup
1 bag of pretzels

Plus the vanilla, salt (who puts SALT in desserts??), and baking soda (not to be confused with baking powder... which was used also).

After I realized that "creaming", "beating", and a bunch of other words simply meant MIX, I was on a roll.

Here's the breakdown:
71 of the unnamed pretzel/hershey kiss/m&m snacks
34 of the unnamed pretzel/bach star/m&m snacks (using the leftover star's since we ran out of kisses since I was told "you only need a small bag")
68 M&M cookies
56 Peanut Butter Bach Star cookies
50 Spritz Cookies
54 Chocolate Chip Cookies

And we're not quite done yet!! Brownies are to be made tomorrow a long with some chocolate-powdered sugar cookie thing.

And to top it all off, there wasn't any major baking catastrophes, aside from Kole accidentally bumping into me causing me to burn myself. Oh yes, I'm just talented that I burn myself!

Now, for the rest of Spring Break: going camping with the Krolczyk family Tuesday-Friday. I have 2 books down so far... only 11 more to go!! (Guess what I'm going to be doing on the 5 hour car-ride to Lake Brownsville)??

Hope everybody is enjoying their Spring Break/Weekend!

Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

Sweet Layla Grace is with our Father now,
at two years old, she already fulfilled God's plan.
Sent to Earth to change our hearts,
and oh did she succeed.
Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

Sweet Layla Grace taught many lessons,
and brought us closer to our families.
We learned to love, we learned to cry,
we learned to laugh, and learned to pray.
Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

Sweet Layla Grace's work here is done,
forever with our Father she will be.
And as we cry for her and those she loved,
she smiles from Heaven; her blue eyes watching over us through our days.
Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

Sweet Layla Grace you are such a fighter,
and now we will fight for you.
Through your story we will follow in your footprints,
changing hearts of this world as you changed ours.
Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

Sweet Layla Grace we will miss you,
but one day we will join you up above.
Forever we will stay there with our great Father,
forever and ever in Heaven.
Sweet Sweet Layla Grace

--Kylie Jene

Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World

Take Your Candle
by: Chris Rice

"There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
There is a Spirit who brings a fire
Ignites a candle and makes His home

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to
Light his own candle some other way
See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to
Still holds a candle without a flame

So Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Cause We are a family whose hearts are blazing
So let's raise our candles and light up the sky
Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus
Make us a beacon in darkest times

So Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the hepeless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world"

Have fun playing with all the angels, sweet Layla, and being with our God. We'll all be with you again one day. We love you Layla

Uh-Oh.. I'm Turning Into My Mother (Real blog is acutally about Layla Grace; the fact that it's super late and I can't sleep makes me like my mother)

Ever since I was little I remember Mom always waking up way super early, like 3 AM, saying she "couldn't sleep" and worked on work-stuff. I always thought she was CRAZY! How could you not sleep? You have "things on your mind"?

Yeah, well, I'm kicking myself in the butt now for ever thinkin' that.

Layla Grace has been on my mind. The news isn't looking too good right now, had a rough few days. And not only that, it seems like more people know about her, more people ask how she's doing. I love the fact that I'm able to spread the word and get more people praying for this little Angel, but talking about it is so hard. Reading the blog is so hard. Telling Renee and Amber that it will be okay and that our God has a plan regardless, for not only little Layla but for us too, is hard.

A simple facebook status from my best friend earlier sent me over the edge in tears. "Dear sweet layla grace. I pray that you have peace in where ever God takes you. I pray that he gives your parents, and family, the strength they need. ♥" It's a good thing Daddy was asleep, Kole was in bed, and Mom wasn't home. I sat and bawled. My pre-cal homework has a water-spot on it. (Good thing Hallmark won't pick it up). I texted Renee and just knew she was sitting in her bed doin the same exact thing.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to pick up the pencil and keep working pre-cal. Didn't know how to put together the physics packet for that test tomorrow. All I could do was cry for precious Layla.

Eventually I got over myself, realizing sobbing wasn't doing any good. The fact is Layla has changed my life. She has, no if's and's or butt's about it. I can't remember the last time I prayed so hard for something. As Mrs. Shanna said "it's not hard to believe that Layla's work here is done, she's changed so many hearts". She's changed my attitude, and my life. Now I'm going out to do the same for others, one day.

These past few weeks, Layla's all I can think about. In physics-when Matt and I check her blog everyday to see if anything's updated. In APUSH-when I look through all her pictures once more, and find myself tearing up. At home-when I don't think there's ever a time when her webpage isn't in the tab next to the window I'm working in. At the pool-when Renee and I kick and talk about how precious she is. At church-when everybody asks how she's doing. And everytime my phone buzzes, hoping it's a positive update from Mrs. Shanna and Mr. Ryan.

Therefore, I guess it's no surprise how she's been on my mind all night. I turned out the lights to go to bed and laid there, tearing up again as I prayed for God to heal her. I turned the lights back on, read my AP Test Study guide for APUSH for our test on Wednesday. I copied pictures of how a rainbow is formed for bonus points for physics. I listened to KSBJ, and heard the lyrics. I checked up on my friends, knowing Renee and Amber are in the same boat I'm in.

Layla's changing lives. She's changed mine. She's changed the 56,293 members of her facebook group. She's brought me closer to my friends, closer to our God, closer to my family. I know I'm not the only one. My aunt hugs her daughter tighter, I take the extra 2 seconds to give my brother a hug before heading out. Layla Grace, you're changing lives.

15 minutes after starting this post, I'm no where near ready for bed. Maybe I'll start one of my Spring Break books (no, that'll be bad. Then I won't EVER go to bed), or study some more for physics, apush, and pre-cal. Or read those stupid current events for English. Maybe I'll sit in bed, thanking God for what He has given me, and continue to think about precious Layla Grace. That's probably what'll happen. Just like normal.

PS: You know how I just said 56,293 were members of the "Praying for Layla Grace" facebook group? Yeah? Well I just re-checked. 4 minutes later and the number has jumped to 56,320. Unbelievable.

Layla Grace, you're awesome! Truly something special, can't wait to meet you one day :)

56,324 members.

56,329 members.

Layla's Facebook Page: see for yourself how the numbers are jumping
Layla's Blog

I had messed up the HTML for the links, so came back to edit. Facebook group: 56,342 members. Layla Grace, you're unbelievable.

What I spent a good half of my Saturday doing... thanks Mom

A compilation of all the pictures from the party last night. Thank you Renee Jordan for taking pictures too to add to the video.

NOTE: this was not my idea, but rather my mom's because she wanted to send out a video to all the parents.

Team YES Party

Swimming is a sport where you see your teammates ALL the time (seriously, more than any other friends), but you don't really get to hang out, and the time you do get to sit on the wall you're typically dead from the last set.

Well last night all of the JR/SR group was invited to come over for a party after practice. A couple of us went to practice (hallelujah it was easy, thank you Coach Dennis for being at sectionals), and then got ready at the pool to head over to my house. I took 4 (3 high school guys in the back-seat of my truck haha, Renee loved the best-friend front-seat privilege) in my truck, then a couple people followed. Once everybody got there, there was a total of 13 of us, 6 girls and 7 guys.

We played Rock Band (the singing talent was hysterical), the guys played Modern Warfare 2 for a while, we played pool, darts, Taboo (kind of...), and just hung out. We ordered 9 boxes of pizza (but got 10, thank you Pizza Hut for messing up our order), and had snacks and drinks. Dad wrapped Halie's car as payback (they have had this ongoing wrapping thing for quite some time, Halie is going to get Dad and Kole good next time, I just know it). Everybody left by 11:30 (then I went and CRASHED... my Friday night bedtime is like nine, and that is with a nap afterschool!) and the mess this morning wasn't actually too too bad.

It was fun to see and hang out with everybody after-school. Quite a few people said that this should be a monthly thing rotating houses each time. Whatever the case, it was a lot of fun!

A pretty good day :)

Typically the sound of the alarm is NOT welcomed at all in my world. Ever. Therefore, I always time my radio to where it turns on right before my alarm goes off (or I just never turn it off, which is what usually happens), and so 6:00 is made a little bit better. This morning my new all time favorite song "Our God" by Chris Tomlin was just starting when I woke up this morning, I was happy.

I actually didn't hit the snooze-alarm too many times this morning (considering I fell asleep at like midnight), and had time to get ready. Well, I get ready in 1st period considering I have swimming, so it doesn't take much at home before I leave. I can still manage to roll out of bed and be out the door in 15 minutes. It's awesome!

Then I decided I was actually going to not wear my hair in a swimmer's bun for like the first time all week. So I straightened it, and it was really pretty. BUT (the one downer of my day) somehow the chair that was in the locker-room was still wet from whoever sat down after practice yesterday, and so my jeans were soaked. Luckily, by the time I finished getting ready in the locker-room they were pretty much dry. *phew*

School was a pretty uninteresting day. Took notes in English III AP for some new essay, began a new project in art (as much as I didn't wanna take that class, it's my one fun-class, and I actually really like it), I signed up more people today than I had any other day combined for Relay For Life during lunch. I even got the comment from Shannon and Matt that my "uncorruptness and innocent combined with my blond moments" make their day better and more interesting. Glad somebody finds humor when I don't get their dirty jokes! Physics was boring as usual (but I don't think Amadio made fun of me for saying something stupid. although i did trip over an eraser..) We took notes and watched Cartoon Network in APUSH, and our big video project's due date got moved till Monday (although I finished it before I realized it was due later). Pre-cal actually made sense today, and Hallmark called me one of the smart kids (which is totally untrue in precal, I learn it right before we have a test or a quiz).

Then inbetween 6th and 7th periods somebody pulled the fire alarm, so we all got to hang out outside and it was really nice weather. So that was enjoyable and we got out of 5 minutes of class. WHOO! Then in 7th I am now 2 weeks ahead of where we are supposed to be in BCIS (yahooooo for not takin' comp sci).

Then after school I talked to Denise for like 10 minutes which was nice. And the weather was gorgeouuss so I got to drive home with my windows down and my radio up. My favorite song was playing AGAIN!!

Now I'm going to go take my puppy for a walk around the bike path and come home and study for physics, apush, and pre-cal. I need to go to Barnes and Noble and get books to read over Spring Break while camping sometime, but that can wait till this weekend.

It's been a pretty good day :)

My Life: Picture Format [6 and Under Edition]

I did this on facebook quite some time ago, and figured I'd do it here too. My Life in Picture Format, enjoy!

I loved to spend summer days up in Iowa out on the Mississippi River. Grandpa would always let me help drive the boat while Dad and my uncles all skiied. Eventually, I'd learn to tube and water-ski too :)

I was only semi-crazy about Minnie Mouse. I mean, it's not like I had any stuffed animals or blankets or T-shirts or anything...

Naps with Gizmo and my baby doll

This is one of my ALL time FAVORITE family pictures. Maybe cause it's in black and white and I love black and whites??

Gizmo and I were close ever since I was born. Unlike Dad and Gizmo..

Always been a Daddy's Girl

Maybe I was predestined to go to A&M?

I dunno WHAT Mom was thinking. I'm pretty sure this is the only time I wore a dress that foo-foo-frilly. *gag*

POLAR OPPOSITE! Tom-Boy to the max here. Although I'd totally do this to gross somebody else out, I'm not sure I'd free-willingly pick up a crawfish just for fun.

I loved Grandma's garden when I was little. It looks like I'm trying to immitate Mary Poppins though (isn't she the one who flied by an umbrella?)

As I said before, always been a Daddy's girl. Oh, and random fact.. Iowa grass is the best. There's no ants :)

Mom liked to dress Kole and I matching. Oh my. We look like sailors!

This is another one of my favorite family pictures. Maybe because it describes us so perfectly? Chaotic? Yeah, that's us. It's really funny to contrast it to the picture that followed where we are all sitting in order and smiling.

Christmas Time

Before Kole was old enough to cut down the Christmas Tree I always stubbornly tried to do it myself. And never could, so Daddy would always end up helping me. This year, Kole cut it down by himself.

I've never been the best diver...

Corn on the cob (especially GOOD corn on the cob that you can ONLY get in Iowa) has always been a favorite of mine. I can't wait till I get my braces off an can have it again!!

I've graduated in Cy-Falls green once before.. look's like I'll be doing it again here soon (one more year, one more year)!

The green baby's that I never went anywhere without. I think I probably had a total of like 4. Now one lives up with my cousin Leah up in Iowa! When we went to visit this summer, I thought it was soo cute how she still called it "Green Baby".. You know us Zieman's... so original :)

I remember Mom coming in and me refusing to let her take my picture while I was reading because I thought it'd look dumb. So Mom told me to pretend to be reading. Haha

I clearly remember when this bear was bigger than I was. I thought it was HUGE! It's still in our attic, so tiny now!

Black and whites are my favorite!! We have a picture taken a little over a year ago by our friend Missy, and we are in the same kinda position. I've edited a photo that says "Time may change, but siblings never do" or something like that. =)

The next edition will be coming soon!!! But now off to church!!!