Water, Fire, Wind

We got back to Aurora last night at 6:something.

NYC had its ups and its downs.
The worship with Starfield, the speakers, and the concerts were absolutely positively phenomenal. I've always loved Starfield, but I love them even more now. I ran out of money before I could buy a shirt, though. =]
The speakers included J.T. Warrik, Reggie Jabbs, and Greg Stier. Each night had a theme, water, fire, or wind, and they spoke of God in those elements. It was wonderful.
And the concerts. TobyMac and David Crowder Band were by far the best. Crowder only got like, 25 minutes, though, while TobyMac and Family Force 5 got around 45. That was disappointing, but he was still fabulous.
I had a lot of favorite parts, but one of them was on the last night, when the speaker, Francis Chan, finished speaking and left us in prayer. We were sitting on the floor then, and someone in the far left of the stadium began singing "I Surrender All" and it began to spread until everyone in the whole dome was singing the chorus without instruments or anything. It was beautiful.

There were two not-so-great things that stood out: the food and the tracks.
The food was atrocious. We ate the first day, Wednesday, for lunch (which wasn't very good) and then rushed after our tracks to beat the rush for dinner, got up to the front of the line, saw the food, and left. It literally looked like vomit thrown on some wilted lettuce. Ugh. So we didn't eat dinner there at all, but we toughed out lunch every day. Needless to say, we were very hungry at dinner time. (; The first day we ate at Quizno's and then Jimmy John's 3 nights in a row. It was very yummy.
The tracks were a new thing they tried at NYC07, and I don't think they'll do it again. We registered for them in March or something like that, and there were things like music, sports, photography, drawing, and graphic design. Everyone from our church chose the Multiple Topics, where we met in the Meal Hall for an hour and literally sat there doing nothing each time and then chose two seminars per day. There wasn't really an opportunity for service or variety so much, which was kind of a disappointment. We went to a couple good seminars though, so it wasn't all bad.

Then there were the buses. Oh, the buses. Our district got 2 charter buses from Coach USA to get us to and from St. Louis, and on our way there, the buses reached a temperature of 95 degrees because the air conditioning broke. It was miserable and smelly and gross, and they promised to fix them when we got to St. Louis. Well, they were sent to a shop, but I don't think they ever got "fixed" because on Sunday, when we left St. Louis and headed to Kansas to stop for the night, it reached irregular and uncomfortable temperatures once again, to the point where the district flew Elaine, who's 7 months pregnant, home to avoid any complications that could come as a result of the heat. They sent new buses that drove through the night from Colorado to us, and though it still got to 80 in the back of Bus 1, was considerably cooler and much more comfortable. Hallelujah.

The best thing about NYC, though, was the service project that we all took part in. Each student who attended NYC was asked to bring a box full of non-perishable food to the conference, in hopes of feeding 5,000 families of 4 for a whole week. That alone was amazing, but we ended up being able to feed 10,184 families! It was so really cool that 9,600 little teenagers could do that. (:

I'm still kind of letting all of NYC sink in. In some ways, it exceeded my expectations, and in others it fell short. But it was certainly fabulous in the way of encountering God, which I'm very thankful for.

Sorry I don't have much. =/
I'm sure there's some things I've left out, but I can't remember them right now. Haha.

Overall, I had a good time. I'm very glad I went, and for the most part I think it was worth the $1,300 we paid to get there.

Well.

It's been a while.
It's really dumb that it's taken me so long to write, because most of these 22 days since I last blogged have been insanely lame.
But, yeah.

School is out. Obviously. Hallelujah. Now I get to sit at home and do nothing instead of in a classroom. Oh, joy.

I went on the mission trip to Galeton on the 4th-8th. That was a lot of fun. We went to Triangle Cross Ranch, a home for the developmentally disabled. We did odd jobs around there: Katy, Mattly, and I took down a fence and put up a new one, we weeded, leveled ground, power washed and stained all their porches, and the boys mowed, dug holes, and trimmed trees. The work days were pretty short--we ate breakfast at 7:30, started work at about 8:30, and worked until 3 or 4 with a break in between for lunch. It was nice. We also got through all 3 of the Back to the Future movies since we had access to a house. We slept in the backyard of Grace House and were able to go inside whenever we wanted because there were no ranchers living in it. That was fabulous. When there was torrential downpour or blowing winds (get it? Galeton? :]), we could take shelter. On that Friday we had planned to go to Water World but it wasn't supposed to be very warm so we decided on Elitches instead. We had a blast. It wasn't very busy, so we got to do everything we wanted.
A nice mission trip--short and sweet. I'm glad I went.

Like I said, all the days besides the mission trip have been insanely lame. I just sit around and clean and do odd jobs around the house. I get so bored. Mmyeah. Every once in a while I do something exciting, though. Don't worry. :]]

NYC is 2 weeks from this Sunday. I'm starting to get really excited; I think it's going to be really good.

And...my brother's birthday is a week from Monday. Gift ideas, anyone?

Hope you're enjoying the very very hot weather.

Killing Two Birds With One Stone

This week for me has really been about being grateful and thanking God for what I am privileged to have in my life. This includes the things, the people, the emotions, everything. I don't know why I've recently had this revelation, but I'm doing a lot better with not taking things for granted so often.

Also, this week has been full of mixed emotions. Mm...yeah. Disappointment, happiness, sadness, guilt, elated-ness, excitement, fear. It's been a little difficult dealing with it all, to be perfectly honest. It's kind of scaring me, but it's doing better, thank you very much. (:

What an...odd blog. Don't judge. Ahaha.

P.S. If I don't eat in front of you when I should be doing so (breakfast, lunch, dinner), make me. I've not been eating like I should be (aka way too little), and I've been dizzy as a result. So, yeah. I don't know why--I just haven't felt hungry. But if I'm not eating, stuff something down my piehole so I don't do that anymore. plzkthnx

Enjoy yourselves!
:]
Love you all.

Seven Slapdash Statements

Wow, Anna. Way to alliterate.
I make myself proud. (eyeroll)

7 Random Things, as recommended by Sherry.
Things is going to be tough.

1. I keep this really random hilarious draft of an email in my account that my friend wrote and threatened to send to someone. It's pretty much the funniest thing ever and makes me laugh out loud everytime I read it.

2. I type in my head. All the time. I figure out what you can do to make a sentence, phrase, or word even on both sides where you use each hand the same amount of times. Does that make sense? It's my little OCD thing; I can't stop. It's very frustrating.

This is really difficult to come up with.

3. Wow...I'm already stretching here. I wear three rings every day, and four bracelets. It seems like a lot, but I feel bare without them. The first is my purity ring, which I wear for obvious reasons. The second doesn't have a meaning, really. I just think it's cute. (: The third ring I wear is the one that my favorite teacher's (who died from breast cancer) husband gave me as a "gift from [him] and Sue." It made me bawl the minute he gave it to me. The bracelets I wear are a hemp thing that I tied while on the phone with a friend that has a lot of inside jokes attached to it. The next is one that my friend gave me that says "Anna ♥ Jesus Always" on it. She and I aren't as good of friends anymore, but I wear it as a reminder of what kind of friend she was. On my right arm is a plastic heart one that looks like candy. My best friend from swimming, Jeri, and I got matching ones for Valentine's Day and I haven't really taken it off since. The last one is a metal one that says "Faith, Hope, Love" that my Grandma gave me for Christmas. Whoah. That's a lot.

4. I'm a perfectionist in my schoolwork, like projects and stuff, but I'm basically a mess when it comes to my room. Well, I'm not a mess. But it can get pretty sloppy. I'll put extra time into my handwriting and assignments, and my room suffers as a result, I guess.

5. I loathe drinking milk through a straw. I think it tastes disgusting. It actually gives me the shivers. Like Sherry, though, I drink water from one of those Starbucks straws with my Nalgene all the time.

6. I loooove pomegranate. Love it. It is the best fruit out there, but it stains like there's no tomorrow. I love the smell, the taste, everything. And that "Midnight Pomegranate" from Bath & Body Works? Fabulous.

7. One of the most attractive things to me is when people remember things. You know what I mean: little things that I've mentioned or we've talked about. If you give me something related to one of those small things as a gift or whatever, it's one of the best things I could have wished for. Did that make any sense whatsoever?


That was...interesting. It's weird how long these take you for yourself.

I don't have anyone to tag.
Whoever you are, do it.
Don't have a blog? Make this your first entry.

Have a good beginning of your summers. (Hallelujah!)

Poignancy

"I think if you like somebody you have to tell them.
It might be embarrassing to say it, but you will never regret stepping up.
I know from personal experience, however, that you should not keep telling a girl that you like her after she tells you she isn't into it.
You should not keep riding you bike by her house either."

My mom gave me Blue Like Jazz for Easter after I mentioned it a couple of times to her about what I'd heard about it. Luke was certainly dead-on in his reviews of Donald Miller--it's spectacular. That quote is one of my favorites, especially that last part. (:

So, Levi and Danielle's wedding was on Saturday. It was really beautiful, as was her dress. Ha. It was nice to see everyone together, too: Melissa showed up literally as the wedding was beginning and all of the college kids and some we don't normally see came. It was a good time; they're going to be very happy together.

And Sunday was Mother's Day. My brother's AP Physics teacher, Mr. Kindt, takes star trail photos, and he gave some that were in a gallery out to his AP students. My brother picked one up that had these illuminated buttes in Utah at the bottom of the picture and the stars above. It was very pretty. Before the wedding on Saturday we went to Hobby Lobby and had it framed. She loved it. She says it might take a while till she actually hangs it up (hah!), but she was very happy. My brother and I made her hamburgers and french fries, and I baked up some strawberry shortcake. It tasted fabulous, if I do say so myself. My mom said it was all she could have asked for for Mother's Day. I suppose we get a thumbs up, then.

That's all that's really new here, I think.
Hope all of your Mother's Day went as smoothly as mine. (;

Have good weeks, loves.

Oh, I wish.

Hola, friends.

It's been a really good week, I guess.

Briar, my clogging instructor, asked me if I would be willing to join the competition team. The team is very elite, and they travel all over the country. I was really excited. It will take about a year before I actually begin to practice with them, but I only started up again in September, so I'm not complaining. (:

Saturday was prom alternative. It was really cold and really fun. Eleven people showed up: Kara & Jesse, Stacia, Austin, the twins, Jeff & Elaine, Mattly, Kyle, and me. We went to Cinzetti's and then to Colorado National Speedway. It got colder and colder at the speedway, but Will showed up with blankets and we did fine. I'm glad I went.

Levi and Danielle's wedding is on Saturday, and all the college kids are showing up again. I'm excited to see everyone and to see Levi and Danielle "tie the knot." They're having a mission trip to Galeton, I believe, but I don't know if I'll go. Hopefully some of my friends will end up going so I'm not all alone. (:

On a more...solemn?...note, I ask that you keep a very good friend of mine in your prayers. About 3 weeks ago, her sister was in an accident and passed away later that week after being in a coma. She learned last Thursday, too, that she has a stomach infection. She has been throwing up waaay too much lately, and she went to the doctor and learned about her condition. The doctor gave her 2 weeks to a month for the medicine to work, and if it doesn't begin to get better, she might have to have surgery. And, to add to all of that, her brother took his own life this weekend. She's obviously going through a very very rough time with her family (although handling it like a champ), so I ask you to please keep her in your thoughts. I'm sure she'd appreciate it. ♥

I hope you're doing well. Love you all.

It's been a while.

Wow. I haven't written in over a month. Hm.
And close to nothing has transpired since then. Dag.

Seriously. I can't think of anything.

Well, except for how fantabulous it was to see the Duerres. We had so much fun at Chik-Fil-A and then chillaxing after that. I'm so glad they showed up. Breklinn is absolutely beautiful and Silas is an adorable little guy.

And, uh. I made 220 American dollars at the garage sale. Big news.

Lamest post ever? I think so.

Enjoy yourselves.