YOUTH WEEKENDS ROCK!

hehe, disregard my rawther enthusiastic title. i'm still having a pretty tough time calming down with coming home. it's a change from being with so many people in a different place for so long. i missed home, but i really love the break now and then.

we did so much cool stuff this weekend. it was a little bit frustrating to me at points, because this time all of the kids were arranged into teams. once you were on a team there was no going back. i was on team three, and although we weren't very good in quiz bowl (that was because mel and I weren't there, of course) we were good in naming melted candy bars and drawing portraits on balloons....i'll tell you about that in a minute.

first of all, last friday i was sadly sick. :( *sniff* i was really queezy and feverish for a while, but i slept it off (man did i sleep it off!!! i slept over thirteen hours that day and night!!) i spent my day doing fun things like watching The Mask of Zorro (if you see my profile you'll see that that's a fav movie) and other movies. i didn't do school (hallelujah) and then on Friday the weekend started, so i haven't done any school for a while.

Friday morning we headed out with 'Evan and melody. we reached fairwood early, so we were able to show her fam around the premises. i love fairwood. it's my second home, and i always feel so comfortorable there. anyway, we had to head into meeting pretty quick. but of course there was seeing friends and talking about braces off and chatting and hugging etc for a while. the weekend's theme was being friends with God. i really liked that, because that's something i've been thinking about lately. this weekend came at a good time for me, because i've been back into the reading Bible and learning about God, versus starting to drift and go in the other direction. there were a lot of good experiences, and i'm so glad that i went.

we had sports! (OH YEAH!!!) after the meeting. we went up with out teams and played some blind volleyball (clothes pins on net, volleyball=purple rubber thing) that was cool, and then we played basketball, but i didn't do that one cause i didn't want to lose too much energy and get sick again. i think we did more, but i don't remember much about friday. maybe i should have copied Kate's devotion to xanga and written down stuff as it happened in a notebook. :D
more meeitngs....

sabbath meeting was enjoyable. i almost fell asleep, and i kinda wish i had because that night there was a very little amount of sleep for everyone. a person who i will not mention who had snoring issues, and we were all kept up quite late with her melodious snorts. (sorry person, glad you don't know my blog!) Aunt Sharon put a fan out and turned it up really loud to try to wake her up enough to make her stop. to no avail. the opposite happened, the girl started snoring LOUDER! by now i was laughing, even though i wanted to get to sleep just as much as everyone else wanted to. but the inevitable happens, and i eventually dozed off.

morning was good. yummy breakfast, another good meeting, etc. they have a fellowship room in the basement of the church now, and some awesome time was spent there wti around the world ping pong and just lounging. i was in the top three of around the world quite a bit, but i could never quite reach the top. *sniff*

sports that night were much better than the ones before. we played WARBALL! yes! that's the best fairwood game ever! with all the guys there by now it was very competetive. i got out a lot, and i was starting to get frustrated. but that's just me, i always get frustrated in warball. i see it as i'm the good guy and everyone else is the enmy (at least, everyone on the other side of the cout.) i slammed to my knees a few times to catch a ball, but i ended up ruining my knees more than anything else. everytime i play warball i get large purple bruises and red scrapes all over my knees. oh well, i'll just call them battle scars...

i forgot to mention some stuff we did in the afternoon. we did a cool game called balloon portraits. you had to draw everyone on your team on a balloon and then once you were done you had to go and guess who was who on each of the other team's balloons. you got points for your team when you guessed the balloons correctly and when people guessed the ones you drew. i did mel, and she came out good. my team got a 42, which was the best score possible!! oh yeah! some people had hideous ones, some people were quite well drawn. personally, i liked my team's best...

we did a few other games, but one interesting one was naming melted candy bars without tasting or touching them. my team did best on that one too. thanks Amy!

the night last night went much smoother than the one before. we went to bed a little earlier, and everyone fell asleep much faster as well. i love to sleep......

church was awesome. so many people got baptised! FIVE! it was really cool.

i must go, i love long posts, and though none can be too long, i guess osme can get rawther close to that. anyway, it's aaron's birthday, and i should straighten up stuff

love you all! ben, keep blogging! i'll miss you if you don't, you make everything much funnier...

Sheiks and Porshe Carreras

This blog thing is getting really popular. I'm so glad, gives me something to do on the internet! I've been pretty impressed so far with what people have been coming up with for blog names. right, ben? i love yours, bria...and yours too aaron, and of course steph and mel and lindsay and kim and kate...alrighty, i'll just say i like all your names. (actually, i named the last few cause i couldn't just name some! but ireally do like them!)

Wondering about the "Sheiks and Porshe Carreras" yet? Once my dad made up a limerick for me. he and I were trying to remember it this afternoon, but it took us a while to figure it out. Bria, do you remember? Here's what we came up with:

There once was a girl named Cara
She met a sheik that lived in Sahara
They got married one day
And after that they
Rode off in his new Porshe Carrera

something like that, at least. You don't get the right effect unless you sing it, though. And the effect's even better when you imagine if that really happened. Speaking of Porshes, do you say Porsha or Porsh? (i mean pronounce it that way?) i like Porsha, but my brothers and Daniel Adams would be very unhappy joes if i started saying it that way. I guess I'll humor them.

I was really tired today, so I decided to take one of my now-common naps. I had just gotten all snuggled when Nancy came in, and I had to jump up right away cause Seth was with her! He looked so good. I hadn't seen him for four years, since before he joined the army. We all had a great time sitting around, drinking coffee, and talking. We mostly talked about normal life, and how good it was to have Seth back. He's such an awesome guy...kept us laughing. :) Nancy couldn't stop laughing when she told how the other day he called her cause he'd locked himself out of the house. He was in his socks and didn't have a coat. I guess what happened was that the neighbor drove over and was going to call 911, cause he said that Nancy didn't have an older son who'd come back from the army. Seth was just kind of like, "oh." but he finally convinced the guy that he really was a Brown and then he called her, but she wouldn't drive the five minutes to unlock the door for him. She made him walk through the snow in socks...this is frustrating. stories are much less interesting when written than when they're told face to face. anyway, Nancy thought it was quite funny that he was a soldier and wouldn't walk in the snow. (he did have a cold) but this is getting dragged out...

went birthday shopping for aaron today. got some great things...

we went to the art store as well as a bunch of other places, and i got some drawing pencils. i need to fix up my Reagan picture, cause STeph wants me to take it to the youth weekend and it's a little rough. so i'll go over that tonight.

speakin go things to do tonight, i just fed ian and now i have to go and feed duncan. mama and daddy and aaron and ryan are all out righ tnow, so i guess i'd better get workin!
love you all!

Some Things Just Don't Work!

I found out last night that sometimes some things just don't work. For instance... well, the other night i was pleasantly getting ready for bed. I was in my pjs and was in the bathroom and had just brushed my teeth. i picked up my retainer and was putting it in, but it just wouldn't go in! i was starting to get mad when i looked at it closely...i realized that maybe my bottom retainer doesn't go on the top. yuppers, that's what i was doing. putting the bottom one on the top.

And then, the other day i was holding a cracker in one hand and my hair elastic in the other. I was talking to someone, and then i decided to take a bite of my cracker. figured out what happened yet? yup, i tried to eat my hair elastic. it just didn't feel right! slightly rubbery and dry....

And yet, another time, I was putting on a shoulder sweater. Have you ever noticed how one end of a shoulder sweater loooks just like the other? Well, I pulled it over my head and put my arms in the sleeves...again, it just didn't work. I'd gone in the wrong end! Haha, that was funny. Actually, i think that i've done that twice. I'd better think a little before i put that sweater on, next time.

About my day...I crammed all of the school in that i could this morning. (guess what? i had to have someone explain to me the other day that you don't say you cramped to get something done. you say crammed to get something done...wait, that doesn't sound right. i think i'm still confused...thanks anyway, person) I had to go babysitting around two, and i was going to be out until seven. I knew that i'd have to fit some flute practice in at night, too, and i wanted to go on the internet as well, so that's why i was working so hard on school.

babysitting was good...tiring, but good. Sydney had a friend over, Annabelle!!! isn't that the most amazing name? all i can think of when i hear that is Clarabelle, the awful cow in Walt Disney cartoons, and that makes me think of Elmer Fudd for some reason and that makes me think of...nevermind. we won't go there. Robin had the most amazing pizza for dinner. (I eat at their house cause i'm away so late) it was organic pizza with no sauce! but it was prolly the best pizza i've ever had. Annabelle didn't think so. She kept asking for Robin to put sauce on it, and then she gave everyother bite to the dog. She ended up eating like four pieces, which a lot for a small two-year-old. but when you think aout it, she really only had two! Sage (the dog) wasn't that hungry tonight, i think.

i had to play lots and lots of hide and seek with the girls. i tried not to let them disturb robin who was getting work done. i have counted to ten and/or twenty so many times today! ever noticed how kiddos like to skip six? one, two, three, four, five, seven, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, etc.

i should stop for now, i have a devoted friend who's chattering away to me while i'm not even answering. she has to go in five minutes anyway, so i might make her "last moments" good ones! have a great night everybody!

GO RED SOX!

Friday...uggh. Want a summary of my day? Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning Baking Cooking Baking Eating Schooling etc. i haven't gotten to Sabbath Treating yet...that's what i'm waiting for!!!

No, my title to the post has nothing to do with anything except that i was just talking to a friend about the red sox and that i realized that i haven't thought about them for ages, so i decided to keep the spirit a live a little. :D

That smiley reminds me how i was IMing stephanie and i meant to do one of those smileys and i accidentally did this: +D. doesn't that look like a poisoned dead person grinning? creepy.

I really did do a lot of baking today. my brothers and dad really love zucchini bread, and we tend to go through almost two loaves a night whenever we make a batch, so i made four today. phew, glad that's over with. OH @#$^#!!! I just burned the rice. Smooth move. I guess it isn't too bad. I remember when i was little and my mom or Bria would periodically burn the rice and we'd have to put the pot outside cause it smelled so bad. then we'd have to open all of the windows and slowly the smell would go away. When we got the pot back inside, I loved to chow down on the burnt rice (which came out in one big black and brown and white circle) and eat it. It was like a rice cake! I don't think i'd be so excited about doing that now...

Last night my Dad took me and Aaron and Ryan to the mall! Wow, first time he's ever taken me there, I think. He avoids it like the plague (those are his own words.) Anyway, I was able to get this awesome skirt that i'd seen and hoped to buy. it's sage green and flouncy and peasanty, or whatever you call it. i love it, it's nice and full and i could even do a split in it! (not that i can do a split, but there's less than an inch between me and the floor when i try!!!!!) i'm taking it to the youth weekend (yw) of course. I could even play sports in it if i wanted too. i can't wait for Cape Cod. It'll look awesome on the beach and with flip-flops. Dream on...

Twinkle Twinkle Little Teeth

My braces are gone for forever. when they were taken off i was surprised to find that i actually have straight and white teeth. glory hallelujah! i've missed em, but the whole process was worth it.

I got to the orthodontist a bit late, cause bria'd had to drop something off on the way. i was scooted in after watching a bit of The View on TV. (bleah bleah bleah) stupid TV. they should stick to the designer show. now THAt's what is interesting. anyway, they chopped, pulled or whatever you call it my braces off, and then, the second worse part of my having braces happened. the ortho ground and sanded all of the left over cement on my teeth. *shudder* cold, buzzy, grinding...those are only a few of the worst things. then i had the miserable molds. the girl in the dentist chair next to me was laughing with me about all of the extra mold stuff that was stuck on my cheeks. after i washed the purple and white glue, i had x-rays of my teeth and photos taken. I had to wait for over an hour before my retainer was ready. it's a neat little clear thingy in the shape of my teeth that i only have to wear at night. horror of horrors though, it makes me lisp! but bria's does the same thing to her, and i've never really noticed it. so, now i have my white little toofies back to myself. i've flossed them like twice every day since i got the braces off...it's so easy!

i also went to the dermatologist yesterday. my skin was just getting redder and worse. we were able to get an appointment right away with this really busy lady, so it was cool that we were able to get in. she was really neat! she had a raven black braid with a large cream bow in her hair. it strucky me as funny. she's canadian, and extremely opinionated. one of the first things she said was, "I'm an agressive treater, and i believe in people getting better!" it was such a relieving feeling to have someone who actually is really serious about fixing the problem. my eczema has gotten scratched so much that she said it's gotten and infection. she said that it's like my skin is an open wound to bacteria and other bad stuff. so, now i'm on antibiotics, and corisones, etc. i got a shot of cortisone steroid stuff/...but no, it doesn't give me big muscles. different kind. i'm already looking better! thanks for everyone's caring and prayers!

i have a stupid little cold. at eleven this morning iclimbed back into bed and fell asleep. i woke up at two thirty! hooooooooly moly...i've not slept that long during the day since i was something like three months old. *gulp*

bria's in England. she left this morning and flew over all by herself. she's gonna help Karena out with the kiddos. she'll miss the youth weekend, but that's alright with her. i guess i'd take going to england over a youth weekend, but it's a difficult decision! i hope we play more blind volleyball...i'm gonna spike it some more!! so watch out all of you who are gonna be on the opposing team! *evil laughter*

i'm so mad! i can't find my josh groban CD, where are you? i need it!! good ol josh...

i love skittles. i got some yesterday, now that i can eat them! red ones are the best...

Loverly Sunday

So...SUNDAY! the best thing about Sunday is thinking that tomorrow you have to get up early and do school and go to bed on time and make sure you get certain jobs done, and how the weekend is another week away. Oops...that's the worst thing about Sundays...

I was such a smart little girl, and last night while Bria was on my pc and IMing peoples i set up the ironing board in my room and ironed a whole bunch of clothes. i couldn't decide what to wear for church, so i just ironed everything and decided to pick in the morning.

Sunday school was about economics. not my thing. but evan's great and made it bearable. hurrah for him! we finished up economics really fast, and so we got to play around the world ping-pong. HALLELUJAH! i haven't played ping-pong in so long. at one point, i was chatting with evan and aaron served the ball and i saw it out of the corner of my eye and dived for it and my high heeled clogs gave way from under me and i tumbled to the floor, a mass of me. (pardon the "mass of me" bit, i was going to say a mass of arms and legs, but that didn't sound too flattering, so i chose the alternative. :D)

i've been reading Gone With the Wind for school. bleah. i stopped it cause it was just getting way too awful. Scarlett gets worse and worse and worse and worse and etc. i don't like the movie either. dumb stuff. "Oh, Ashley, Ashley...you DO love me! I know you do! tell me you do! *soooooooooooob*" "But after all, tomorrow is another day! *smile through tears*" not my favorite subject for a book. a southern belle married three times and having her husbands dye and then getting divorced in the end and not loving any of them anyway....*gulp* let's not think about this anymore.

it was so awesome today. when i was sititng in church before evan started talking, I was thinking that i missed Doug, and what do you know? As soon as I thought that he walked right through the door and into the church! wow! i told him afterwards, and he said it was just for me. awwww. of course it was sarcasm...but I won't think of that.

Alicia ran over to Bria and my pew and yelled out in her munchkin voice, "I've stayed dry for 2 days!" Bria told her that she'll take her to get ice cream when she's gone on the potty for a week. Alicia's very excited...

I wanna watch the Italian Job tonight...goody goody.

So Why is it Twelfth Night?

I went to a play of Twelfth Night this morning. The kiddos who put it on did a good job...we went with Chad and Craig. The whole thing was s o much fun. I never got why the play is called Twelfth Night though.

Aww, you girls all make me feel warm and cosy. (meaning all you wonderful females out there who are my age and who i e-mail and are great friends with!) i just e-mailed one of my best friends a few times back and forth; it was so much fun! we hadn't communicated in a while, so it was really sweet to get back in touch.

i watched Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow last night. i loved it! (with editing, like most movies.) it was a bit unbearable and frustrating at times, but all together it was a good movie! of course, if you see it you might want TVG and a little help with someone who's seen it to edit it.

Oops, phone line's needed!

It's Been Forever and a Year!

I haven't posted in so long! It was lovely, actually. I really enjoy writing new stuff on my blog, but i felt like i was running out of stuff to say. so i took a nice long, relaxing weekend away just to refresh my mind so that i'd have something new to write about. wait, that doesn't make sense, and i didn't take a vacation to refresh my mind anyway.

Bria and I went to Lisa's for Saturday and Sunday. It was the awesomest time ever! The Main House is big and empty and vacant since nobody's there (except lisa) and it was really cool to have a mansion like place to ourselves! We left Friday night, and stopped at Karen's swim meet first. We had the coolest time cheering her on. She was wicked fast, and did a great job. Go Sabers! On the way out of Hampshire Hills these two guys passed us, and Bria and I were both so startled to have one of them say "Hi, Bria" to us. It was like, huh? Who what where? But it turned out just to be Josh M. How cool to see someone you haven't seen in a long time in a place where you totally didn't expect him! We talked for a scant minute, and then Bria and I had to go.

So, off to Fairwood once again. We listened to some of Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers read aloud on tape. Lord Peter Wimsey is amazing. I just love him.

We reached the Main House around eight or something and hauled our hefy bags (no, they were not trash bags) into the house. I pulled another cara, and couldn't decide what to wear, so i lugged my whole wardrobe along with me. Not to mention my cooler bag stuffed with cucumbers, avocadoes, brown rice, chicken, and other delicacies for us Candida infested people. Actually, I was a naughty girl and cheated on my diet. It was heaven. Popcorn, Focaccia, etc.

Us three girls (don't tell me, i did it wrong. is it objective or nominative case? i just learned that, but i gues si didn't really...) tramped up to the rec room with our bowls of popcorn and our mugs of hot chocolate and tea, armed with David Copperfield. Well, that's kind of a melodramatic way to put it. We decided to watch the lengthy three and a half hour movie that night. After all, it was the sabbath and we could sleep in the next day all we wanted to, who cares about staying up late? But, some villain had stolen the VCR cord, and so, us desolate females tramped back down the house with our gear (much lighter on the way back, less food on us, it was all in us) and called Diane to see if we could borrow her TV. After a wrong number and no anser we decided to call it a night. We retired to our cosy quarters and snuggled in our pajamas. We looked at a photo album of ancient pictures. It was really amazing at how different people looked then than they do now! THere was just a kind of different look about them all. Anyway, I conked out rather quickly (having taken three benadryl in case i was too be itchy from all of the starch and yeast intake) and snored my way to dreamland.

Next morning: lots of fun stuff, again! We went to the Anderson's and had awesome waffles for breakfast, then we went on a nice two mile, brisk walk to the lake, and after resisting the urge to dip in the 33 degree water we went back. We called Diane again, and this time reached her. Hurray! She had no problem with us borrowing her TV, so we made our bowls of popcorn and headed up the two or three flights of stairs to her apartment. Before the movie started, I stuck some chicken legs in the oven. The Fairwood oven has some issues, and it tends to heat up one hundred degrees below what it says it is. The legs didn't cook throughout the whole movie. I mean, they cooked, but they didn't cook fast. They were just barely done after the movie was finished, and they were quite plump and juicy! Hurrah for slowcooking...

We made fraps ( i had a grapefruit slushy in place of a frap) and then made guacamole, and nachos for diner. Yummy food was one of the best parts of the weekend!

Okay, this is taking way too long. We watched another movie that night, went to bed, woke up in the morning, got ready for church, went to church, got out of church, went to sunday school, got out of sunday school, etc. Soon, it was time to head home. So we did, and got home in time to prepare for the superbowl.

*sigh* exhiliration barely cuts it. GO PATS! that was the best game ever! yeah, it was a little scary at times, but we pulled through. Deion Branch was something else. They were all so awesome. Now it's up to the celtics.... haha. (sarcasm)

Tuesday Bria, me, and Melody went on a little shopping spree. I found a really cosy five dollar sweater, and some tanktops for summer, and a wicked cool necklace which i love.

yesterday, i had my flute lesson, and then my mom, ryan, and I drove around manchester going to various stores and running certain errands. i found this cool hat at marshall's which i'm determined to go back and buy. It's kind of like a cowboy hat, but it's pink, and has black zebra-ish stripes that sgiggle and squirm through the pattern. It goes great with my light pink t-shirt...

after marshalls i experienced my first tanning booth. it was fun! the place was really nice and clean. i just climbed into a small booth and after getting ready (such as putting my goggles on, turning on the radio, etc.) i pressed the on button and climbed in to the other half of the booth and shut the door. VROOM! the walls lit up, and the purply white light started shining. fans in the top, bottom, and door of the booth blew cool air on me, so that i wouldn't get too hot. after the lights turned off, my tanning session was done, and i sadly climbed out of the booth. i think it helped my skin, i wasn't in there long enough to tan, but i'm hoping that there will be an improvement.

well, that's the scoop! Lisa and Katie come over this afternoon to spend the night, and then we're driving them to the airport tomorrow. So, life goes on, busy as ever!

Sneaky Slivers

I have to hurry and write as much as i can before aaron comes back. he's upstairs doing his math, poor dude. he started to go on the pc and then remembered that the stinkin old math wasn't done, and so like a good boy he dutifully went to it. well, it did take a little prodding from mama... So what did you guys think of the personality test? it isn't really like a personality test, i don't know what you'd call it. an opinion test? naw, that just doesn't sound right.
I was so good this evening! I really dislike practicing, as you all prolly know by now. But anyway, I was such a good girl and I practiced for forty five minutes! I meant to do an hour, but I was just too pooped, so I didn't.
You know how i broke that pot top? Well, I thought that I'd swept up all of the glass crumbs, but I hadn't, and I got this sneaky little sliver right in my foot. I felt like I was at death's doorstep. I could picture this evil little glass traveling through my bloodstream twisting and turning, reflecting the white bloodcells, and then traveling right throw the aorta and jamming itself into my heart somewhere, and, well, I'll stop there. I've played with the imagination enough. Actually, I wasn't that worried, because I could still see the glass. I spent the rest of the afternoon limping around and sort of walking with my foot curved up so that the glass wouldn't push against the floor and get further into my foot. It wouldn't bleed or anything, so it really took forever to get it out. But I did, and now I'm happy.
To my relief, life has been pleasantly uneventful, so my blogs aren't nearly as full. I'll just have to store interesting things in my little brain and write them down later.
Have a great night everyone!