Roxane

About 3ish years ago my family hosted an exchange student from South Korea for a year. Lets just say it when not so well. So we (Mainly my dad) said we would never host a student again. Since we had hosted we still got the emails from the coordanator about the new students. My parents never really read them. Most of the time they were just deleted. Well last Decemeber my mom accidently opened one and her eye went to the profile of Roxane from Belgium. What stuck out to her we the fact that she has been to an orphanage just like our family. As she read further, she realized she would be a great fit for our family. First my mom came to me and told me about it. (So we would gang up on my dad) We talked about it and we decided to go for it. We were also thinking how if it didn't go well like last time it would only be 5 monthes instead of 9 like last time.

So January 5th our family went to the airport to pick up our new family member. We hit it off right away. Roxane and I got along really well. She picked up on american sarcasm fast from my dad and me. The biggest difference between the 2 of us was that she is what i call a neat freak. and I am what she calls a slob!

Roxane, my mom, and I had a girls weekend in Las Vegas in February. We had a great time! One time when we were in an elavator a lady looks at us and says "You two must be sisters.... you have the same nose!" We started to laugh, not only because we weren't sisters but also because a few days before I set the date for my surgery to fix my crooked nose (Thanks to a softball)

Roxane and I had a thing for watching movies. We both enjoyed the netflix!

We also took her camping! The first night when the smoke came to her she said a sentence and french and we just all looked at her like she was crazy! Then she told us that when she was in scouts and the smoke was in your face that was the sentence you would say. What does that sentence say you must ask? -I hate rabbits! My dad loved it and has been practicing (He still doesn't have it down well)

Roxane left for home on Saturday. :( the day after my nose surgery. It was really hard to say goodbye. Since I had just had surgery it wasn't a good idea for me to go to the airport with the family so i had to say my goodbyes at my aunts house. I couldn't look her in the eyes because I knew if I did i would start crying and that would be really painful in the nose. (But trust me Roxane, I CRIED LIKE A LITTLE SCHOOL GIRL!)

Roxane, Since you have left..... so far every night I have been sleeping in the living room so i can be upright for my nose. Tonight it the first night I am going to sleep in a bed. YOUR BED! because your bed doesn't have a ladder and your flour doesn't have anything on it that I could trip on. The bathroom- Clothes all over. But I would keep it clean for you if you came back!!!

Worship

What does it mean to worship? Lately that has been the question that has been asked to us that are on the worship team at church. The first thing that usually pops into mind is probably singing, or playing an instrument. There is so much more to worship than that. We have talked a lot about how we are not worthy enough to be even able to approach God. I am NOT perfect! I don't deserve to be loved and to worship our Lord. But he lets us!! Then there are the day that I feel like my worship is not authentic. But God doesn't need a perfect Joan. If I was perfect, why would I need a God? A friend was talking about this the other day and he goes "Sometimes I role like a square, some days are like a triangle, or an oval. But some days I role like a circle." A few weeks ago I was leading worship with a few other people and we went off and prayed and we talked about one of the songs we were singing, I will follow. The lyrics are "Where you go I go, Where you stay I stay, Where you move I move. I will follow you." We started talking about how powerful those words were that we were singing and how important it is to mean it when you sing it. Do I really mean what I sing what what we were asking ourselves. Our leader started talking to us about it because she could see how much we work trying to grasp this because we were also saying how there are the days you really don't feel like worshiping. She started talking about how that was a feeling, that we really did mean the words we were singing. Another thing I am learning about worship it is not all about music. You can worship with anything. God has given me the talent and passion for kids. I get to worship when I babysit... Snuggling with a child is worship!!!!! So my question for you is how are you worshipping God in your everyday life.

Randomness of Joan

I am going start this by telling you that footie pajamas are totally awesome and I love them. I wear them to bed almost every night! I got my first pair this year. (well since I was little that is) I thought they would be really hot but they aren't they are perfect! I love it when I am babysitting (Like I am now) and they have footie pajamas! It makes me all happy inside!

This week will be my last week to have no sports going on after school! I am really excited for track to start! I havent been running like I should have been but I have been running more than I had been last year at this time!

We had really weird weather this week.... We had school all day on monday, Tuesday we got out at 1:25 because it was starting to snow and it was REALLY windy. School was cancelled on Wednesday. Had a full day Thursday and today we had no school! Gotta love 2 1/2 day weeks. But now we have to make up a day of school!

We got a foriegn exchange student! Her name is Roxane and she is from Belgium! We totally love her! She is a great addition to our family and fits in well! I am teaching her American sarcasim! She is catching on fast! We are taking a girls get away to Las Vegas at that end of the month! We are really excited!

East Coast here I come... Over spring break while my parents are in Aruba, I am going to the east coast to spend some time with my old babysitter and her family! I am really excited to see them and hangout with them! Oh and dont forget NYC! It will be an awesome way to spend my birthday!

So there is some really random things that are going on in my life! Have a great week!

I haven't posted in a long time.... mainly because I have been really busy. Yet I feel like I have nothing to write about. (And I even watched Julie and Julia last night and still don't have any inspiration!!)

For my advanced oral and written communications class we have to do a service project. Me and 2 other guys decided to go to a local elementary school and help out for 30 minutes on Tuesday. It has been a lot of fun! I have been in one of my family's best friend's kindergarten classroom! What a hoot they are!! I mainly have been helping a girl try and focus (Which seems to be impossible!!)

While I do that in the morning, I go back in the afternoon to mentor a 4th grade girl. What I didn't know what that she goes to my church. She definitely needs a good role model. I go for about 40 minutes and just spend time with her. We usually play scrabble which neither of us really know how to play. I connect with people really well of the most part. But to be honest I have been having a hard time. There has been so much junk her life. I have been too busy getting caught up in what I am going to get out of this and not looking at the spiritual guidance she needs. I need to show her God's unconditional love through my actions. I pray that God will open doors. He already has... that God will use me to show her how awesome he is!

Lil lauren

This summer I have been babysitting a girl everyday! I have had a blast doing it! Most days that is! Now that I can drive I have been taking her to all her lessons! I also have also been trying to find fun things for us to do to get us out of the house. We have gone to the pool most days! One day I took her to the pubic pool and she had a blast going on the waterslidea over and over and over again! One day we were and toured a 12 story treehouse! That was a lot of fun but it was so stinkin hot! We had a picnic one day, baked some cakes, and yesterday I painted her nails! Today we played tennis for awhile them we went to a place that has a lot of trails that you can explore on! Lauren kept saying that she kept seeing things jump. Of coarse being that she is 8 and a girl she was being all dramatic about it so I just told her that it was probably grasshoppers and kept walking. Then we got out of the shade and I look down and see frogs jumping all around us! Lauren started screaming amd was about to start crying. I wanted to scream but I knew that that wouldn't help. So right then and there we turned around and headed back to my car! What a day! I can't believe I am saying this bit I am getting attached to lol miss lauren! I am going to miss it when school starts!

Seriously?

I am officially tired of winter. Have been for the past oh 2 months or so!!!! We have gotten so much snow this year. the snow is up to our mailbox. (We had to dig it out) We have missed i think is is 5 days of school. Many 2 hour delays and early outs (Which i am ok with). I don't think we have a full week of school since Christmas. We were supposed to get out of school May 27th but we are now to June 4th. At least this year we are not going until June 12th like last year. So spring hurry up and come visit me.... I miss you very much. Winter, not that i don't like your snow, i just wish the temperature could be a little higher than 10 degrees.



Sigh.....

Ugh.......

I have lived in the midwest most of my life so cold and snowy winters are not new to me. But this year we have gotten a lot of snow. I MEAN A LOT! I love snow and all but Really? do we have to have this much of it and then have it rain and freezing over? This is the first year in a long time that the last day of school was supposed to be out in may. But NO.... we have had 5 snow days so we are once again going to school in June :( Today we got out at 12:25 because of another storm coming in. It is nice to get out early and still have the day count! And what could be better than going home and chatting with 2 of some of the coolest people on facebook?! So if anyone would like to take me somewhere warm they are more than welcome to! Even though it is way too cold outside for my liking I did take some pictures of the trees the other day. They were so pretty! So think of me in June when you are enjoying the warm sun and I am stuck inside a unaircontioned school!

New Year!

It is now a new year! 2009 was great and 2010 will be too! I have had many exciting things happen in the past year. Before school started I told you some goals I had for this school year and I wanted to check back on them today!

My Goals were:
1. Getting up in the morning to do my quiet time with God.-
I have be successful with that. So far I have only missed 2 mornings!

2. To do my best at Cross Country.-
I was successful with that too! I knew that one wouldn't be hard since I have a huge passion for running!

3. To go to bed at a reasonable time-
Some days i am successful at that and other days I totally bomb that one! But for the most part I do a pretty good job. I have 2 people that I will text before I go to sleep and tell them goodnight so they know when I go to bed!

4. To keep my locker clean (at least my half)-
My locker hasn't been too bad. Don't have much in there besides school stuff! The only thing that really annoys me is that we both put our empty gatorade/water bottles on the bottom and that is where I have put my stuff.

5. To TRY and keep a positive attitude towards band (Key word TRY)-
I don't really think i am very successful at that one. :( I really did not enjoy band and I am dropping band at semester! I will be taking foods instead! I have very limited cooking skills so that will be interesting to see how that goes! I am glad I tried band and I have stuck with it this far. I have tried it and now I know it is not for me. I can see how some people like it. It is just not my thing.

My goals this year are all of those (band won't have to worry about much longer and cross country is over). I also want to add to those goals.

1. Keep my room cleaner- I think I say this every year and I don't think i am every very successful but I really want to work on that! I know my parents would agree that I really have a lot of improving I have to do in that department.

2. To branch out and meet new people.- I have so many great friends that I love with all my heart. I am so thankful for them. I have realized that I need to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people and develop friendships.

3. Eat healthier.- I am one of the worst at eating healthy foods. I am not that picky, I just have a really bad habit of eating junk food. Like poptarts! I don't think I need to say anymore!

4. To complain less- I complain about a lot and I just need to stop!

So there you have it! My goals for 2010! Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010!

Lost Wisdom

Today I got my wisdom teeth out. I was really nervous. But luckily it went really well. When I woke up, because of the meds, I started crying and didn't stop until I got home and settled and got the pain killers in my system. The pain killers really helped! They also make me tired so I got to take a nice nap! I am becoming great friends with the lazy boy chair! I am starting to eat some food. I had a little bit of soup when i got home but only had 2 sips since i was still really out of it and couldn't feel my mouth except for pain. My mom did make me drink 2 glasses of milk so i could keep my meds down. I have had some pudding too! but that was mainly all over my face! I am very thankful I am recovering quickly! Thank you for all the prayers! Love you all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope yours went as well as ours did! I got woken up by Jack at 8:39. I was hoping me make it until but 8:39 isn't bad so I am ok with it. (although he didn't wake me up very nicely by shooting me with is nerf gun but that is another story) We got to open our gifts from each other as just a family which i don't think that has ever happened. Jack and I both ended up giving each other cloths and mom and dad got us both our own laptop! it was really exciting. Then my Grandparents came up with my uncle and we did gifts with them and lunch. It was really nice to spend that time with them. Now we are just enjoying our day watching hallmark movies. This house is way too edicted to hallmark movies! anyway.... I hope very one had a great Christmas!

Family Christmas

This weekend we had Christmas on my dad's side of the family. It was loads of fun! (but also exausting) The plan was this....

Saturday

9:00- Go to Jack's lego league competition

9:30- Go to the Y and watch the swim meet
11:00- Go home for lunch and see cousins.

After lunch- Take Liz to walmart so I could give her her present.

Then go to Jack's lego league competition again.

After that just hangout with the cousins and play games.

Sunday

9:00- Church at Grandpa and Grandma's church.

10:00- Brunch (PANCAKES AND BACON!!!!)

After breakfast- Presents

The day didn't go as I had planned but it all worked out of course! My youngest cousin is 11 and was very excited to open presents. So of course she would say something like i think we should open tonight so we can enjoy them and we won't have time after church. So then then she got some of the others on board. They got together and made a petition (Which was really cute) and they would sign and the adults would change it and so on. Long story short, we opened presents Saturday night but the deal was that kids had to do dishes (Luckly paper plates were used!) at dinner and brunch.... I told everyone to not use syrup! So here is what really ended up happening...

Saturday

9:00 Jack's lego League

10:00 Cousins pick me up on the way into town from fll and we just go to grandpa's

11ish Go to walmart to shop for shoes that fit.

1:15 back to Jack's lego league

3:00 lunch

7:00 Dinner

9:00 Presents

12:00 am take pictures with my girlies on the webcam

12:30 am start g-force

1:30 am stop g-force halfway through

2:00 am snooring away

Sunday

9:00 Church

10:00 Brunch

11:00 Got some of the awesome bells that used to be my Grandmas!

3:00 Card

4:00 Cousins leave and i then tried to take a nap but texted instead! (of course!)

The weekend was great and i am glad my family lives so close! I hope you have a great Christmas too!

Marching Band 2009

This year my mom made me do band. At first she was going to make me do it all 4 years of high school but she told me I only had to do it for 1 year. Of course she said that laying the guilt trip on me. After her realizing that it takes control of all of your life inside and out of school she said I didn't have to do it. We called to get my schedule changed and we couldn't get my schedule changed without losing all the good teachers I have. So I bucked up and stuck with it knowing that i would only have to do it for a year. Now marching band season is over! I am so relieved! I am going to try and drop it for another class at semester! I need to get that taken care of still! I am very proud of myself for sticking with it even though I had no other choice!

What do you do when your strap falls off? Bite it, then stick your tongue out at Patty!

My uber crazy life

The past month has been a very busy month for me. I have had little time on the computer and almost no time in front of the TV. (Which i don't think is a bad thing!) I used to think that my life would never get this busy and always thought my mom was wierd when she said it would. How do people do this all year long? Tonight I have Cross country practice, Then band 7-9. Tomorrow I have cross country practice, piano, band 7-9, Wednesday I cross country practice, team dinner, Activate. Thursday I have a cross country meet! Friday I actually have off for once! Yippee! Saturday I have state band compition all day:( While I can't wait it for to slow down some, (which everything slows down in the same week) I love it! I really have been enjoying cross country. Hating band but i won't go into that. My life my my be uber crazy but it's my life!

The Race

There are many things I like about running. I love the feeling of wanting to quit and walk about not walking because you know that at the end you will regret walking. The Christian life is a lot like cross country..... You have parts in your race that are flat. You feel like you are on your safe ground. Then There's the hill. It is hard getting up. You have to find that energy within and you may just want to walk. Then you get to the top and you realize that you are stronger because of that hill and your adrenaline helped. There are different paths you can take. Not everyone has the same path to take. If you look closely, you can see they are always marked so you know what one to take. There are the fans that are cheering you on, yet the crowd that is trying to bring you down. Then you start to see the finish. You get to the finish and get the reward of finishing. The reward is spending the rest of eternity with our heavenly father!

If you haven't already, it is time to put on your running shoes. Come join me in the race!

XC

Tomorrow is my first cross country meet of the year. I am a little nervous but not as much as i usually am. We are running on the new course and we aren't liking it as much as our old course but we were also spoiled by having such a nice course before. Today we got our warm up t-shirts and had a spaghetti dinner which was a lot of fun. Next spaghetti dinner is at my house! So tomorrow at 5:00 think about me running up the hills! I don't have a good picture of a meet from last year so here is a picture of yesterday's sunrise.

Wordless Wednesday

Back to School:(

On Thursday we go back to school. I AM NOT READY TO GO BACK. I had a really great summer! This afternoon I went to Freshman orientation and walked my classes and met my teachers. I am happy that on Thursday I don't have to go to early morning classes!

Some summer highlights were...

• Teen arts bloopers



• Teen arts in general



• Starting Cross Country



• Getting my school permit! (My mom doesn't like the high insurance)



• Family vacation to Colorado



• Mission trip to Mexico



• Steven Curtis Chapman/Jeremy Camp concert!

Some goals I have for this year....

• Getting up at 6 to do my quiet time with God.



• Do my best in cross country (That won't be hard)



• Get to bed at a reasonable time.



• Keep my locker clean (At least my half)



• To TRY and stay positive about band. key word try

Facts

If you know me you know that i am a huge Steven Curtis Chapman fan. Well on Thursday Steven Curtis Chapman and Jeremy Camp will be at the state fair! Of course i got tickets 2 hours after they went on sale and we could only get seats in the 11th row:( Since I am a freak and must not have anything better to do on a rainny Sunday, I created a fact sheet on Steven Curtis Chapman and Jeremy Camp. I was going to do this yesterday but we went ATVing and then I went to a friend's house. Most of them are really random but hey, I am a very random person!

Facts about Steven Curtis Chapman

1. SCC has 2 kids married.
2. Kids names are Emily, Caleb, Will, Shaohannah (Shaoey), Stevey Joy, Maria
3. Wife is Mary Beth
4. Mary Beth’s maiden name was Chapman. They met in college when their mail would get mixed up.
5. Mary Beth’s birthday is November 6, 1964
6. SCC has a tattoo on his ankle that says God Follower
7. Maria was a special needs orphan since she had a hole in her heart. It turned out that she never did have a hole in her heart.
8. Emily married Tanner Richards on October 4, 2008.
9. Tanner proposed on an airplane on May 17th.
10. SCC’s favorite song is Blessed by your name.
11. SCC’s bff (besides MB of course) is Matt Redman
12. SCC and his family had just left Beijing an hour before the earthquake hit last year.
13. Will’s girlfriend’s name is Ruthie. (I know, not JoanL)
14. The Chapman’s have a dog named Max. Steven is not a big fan of Max!
15. The album, Heaven will rise, will be released on November 3rd.
16. Caleb and Will are in a band called The Following.
17. Will is really good at basketball.
18. Mary Beth drives a 2007 Honda Odyssey
19. In 1998 SCC lost is voice for about 3 months with paralyzed vocal cords.
20. Caleb married Julia on Mother’s day.


Facts about Jeremy Camp

1. Jeremy Camp is married to Adie Liesching.
2. Adie was the lead singer for Benjamin Gate.
3. Jeremy’s first wife, Melissa, died of cancer.
4. Adie is from South Africa.
5. Their daughters are Isabella (Bella) and Arianne (Ari)
6. Adie is 12 weeks pregnant.
7. Jeremy and Adie have iphones.
8. They got married in December, 2003.
9. Adie has an album called Don’t Wait.
10. Jeremy took Adie out to dinner planning on breaking up but accidentally asked her to marry him.

Repainted

While I was in Mexico, I got room painted! I think it turned out awesome. All that time the week before pulling off wallpaper has so paid off! My back wall is chalkboard. I plan to get some markers like what they use in cafes to right with. right now I am just using chalk. So you people need to get over and help me deckout my wall!

Is it just me?

Is it just me that hates to get rid of pony tail holders even though they are broken or about to break?
Is it just me or does the toothpaste lid always seem to disappear? That also could be Jack!
Is it just me or do a lot of people hate washing their sheets?
Is it just me that hardly ever buys the same kind of body wash 2 times in a row?
Is every one's desk always have lots of junk on it or is that just me?

These are the things that ran through my mind this morning at 7 AM getting ready for summer running. Random I know, but hey.... What else is there to think about at that time of the day!?