Most Embarrassing Moment of High School... So Far..

A few days ago, I had my most embarrassing moment of high school so far. This week is homecoming week at Arapahoe and my choir teacher asked our choir if we had any questions about homecoming week. I am way out of district for Arapahoe and have no idea what some of their traditions are. There is a bonfire celebration going on sometime this week and I was a little confused on what that meant. I wasn't sure if it was an actual bonfire, or if it was a figurative thing, or what. So when my choir director asked us if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked, "What is the bonfire celebration?" Now when I asked this, I thought it was a good question, because over half of the choir is made up of freshman and I thought that a lot of them would have the same question I did. Well, apparently not! As soon as I let that one little question slip out of my mouth, everyone began to gasp and every eye in the room was on me. The teacher must have felt bad for me and she began to quiet the girls down and tell them that my question wasn't that bad. Then she asked me, "Well, you understand the fire part of bonfire, right?" And of course, I hadn't made enough of a fool of myself yet so I had ask, "Is it an actual fire, or is it just a figurative thing?" Oh if I thought the reaction to my first question was embarrassing, I hadn't been through anything yet. The girls were gasping so loud and laughing so hard, I'm pretty sure the whole school could hear. I turned so red and just wanted to hide underneath my chair for the rest of class. As soon as the bell rang, I darted out the door and found my friend, Lauren. I asked her why that was such a bad question. She just laughed and said, "I don't know, but, from now on, NEVER ask about that bonfire again." We laughed together all the way to our next class. She is still joking me about it, and I'm sure the choir girls will laugh at me some more about it, but oh well. Hahaha. ANYWAYS, if you are a freshman at Arapahoe High School, never, ever, under any circumstances ask about the bonfire!!!! :)

P.S. Sorry I haven't written in so long! I have been sooooo busy, but I just had to write about this one ;)

My Favorite Place in the World

I had a rough start to the week this week and today was no exception. Today was one of those days where nothing seems to go your way and you almost want to say, "Can this day get any worse?", but at the same time, you know it could get worse and you don't want it to. (That was a major run-on sentence). Anyways, I was having a terrible day and I needed to take a break and get out of the house.

Luckily, tonight was choir night, so that was my escape. My mom and sister couldn't come, so my dad and I went together. Our church is only a couple minutes away from our house, but it seemed to take much longer. I was trying very hard not to burst out crying. However, as soon as we got to the church and got out of the car, I lost it and could not hold it in anymore. Tears started streaming down my cheeks uncontrollably, and, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop crying. I had held it in for so long and it all burst out. My dad tried to comfort me and tried to get me to calm down a little bit. I finally breathed in a deep breath and started to pull myself together again. After I had wiped away my tears and started breathing regularly again, my dad asked me if I still wanted to go sing in the choir. I really didn't think I could sing very well after that crying attack, so I said not really. Then he asked me if I wanted to go into the church just to pray, and I thought that was a great idea. We walked in, my dad told our choir director that we would be there in a few minutes, and we walked into the balcony of the sanctuary and just sat there. We didn't talk for a long time. We just prayed and I, of course, started to cry again. I cried and prayed for a long time, and all of a sudden, I felt a lot better! My tears cleared away and I even started to feel happy. Then, my dad and I talked for a long time and then prayed some more. While I was sitting there, looking around our beautiful sanctuary, I realized something. I realized that our church is my favorite place in the whole world. I love it more than any place I have ever traveled to or seen. Whenever I walk into the church, I feel like all of my problems and worries in life are gone and nothing can hurt me. Everyone at our church is so friendly and I feel like we are all one, big family. I feel like I can trust anyone and everyone at church. It was great and I felt much better. Finally, my dad and I decided we wanted to go downstairs again and sing for the last 30 minutes of choir. We did and it made me feel even better to sing.

You know how people say everything happens for a reason? I guess all that bad stuff that happened throughout the beginning of my week happened for a reason... I learned that my favorite place in the world was our church, and that I can always go to our church and feel better, whether it is to pray, talk, or sing.

Pop Art

I showed you some of my flower drawings in my previous post, but I also like to draw pop art stuff. Here are some pictures of designs I drew with brightly colored pens. These took about 3-4 hours each just because I filled the whole page with these designs. Hope you like them!

Flower Drawings

I LOVE to draw!!! Music and art are my two favorite things. When I have spare time I draw and listen to music. What am I talking about?! I never have spare time!!! Well, I guess I make time every once in a while.

Anyway, here are two flowers that I drew over the summer. I don't know why I haven't put them on here already, but here they are!

Oh wait! One more thing! I have drawn three different flowers, but I cannot find the third one I drew. I will put it up as soon as I find it, but here are the first two...

This is a pansy that I drew on a piece of lined paper. At first, I was just randomly doodling and did not think that it would turn into something. Now I wish I would have drawn it on a blank piece of paper :( Oh, well...

Here is the other one. This one is of my favorite kind of flower, an iris. I have always loved irises because I love the shape of them and their smell. There are tons of irises around campus at my school and I have admired them from the time I was in preschool to now. We also have a bunch of irises growing in our front and back yards. They are a cool flower and I really enjoyed drawing it!!!

By the way, I used a pencil and eraser to sketch these and then I used colored pencils to color them in. They took about 2-3 hours each. Hope you like them! :)

I Can Hear the Wedding Bells

For months and months my friends and I have been waiting for our English teacher to come in and tell us that her boyfriend proposed, but it just would not happen! We got back from a nice, long weekend yesterday, and when we got to school, we heard that she was engaged!!!! :) We immediately started screaming out of excitement and were SOOO happy for her! We went of to math class, but we had English after that. We ran into the room and gave her a huge hug and asked her to show us her ring. It is a gorgeous ring with a big amethyst in the middle. It was all great and we eagerly listened to the story of the proposal for the first part of class. It was so exciting!!! Some of the boys even wrote down what they thought she should do for the wedding and her honeymoon (joking, of course). It was a great start to the week and I am extremely happy for her!


http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/wedding-bells.shtml

Soccer in the Rain

I don't know what it is about the fresh, crisp smell rain brings, but it always brings me back to when my friends and I were really little, playing soccer games in the rain together. We would intentionally dribble the ball into the muddy patches, hoping that we would get some mud splashed up onto us and make the perfectly clean, white soccer ball muddy. After the game was over, our parents would try to drag us away so they could get out of the rain. Then we would try to convince them to let us stay a few minutes longer so we could play in the mud some more. They would either let us stay for a couple minutes because they were drenched anyway, or they would say they would be in the car and to come in five minutes. Then, we would slip into each other while trying to get to the ball first and make each other fall into the mud piles. We would be so muddy by the end of it, but what little kid doesn't like to get really muddy?

Yesterday, we had soccer practice in the rain! It was a cloudy and overcast day, but it was still pretty warm outside. We were running some drills and practicing our corner kicks, when I felt a small droplet of rain fall onto my arm. There were two or three more drops that landed on me. Then, everyone started to feel drops hit them. Gradually, the droplets got larger in size and in number and within a couple minutes, it was raining a pretty significant amount. But we didn't care! In fact, we absolutely loved it!!!We were out there in our cleats and shin guards getting muddy and slipping and sliding all over the place!!! I turned to my friend and said, "Aren't soccer and rain the perfect combination?" She agreed and we both looked at each other and then started playing in the mud... Haha... I guess some things just never change! :)

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/943263

Spring

Spring, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful times of the year. I love all of the gorgeous flowers that pop up everywhere and the song birds that sing their songs in the morning. Spring has definitely sprung around my neighborhood. Here are some pictures...

Jazz Festival

This morning, our school jazz band went to go perform in the Metro State Jazz Celebration Festival. We played Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Take Five for the two judges. After we finished our performance, the judges talked a little bit and then started to give us tips. They showed us how to play around with the beat and rhythem and how to do improvisation. It was SO COOL!!! They gave us so many tips and hints that made us sound amazing! It was a great learning experience and I had sooooo much fun!!! :)
This is a picture of my dream flute... It is an open-hole Gemeinhardt with a low B foot and an offset G... :)

The Power of Music

On Sunday, March 27th, the choir and I sang You Raise Me Up (with Be Still My Soul) arranged by Tom Fettke. I played that song on the flute a few years ago and liked it a lot then. When our director told us that we were singing it, I was really excited! We practiced it numerous times and then, on Sunday, we finally performed it in front of the congregation. It was then that I realized how incredibly powerful music is to me...

We were standing up in the choir loft, and the congregation was eagerly staring at us, waiting for us to begin. Then, the pianist began to play and we started out the song by singing Be Still My Soul. We sang that part perfectly and the pianist started to make the transition into You Raise Me Up. As we started to sing the first few words, something happened. I got goose bumps, even though I wasn't cold, and my hands started to shake, even though I wasn't nervous. Once we got to the chorus, all of these unusual feelings got twice as strong! Then, the light started to stream in from the stained- glass windows and I felt like the heavens were telling us they could hear our song and were thanking us. That's when I realized how powerful that song and music in general was. It was AMAZING!!!

So now that is, by far, my favorite Christian church song. Here are the lyrics to the version of the song we sang. Read them and I am almost sure that everyone will know what I am talking about. The words are so powerful and I feel like everyone can relate to them in some way...

Be still my soul, the Lord is on your side
Bare paciently, the cross of grief or pain
Leave to your God, to order and provide
In ev'ry change, he faithful will remain

Be still my soul, the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled, them while he dwelt below
...
When I am down, and oh my soul so weary
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be
Then I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit a while with me
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when, I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up, to more than I can be
There is no life, no life without its hunger
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly
But when you come, and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes I think I glimpse eternity

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seasI am strong when I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up, to more than I can be
(key change)

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on Your shoulders (Your shoulders)
You raise me up, You raise me up, You raise me up, to more than I can be

Starting Soccer Season

We started our soccer practices a few weeks ago, and I really enjoy it! Tonight, my team(Gold team: the 8th graders and some 7th graders) and I had our first game of the season. We played BPS (British Primary School) and won 3 to 0!!!! :) This means we are undefeated so far:)

All of my 8th grade soccer-playin' buddies and I have been playing soccer together since about kindergarten. We are all pretty good at soccer by now and have fun with the sport. This year, we are even better because we have three amazing coaches. The two women coaches are our Spanish teachers (we love them) and the male coach is our drama teacher (we love him too). They are really good coaches and they make playing soccer extremely fun too! I think those two qualities are very important for a coach to have.
I was voted one of the three team captains about a week ago. I was absolutely thrilled when I first found out that I was one of the chosen captains. At first, I thought that being a captain simply meant I would get to pick a few of the warm-up drills we would use as a warm up, but today, I learned this was not true at all...

Even though I have been playing soccer for a very long time, I am still not great at the sport. All of the 7th graders (and even a few of my 8th grade friends) were coming up to me and asking me for advice, "where they should be" and stuff like that. When they were asking me these questions, I was very flattered and flustered at the same time. Sometimes, I could answer their questions, but other times I would have no idea what they were talking about and would quickly redirect them to one of the other captains or one of the coaches. haha ;)

Anyways, it was a fun game and I scored one of the goals:) I will keep you updated on the scores of our future games!!!

This is our old soccer team that we all played in from about kindergarten through 4th grade. We were called the Rainbow Butterflies and, as you can see, we had everything with butterflies and rainbows on from head to foot! :)

Washington D.C. Trip

Yesterday, I got back from the most fun and wonderful trip of my life! Our class took a trip to Washington D.C. It was soooooo much fun!!!!! :)

I would write about everything we did, but we did SO much that it would take years to write about it all! We walked around 10 miles every day!!!!! I will just brief the trip for you ...

-------------------THE BEGINNING----------------------

Here we are at the airport. We are all excited.... (From left to right- Monique(Mo), Madeleine, Ashlin, and Amanda)


As soon as we got off the plane, it was pouring rain. AND I MEAN POURING! This was taken from inside the bus we used as a means of transportation throughout the trip.


I also took this from inside the bus. The rain had slowed down a bit and I thought this was so beautiful.


I got everyone's attention while we were stopped on the bus and thought this was so cute!!!

Here is a picture of me(left), Ashlin, and Hannah.

-----------------NEW DAY----------------------

When we first set foot in Colonial Williamburg, this was one of the first things we saw. I thought it was very pretty. This is also a good way to show you what the rest of Colonial Williamsburg looked like... White wood or bricks, and moss growing on everything.


Here is the main street of the town. This street is a mile long and has houses, shops, and other buildings that are just like they used to be back in the day. Some of the houses and buildings are originals. There are people dressed, talking, and working just like they used to. Some of the people even live there! I think that is so cool!!! One man that worked there told us the reason all of them were working/living there was because they wanted to preserve and keep the old ways "alive" so that the memories didn't completely fade away. I thought that was pretty cool!



Here is a picture of one of the houses and a pretty tree that was just starting to bud out. Many flowers and trees were starting to bud and bloom while we were on the trip.


This is a picture of doors to the jail cells. They put half of our group in one of the cells and it was really cramped. They told us that that is about how crowded it would have been when there were actual prisoners living in there. AHHHHH! That would have driven me crazy!


This is one of the side streets. I thought it was very interesting how the trees were growing in an arch shape over the road.


Two men on horseback came while we were exploring the area. They were a lot of fun and talked to us for a while...


Then our tour guide taught us how to play a game that they used to play back then. He wasn't sure what it was called, but he said it was a very popular game back then. It was a combination of cricket and baseball. You would place the ball in the hole, stomp on the lever, which would send the ball flying up into the air, and then you would whack it with the paddle. He let us try it and it was loads of fun! It is cool to be able to say that I played a game that people had played back in the late 1700s and early 1800s.



Okay...If you look at the chair in this picture, you would probably think it to be a normal chair. Actually, the seat of this chair lifts up and becomes a toilet! GROSS Right?!?!?!


RANDOM!!!!!! This is a cool hill with ivy covering it...


We got to walk through the Prince's home and this was over the entrance!!! I want one of those! haha ;)



This was the gateway to the Prince's royal garden. We got to see the beautiful garden and many of the flowers were starting to pop up and bloom. There was also a human maze made out of hedges in the gardens. You can only imagine how much fun a group of 8th graders had in that!!! :) :)


While on our tour, we passed by a bamboo forest, and right then and there, my friends and I decided that was where we would be coming back to spend our free time later that day...

So, here we are. This is how we spent part of our 2 hours of free time... (Me, Laura, Amanda, Kristina, Ashlin, and Marissa).


ME!!!!


We all carved our initials into one of the poles of bamboo:) Shhhhhh... don't tell! ;) haha just kidding... We were allowed to carve our initials... I think...


More bamboo pictures:)


This is us making a star with our fingers while at the hotel.


We had a fancy night out... We all got dressed up really nicely and had a wonderful, hot meal at the King's Crown Tavern. It was very fun! (Amanda, Laura, Kristina, Tierney, Rachel, Charlotte, Kate, Zoe, Anna, Kathryn, Madeleine, Ashlin).

------------------NEW DAY-----------------------

The next morning, we went to another historical place that had an Indian camp site, a small town, and ships. Here we are at the ship dock... (Back row: me, Madeleine,Kristina, Amanda... Front row: Laura, Marissa, Ashlin).


This is to show how much water they have there...


Eagle feathers were hanging above the chief's bed at the Indian site...


Next, we went to Monticello. Oh My Gosh!!!!! It was the most gorgeous house and estate EVER! It had some of Jefferson's original inventions in it, and it was so interesting!!! We saw his bedroom, his library, his invention room, and many more rooms. Then we got to go around to his "back yard". Hahaha! I wouldn't exactly call it a back yard! It was FABULOUS!!!



Here is one of the side buildings at Monticello.


Monticello also had a small cemetery where the Jefferson family and the workers were burried. This is a picture of Thomas Jefferson's grave...


Here is a picture of some of my friends and I standing with Thomas Jefferson. Haha... (Amanda, Kristina, Thomas, Hannah, Laura, me)...

------------------NEW DAY-----------------------


Now we are in D.C. The first thing we went to see when we got up that morning was the White House. Our teacher told us that when the flag is up and flying, like it is in this picture, it means the President is currently in the White House...


This is me, Kristina, Ashlin, Laura, Amanda, and Monique in front of the White House...


We took a picture of our class in front of these blooming cherry trees. They were SO GORGEOUS!!!!! They smelled wonderful, too. I would tell you everyone's name, but there are sooooooo many of us! haha...


Next, we went to the World War II Memorial. This was my favorite memorial that we visited throughout the whole trip. It was so beautiful and even more amazing at night. The water was crystal clear and sparkled in the sun. At night, the water was lit up beautifully and glimmered even more...


Here we are kneeling in front of the small pond at the memorial. You can just barely see the Lincoln Memorial in the background... (Nora, Ashlin, me, Laura)...



This kind of shows how clean and clear the water was...


Then, we went to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial. When you look at pictures of the statue of Lincoln, you think, "Oh, that's pretty big." You have NO IDEA how big it really is, until you are standing right in front of the thing! It is ENORMOUS!!!!!




Towards the back of this picture, you can sort of see a long, black wall. This is the Vietnam memorial. It was hard to get a good angle on the marvelous memorial so you could see that it is in the shape of a "V". This memorial is soooo cool! It is made out of black granite and reflects like a mirror. More that 58,000 names of soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War are carved into the stone...


This shows you how the wall reflects. This is a picture of my friends William and Charlie at the memorial...

Next, we went to the National Gallery of Art. This is a picture of one of the many fountains in the museum. The museum has gorgeous pieces of art in it, and I admired every piece in it...

------------------NEW DAY----------------------


Iwo Jima was the first memorial we visited the next morning. It is so cool and has a very neat special effect. As you drive around the memorial, the pole of the flag is shaped in a way that makes it look like the pole is actually being raised! It is AMAZING!!!!!


Right next to the Iwo Jima Memorial is the Arlington National Cemetery. This cemetery is absolutely stunning! The sun was just starting to rise, and made a beautiful sunrise in the sky. All of the headstones of the tombs are gorgeous and the grounds are very well kept...


Next, we went to the Capitol. Oh My Goodness!!!!! The architecture of the building is breath-taking...


Here is another angle of the Capitol...



This is yet another class picture of us in front of the Capitol...

Now, we are inside the Library of Congress. This is the ceiling of the main area.... Isn't it magnificent?!?!?!


Here is one of the stained- glass windows in the ceiling in the Library of Congress...

------------------NEW DAY-----------------------


This is a picture of part of the Theodore D. Roosevelt Memorial. This memorial has an interesting set up because it is a big path that you walk through. It is full of beautiful waterfalls, statues, and many of Roosevelt's famous quotes...


Here is a picture of the Washington Memorial reflecting in a pond next to the Jefferson Memorial...


Here is a picture of the Jefferson Memorial...


Another picture of the Jefferson Memorial...


A random, yet pretty bridge... haha...


Next, we went to the National Cathedral. It took 83 years to build and is absolutely, jaw-droppingly beautiful... I am pretty sure jaw-droppingly is not a word, but let's just pretend it is... haha...


A second view of the outside of the Cathedral...


Now, we are inside the Cathedral . This is a picture of two of the stained- glass windows...


Another stained- glass window...


This is one of the two pulpits we saw that stood towards the front of the church. Isn't it amazing how detailed it is?!?!?!


This is at the very front of the church. I am not sure what it is called or how to describe it, but it was marvelous!!!!!


Here is another one of those things at the front of one of the smaller chapels in the Cathedral...


We were all EXHAUSTED by the end of this tour. We had so much fun on the trip, but this is what it did to us...haha... (Claire, Ashlin, Laura, Kristina, Amanda, Madeleine).


Even the chaperons were falling asleep... Hahahahaha :D


Hahahahahahaha......



These are the clouds we were flying over on the plane. Pretty, right?!?!?!
--------------------THE END---------------------

That concludes the Washington D.C. Trip. I had an absolute BLAST and cannot wait for my sister, Isabelle to go on it in a few years!!!!! :)