FIDEL CASTRO, president of Cuba since 1959 has relenquished power and given it to his brother. He underwent surgery for gastrointestinal something and at that point he provisionally handed power of the state over to his brother, but according to MSNBC news, he has now fully relenquished his power as president.
The younger Castro is four years younger than his brother, who turned 80 recently. Once the Castro brothers are out of power, the United States is likely to lift it's trade embargo against Cuba.

I guess we'll see...

I took a bajillion pictures during our beach trip, but none of them will upload, so I'm going crazy trying to figure out what's wrong. But I'll try to sum up our beach trip without pictures.
We stayed at this condo place that actually reminded me some of the place the mission team stayed at Topsail. It was my mom, my sister, her two friends (Denise and Meghan) and me, which made for an interesting four days, to say the least.

They wanted to hang out-- or rather, lay out-- by the pool and make subtle eye contact with the lifeguards they thought were hot. Was there any flirting or gazing on my part? Sure, I'm eighteen, remember? But I was much more interested in either riding down a pretty cool water slide (though it couldn't compare to Carowinds) or walking on the beach. I have a thing about sitting-- er...lying-- still.

The most interesting day was, without a doubt, Friday, when we were scheduled to go to a reception that my mom's conference was having. We were all hanging around the condo, getting ready and watching TV when the lights, TV, AC and fridge went out. The sun was shining brightly outside. That is to say, there was no storm. Mom was asleep, so the three of them nominated me to go downstairs to the office and complain. Now, I'm a pretty good whiner/complainer, but I hate confrontation and complaining to people I don't know. I did go down, though, but just to ask if it was just our room or if it was the whole complex. It was the whole complex. Good to know we didn't blow a fuse with the three hair straighteners and dryers those girls had going. LOL. So, relieved, we pile into Mom's car and drive to the hotel where the reception is, glad that there'll be AC there. We're driving the five miles down the Island, only to find that the stoplights are out and the stores' lights are all off. Hmmm...so the reception gets cancelled because the ENTIRE ISLAND is without power. Apparently the two power companies that provide service got completely overwhelmed and went Capoot on us. Four hours and a trip off the island for dinner later, we were in the pool trying to stay cool when the lights came back on! Cheers went up throughout the complex as TVs, AC and lights came back on. Luckily, we didn't have to spend a night without AC, though after Cali, I think I woulda been just fine. :) It was reminiscent of the night in Durham/C-H when the lights went out-- that was 5 1/2 years ago. If I remember correctly, something at Duke Power exploded and the entire city was in darkness-- I was at a youth group function, making cards and getting ready to go sing at a nursing home. We ended up just eating pizza in one very dark church. Time for Sardines!!!! (it's a better game than it is a pizza topping...)

I took a few walks alone on the beach, thinking and pondering and just enjoying the ocean. I've always loved the ocean, for sure. And it reminded me of the Sunday morning during the mission trip retreat, when Carlye slept in while Eli and I went out on the porch to watch the sun rise. Having a ten-month-old in your arms, while you watch the sun rise over the ocean is one of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had. Lee Ann Womack sung, "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean..." and I am always reminded of that song, as well as Pslam 139: 14-18, which was especially moving to me when I was holding the baby that morning.

Here's the passage I'm referring to:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

Anyway, when I figure out about the pictures, there'll be more to post. We also went to play Putt-Putt, to see Fort Macon-- again!, and to the outlet mall in Selma-- quite an interesting story from there. :)

12 Days and Counting! :)

There's not a whole lot new to post about, but I figured I would write briefly about Carowinds adventures today!
I went to Carowinds with the youth group and a few youth staff members. The car rides were pretty awesome to begin with, but the theme park was even better. So, I went around the park with Emma, Lauren, and the three leaders: Ben, Locoya and Miranda. First they rode Borg, then Top Gun, then Thunder something-or-other. They had it in their heads for a while that I should ride a roller coaster-- yeah, not for me. So, then we decided to go to Boomerang Bay, the waterpark part of Carowinds. But Emma's swimsuit was in the car and Lauren and I hadn't even brought our suits so we bought boys' board shorts at this shop thingy and wore those to ride water rides in-- quite the experience. LOL. First we rode on Crocodile Run, which is basically lazy river, but the lifeguards would only let us go around once since there was such a long line. It was really fun even though I was stupid enough to use my knees for brakes on the bottom of the pool-- yeah, I'm feeling that stupidity now...We also went on Down Under Thunder, the Great Barrier Reef (the wave pool...) and Pipeline Peak, which is a series of four different slides, two with rafts and two without. The two without are probably comparable to Twin Twisters at Emerald Pointe, and I was really excited about going on them until we were almost to the top of the tower where you wait in line. I was getting pretty nervous, and then Emma and I decided to go down on the two separate ones at the same time. We get to the top, a few of our group were down at the bottom, a few were behind us, and then the lifeguard guy showed us how we had to cross our legs and put our hands behind our head. I curiously, but stupidly, asked if it was a big deal if your legs came uncrossed during the ride. The guy goes..."uh, well, you might break your leg," and I look at Emma nervously. She goes, "It's okay, he's just kidding." And the lifeguard guy pipes up that "No, actually, I'm not." Then I was really hesitant. But eventually I did go, and as Ben predicted, I got down to the bottom and wanted to go again, so Lauren and I did. :) (Reminiscent, for those of you who know about or were there, of the Extreme Retreat and repelling that weekend!) I guess that's about it.

NO! Wait! I forgot. So everyone was really convinced that I should go on at least one roller coaster, but for someone who doesn't like them, roller coasters can be pretty freaky. So Ben decides that Carolina Goldrusher is the ride for me. Of course, this is one of those roller coasters that you can't see the whole track like at all, so you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. But Ben assured me--- like a hundred times--- that this was a very low-key, easy ride. I think I was shaking when the ride started, and probably still begging to get off. Okay, turns out, and I admit this fully, that he was right. Goldrusher has a small dip that can't even be considered a drop, and it's top speed is 30mph. But, I was kinda still reeling from the shock and fear of being on a roller coaster at all when the ride ended so my enjoyment of the actualy moment may not have been to the fullest, but after I recuperated, I decided it had been lots of fun. But I want to say, so there is no confusion, Goldrusher isn't really a roller coaster. It's more like a train. But why get caught up in the specifics? I rode a roller coaster, people! :)

Okay, so I have this "brilliant beyond brilliant idea" (that's a quote from the Parent Trap, the one with Lindsay Lohan). No. That actually has nothing to do with my idea/my newest project. I mean, it's unlikely it'll ever come to anything or that I'll ever get around to doing it, but I thought it was a cool idea nonetheless.
So, Indonesia has fallen victim to two tsunamis in less than two years. We all remember well the December 26, 2004 event that ravaged southeast Asia, killing more than 200,000 people. There was another tsunami just days ago that killed more than 500 people, and more than 200 are still missing. Yes, that was a much smaller-scale tsunami, but it still claimed lives and I, for one, believe that those lives could have been saved.
MSN.com reported that "Indonesia has no nationwide tsunami warning system," but a Hawaii-based warning center and another warning center in Japan both issued warnings to Indonesia's government about the possibility of a tsunami, as a result of a magnitude 7.7 earthquake. An interior minister in Indonesia has said that while the government did receive the warnings, it merely text messaged 400 officials, and somewhere along the way, guess what? The message never got to the civilians who were on the 110-mile stretch of beach.

Okay, so now about the project. I was thinking, you know how a lot of beaches have public-notice signs, whether it's about a lifeguard not being on duty, or a "swim at your own risk sign" or whatever? Well, I was thinking that ever 1/2 mile of so on Indonesian beaches, we should just put up signs that list the warning-signs of tsunamis. There are very obvious signs-- like when the ocean recedes 1000 feet, or there's a red glow in the horizon, or the water is hot or bubbly or stings the skin, there is a smell of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide) or of petrol or oil, or there is a loud boom heard, or an earthquake is felt. Then, after listing the warning-signs the sign would advice people to head for higher ground immediately if any of these signs are noticed, and not to go into houses because tsunamis are often powerful enough to destroy houses completely.

I don't know. I don't have the money, resources or an Indonesian translator, so this will likely never happen, but I just thought that if the bureaucratic system is going to continue to cost people their lives, maybe we should just educate the public. I mean, it's not like tsunamis just happen. There are obvious warning signs that I think people would actually take notice of. Okay, that's my project. You can all procede to tell me how crazy I am in the comments section. :)

So one of the hardest things in L.A. was figuring out how to make a difference, and even if you could. I think sometimes the problems faced by people there, here, and everywhere seem overwhelming to the point of inaction. Let me try to give an example. One morning, about 3/4 of the way through the trip-- a trip where we were mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted, where we hadn't had air conditioning in 9 days, where we slept on the floor every night, where showers were hurried (my quickest was 1.5 minutes long...) and where we were going hard from about 8am to sometimes midnight-- about half the team got up at 4:30am to go serve at a local soup kitchen. We had gotten home from an exciting pro-soccer game the night before at midnight, so few people had slept more than about four hours, and I personally hadn't fallen asleep at all. But nonetheless, all thirteen of us piled into the van and headed into downtown L.A., before the sun was fully up. We were driving slowly, in that tired-driver, tired-passengers, we-don't-really-know-where-we're-going sort of way. As we drove toward the mission where we were to serve, I saw something that changed how I looked at the trip, my life and the world. Lining practically every square foot of the sidewalks for blocks were sleeping bags, tents, shopping carts, plastic bags, blankets, clothing strewn about. And in those sleeping bags, those tents and those blankets were people, people asleep, whose earthly possessions were packed in around them. There were hundreds of people. And it's not that I didn't know that people were homeless, but there's something overwhelming about seeing them all asleep and realizing, without being able to deny it or ignore it, that this is their life. But how do you help all those people? Can any one person actually make a difference? (I'll get back to that in a minute, first I want to talk about the soup kitchen). I must have thought outloud about what I was seeing, because Ben, one of the leaders said, "makes sleeping on the floor in no A.C. for two weeks seem not so bad, huh?" I responded with "makes everything seem not so bad." And it did. We went to help in the soup kitchen, where we washed and chopped thousands of green onions and layed out 125lbs on bacon on cookie sheets. Some of the members of the team got to make homemade ranch dressing or do other food preparation. I also got the privilege of actually serving the food. It was an amazing experience that really opened my eyes to a reality that many of us don't want to believe exists.

Okay, so can one person really make a difference? I'll admit I've been tempted to think not, in my life. But I heard this story about a man walking along the shoreline on a Mexican beach. Hundreds of thousands of starfish had washed up onto the beach, and so the man was picking them up one by one and throwing them back into the ocean so they wouldn't suffocate. Another man came upon this scene and said to the first man, "Excuse me, sir but what are you doing?" The first man replied, "I'm throwing these starfish back in the ocean, because otherwise they'll suffocate and die." The second man said, "But, sir, there must be hundreds of thousands of them on this beach and this is probably happening on beaches all over Mexico and even more beaches all over the world. Don't you see you can't possibly make a difference?" And the first man stooped down, picked up yet another starfish, threw it back into the ocean and smiled, "Made a difference to that one."

Something to think about.

Me and Elisha









There was a LOT of painting to do!
























We got to see a professional soccer game on July 4th





The Chinese restaurant: Emma, Me, Evan, Patty and Elizabeth


















This is what it's all about right here. :)

Kindergarten: Michael, Taraji, Joanna, Zoe

I promise there was absolutely NO goofing off on

this trip! :)

KNOCKOUT!

I got back from Los Angeles, California two days ago, and I am going to attempt to do justice to the amazing things I got to experience in California on the mission trip. Our group of fourteen teenagers, six leaders and 1 1-year-old, went to help out in any way we could with an urban ministry center called Harambee. Harambee was started more than twenty years ago by a man named John Perkins, who was interested in the ideas of racial reconciliation. Today, Harambee is a preschool, a community center, an elementary school, a summer camp and a testament to God's faithfulness and power in even the most dire situations. The corner where Harambee is located used to be called blood corner and was considered one of the most dangerous places in southern California because of its gang warfare. Even police helicopters wouldn't fly over the area for fear of gunfire. You can read and learn a lot more at their website.
We worked each day with the program, from 8am until 6pm we were helping in some way, whether it was with family time- when all the kids come together for skits, songs and a lesson,- or whether we were painting the playground or a room in the buliding, or whether we were running Vacation Bible School, or just hanging out with the kids. Harambee's current head is Rudy Carasco, a husband, father, leader and dedicated Christian. He emphasizes the importance of meeting people where they are and building on what they have. Those things really stuck with me throughout my time at Harambee and I hope they will continue to impact my interactions with people everywhere. The way you preach the gospel to each individual person has to change depending on their life experiences and where they are right now. For instance, the way I would talk about Jesus with a kid who had grown up in a suburban, midlde class family and been going to church all his life is significantly different from the conversation I would have with a little girl who'd never heard about Jesus, whose father was in prison and whose uncle took most of her family's money in order to buy drugs. That's the kind of stuff you run into daily at Harambee. But there are the triumphs too. I was sick one day, and the next day, a little girl asked me how I felt. I told her I was much better and she said she knew why. "It's because I prayed for you." And that's when the tears come and you are reminded again that God is working in each of these kids' lives constantly.
But Rudy also told us that these kids needed to have expectations set for them-- behaviorally, socially, educationally, etc-- that just because they had experience hard stuff didn't mean that we shouldn't lovingly set expectations for them. It was a difficult balance to find, but we tried. We had some wonderful "fun" days where our team got to go to Six Flags, to the beach, to see a professional soccer game, to China town, to Hollywood. But those things I'll talk about later.
These kids changed my life. They had grown up in a lot of ways long before they should have. They had seen more than is fair. But they weren't caught up in the negativity. They wanted to play knock-out with us. They wanted to hold our hands. They wanted to talk about skateboarding or television. I saw a lot of hope and a lot of love in these kids that I don't experience every day.
The last thing I want to blog about before I call it a post (okay, that was bad...) is my asthma attack. I had sports-induced asthma for awhile a few years back, but I haven't shown symptoms in a while. I don't think I've used my inhaler in years. But as we were walking back to our vans from the soccer stadium, I started feeling weird. As we were on the highway in miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic, I started having an asthma attack. Both vans pulled off the interstate and into the parking lot of a Taco Bell. One of the other team members, my good friend Cameron, had an inhaler that she had almost not brought with her. The nurse on our team okay-ed me using it and eventually my breathing normalized. It wasn't until after Cameron and I talked later that I realized just how much God had his hand in that situation. Cameron hadn't brought her inhaler on any outing the team had had up until that point. And she almost didn't that night. But she kept feeling a nagging need to bring the inhaler. God has been faithful, he will be again, and His ways are mysterious and amazing to me. I don't want to think about what could have happened if Cameron hadn't listened to the Holy Spirit that night...

God showed himself in some amazing ways over the course of the trip. I learned a lot about grace, the power of prayer, love, cooperation and God's faithfulness and power. I will keep blogging as I find the time and the right words to express the amazing experiences I had on this trip.

Okay, quick update on my life. First, as many of you probably read in the N&O's obituary section, my grandmother passed away on Friday morning. This came as a shock, but also as a relief. She was in a lot of pain, with a terminal illness, congestive heart failure. Although she was doing better than she was two months ago, she was unable to live on her own, or even live at home because she required round-the-clock medical attention. I loved her and will miss her dearly, but I think that the amount of pain she was in made living very difficult. The visitation was tonight, so I went with my mom, sister, aunts, uncles and cousins to greet family and friends.



My gums still bleed almost constantly, which is annoying and painful, but I guess they'll heal eventually. I have Greensboro orientation this week, on Thursday and Friday, which I'm pretty excited about. I also got to meet my roommate last night and she is very sweet and nice and a lot like me, which is good.

One week from today, I will be in California on the youth mission trip. I am really excited!

The last thing I wanted to include on this post was a list of books I've read recently. I recommend them all:
Waiting for the Barbarians, by JM Coetzee
Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
My Traitor's Heart, by Rian Malan
Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin
Dust Tracks on a Road, by Zora Neale Hurston
The Autobiography of Malcom X, as told by Alex Haley
Under the Banner of Heaven, by John Krakauer
King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hoschild
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs
Without a Net, by Michelle Kennedy

I got my wisdom teeth removed on Monday morning. Apparently anesthesia makes me completely loopy, lol. The last thing I remember before surgery is that I got an IV put in my arm and then they put that nose-oxygen thing on me, and then they asked how I felt. I told them the room was spinning and I felt light-headed. I closed my eyes and they asked again, "how do you feel?" I couldn't actually speak, so I just opened my eyes and looked around. Then everything went black. I remember one part from the actual procedure, when I kind of woke up while they were giving me shots in my gums to numb me. I remember trying to ask how many shots I actually had to get, but they just told me to go back to sleep. Then I woke up to them saying, "It's time to get up." When I finally "came to" the nurses and doctor had left the room, and I found that I was crying but I couldn't figure out why. I wasn't in pain, I wasn't scared or sad or anything, but I couldn't stop crying. The nurse came back in and said, "Oh, that's normal. The medicine you're on is a lot like Valium and it's going to make you cry and laugh for the rest of the afternoon, but you won't be sad and nothing will be funny. It's just how the medicine works." On the way home in the car, my mom says I told her the story of my surgical procedure at least 20 times. I remember telling it to her the first two times, and then being confused because I turned to her and said, "did i just tell you that story twice?" and she said yeah you did. And as soon as she had said that, I just started telling the story all over again. When I got home, I told my sister and my mom the surgery story at least six more times. They were laughing so hard. Often they would try to finish my sentences, which they could do pretty well since they had heard the story so many times, but everytime I would say, "No! You're telling it wrong." And then I would say exactly what they had just said, which only confused them more.

The doctor gave me pain meds to help relieve whatever pain/discomfort I might be feeling. I started taking the pills, and about two hours later I started throwing up. I threw up a good 12 times in about 6 hours, so I quit taking the pills. But I still felt horrible-- I couldn't eat or drink anything without throwing it up, and I was in a TON of pain because I couldn't take the hydrocodon or whatever. I also couldn't take normal OTC pain relievers like IBUProfin because they make me sick if I take them on an empty stomach as well...it was a VERY long day.

The swelling is about the only bad thing today. I can eat and the pain is SO much better, but my cheeks are huge. I sleep a lot, about 2 hours of sleep for every 2 that I'm awake. I can't complain though-- mashed potatoes, chicken broth, diet mountain dew, and ice cream haven't gotten old yet!

I kept thinking I would post, and here I've let almost a month go by with no word from me...
It's been crazy hectic this last month, with AP Exams, finals, major projects in every class, graduation parties, and mission trip preparation.
Where to begin??? Today is June 8, and that means it's graduation. Yes, today is the day I've waited 13 years for-- I'll walk across a stage, get a diploma, flip my tassle and say goodbye to all the friends I've made for four years or more. I can't believe it's the "end." I can't believe it's the "beginning" either. I'd love to say I feel nothing but sheer happiness and excitement. But that's a lie. I'm really sad, afraid, anxious, happy, excited, and frustrated all at the same time. And I can't necessarily put a cause/rhyme/reason for every one of those emotions, but I can say that that's how I feel and that's how I've been feeling for about a month now. It's hard to imagine leaving all your friends, family, school, everything you've known all your life to go start your own adventure somewhere else. But everyone does it, so I have assured myself that I am not the first, nor will I be the last person to ever feel like this.
I am afraid of one thing today: and that's crying. I do not want to cry at graduation because I don't think I would be able to stop. Once you get me crying about one thing, I will probably cry about more things...oh well. I'm turning in to quite the woman, I suppose.

Senior picnic was yesterday and I had a blast. We signed yearbooks, ate some yummy food, played a TON of volleyball, ran around, talked and just basically enjoyed each other's company. I realize that as much as I have grown tired of most of the kids in my class and at my school, I will always treasure whatever relationships and memories I have shared with them.

The last day of school was utterly heartbreaking and joyous all at once. We got those moon-bounce things that you can jump on and that was AWESOME. But realizing that the relationships I've had with these teachers won't exist in teh same way in college broke my heart. I have grown really close to so many of them, and the fact that I could come to them and they would talk to me like an adult really changed the way I saw myself and adults. I realized through them that I've grown so much these last four years and I've become a completely different person. There's a song by Sara Groves that I like to call my graduation song. Here's a snipet of it:

I don't want to leave here
Don't want to stay
It feels like pinching to me,
Either way.
But the places I long for
the most are the places where I've been
They are calling out to me,
Like a long, lost friend
...And the place I was wasn't perfect,
But I had found a way to live
And it wasn't milk or honey,
But then neither is this.
...the future feels so hard
and I want to go back,
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned
And those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned
The past is so tangible,
I know it by heart,
Familiar things are never easy
To discard
I was dying for some freedom,
But now I hesitate to go,
I am caught between the promised
And the things I know.

I guess I'll just leave it at that.

My REVISED list of things to do:
Graduation Audition (done)
RCCF cookout (done)
AP Exams (Spanish- done; English- done; Psychology- done)
Mission Trip Fundraise "Parents' Night Out" (done)
Graduation open-house (May 20)
Last Youth Group/Senior Send-off (May 21)
Youth Group Senior Saturday (May 27)
Final exams (last week of May, first week of June)
Church services, where seniors will be recognized (June 4)
Last day of high school, after-school party and senior-faculty kickball game (June 6)
Senior Picnic (June 7)
GRADUATION (June 8)
Getting WISDOM TEETH REMOVED (June 12)
Orientation days at UNC-G (June 20-21)
Mission Trip to California (June 23-July 8)

And then I have about a month before I move into my dorm in Greensboro! WOW! If I seem a little stressed or anxious, refer to list. It is probably because of something on that list that I seem a little emotional. Because, to be quite honest about it, this whole "last year" thing is very much an emotional roller coaster. Because I am moving (an hour) away for college, it seems like nothing will be the same. New friends, new church, new classes, new job, etc. So right now my emotions are going haywire because some minutes I am so thrilled to be closing one chapter and opening a new one. Other times, it's really difficult and heartbreaking to even imagine that I have to say goodbye to all my friends and family. So, if you don't mind, it might be necessary to cut me a little slack on the emotional front in the next month or so. There's a lot going on that's requiring more emotional and mental strength than I necessarily have...

So, I've enrolled at UNC-G! I am in the International Honors College and have already been assigned a roomate. Her name's Amanda and she's from Jacksonville, NC. And I've already signed up for one class: International Human Rights In Literature and Film. Should be pretty good.

My list of things to do:
Graduation Audition (done)
RCCF cookout (done)
AP Exams (Spanish- done; English- done; Psychology- done)
Mission Trip Fundraise "Parents' Night Out" (May 12)
graduation open-house (May 20)
Final exams (last week of May, first week of June)
Last day of high school, after-school party and senior-faculty kickball game (June 6)
Graduation Picnic (June 7)
GRADUATION (June 8)
Getting WISDOM TEETH REMOVED (June 12)
Orientation weekend at UNC-G (June 20-21)
Mission Trip to California (June 23-July 8)

I guess that's it. Wow. Soon it'll all be here, and then WHOOSH it'll all be over. Wow. I can't believe it. When you type it up and post it, it isn't so unrealistic that I will go to college orientation in a little over a month! I can still remember being two and being upset because someone else got the good swing at daycare...or being six and being upset because my kindergarten teacher was moving away and because my sister got to sit in the front of the bathtub. How time flies!

Okay, I've heard from all the colleges I applied to. (Actually, I've known for about two weeks now, but I wasn't ready to go public with that information).
I got in at Elon, Meredith, Purdue, American and UNC-G.
I'll probably end up going to UNC-G, but that can still change, I guess, between now and May 1.

I guess that's all I want to post about.

Oh yeah, prom was amazing. Josh and I went to Khanki (I can never spell that right) beforehand, and everyone stared at us because we were dressed up as if we were going to...well...prom. Imagine that! But that was fun, anyway. Then we went to prom, in the cold drizzle. The music was good; we danced most songs, only with each other, but again, we're just friends. We had our portrait made there, which was fun too. Then after it was over, we helped clean up (because we're weird like that), we got our "favors"-- wine glasses that had RCHS PROM 2006 "A Black Tie Event" printed on them, filled with hershey kisses and black and white M&Ms. Then we went to IHOP, where we probably bugged the waiter to death, but that's half the fun of being at IHOP at 12am. Haha. Anyway, senior prom was a wonderful success; I had a great time; too bad it was over so soon.

Now there's a series of things to countdown before graduation on June 8:
-graduation speech audition (yes, I'm crazy enough to audition)
-RCCF cookout
-AP Exams
-Final exams
-Graduation rehearsal
And then...the class of 2006 is heading out! Wow. Four years flew by. It's all kind of sad really. I'm excited about starting something new next year, though. :)

I'm back from Costa Rica--- back from having one of the most memorable and exciting times thus far, in my short 18-year life. From zip-lining through the mountains (which I remarked is a completely other way to view God's amazing creation-- i.e. you usually see the moutains from the peak or from the ground, never from half-a-mile up, in between them) to hanging out at a local discotec, I found that traveling abroad, regardless of the food, homesickness, sickness, sunburn, is something I will always, always, always want to do.
Edwin got bet 10 dollars that he wouldn't eat (i.e. consume) a cigarette. He did. He ended up in the hospital because his entire body had gone numb and his response time left a lot to be desired.
We got to take a boat ride through Monte Verde National Park and see howler monkeys, crocodiles, blue herons, iguanas and other awesome wildlife. We horseback rode in the mountains, galloping a little (except for me, because I got "abuelo" the slowest horse in the history of horses...abuelo means "grandfather" in Spanish). I got sunburn that blistered over, which was pretty gross but kinda funny too, especially because I will never get rid of the tan-line from my capris. A few of us went to a Bible study in Spanish, which was really cool-- a whole other experience, and surprisingly, I could understand most of it. We volunteered at an elementary school, where I met some awesome kids that I fell in love with. We took dance lessons, which out of 21 kids, only about 5 of us actually danced for more than 10 minutes. We visited a volcano and a hot springs resort, and amazingly we survived 10 days with no air conditioning (it was at least ninety most days) and no hot water...and the worst-- no ice or iced tea. (now that's hardcore).
THere were some other awesome experiences that were more bonding than anything-- hanging out, singing and playing guitar until midnight on our front porches, playing "Stupid Ninjas" on the bus, singing Wizard of Oz as we skipped through the airport (my hair was in braids, and I was appropriately dubbed Dorothy), laying out by the pool at midnight and staring at the stars and talking. It was a truly awesome time with fun, hilarity, and certainly Spanish-immersion.

PROM IS ON SATURDAY! Josh and I are going (no, we are not dating. We are friends) first to Kanki and then to prom. I am very excited. My dress is floor-length and fades between dark pink and light pink and has dark pink glitter sewn into it. It's really hard to describe, but as soon as I figure out how, I'll post pictures of it (and of prom, and of Costa Rica).

What to post about?
Well, it is 10:35pm right now, and that means that in exactly 17 hours and 25 minutes I have to be at RDU International Airport to fly to Miami, where we will catch our flight to Costa Rica! That's right: 4 A.M.!

I am staying, along with Rachel, with a family that consists of a stay-at-home-mom, retired-teacher dad, and two sons: 26 yrs old and 13 yrs old.

I am packed, except for one pair of pants that's being washed and a few items for my carry-on bag.

Other than that, life is mostly ho-hum, as I anxiously await the arrival of my final two college descisions. These two places, and the money they want to offer, actually impact where I go next year a lot.

Jennie, my mom's really good friend, who might as well be family is in the ICU at Raleigh Community Hospital. She has kidney failure (they're functioning at 10%), pancreatitis, and still suffers from pulmonary fibrosis. There may also be problems with her liver and other organs, but they are unable to do the tests properly (I'm not entirely sure why, but I trust the doctors, so I'm sure they have a good reason). I'm really worried about her, and she can't eat or drink anything because her kidneys and pancreas can't handle it. In fact, she can't even swish water around in her mouth and then spit it back out because that makes her pancreatic enzyme things activate, which puts pressure on the pancreas and makes the problem worse. It's all way complicated. Anyway, so I'm staying at her house right now, and taking care of her dogs and cat: Max, Misty, Finney and Ginger (cat). My golden retriever is here with us too, and she's being a great friend to M, M and F in their time of hardship without their beloved owner.

I guess that's about all. Ms. Greenwalt is going to be our keynote speaker at graduation in June!! Speaking of, for anyone who's interested, graduation is June 8! :)

That's about it. I guess I'll head to bed--- gotta rest up for Costa Rica, where it is a balmy 85 degrees.

• SLA was great!
• Enviro-thon is on Friday!!! (I spent Saturday morning at Duke Forests, at a perscribed burn site and at a logging site...very cool).
• Got in to UNC-G (4 down, 2 to go...still waiting to hear from American and Chapel Hill)
• Friday evening Spanish Honor Society had a movie night--- watched Frida, ate good food--- tons of fun, even if a couple of us fell asleep during the movie...
• Threw 20 feet, 1 inch in shot-put at the meet on Thursday; threw 41 feet in discuss!
• have 4 major projects/papers due this week-- I'll be glad when it's over
• Costa Rica in less than 2 weeks!

That's all. God bless- Lindsay

Okay, so I'm leaving for Costa Rica in like 3 weeks!!! I am soooo excited! And what's also super exciting is that I am going on a mission trip this summer with my youth group. We're going to Pasadena, California to run a VBS program for innercity kids. It's going to be awesome.

So I spent the weekend at Topsail Island with the mission team, prepping for the trip. We spent most of the weekend democratically deciding on our team covenant, including objectives and team verse(s). I'll try to give a brief run-down of the weekend.

We got to the church at 5:30 (the specified time) only to find that none of our adult leaders had shown up yet...so we waited. And at about 6, they showed up, one by one. We didn't leave the church until about 6:40pm, or so, even though we were supposed to have left by 6pm and arrived by 8:30. We finally got to Topsail at about 9:30, and we wandered around in the dark trying to find our condos. We found them-- one for the girls and one for the guys. There were 7 female students, and three female leaders, plus my youth minister's 10-month old, Elisha. There were three bedrooms (2 double beds, 1 set of bunk beds and 2 pull-out couches). I ended up, much to my delight!, in the room with my youth minister and Elisha. The guys (seven guy students and 3 guy leaders) had their own condo, but we congregated for meetings and meals in the girls' condo. Elisha woke us up (and by us, I mean the two of us in our room) at 5:30am, and his mother didn't find it all that amusing. I, however, thought the situation delightful and enjoyed being up at dawn with this darling little baby.
We spent the day writing our team covenant and playing games. We only went down on the beach once, because it was so cold. I did wade into the water until it was just above my knees. My jeans were unmistakably wet after that. Dinner Saturday night was homemade spaghetti and meatballs, compliments of Carlye, Cameron and me. I was in charge of the pasta, and Cameron of the sauce (and meatballs). The boiling water splashed onto my hand once, but Cameron said I only got 1/2 point for that injury (we get points for injuries-- its a game-- based on creativity, though they can't be purposeful, and seriousness), but but when the Ragu sauce splashed onto her hand, she got 1 point. I told her that wasn't fair because the Ragu sauce was at least 100 degrees cooler than the water, but she didn't listen. Oh well.

The car ride back to Chapel Hill was one of the most interesting and most fun experiences of my life, and I would tell you about it, but you wouldn't understand half of what was going on. You really had to be there. Let' s just say that between Ben, a youth leader, and Emma, Cameron, Tim and me, (and Brownie, the teddy bear), the screaming, music playing, shutting-windows-on-people-who-stick-their-heads-out-the-windows, spanish-speaking, stupid-joke-telling (and more) never ends. It was quite the adventure, and quite the bonding experience. (In fact, I think I'm all bonded-out with these four people...but there's still 16 others on the team I need to bond with! I'll update you more as we get closer to the dates of our trip!!!!

This photo is from our Chicago trip, when we ate at the Rainforest Cafe, which is this super-cool restaurant decorated to look like a jungle or a rainforest. There are even "thunderstorms" every few minutes! I decided to pose outside with the gorilla for a quick picture.








The Brain Bee is tomorrow!!! It is in the format of a spelling bee, but the questions are all about neuroscience and the brain. For example: This is the disease in which acetylcholine receptors on muscle cells are destroyed so that muscle cells can no longer respond to the acetylcholine signal to contract.

The answer: Myasthenia gravis.

Ten Random Things About Me
1. I am a country-music junkie.
2. My favorite type of pizza is mushroom with bacon.
3. I hate dressing up.
4. I was a scarecrow for Halloween five years in a row when I was little.
5. I was born at Rex Hospital in Raleigh.
6. My favorite ice cream flavor is a toss-up between Chocolate Lover's Trash and Cake Batter.
7. I like realistic-fiction books or history books.
8. My favorite color is yellow.
9. Iced tea is the best invention ever and anyone who believes that tea should be served hot is just plain wrong.
10. I like watching the news (local and CNN), Law and Order: SVU, Friends, Medium and House.

Nine Places I've Visited
1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. Santiago, Chile
4. Toronto, Canada
5. San Diego, California
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Williamsburg
8. Greensboro
9. Atlanta

Eight Things I Want To Do Before I Die
1. Own and operate a dance studio
2. Marry the man of my dreams
3. Raise my kids to love themselves for who they are
4. Write and publish a novel
5. Run for president
6. Adopt at least one child from every continent
7. Teach school
8. Appear on the Oprah show

Seven Ways To Win My Heart
1. Write me love letters
2. Hold my hand
3. Laugh with me
4. Play the guitar and write/sing a song for me
5. Wipe my tears when I cry
6. Love me for who I am
7. Send me flowers just because

Six Things I Believe In
1. Y'all is a word and should be used often
2. Toilet paper goes over the roll, not under
3. Miracles
4. God
5. True love
6. The beauty in all people

Five Things I Am Afraid Of
1. Dying while my kids are young
2. Spiders
3. Heights
4. Making the wrong decision about college
5. Snakes

Four Of My Favorite Things In My Bedroom
1. Dance, Dance Revolution
2. Brownie (bear I've had since I was born)
3. Photographs and letters (the ones on my bulletin boards)
4. Books

Three Things I Do Everyday
1. Check my email.
2. Pray
3. Complete at least one Sudoku puzzle

Two People I Want To See Right Now
1. Lauren
2. Cameron

One Thing I Am Trying Not To Do Right Now
1. Go to bed.

• My sister has strept throat. (Guess who is likely next in line? I really hope I'm not, but that's what happens when you live with other people-- I use hand sanitizer like it's my job, so hopefully, I'll stay well).
• Track season has begun! And from the soreness in my legs and back, I know that circuit training has already taken its toll. (lol.)
• I have been accepted at the three universities that have replied thus far: Meredith, Purdue and Elon. All three offered me money, but I'm just not sure that any of those places are the places for me-- I know that sounds silly since I took the time to apply to each of them, but I think the way I view myself and where I'd be happy spending four years has changed, or at least I've changed it. I am still waiting to hear from UNC-CH and American, my top two choices. I will likely also apply to UNC-G before all is said and done.
• I entered Oprah's National High School Essay Contest, for which the prompt was:
  How is Elie Wiesel's book Night relevant today?
  I'm still waiting to hear back as to whether I'm a finalist.
• The trip to Costa Rica is in just a little more than a month! I am sooo excited. It is going to be an awesome week-- though, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed because Mr. Slattery said that we'd be there during Semana Santa (Holy Week, the week of Easter), but it turns out we'll be there two weeks prior-- it's really a bummer because in many Latin American countries, Semana Santa is a national holiday, and everyone is festive and out celebrating. I thought it would be a really cool experience, and I was thrilled at the idea of going to a Catholic mass that was in spanish, but I guess I can still technically go to a church service in spanish, it just won't be the Easter service.
• Our school administration is going on a tyraid about facebook. Apparently students are using facebook to harass others, which isn't cool. But the way the administration is handling it isn't particularly good either. I mean, I understand their concerns, but on facebook, it is very easy to see who says/does what. So, making all these announcements and lecturing us is just a waste of time. The only students who are actually listening are the ones who aren't going to use facebook to harass others anyway, and the students who are are the same students who aren't listening to the lecturing. Plus, I think there's an awful lot of harassment that goes on at school that doesn't get reprimanded, but as soon as it's online, everyone has a hissy fit. (It's not that I think it's okay to insult other people onlne, but I don't think it's okay to do it at all. So the tyraid also needs to include the harassment and bullying that goes on every single day at school.) Just my opinion. Take it or leave it.
• Riley, my sweet, sweet puppy, is wild as ever, but learning new stuff everyday. He can give high-fives, shake with both paws, beg, lie down, sit, and understands "go get your bone/toy and lie down." We're working on stay and speak right now, but it's slow going. I started clicker-training him, and at first he ran away from me whenever I clicked it, but now, he knows that a click is a reward of sorts, and he responds really well.
• I was sure all this year and all last year that I wanted to teach highschool history for a living. But I was talking to an elementary school teacher today, and she seemed confident that highschool wasn't the place for me-- elementary school was. And she also said that fourth grade was where I belonged. Which was interesting because she teaches second grade...anyway...I have no idea what I'll be studying in college or what I'll do after college. My plans change about every day or so.
• I'm going on the mission trip this year to Pasadena, California. We're working with Harambe Missions, and we'll be running a VBS program for inner-city children. I am sooo excited.

I guess that's about all. I will hopefully get better about being a regular-blogger, so I can write about more interesting things than just brief updates of my life.

"I believe there are angels among us,
Sent down to us, from somewhere up above,
To show us how to live,
To teach us how to give,
To guide us with the light of love."