Dark Knight!

Dark Knight was so good!

Just so you know...

Go see it!

I miss God... :(

I have been away from my friends and church for a little over a week now and I hate it. We didn't go to church last Sunday because we got in late Saturday night. We're going to Chuck Swindoll's church tomorrow so I guess it will be ok tomorrow. I have been living with non-Christians this week and it's not fun. Now I see why it's so hard to have an immediate family member who's not a believer...not good. In my family, we always pray before we eat and this last week it's just been awkward so we kinda just started eating. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's kinda hard to see my dad not step up (because he's always the one to pray)...maybe I could have stepped up. I guess it's just hard to step up when you don't have that role model right there. I just miss God.

Extravaganza Journal #2

Well last night was very interesting. My aunt came over and started bawling because she hasn't seen us for 10 years and blah, blah, blah...and she smells like smoke. I have twins 18-year-old cousins and a 15-year-old cousin and we all went to a restaurant together last night. I'm pretty sure I have never felt so awkward and completely different in my whole life. The last time I saw my cousins I was 7 years old so we don't really remember each other and they are just so different. They are all smoking and I feel so awkward because I was about to cough up my lungs. Anyways...last night I got to hang out with my grandpa....this man is my favorite! He is hilarious! This morning he took my sis to watch the sun come up (cuz we don't have the same sun in Fresno...) on his new motorcycle. Now this motorcycle is called the Tango (or the banana as my grandma calls it). Just the name itself doesn't sound like a normal motorcycle. It has three wheels and looks like a European electric car thing, but it's a motorcycle and he let me drive it! It was so terrifying! It doesn't have a gas petal, you have to use the throttle....it was terrifying but I didn't run through any fences or anything...and it's bright yellow! So my 64-year-old grandfather drove me around Dallas in a bright yellow Tango! And last night we went to Bennigans (we used to have one where Logan's Roadhouse is now in Riverpark) because my mom used to work there and she loves this sandwich so we went there and I had the "Ultimate Baked Potato Soup" and oh my goodness......so good! So tonight were going to a steakhouse that apparently has the biggest baked potatoes. So we'll have a good dinner tonight.

Family vacation extravaganza journal #1

We left Fresno on Friday for Dallas, Texas to visit my mom's mom and sister. We stopped by to see Mandee and to pick up some drinks before heading out. I had a grande mocha frap with no whip. (I found out that a regular grande mocha frap has 14 grams of fat, but if you get no whip it's only 3 grams of fat. Isn't that crazy? The whipped cream has 11 grams of fat....11!!!) We drove until we got to Barstow and stopped to fill up our gas-guzzler with gas costing us $5.59. We filled up half a tank for $74... it was sickening. But the good thing was the farther away we got from California the cheaper gas was. I think we got to $3.98 or something like that. In New Mexico we drove through a thunder storm and I got to see real lightning. Lightning in Fresno is just light flashing. I actually got to see real lightning bolts. They scared me at first, but they are SO cool! Lightning is now my favorite part of nature. It was lightning side ways! It was crazy! Anyways...We ended up getting all the way to Albuquerque, NM. I've never like Albuquerque ever since I went there on a mission trip and stupid Hopper took us on a ghost tour that was incredibly lame, but I could not sleep that night. I was so scared. It was terrible. I had to wake this girl up so I could turn on the tv to comfort me....I was so embarrassed but I really had no choice... Anyways, we stayed at a tiny cheap motel and left early the next morning. I have noticed that every stop in Texas has a Sonic, Dairy Queen, Bennigans, McDonalds, and Whataburger. Grandma says that Whataburger is pretty good... we'll have to try it. My parents were tired of driving so I drove for a while and I drove right into another thunderstorm. I was really scared because the rain was super hard and then it stopped. And then more super hard rain...and then it would stop. My dad made me drive in it anyways... We got to Vernon, TX and stopped to get something to eat, but we kept having to backtrack because we couldn't find anywhere to eat except for some Charlie's Catfish shop or something. We finally found Taco Casa and it is now my new favorite. It was terribly dirty and really cheap, but it was SO good. Better than Taco Bell.... I know...it's crazy, but better than Taco Bell. After dinner and a little more driving, I was adjusting my seat and moving the DVD player for Halle and slipped and jammed my toe into the slider thing where the passenger seat slides to adjust the seat and oh my goodness! I had like skin hanging off and it jammed my toenail into my toe and so I have a split nail and a blister thing that hurt like none other. So we wrapped it up in what we had....one of my dad's white tees. After that fun-ness, we went to Dairy Queen. I ordered a Peanut Butter Parfait and I got a Peanut Shaving Parfait. You know the papery stuff on the outsides of a peanut? Well my parfait was ice cream, hot fudge, and peanut shavings....kinda gross cuz you can't really chew those very well. So while my whole entire foot continued to throb, we drove to Balch Springs, a city on the Southeast side of Dallas. We got there and my toe looked bad, but it was ok. We get settled in and went to sleep. This morning we unpacked and are waiting for my overdramatic aunt to bring me a cane and ice pack. Yes, I'm serious. My mom told me to use the cane in front of her and act like it hurts...;) I really don't care if you people reading this don't care about my trip, I need a friend to vent to....ah...Blogger.

better...

I think things are getting better this week.

I talked to Orlando and Paula last night and I guess I always thought that I only connected with younger leaders at a youth group, but they are so wise. They're teaching me to listen. Orlando is so simple, I mean he just takes things one at a time and deals with them with prayer and lots of thought. And especially both of them together, I can tell that they really do care. It was encouraging.

Then I had a staff meeting this morning. It was Paul, Glenda, Cameron and me and we reordered service and talked about priorities and stuff. I love that even though I'm young, they still listen to me and my opinions are valuable to them. I'm really excited about where the church is going and what is going to happen. They had a birthday celebration on Sunday night and I didn't get to hear all the stuff, but my dad said that the "vision" is going to be really cool.

But my mom said that we aren't going to CIY this year... I am soooo sad. I love CIY. But I guess I'll save $400.

ok enough for now...