When I woke up this morning, I caught the tale end of the news on WJTL, and they sounded sad about something, as if there was a sudden piece of news that hit home. I never got a chance to figure out what it was, because all the local news stations were talking about the inauguration and not worried about what the people on WJTL was worried about. Since they were also dealing with some closings and delays, I didn't happen to hear the news again. Then I checked one of my favorite website, Jesus Freak Hideout. I found out what Lisa Landis and Fred McNaughton were talking about early this morning.
It seems that the bassist for the band Story Side B suddenly past away on January 18th. I can't imagine what pain the band and family are experiencing right now. Even from loosing a cousin four years ago, I know that there are unknown feelings to feel. I would like to share my sympathies with Story Side B, and let them know that I am so sorry for their loss. I'm praying that God will reveal His presence and love to you, even during this horrible time. The Christian music industry shares your burden and pain, I'm sure.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
year in review in my eyes
Doing a year in review seems to be increasingly popular this week. so i'm going to do my own little year in review, which i'll try to keep as brief as possible. It might not go in chronological order, but hopefully there will be some kind of flow. Here we go!
During the first half of 2008, i finished up my Junior year of High School. With that, i took the SATs, ACTs, and finished the Senior High Project required by the school. i also found out that i passed my Senior High Project the first time, which lifted a huge burden. By June i was all ready to leave Junior year in the dust and embark on Senior year. Also, in the realm of school, i got to watch many of my friends graduate from high school. It was my first high school graduation that i attended, and i'm so glad i attended the 2008 graduation before attending my own this coming year.
In May, i got to kiss my braces good-bye! of course this meant that during the summer i had to wear a retainer, but at least i could take that out. the braces came out about a month before i got my senior pictures taken, which was my ultimate goal.
In mid July, i tried a lot of new things all in one day. See List of Firsts for the inside scoop. the main attraction of that very hot July 17th was that i got to fly in an airplane for the very first time. i had been saving my money for a good year or two in order to go on this trip with my friend Noelle. We went to Colorado Springs for five days, and had a wonderful time! I'm hoping that some day soon i can take another trip on an airplane. even though traveling can be tiring, it's so much fun!
In August i went to a family reunion in Baltimore. It was my first time going into the city of Baltimore, and using a LightRail system. I also had the chance to see a distant cousin of mine play a piano concert.
Along with all that, i had the opportunity to see many events of the Olympics. I admit i was one of those who stayed up practically until midnight to watch Micheal Phelps swim. Unfortunately it was at the time of year when i should've been conditioning myself to go to bed earlier because of school starting a few weeks from that time. oh well...
In late August i started senior year. for the first few weeks it felt surreal. it helped going through the "Senior Routine." Things like taking the '09 picture, making sure to raise my hand in mixed classes when the teacher asked, "how many seniors do we have in here?" and stuff like that. Oh, i guess the part where i applied for college was another way to remind myself, "yeah, i'm a senior."
Speaking of college, i was accepted to Messiah College in November! This officially meant i can start focusing on school more, and not be distracted by applying to college. it also meant that i could focus on applying for scholarships.
I think that's about it. there are a few more things i'm sure i could add, such as seeing Fireproof (if you haven't seen it, mark your calendars for January 27th, that's when it comes out on DVD), and turning 18, which meant voting for the first time. it sure had been an active 366 days. Then again, leap years are always full of action.
In this coming year, i'm looking forward to graduating from high school, and starting college in the fall. I'm also currently looking for a job for the spring and summer, and thankfully i may have some options. All in all, i hope i'll be "feeling fine in 09!"
During the first half of 2008, i finished up my Junior year of High School. With that, i took the SATs, ACTs, and finished the Senior High Project required by the school. i also found out that i passed my Senior High Project the first time, which lifted a huge burden. By June i was all ready to leave Junior year in the dust and embark on Senior year. Also, in the realm of school, i got to watch many of my friends graduate from high school. It was my first high school graduation that i attended, and i'm so glad i attended the 2008 graduation before attending my own this coming year.
In May, i got to kiss my braces good-bye! of course this meant that during the summer i had to wear a retainer, but at least i could take that out. the braces came out about a month before i got my senior pictures taken, which was my ultimate goal.
In mid July, i tried a lot of new things all in one day. See List of Firsts for the inside scoop. the main attraction of that very hot July 17th was that i got to fly in an airplane for the very first time. i had been saving my money for a good year or two in order to go on this trip with my friend Noelle. We went to Colorado Springs for five days, and had a wonderful time! I'm hoping that some day soon i can take another trip on an airplane. even though traveling can be tiring, it's so much fun!
In August i went to a family reunion in Baltimore. It was my first time going into the city of Baltimore, and using a LightRail system. I also had the chance to see a distant cousin of mine play a piano concert.
Along with all that, i had the opportunity to see many events of the Olympics. I admit i was one of those who stayed up practically until midnight to watch Micheal Phelps swim. Unfortunately it was at the time of year when i should've been conditioning myself to go to bed earlier because of school starting a few weeks from that time. oh well...
In late August i started senior year. for the first few weeks it felt surreal. it helped going through the "Senior Routine." Things like taking the '09 picture, making sure to raise my hand in mixed classes when the teacher asked, "how many seniors do we have in here?" and stuff like that. Oh, i guess the part where i applied for college was another way to remind myself, "yeah, i'm a senior."
Speaking of college, i was accepted to Messiah College in November! This officially meant i can start focusing on school more, and not be distracted by applying to college. it also meant that i could focus on applying for scholarships.
I think that's about it. there are a few more things i'm sure i could add, such as seeing Fireproof (if you haven't seen it, mark your calendars for January 27th, that's when it comes out on DVD), and turning 18, which meant voting for the first time. it sure had been an active 366 days. Then again, leap years are always full of action.
In this coming year, i'm looking forward to graduating from high school, and starting college in the fall. I'm also currently looking for a job for the spring and summer, and thankfully i may have some options. All in all, i hope i'll be "feeling fine in 09!"
Friday, October 31, 2008
You'll never know
So last night I went to work, as usual, but I ended up meeting a new employee there. I work a pizza buffet that's seen better days. We have a relatively new manager in there, and his mother-in-law has started working there just whenever we need the help. Last night I met her for the first time. I came to find out that I met her before, though I'm sure she doesn't remember.
See, two years ago I met her and her husband at a Jars of Clay concert. We sat in line for an hour and a half. For those who've never done that, when you sit in line for an hour and a half, there really isn't much you can do other than get to know the people beside you. Since this concert was at Messiah College, that made it even easier to talk to people, since most likely those people have a connection with Messiah College. Anyways, they were very nice, and I had the chance to meet two of their children. Now that I think about it, I guess they did say they had another daughter. Or my manager could be married to the daughter that I met that night, who knows?
My point is, I was a trifle surprised when I walked into work last night and "met" Anne. I was reminded once again of how nice of a person Anne is. I'm so glad she's coming to work here part time. It's amazing to see how God "randomly" brings people into our lives again and again. I was getting to a point where I thought that kind of thing only happened in books and movies. Well, proved wrong again...
See, two years ago I met her and her husband at a Jars of Clay concert. We sat in line for an hour and a half. For those who've never done that, when you sit in line for an hour and a half, there really isn't much you can do other than get to know the people beside you. Since this concert was at Messiah College, that made it even easier to talk to people, since most likely those people have a connection with Messiah College. Anyways, they were very nice, and I had the chance to meet two of their children. Now that I think about it, I guess they did say they had another daughter. Or my manager could be married to the daughter that I met that night, who knows?
My point is, I was a trifle surprised when I walked into work last night and "met" Anne. I was reminded once again of how nice of a person Anne is. I'm so glad she's coming to work here part time. It's amazing to see how God "randomly" brings people into our lives again and again. I was getting to a point where I thought that kind of thing only happened in books and movies. Well, proved wrong again...
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
I should be working on something productive...
so right now i'm in Powerpoint class. but see, i have Word, and then Powerpoint, so sometimes it gets repetitive, like today. Today during Word, we had a speaker, and it's for all the business classes. so instead of seeing the speaker for a second time, i decided just to chill for awhile. i could be figuring out how to import lists in Access to make them one huge list, but i already tried and it didn't work. i also could be working on my Powerpoint FAP, but i don't really feel like doing that either. for my FAP i'm making a presentation about Adventures in Odyssey. So far it's been really fun, but i haven't been as productive as i could be.
so let's see, it's been awhile since i've posted, so what's been going on? well, i started my senior year. started writing two songs. i like the one, ripped up the other because it ended up not working.(i'm waiting for a good time to burn those papers) but i haven't really had any inspiration to add to the other.
See you at the Pole went really well this year. and Christian club has been going well too. Aparently God is supposed to do something really amazing this year. We're not exactly sure what. for some reason though i haven't felt as connected with God as i have in the past. i don't know what the problem is, or where it started. i really hope i can fix that connection soon. it just gets difficult at times, because i see everyone else on the leadership team on fire for God, but yet i can't feel anything. i even almost pulled myself off the leadership team, but i reasoned that doing that would be more harm than good. over the past few weeks i think i've realized that part of this whole thing is that my thirst for Worship hasn't been quenched through my church.
see, we still sing hymns at my church. and that just doesn't bring me into worship like other songs do. over a week ago, i went to a concert called the Art Music Justice Tour. We had a time of worship there, and it was awesome! i really felt connected there. so i guess i need to find a suppliment? i'll have to see. but i do know that the people at my church really need to warm up to the idea of doing some songs that were written during my lifetime.
ok, i have about five minutes left, so i'll try to come up with something contructive to say during that time. i turned 18 almost two weeks ago. so now i can vote, and drive past 11pm. at church last sunday, some of the ladies were giving me advice about marraige, because they were 18 whenever they married their husbands. the continued to tell me that this is a much different world, so i can wait a bit longer to get married. one of them even said 30 is a good age to get married. personally, i think that i don't to wait on purpose until i'm 30. but thinking through all this made me realize i'm the same age that my grandma was when she got married. and then i thought that in a few years, my mom will be the same age that my grandma was whenever she became a grandma.
on those thoughts i must bid you all good-bye. i'm off to practice piano during my next study hall!
so let's see, it's been awhile since i've posted, so what's been going on? well, i started my senior year. started writing two songs. i like the one, ripped up the other because it ended up not working.(i'm waiting for a good time to burn those papers) but i haven't really had any inspiration to add to the other.
See you at the Pole went really well this year. and Christian club has been going well too. Aparently God is supposed to do something really amazing this year. We're not exactly sure what. for some reason though i haven't felt as connected with God as i have in the past. i don't know what the problem is, or where it started. i really hope i can fix that connection soon. it just gets difficult at times, because i see everyone else on the leadership team on fire for God, but yet i can't feel anything. i even almost pulled myself off the leadership team, but i reasoned that doing that would be more harm than good. over the past few weeks i think i've realized that part of this whole thing is that my thirst for Worship hasn't been quenched through my church.
see, we still sing hymns at my church. and that just doesn't bring me into worship like other songs do. over a week ago, i went to a concert called the Art Music Justice Tour. We had a time of worship there, and it was awesome! i really felt connected there. so i guess i need to find a suppliment? i'll have to see. but i do know that the people at my church really need to warm up to the idea of doing some songs that were written during my lifetime.
ok, i have about five minutes left, so i'll try to come up with something contructive to say during that time. i turned 18 almost two weeks ago. so now i can vote, and drive past 11pm. at church last sunday, some of the ladies were giving me advice about marraige, because they were 18 whenever they married their husbands. the continued to tell me that this is a much different world, so i can wait a bit longer to get married. one of them even said 30 is a good age to get married. personally, i think that i don't to wait on purpose until i'm 30. but thinking through all this made me realize i'm the same age that my grandma was when she got married. and then i thought that in a few years, my mom will be the same age that my grandma was whenever she became a grandma.
on those thoughts i must bid you all good-bye. i'm off to practice piano during my next study hall!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Share the Joy, Share the Love, Share the Inspiration
A few weeks ago, my dad told me about yet another Christian radio station he found. we were on the way to Baltimore for our family reunion, and we were still pretty close to home so i tuned it in just to see what it was. my dad has a really cheapo mp3 player that he got off of eBay right after i got my iPod.(well that was because he got eBay gift certificates, so that's what helped him pay for it) anyways, his mp3 player has a radio on it, and i guess he was just scanning the dial the one day, and found this Christian radio station on 89.9FM. it's more mellow than 90.3, WJTL, yet more music stuff than 94.5, WDAC. Anyways, over the past few weeks when i've been driving around, i switch back and forth between the WORD FM(88.1), WJTL, and this unnamed station, 89.9. i've heard the Legal ID for it once. the station is called Hope FM, but i keep missing where it's located. and i know they have to say where it's located, because that's part of FCC standard. i'll have to remember to check that out sometime today at the top of the hour. usually when i turn it on they're either playing music, or someone is giving a sermon. and like i said, the music is mellowish.
now, on Saturday nights, i've found that they have a cool-ish alternative show. but it's interesting to see their version of alternative. but the DJs seem cool. it's better then any of the other Contemporary radio stations that play around here on Saturday night. WJTL has the Archives where they play music from the seventies and maybe 80s. the WORD FM used to have the Sound of Light, but then Bill Moore left, and made them all sad, so they don't have that any more.(well, that's not entirely the case, but things with that show did start to go downhill after Bill Scott temporarily took over. but i hear they have a new host now, and from what i've read, he's pretty cool, and pretty funny.) so they just play their normal music.
so this brings me to my point that we have way too many Christian radio stations in this area. it's mostly because we are a bible belt. This is because of Messiah College, and Lancaster.(pronounced, LANG-kister) i calculated yesterday that we have seven and a half Christian radio stations, and i think even then i'm missing a few. here, i'll list them, and what kinds of stuff they play.(maybe i'll even put a website with it.) let's count together. (disclaimer: these are the radio stations that can be heard from where i live, so it might not be true for all of South Central PA)
WJTL 90.3- Best Mix of christian music. you'll basically hear a little bit of everything while listening to this station for a week. www.wjtl.com
The Word FM 88.1(Harrisburg) and 93.1(Carlisle)- station based out of Eastern PA with over a dozen towers and transmitters. they play more harder rock stuff than WJTL, and they sometimes have different singles from the artists than WJTL. both have funny morning shows. www.wordfm.org
WDAC 94.5- Focus on the Family programing, and praise music for certain parts of the day. really, really mellow praise music.
Way Truth Life Radio 107.1(Mifflintown)- this station is basically the same as WDAC. they're based in State College though, so they're weather reports are off most of the time.
1230AM The Fortress- praise music, very small and very low powered station. also has some sermons and stuff during the day. and on saturdays they have 20: the Countdown Magazine.(i know you all were singing that as your read it!)
720AM The Rock- lower powered, only during daylight(last time i checked) station. basically the same as the Fortress.
WVMM("the V") 90.7- this is the half station. they have gotten away from playing Christian music all the time, but i'm still going to give them the benefit of the doubt and call it a half Christian music radio station.
89.9- i don't know the name of this, and i described it in the first few paragraphs.
so now you have all those, so let's go back and count them up...eight and a half. if you ask me, we are spoiled when it comes to Christian radio. there are some parts of the country that don't have a good solid Contemporary Christian radio station, or they do, but it's so far away they only get it in their car. i really wish we could share the joy of having a Christian radio station that inspires, and helps people grow in their faith by playing the right song at the right time.
i really hope that during the course of my career, i can help to start a Christian radio station in a place that really needs one. a good solid local station that will help to change the lives of the area. it's going to take so much work and experience, but i know that i can totally do it with God's help. and hopefully he'll bring other people in my life who can help.
so next time you're complaining that they're isn't a good station to listen to, and you live in South Central PA, scan that thing again, because you're just not trying hard enough.
now, on Saturday nights, i've found that they have a cool-ish alternative show. but it's interesting to see their version of alternative. but the DJs seem cool. it's better then any of the other Contemporary radio stations that play around here on Saturday night. WJTL has the Archives where they play music from the seventies and maybe 80s. the WORD FM used to have the Sound of Light, but then Bill Moore left, and made them all sad, so they don't have that any more.(well, that's not entirely the case, but things with that show did start to go downhill after Bill Scott temporarily took over. but i hear they have a new host now, and from what i've read, he's pretty cool, and pretty funny.) so they just play their normal music.
so this brings me to my point that we have way too many Christian radio stations in this area. it's mostly because we are a bible belt. This is because of Messiah College, and Lancaster.(pronounced, LANG-kister) i calculated yesterday that we have seven and a half Christian radio stations, and i think even then i'm missing a few. here, i'll list them, and what kinds of stuff they play.(maybe i'll even put a website with it.) let's count together. (disclaimer: these are the radio stations that can be heard from where i live, so it might not be true for all of South Central PA)
WJTL 90.3- Best Mix of christian music. you'll basically hear a little bit of everything while listening to this station for a week. www.wjtl.com
The Word FM 88.1(Harrisburg) and 93.1(Carlisle)- station based out of Eastern PA with over a dozen towers and transmitters. they play more harder rock stuff than WJTL, and they sometimes have different singles from the artists than WJTL. both have funny morning shows. www.wordfm.org
WDAC 94.5- Focus on the Family programing, and praise music for certain parts of the day. really, really mellow praise music.
Way Truth Life Radio 107.1(Mifflintown)- this station is basically the same as WDAC. they're based in State College though, so they're weather reports are off most of the time.
1230AM The Fortress- praise music, very small and very low powered station. also has some sermons and stuff during the day. and on saturdays they have 20: the Countdown Magazine.(i know you all were singing that as your read it!)
720AM The Rock- lower powered, only during daylight(last time i checked) station. basically the same as the Fortress.
WVMM("the V") 90.7- this is the half station. they have gotten away from playing Christian music all the time, but i'm still going to give them the benefit of the doubt and call it a half Christian music radio station.
89.9- i don't know the name of this, and i described it in the first few paragraphs.
so now you have all those, so let's go back and count them up...eight and a half. if you ask me, we are spoiled when it comes to Christian radio. there are some parts of the country that don't have a good solid Contemporary Christian radio station, or they do, but it's so far away they only get it in their car. i really wish we could share the joy of having a Christian radio station that inspires, and helps people grow in their faith by playing the right song at the right time.
i really hope that during the course of my career, i can help to start a Christian radio station in a place that really needs one. a good solid local station that will help to change the lives of the area. it's going to take so much work and experience, but i know that i can totally do it with God's help. and hopefully he'll bring other people in my life who can help.
so next time you're complaining that they're isn't a good station to listen to, and you live in South Central PA, scan that thing again, because you're just not trying hard enough.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
list of firsts
i'm going to be completing a list of "firsts" tomorrow, and i just wanted to list them all out here, because i think about things differently when i am reading them and can see it in front of me. okay, so here we go:
tomorrow it will be my first time to...
-go inside the BWI airport
-fly on an airplane
-be in Indiana
-be at Indianapolis
-go inside the Indianapolis airport
-only be in a city for 55 minutes
-be in Denver
-be in Colorado
-go inside the Denver airport
-see those wonderful mountains with my own eyes instead of seeing them on TV or in pictures
-be in the Mountain Standard Times Zone
-travel just with a friend
-Travel with Allergies
-Travel with Benadryl
-Travel with an EpiPen
-use my new luggage
-be that far away from home
-be in a state that isn't connected to any other states i've been to(i know, i make it sound like an island)
-see my friend's house that they moved into several years ago
well, that's all i can think of for now. it's quite the list. but i'm sure it'll be great! i have lots of podcasts, music, Noelle, God, my Bible, and a book to keep me company. oh, and how could we forget my sudoku book?
i guess i'll try to update this at least once while i'm out there. it would be really fun to post something from out there. we'll see.
tomorrow it will be my first time to...
-go inside the BWI airport
-fly on an airplane
-be in Indiana
-be at Indianapolis
-go inside the Indianapolis airport
-only be in a city for 55 minutes
-be in Denver
-be in Colorado
-go inside the Denver airport
-see those wonderful mountains with my own eyes instead of seeing them on TV or in pictures
-be in the Mountain Standard Times Zone
-travel just with a friend
-Travel with Allergies
-Travel with Benadryl
-Travel with an EpiPen
-use my new luggage
-be that far away from home
-be in a state that isn't connected to any other states i've been to(i know, i make it sound like an island)
-see my friend's house that they moved into several years ago
well, that's all i can think of for now. it's quite the list. but i'm sure it'll be great! i have lots of podcasts, music, Noelle, God, my Bible, and a book to keep me company. oh, and how could we forget my sudoku book?
i guess i'll try to update this at least once while i'm out there. it would be really fun to post something from out there. we'll see.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wow
okay, so most everyone knows that pretty soon i will be trying something new. i will be flying in an airplane. it will also be my first time going anywhere that lies west of the Mississippi River. thankfully, i do not have to take in this adventure all by myself. a friend of mine will be coming alone with me, being my personal expert on flying, and making sure i'm not an unaccompanied minor.(for pete's sakes, i'm turing 18 in two and a half months. but it's okay, she just turned 18 last March. talk about beating the system.)
there's sort of a fear i have of flying right now. it's partly because i've never flown before in my life. i've never even gotten to ride in a helicopter of hot air balloon or anything. sometimes when i really think about it, and think about what could happen to the plane, or while i'm on the plane, it kinda scares me. a lot of that is just because it's unknown, so i'm not entirely sure of what to be afraid of.
i really need to start getting everything together to start packing. i've slowly been getting everything together, but i need to finish that process. i feel like i have so much to do. at least it's not my entire family going on vacation. if it was, we'd have to empty out the refrigerator, and giving gallons of milk away, and all kinds of craziness.
Through this time of getting ready, i've learned a lot. i learned why my family has never flown instead of driving somewhere.(it's sooooo expensive. way too expensive to take five people all at once)
all in all, i know it will be one of the most exciting adventures in my life. and hey, maybe i'll write a song from it. so i guess if you could be praying for me, that'd be great. i will be leaving in one week.
there's sort of a fear i have of flying right now. it's partly because i've never flown before in my life. i've never even gotten to ride in a helicopter of hot air balloon or anything. sometimes when i really think about it, and think about what could happen to the plane, or while i'm on the plane, it kinda scares me. a lot of that is just because it's unknown, so i'm not entirely sure of what to be afraid of.
i really need to start getting everything together to start packing. i've slowly been getting everything together, but i need to finish that process. i feel like i have so much to do. at least it's not my entire family going on vacation. if it was, we'd have to empty out the refrigerator, and giving gallons of milk away, and all kinds of craziness.
Through this time of getting ready, i've learned a lot. i learned why my family has never flown instead of driving somewhere.(it's sooooo expensive. way too expensive to take five people all at once)
all in all, i know it will be one of the most exciting adventures in my life. and hey, maybe i'll write a song from it. so i guess if you could be praying for me, that'd be great. i will be leaving in one week.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Saying goodbye
okay, you guys, i just thought i should let you know that this is my 100th post. so let's celebrate! and what better was to Celebrate than by recapping last night's graduation. I was an usher last night at graduation, along with a few other class of 09 people. we were supposed to meet in the back of the parking lot at McDonalds at 5:45. so i got there a tad early, and at first no one came. i thought i was just going to drive myself over. but then three other girls came and asked me if i had a parking pass. since i was the only one of us who had the special parking pass, i took all three of them with me. so we go to Messiah College, and i park where my dad always parks for work, which is where Mrs. Sassaman instructed me to park. And then we get in to where we need to be, and get instructions from Mrs. Sassaman and Mrs. Hoover. After that we got to take tickets and hand out programs as people came in. all in all it was very well organized. Mrs. Sassaman does a great job, and the Campus Events team also does a wonderful job at running this whole thing.
Eventually it was time to start. They had a few stray chairs for us to sit, or we could go and find somewhere to sit, but that seemed a lot harder to do, so i just grabbed a folding chair and positioned myself right next to a door. there was another guy there with me who decided to camp out there as well. it actually helped out because we were able to be there to answer people's questions, while still being able to enjoy the ceremony.
i found it fascinating how everyone entered. most of the high school teachers, along with some middle school teachers, and elementary school principals came in dressed in their cap and gowns. they formed the aisle for the students to walk through. then the students came in two by two, and they got to see all their teachers, who had the opportunity to offer their congratulations to them. i got to say hi to a bunch of my teachers, including some of the middle school ones. That was really neat, and i'm glad i was able to see it before i actually went through it.
I also liked that they came in two, because it's a smart way to speed up the process. also, i think it must have been nice for the students as they could have someone to talk to or just have there in case they felt like going crazy. once they all got in and seated, the senior class president came and gave a speech. then the superintendent gave a speech. then three speeches, two being metaphor speeches. the last one was really funny.
After that Mr. Harris(head principal) came up and started calling all the names of everyone. it actually went pretty quick, which made me surprised. i guess i do need to remind myself that my class is a bit bigger than the class of '08.
Towards the beginning there was one name we were listening for. his first name is Easton, and we've been waiting six years for him to finish high school. and we were hoping so bad that he would graduate this year, because he's 21 now, or he will be 21, so he wouldn't be allowed to come back next year. his last name starts with a B, so he walked across the stage early on. once they called his name, everyone in those maroon cap and gowns were on their feet cheering that he had finally passed through beyond high school. I'm not sure how many of the parents and other family members out there knew what was going on, but it was priceless to see that class give so much support to him. i'm pretty sure the cheering went on for at least a minute before Mr. Harris resumed the rest of the names of everyone else.
throughout the rest of the ceremony, i made sure to clap loud for all my friends. They came out the same way they came in, minus the teachers. I liked this because then i could say hi to my friends as they went out.
I had tried to take as many pictures as possible, but a lot of them were blurry. Dad says it's hard to take pictures in that Arena, although i'm not really sure why. But i do know that i tried my best, and ended up getting some good ones. even some of the blurry ones look artistic. if you're friends with me on facebook, you can go right now to check out the album of my pictures from graduation.
i'm very glad i got to see graduation from this side of things first. being the oldest, this whole process of being a senior is so new to myself and my parents. It's nice to have such great friends to go before you and help to guide your steps as you follow.
Today i get to complete another step towards officially being a senior. i have senior pictures later today. i hope the rain either just pours down now, or holds off all together, because i really want a lot of outside pictures. oh well, i'm sure it'll work out.
Congratulations Class of 2008. May God be with you as you face the next stage in your life. I'll still be here in high school if anyone wants to come visit. :-P
Eventually it was time to start. They had a few stray chairs for us to sit, or we could go and find somewhere to sit, but that seemed a lot harder to do, so i just grabbed a folding chair and positioned myself right next to a door. there was another guy there with me who decided to camp out there as well. it actually helped out because we were able to be there to answer people's questions, while still being able to enjoy the ceremony.
i found it fascinating how everyone entered. most of the high school teachers, along with some middle school teachers, and elementary school principals came in dressed in their cap and gowns. they formed the aisle for the students to walk through. then the students came in two by two, and they got to see all their teachers, who had the opportunity to offer their congratulations to them. i got to say hi to a bunch of my teachers, including some of the middle school ones. That was really neat, and i'm glad i was able to see it before i actually went through it.
I also liked that they came in two, because it's a smart way to speed up the process. also, i think it must have been nice for the students as they could have someone to talk to or just have there in case they felt like going crazy. once they all got in and seated, the senior class president came and gave a speech. then the superintendent gave a speech. then three speeches, two being metaphor speeches. the last one was really funny.
After that Mr. Harris(head principal) came up and started calling all the names of everyone. it actually went pretty quick, which made me surprised. i guess i do need to remind myself that my class is a bit bigger than the class of '08.
Towards the beginning there was one name we were listening for. his first name is Easton, and we've been waiting six years for him to finish high school. and we were hoping so bad that he would graduate this year, because he's 21 now, or he will be 21, so he wouldn't be allowed to come back next year. his last name starts with a B, so he walked across the stage early on. once they called his name, everyone in those maroon cap and gowns were on their feet cheering that he had finally passed through beyond high school. I'm not sure how many of the parents and other family members out there knew what was going on, but it was priceless to see that class give so much support to him. i'm pretty sure the cheering went on for at least a minute before Mr. Harris resumed the rest of the names of everyone else.
throughout the rest of the ceremony, i made sure to clap loud for all my friends. They came out the same way they came in, minus the teachers. I liked this because then i could say hi to my friends as they went out.
I had tried to take as many pictures as possible, but a lot of them were blurry. Dad says it's hard to take pictures in that Arena, although i'm not really sure why. But i do know that i tried my best, and ended up getting some good ones. even some of the blurry ones look artistic. if you're friends with me on facebook, you can go right now to check out the album of my pictures from graduation.
i'm very glad i got to see graduation from this side of things first. being the oldest, this whole process of being a senior is so new to myself and my parents. It's nice to have such great friends to go before you and help to guide your steps as you follow.
Today i get to complete another step towards officially being a senior. i have senior pictures later today. i hope the rain either just pours down now, or holds off all together, because i really want a lot of outside pictures. oh well, i'm sure it'll work out.
Congratulations Class of 2008. May God be with you as you face the next stage in your life. I'll still be here in high school if anyone wants to come visit. :-P
Friday, May 30, 2008
hmmm...
As most of you know, the entire Christian Music Community has been reaching out for the past 9 days to the Chapman family, and helping them through their time of grieving the loss of little Maria. I just now read about another passing of a COCA(Child Of a Christian Artist). this time it deals with Nicol Sponberg, and her two-month old child. Nicol Sponberg had been in the group Selah, but now does her own CDs and stuff. anyways, apparently the child died in his sleep, probably from SIDS. That's so weird that there would be two of these types of deaths in just under ten days. I just wanted to put that piece of news out there for people to be praying for these families. The great thing about being a Christian Artist, as compared to just a regular mainstream artist, is that when something like this happens, you have literally everyone for support. You have all your fans praying for you, which is so powerful, and you have colleagues who drop whatever they are doing the second they hear about it, and come to be with you. it must be really encouraging from that perspective, and i think it's a reminder of how the body of Christ needs to be. We need to come together like everyone did(and still is) for the Steven Curtis Chapman incident. It's amazing to see, and read about what all happened, positives, in just two or three days last week to put together an amazing service to honor the life of Maria. from what i've read about on his manager's blog, it was very moving. and it's moving all of us.
so as "Miracle of the Moment" plays on the radio right now, i bid you goodnight. another action packed adventure will commence tomorrow. Life was never really promised to be boring when God's involved.
so as "Miracle of the Moment" plays on the radio right now, i bid you goodnight. another action packed adventure will commence tomorrow. Life was never really promised to be boring when God's involved.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A time to learn even more
Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit a place that I would have never imagined going to. I had the opportunity to go to WITF in Harrisburg. Many of you know that I have a huge interest in radio and broadcasting, and that's what I want to do with my life. So I just had to take up this opportunity to explore and learn. There was another girl from my school who went along, and the School-to-Career Coordinator drove us there.
To start off with, we met in the Guidance office to get ready to leave at around 8:30am Friday morning. We went to leave, and it was pouring outside. So we rushed to Ms. Dynan's car, and on our way we went. We headed towards I-81 north, however that was backed up because of a truck accident. I had actually heard about the accident at 6 that morning, and was surprised that there was still some back up from it. So we took some back roads, and got on 81 at an exit further north. So we were supposed to arrive at WITF at 9:00, but we didn't get there until 9:20. That was okay though, because the lady giving the tour was still talking to the group at that point.
I would like to pause here to say just how much WITF has been a part of my life. It's probably the first station I ever started watching on a regular basis. Since my family has never had cable (yes, we keep living, and we're fine!) I haven't been one to watch Nick Jr. or whatever other channels on a regular basis. Even now that I'm older, I watch some of PBS's programming when I can. I love watching all the cooking shows during the summer. They are just a wealth of information and education.
I know even in the winter of 2007, there was one weekend when both my dad and I were sick. We were literally sick the entire weekend. So on that saturday, all day we had the TV on, but most of the time it was on PBS. It's nice because most of their shows are family friendly. It doesn't mean that kids would be interested in it, but they could watch it if they wanted to. So we watched home improvement shows, and cooking shows, and traveling shows. They have a really great variety of shows, and anyone could find a show on their that they might like.
Anyways, back to my visit. There were all different kids from a variety of different schools. All of us had some interesting in going into the broadcasting industry. We got to see the control room, which you can actually see from the lobby, through a bunch of glass windows. We could see what was on TV right at that moment, both on the regular station and the HD station.(my family just recently got the box to get those HD channels, and we love the HD channel for PBS!) After that we entered into the rest of the building. We saw where they broadcast the Radio station. The radio station they have is a classical NPR(National Public Radio) station.
We see inside where they do the teleprompter for some of their live stuff, and got to learn about all the elements of a live broadcast that they do. We also got to see the set for a show called Smart Talk, as well as get an idea of what other kinds of sets they have in that room. After that we went into the board room, where five employees talked to us about careers in broadcasting, and how they got their start. actually, one of them worked for human resources. But they answered our questions about internships, and just general questions about broadcasting. I recognized the voices of at least two of the people talking to us, because of hearing them on the radio, or being the voice of various TV spots. They were very blunt about the fact that it's a hard industry to enter into.
Afterwards, some schools had to leave, but most of us stayed longer and tried out the Demonstration Station. They had a camera, and teleprompter, and it's a nifty room to practice your presentation skills in. So I ran the teleprompter, and two other girls gave a news story. it was fun getting to try it out.
All in all I'm really glad I got to go. Ms. Dynan told me that I'll have to come to her at the beginning of the year next year, to get the list of these kinds of field trips, so I can try to go on all the broadcasting ones. That will be very exciting, and I'm glad I discovered these kinds of things while I'm still a junior in high school, so i still have one more year left. Also, hopefully it won't be quite as painful to miss school next year. I think this week I was in school for a total of 3 days. For someone who hasn't missed a day all year, that's a lot.
Well, sorry again for my long post, but as you can tell, I had a great time. I was even able to inform Ms. Dynan of a shorter way to go home. I think I surprised myself that I even knew of that way.
Anyways, I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend.
To start off with, we met in the Guidance office to get ready to leave at around 8:30am Friday morning. We went to leave, and it was pouring outside. So we rushed to Ms. Dynan's car, and on our way we went. We headed towards I-81 north, however that was backed up because of a truck accident. I had actually heard about the accident at 6 that morning, and was surprised that there was still some back up from it. So we took some back roads, and got on 81 at an exit further north. So we were supposed to arrive at WITF at 9:00, but we didn't get there until 9:20. That was okay though, because the lady giving the tour was still talking to the group at that point.
I would like to pause here to say just how much WITF has been a part of my life. It's probably the first station I ever started watching on a regular basis. Since my family has never had cable (yes, we keep living, and we're fine!) I haven't been one to watch Nick Jr. or whatever other channels on a regular basis. Even now that I'm older, I watch some of PBS's programming when I can. I love watching all the cooking shows during the summer. They are just a wealth of information and education.
I know even in the winter of 2007, there was one weekend when both my dad and I were sick. We were literally sick the entire weekend. So on that saturday, all day we had the TV on, but most of the time it was on PBS. It's nice because most of their shows are family friendly. It doesn't mean that kids would be interested in it, but they could watch it if they wanted to. So we watched home improvement shows, and cooking shows, and traveling shows. They have a really great variety of shows, and anyone could find a show on their that they might like.
Anyways, back to my visit. There were all different kids from a variety of different schools. All of us had some interesting in going into the broadcasting industry. We got to see the control room, which you can actually see from the lobby, through a bunch of glass windows. We could see what was on TV right at that moment, both on the regular station and the HD station.(my family just recently got the box to get those HD channels, and we love the HD channel for PBS!) After that we entered into the rest of the building. We saw where they broadcast the Radio station. The radio station they have is a classical NPR(National Public Radio) station.
We see inside where they do the teleprompter for some of their live stuff, and got to learn about all the elements of a live broadcast that they do. We also got to see the set for a show called Smart Talk, as well as get an idea of what other kinds of sets they have in that room. After that we went into the board room, where five employees talked to us about careers in broadcasting, and how they got their start. actually, one of them worked for human resources. But they answered our questions about internships, and just general questions about broadcasting. I recognized the voices of at least two of the people talking to us, because of hearing them on the radio, or being the voice of various TV spots. They were very blunt about the fact that it's a hard industry to enter into.
Afterwards, some schools had to leave, but most of us stayed longer and tried out the Demonstration Station. They had a camera, and teleprompter, and it's a nifty room to practice your presentation skills in. So I ran the teleprompter, and two other girls gave a news story. it was fun getting to try it out.
All in all I'm really glad I got to go. Ms. Dynan told me that I'll have to come to her at the beginning of the year next year, to get the list of these kinds of field trips, so I can try to go on all the broadcasting ones. That will be very exciting, and I'm glad I discovered these kinds of things while I'm still a junior in high school, so i still have one more year left. Also, hopefully it won't be quite as painful to miss school next year. I think this week I was in school for a total of 3 days. For someone who hasn't missed a day all year, that's a lot.
Well, sorry again for my long post, but as you can tell, I had a great time. I was even able to inform Ms. Dynan of a shorter way to go home. I think I surprised myself that I even knew of that way.
Anyways, I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend.
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