So Here's the big Story

So on Wednesday night, i was running around, trying to get everything together so i could leave for Chill Time.(umm, glossery: Chill time: wednesday night fellowship time at local youth group. we play video games, do homework, and play Apples to Apples. fun times) it's a come whenever kind of thing so there really is no "on time" except for the time you, and only you intend to get there. my target time is 6:00, but when Joel's home he makes it later because he takes forever to get ready. but Joel was on his way home from a science competition. so anyways, i was getting ready to leave, when the phone rang. Mom answered it, and it was for me. i was hoping it wasn't work asking me to come in, because i would really be irritated at that.(i'm not normally available on wednesdays) but it wasn't work, it was the executive producer of the Weekend 22. I believe i've talked about the Weekend 22 on here before. it's a countdown show for Christian music. it's really awesome, and my siblings and i try very hard to listen to it every week. anyways, he was calling because i had won a contest. now, if you would go back and read the post from when i won a book from the Weekend 22, you would recall that it just showed up. there was no letter, no flyer, just the book. but see, this contest that they were calling about wasn't just any regular contest. it had a grand prize.

and this grand prize was a really nice guitar. and it's one of those deals where they would call the person to tell them that they won, and then they would get all excited and every0ne listening at home would go "that is so cool, i wish i would've won." well, i had at least won the Sanctus Real CD.("We Need Each Other"). so i needed to wait an hour to see if i had won. so i decided not to go to Chill Time, and be under house arrest.

so i tried to do my math homework while i waited. except i got distracted. i was IMing Barb and Liz about what i was going through. the guy said to make sure i got really excited if i won, so it would come through to the listeners. i'm not that great at that, because i'm more of an all smiles person, and tend to be speechless at those sort of things. at the same time i didn't want to work myself up so much and then not get that call. it was a fine line to walk on. so then the phone rings, and my gut jumps to my throat. but it's not for me, it's someone returning my mom's call. so i continue with math homework and IMing.

then we get another phone call. this one is for me, and they are recording it.(they told me they would record the conversation, sorry i forgot to mention that earlier.) so i won it. i am going to be getting an electric guitar. don't ask me what kind it is, or if it's signed by Sanctus Real, because i really don't know. and while i do care in the long run, right now i don't care, because i'm just happy that i'm getting another guitar! i already play acoustic, so now i get to start something new. and this is something that i never would have been able to just say "Hey, let's try and learn how to play the electric guitar!" because i don't have the money to buy one in the first place. i barely had enough money to buy an acoustic guitar a few years ago.

anyways, those are the details that Liz was trying to pry out of me. once i get the guitar, i will be sure and post a picture of it on here, so you can all see. oh, and if you want to here me on a nationally syndicated show, be sure and tune in to the Weekend 22 on March 22. if your station doesn't play the Weekend 22, you can contact me, and i'll tell you when it's on my station so that you can listen online.

so i still got to go to some of Chill Time. i volunteered to pick up Joel at the school, and then on the way home we stopped at the church to say hi to everyone. i had felt bad for not going in the first place because i told one of my friends that i'd be there. but it turns out she left early because she wasn't feeling well. but that was okay, it was nice to go even for just a few minutes.

So this is a very excited Abby, signing off. God is awesome, never forget it!

Wow

I would just like to thank Jesus for all the opportunities He gives me to let His light shine through me.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, i just need to keep remembering that, according to The Message, in 1 Peter 5:7, it says that God will promote me at the right time. once again, i find myself right at "that time". i found myself there with the Jeopardy audition quiz thingy, and numerous other contests. and now, it could be here again. so i gave up going to youth group tonight in order to possibly gain something that could help people in youth group. i'm not sure if i'm allowed to say it now, although it wouldn't much matter in an hour. so needless to say this is all quite exciting. while i'm waiting for the hour to pass, i'm busying myself with math homework. well, and then i need to do some history stuff. anyways, i should get on it. in the meantime, i need to work on getting really excited.

Junior Year

Need I say more?

That makes Three

I just on Jesusfreakhideout.com that Larry Norman passed away. for those of you who choose to block Christian music history from your brain, Larry Norman had a huge impact on Christian music as we know it. He's one of the Christian music pioneers. He's one of those guys they play on the WJTL Archives on saturday nights from 9-12.(i would like to confess at this moment that i don't listen to that show much. i can do the classic cafe, but the archives go a little too far back for me.)

As far as i'm concerned, that makes three who are with God right now. Over 25 years ago, Keith Green went to be with the Lord, and then ten years ago Rich Mullins. I have a feeling i'll be hearing more Larry Norman songs on the radio for a season. i also suspect that in the next year there will be a CD put out that has to do with Larry Norman, whether it's a greatest hits, or today's Christian artists doing covers of some of his songs. that's just the kind of thing we like to do. so just be keeping his family and friends in prayer, for this must be a very difficult time for him. for more information you can visit www.jesusfreakhideout.com, www.larrynorman.com, or www.cmcentral.com.

767 and still going

That's how many songs i have on my ipod. and you'd think that with all those songs i'd have plenty to listen to. i've already gone through all my CDs and gotten most of the music of those that i wanted on my iPod. now i've started on my brothers CDs(it's not illegal, it's in the same house!). it was pretty interesting the first time i got my ipod and plugged it in to the computer. since we just have itunes on one computer, so everything is in one place, it has both my music, and Joel's music. and since when i first plugged it in, i didn't have it specify which playlists to sync, so it synced everything, which inlcuded the plethora of Project 86 songs. thankfully i quickly taught myself how to make sure it only synced my songs, so i didn't have to suffer through all that. but there have been a few times when somehow there's been a glitch and some of his stuff has landed in my playlist.(hmmm...)

Podcasts mean so much more to me now too. it was different before because i'd always have to be beside a computer to listen to them, so there was really no point. but now there's a point! and i like it. I have a sermon thingy on there, and a video podcast from Starfield. and, as always, i have my Adventures in Odyssey podcast. that thing is fun. i'm not sure how many more podcasts i'll get, but i'm so much more open to them now.

it's also interesting how getting my ipod has sparked a new trend of sorts in my family. well, not really, it's just how it happened to be. around the time when i was saving up for my ipod, my aunt Tracey saved up for one too. then shortly after i got mine, my dad got an mp3 player off of ebay. so we all compare how many songs we have on ours. so far, i think i'm in the lead. but then again, i just happen to have the most space on mine. my oldest song is from the late 70s, and my newest song has yet to come out yet.(that CD will come out a week from today)

well, that's my feeble blog post for today. i'm off to find out some information about circular motion and the earth. hopefully i can get to bed early enough so i'm not falling asleep during my "sunrise" meeting tomorrow. I'm off!(to see the wonderful Wishy Waz)

Chick fil a....

Chick Fil A opened last week, just a ways down the road from where i work. the really sad thing is that i'm allergic to their main product. not only that, but i'm not sure if i can have their fries either, because they're fried in Peanut oil. so it's really no use for me to go there for a meal. so last night i went to get a milkshake. my cousins had been telling me that i needed to try the cookies and cream milkshake. so i did. although when you're eating a milkshake at 9:10 at night, it's hard to finish it all. so i took it home and let my mom and dad finish it for me.(there was no way i was going to throw away half a milkshake when i paid nearly three dollars for that thing!)

while i was sitting, enjoying the scenery, and just the fact that it's finally here, i noticed that i recognized the song that was playing. i focused more on it, to decide what song it was. it ended up being a Rebecca St. James song. they play Christian music at Chick Fil A! i knew that they were founded on Christian values, and they're closed on sundays. but i work at a place that's found on Christian values, and closed on sundays, but we don't play Christian music. i think it's cool though, because at Chick Fil A i was able to hear just the songs i needed to hear to be encouraged. it worked on me the same way that Christian radio does. i think that's really cool. i'm glad i got to go there, and escape from my life for 20 minutes.

well, i'm off to a hopefully not too busy afternoon. i'll be doing some things around the house, and then going to work. oh, and i learned that i have a long way to go before i can make a good hamburger. let's just hope i'll have that down pat by the time i leave for college...

yum?

the peppermint mocha was alright. Joel really liked it, so at least i know he'll drink it. i think tomorrow i'm going to add some hot chocolate mix to it. we're trying to get my sister to taste some, but she keeps saying no.

Something new

i've been continuing my quest to try new things. it seems that lately i've been trying even more things, like increasingly today. let's start with where i'm sitting. right now i'm typing this thing on a flexible rubber keyboard. my mom got it from the church who got it from ordering office supplies. so she gets all the free stuff. sometimes, like this time, she gets cookies. but they're chocked full of preservatives. anyways, it's weird, and i'm still trying to get used to typing on this thing. but it's coming.

i bought starbuck's coffee today at the grocery store. i got peppermint mocha. i figure it's cheaper to buy four jars of it at the store than to buy a small cup of it at the starbuck's place at the mall. and this way i get to share some with my brother and dad, who are going to try some too. but we're waiting until tomorrow morning to try it, because Joel and i haven't had caffeine in forever, so we're not sure what it will do to us. and we really don't feel like being up all night. we've never really been big coffee people, but Liz, from the great state of Washington, told me that you can't even taste the coffee in peppermint mocha. so we'll see.

Joel and I have started trying new youth groups. well, i guess i started that venture last october when that guy invited me to his youth group. well, Joel didn't want to go there. but a bunch of his friends go to this other youth group that meets on wednesday and sunday nights. so last wednesday we went there. on sundays is their actual youth service, and then wednesday is Chill time. we just hang out, do homework, play board games, play video games, and eat. it's really fun. i think we surprised some people from school by showing up. it was great because there are a lot of people there in my grade.

one guy who is a senior asked Joel and I if were church shopping. i told him i'm not allowed to church shop until i leave home and go to college. but we did tell him that we were youth group shopping. so Joel wants to go back there this wednesday. we weren't able to join them for their superbowl party yesterday, because we went to my grandma's house. but we do want to try a sunday evening with them this sunday.

even though i was looking forward to trying out all sorts of youth groups, i'm glad we only had to try out one. it made it easier. although i'm wondering what my pastor is going to say when he finds out that we've started attending a different youth group....oh well, my sunday school class seemed pretty supportive of me trying a different youth group. but i knew they would be, because my sunday school teachers let their youngest daughter go to a different youth group/church when she was in high school.

the youth pastor of this youth group is really nice, and really relates well with everyone. actually, when someone else introduced us to him, he recognized me. he thought he had met me before. but i told him that he had taken a picture of me at See You At the Pole when i was playing the guitar, and those pictures are currently on the website. i had visited the website a few weeks ago to find out more info about the youth group, and stumbled upon SYATP pictures. he and a few other people thought it was funny that he thought he had met me from that. but it was cool. i'm really excited to go back this week. that's something i haven't felt in a very long time. i'm glad to feel apart of group like that. i don't often feel that way with the kids at my church.

well, it's taken me 45 minutes to type this up. there are a few other new things i did over the weekend. i followed directions that my mom gave me to go to another county in the dark on friday night. i got lost, and it took 1 hour and 15 minutes, when it should have taken me 45 minutes. but i got there. once i got to my destination, i ate bruster's ice cream for free. i tried the Birthday Cake flavor for the first time ever. my friend works at Bruster's, so her family always has left over ice cream in their freezer.

so tomorrow will bring a whole new realm of new things to try. i'll be sure to tell you all about that peppermint mocha.

Never going back to O.K.

a great new song and CD by The Afters. i get so excited and inspired when i listen to, and comprehend the meaning of, that song. it makes me really crave a concert from the Afters so i can hear that song live, because i'm sure it's the most amazing thing ever. well, actually, there's a lot of artists i would love to see in concert, but it just hasn't worked with my schedule to go. one of these days i'll get myself and Joel out to a concert, and we'll love every minute of it. we had better, seeing how much some of these tickets cost.