A year of wonder

Happy New Years Eve!

It has been a busy semester. 

Recently I've been busy with college applications.

My advice: get started early! haha.

But lets back up some :)

In October, my SGA (student government association) hosted the South Central District Stuco meeting. It was a lot of work and planning, but it was worth it! Everyone was worn out from working on homecoming, but it was great to see everyone come together.

Our theme was Mario, and we were the "Super Stuco Brothers!" Our day had a great guest speaker (Marty Powers! always full of Gusto), a skit, lunch, games, and a dance. I was dressed up as Daisy and half of my dress was made out of PAPER. Don't worry though! I had a dress underneath. Thanks to my creative friend Aaron, my dress was just like Daisy's. Tevin was Luigi, Dominic was Mario, and Savannah was Princess Peach. 

The next week we held our second blood drive of the year. This blood drive was zombie themed! We had workers who painted their faces to look like zombies as they escorted and took care of people. My zombie makeup made it look like I had black eyes. 

I also prepared for our Winter Formal Dance. We call it Winterball. A couple juniors and seniors left school early the day of the dance and decorated the Pershing Club on post. We put up lights and streamers. I had so much fun that night!

In November, I found myself in Texas for the Miss Teen of Texas Pageant over Thanksgiving break! This was my second time staffing, and let me tell this pageant was a lot different than my first. First off, Texas has a Young Miss and Little Miss Competition. So what that means is I got to help out younger girls as well! I wasn't the only Miss Teen there though. Brooke (Illinois), Jenna (Idaho), and Katie (North Carolina) where also there. There were also the Young Misses, and Little Misses staffing.

The weekend was packed with activities including one that I wish my state's pageant had--a talent show. It was phenomenal! I couldn't believe how talented these girls were. 

The show on Sunday went smoothly. For the Miss Teen pageant finals, when it got down to the top six, they were all asked controversial questions. When it was down to the top three, it was a funny question! Something about being in a savannah being chased by a lion and theres a river filled with deadly fish in front of you. The answers were hilarious! Congratulations Kennedy Raphelt, the new Little Miss of Texas, Cait Pool, the new Young Miss of Texas, and Kierra Kinnard, the new Miss Teen of Texas! 

Kierra's answer to the last question was "I would play opossum. It works for them!" 

That night we all went out as a family to dinner. Then we went to the Alamo and took pictures. Oh! I almost forgot! We did our wobble dance. I feel like my whole week was filled with wobbling haha.

It was such an amazing time. San Antonio is a gorgeous place. I think I want to live there some day.

In December, I organized volunteers to help bell ring. I bell rang for the Salvation Army outside Walmart in the freezing cold haha. I have been bellringing since my freshman year and even though its cold, it's well worth it! I love the Christmas spirit, and everyone helping out. It's funny how cold it was then, but today it's over sixty outside?! 

I also volunteered for Special Olympic bowling.

I had so much fun with my guys. Ralph kept teasing me, he was funny.

and Marvin, a little 67 year old man, tried to kiss me! haha

They were a party :)

I ended my first semester of my senior year with all A's, and an acceptance letter to college at Illinois with a $60,000 scholarship. It was my first acceptance letter after being deferred from Harvard. Being deferred means I wasn't rejected or accepted. 

To apply to Harvard, I also had to have an interview with an alumni. I met him in Columbia which is about 2 hours away from my house. I really enjoyed my interview because Mr. Fisch was very nice. We ended up talking for two hours!

I'm disappointed with being deferred, but I'm not discouraged at all :)

All I can do is my best, and I know God has a plan. 

I recently cut off all my hair for locks of love.

it feels.. GREAT

The day school got out, my family left for California. All of my dad's family lives there and we go there every year for Christmas. Oh, before I forget to mention.. we drove! It took us 29-31 hours to get there. Lucky me, I have this special talent of being able to sleep in a moving vehicle whenever I want to. haha. 

I had a lot of fun with my family: we watched Mission Impossible, played board games, and just had fun telling stories together. We came home two days ago.

So this year.

How to sum it up.

A blessing.

I've met so many fantastic people this year, it doesn't compare to any other year.

I've failed so many times, but each time there is a silver lining. I now actually understand that winning takes some losing and I'm okay with that. All it means is I have to stand a little straighter, and try a little harder.

Do I have any resolutions for the new year?

yeah.

I'm going to 

1. Be the Best Miss Teen of Missouri I can be. 

This title is no joke to me. I want to be a positive influence. I don't want to just be the winner of this title, I want to deserve it.

2. Learn to ballroom dance.

why not, eh? It could come in handy one day when I audition for a Jane Austin film. haha.

3. Practice my Piano

I really do love my piano. I hate I haven't had much alone time with it lately.

4. Be strong

I know it'll be a crazy year. I mean.. I graduate in May, and I'm in France in June, and I'm in college in August. 

5. Be the best me I can be

This includes being the best Christian I can be. It also includes loving others with all I have in me. Just loving people to make them believe in themselves.

It'll be a good year. I'm ready for it.

Thank you for keeping tune.

It has been truly magnificent. <3

my next blog will be photos from all these events!

R2D2?

What a week!

These pictures are from the spirit days for this past week. It was homecoming!

Monday was Inception (Pj day) and i didn't get a picture.

Friday was our tradition orange and black day, but I wasn't in school.

anyway! The pictures up are from Tuesday (Cowboys and Aliens), Wednesday (Mission Impossible/Spy Day), and Thursday (A Goofy Movie/Tacky Tourist)! Homecoming was SO busy.

This Homecoming was our first homecoming with a parade since 1989. I didn't go to any classes Thursday or Friday because I had to get the parade in order. It was so much work, but definitely worth it! I teared up during the parade because our whole town showed up; it was ridiculous. To see all the different people in our community come out to support us was so touching :')

I got to drive Mr. Young's (our student government advisor) truck! It's beautiful. I was driving the SGA float.

The night of the parade was our homecoming game against Hillcrest! Hillcrest has a player named Dorial Greene who is 6'6" and one of the top high school receivers in the nation. His sophomore year he was named number one athlete in the nation! It was such a crazy game; we were tied most of the first half, then fell behind in the end. During half time I got to go out onto the field with the homecoming attendants and the kindergarteners. I put the sash on the new homecoming queen, Tiffany Wilson. Congrats to her(:

The day after homecoming (cough, today) i had my SAT subject tests in Rolla, MO! I took math 1, literature, and math 2. haha. 

Originally I was going to take french instead of math 1, but I chickened out. Oh well, College here I come!

The guy giving our test was a retired school counselor. He was adorable!

He told me about how he's been married for 55 years, and he met his wife in fourth grade.

After my tests, Steven and I went to Slice of Pie. mmm :)

Then we went to St. James to the VACUUM MUSEUM! I learned so much about vacuums.

Did you know, R2D2 from Star Wars was modeled after a chrome dome vacuum cleaner? Yeah, I didn't know either :)

The tour started with vacuums from 1910 and ended with vacuums today.

I had a great homecoming week, but I'm glad it's over (:

I have a lot to focus on this year, and the parade took most of my time. I'm hoping to send students down to Joplin soon. Now that I have time available to work on that project :D

Live Life. :) Truly.

Miss Teen of South Dakota Pageant..(:

OKAY! I am so late on this.

Only because I wanted to write a blog that wasn't rushed, so I could properly explain how amazing this experience was :)

Last month, August 12-14 was the Miss Teen of South Dakota Pageant.

I was lucky enough to be invited to staff! I had to miss the last day of volleyball tryouts, but it was well worth it.

My family drove from Missouri to South Dakota, and since the Missouri River was flooded, we had to take a longer route to get there.

Luckily, I have the super power to sleep in a car at any time. This power is most closely related to a bear's ability to hibernate(:

On the way there we past a sign that said Corn Palace. According to my dad, I haven't lived life since I had no idea what the Corn Palace was.

We took a quick stop at the Corn Palace and I was so excited! Corn Art? Just to think how much work it must have taken to create the art was unbelievable.

After the Corn Palace we went directly to Pierre. Imagine my surprise that the capital Pierre is pronounced "Peer"! What! This was the biggest shock of my summer.

I met the State Director Steffanie and her sister Kaylee first, then they went to go pick up Miss Teen of America.

Thaaaaank Goodness she was a sweetheart! I was so relieved when I met Paige and I knew the weekend would be fine. 

Registration started and I was nervous at first, but it was really easy.

I got to see all the girls and it reminded me of when I was checking in at my pageant. That got me to loosen up and I just became excited.

Later that night, we had the 'get to know each other' party. There was shirt signing, games, and everyone was put into the groups for the skit the next night.

It was fun to get to finally talk to the girls, and see how creative they are.

I learned a lot about South Dakota, haha (: It was  crazy for me to hear the sizes of the schools they went to!

The next day Paige taught them the dance. I didn't realize that there were different versions of the dance! Hers was completely different than the one I was taught, so I learned it that day too. I think the whole experience was fun for my mom and dad too, since they were on staff(:

My mom took a plethora of pictures and put them all of facebook for the candidates to have. 

Saturday was the day I bonded with everyone the most. I was heading to bed, but decided I wanted to see if anyone was awake. 

I ended up in a room with a couple girls and I got to actually get to know them(:

We all became facebook friends, and they did "yoga" haha.

I stayed up talking to one girl for houuuurs and was super tired the next day(:

The day of the pageant, I was so nervous! Why would I be nervous though?

It was so hectic. There was a dress emergency and the timing was cut so close.

Then at one point, Paige was supposed to go on stage but she had gone to help girls with their dresses so I had to go on stage for her.

I was caught off guard and I remember my heart racing, haha.

Overall, the final pageant was great. The song went well, and everyone was well poised.

It was funny that the last three girls were all wearing red :)

I was sad to see everyone go, but I was excited to go home and share my experiences with my friends.

I still miss all the girls I met in South Dakota, and I hope to see them again one day :)

And Congratulations Katherine Van Gerpen!

Where is fall?

It has been forever!

Life has just gotten to be so busy lately, and my laptop has been acting up.

It refused to let me blog. But here I am now(:

Ready to spill the events of my life.

Lets see..

I helped out with the backpack stuffing for lower income families before school started.

I recommend if your area doesn't have this program, to get one! Our country was founded on the idea that education for everyone was a necessity,

and I still think that holds true today. 

During this time I was also busy at school helping out with new student registration and planning senior brunch!

We got to show new students around our high school while looking for seniors to inform of the brunch we would be having.

Also, our student government was busy producing a "back to school" video to share with everyone the first day of school :)

It was really exciting to make, and I think we'll put it up on youtube. I'll make sure to share the link.

The only change in my schedule when school started, was that my second hour turned into French IV! The perfect schedule for me (:

I love all my teachers, and I am still excited for all my classes. I am learning so much already.

Along with school starting, volleyball started. I would say this has been an interesting season, but I love my team and am excited to play with them.

so far we are 5-2 in our season. It's strange.. We play intense against difficult teams, then struggle to win against teams we should beat. 

I wonder if every team is like that? 

This year has just been so busy. 

I got a concussion the first weekend of school! And it's a pretty lame (embarrassing) reason why I had one. AFTER our volleyball scrimmage, I tripped on a teammate going up to the net to shake hands :s

Alexis (my teammate) felt so bad. I felt bad for her haha. 

This year is our very first homecoming parade since 1989! We've been very busy working on it.

Student Government has been going out to businesses asking for sponsorships and selling t-shirts. Our community has been very supportive; it's amazing :)

Last Thursday I attended the County Commissioners meeting, and the Waynesville City Hall meeting to talk about the parade. Tomorrow I will address the city of St. Robert. All of that is fine with me, but I am nervous about our senior class float! Everyone is so busy, it's hard to find time to work on it.

I strategically left out a very important event that's happened since the last time I blogged(;

I think it deserves its own blog. I'll save that for tomorrow!

To conclude, 

I'd like to say I am still thankful for the opportunity this program has given me.

And to tell all the girls I still think about all of them, and I'll never forget them (:

"You're off to Great Places! 
Today is your day! 
Your mountain is waiting, 
So... get on your way!" 

-Dr. Seuss

Blog 6, my favorite candy is twix

I woke up earlier than I did yesterday! Ridiculous :)

So today I went to the high school for New Student Registration. My friend Savannah and I made copies of our Senior Brunch fliers. Savannah drew all of them. We had a little adventure figuring out the copier machine.. but it all turned out alright! :)

We went around handing out our fliers and waiting to do new student tours for NHS. 

BUT, there were so many NHS students there, we out numbered the new students. So while I waited, I talked to my counselor about my schedule for my senior year. IT'S ALMOST PERFECT. There are only a few issues.

1. Advance comp /english lit II
2. Team sports a
3. Physics
4. AP U.S. History
5. AP Caluculus BC
6. AP Psychology
7. Student Leadership

The only issue is, I DON'T want PE at all, haha. I really want to take French IV as well. And here is where my issues lie. French IV is only 3rd hour. Physics is only 3rd and 1st hour. Advance comp can move to 2nd hour, but there is no english lit for me second semester during 2nd hour and I need a full credit of language.

There are other language classes, but they don't interest me..  If I keep my schedule as it is and just change my PE credit to French, I'll be in her French II class doing individual study. Hmm.

Anywaaaaaaaaay..

I stayed for about 4 hours at school then went to an SGA meeting. We chose our class flower, motto, song, and colors. It was a simple meeting, but I feel it went well.

After that I took my puppy to Steven's house. Since my family and I are going to South Dakota, we asked Steven's family to babysit our dog. Keep in mind, my dog doesn't even know she's a dog. We've never left her anywhere before. So, I took her to his house to get used to the place, people, and his dog Sunny. Now my dog is a 4 year old toy poodle; Sunny is an 8 year old golden retriever. It was funny to see how both of them were shy around each other :)

Steven and I played Black Ops for a couple hours and his mom made us sundaes (Mmm :D). After that we went to my house and my mom had cooked us a great dinner. (Salad, home grown zucchini, corn, rice, no papayas, and pork chops) 

Now I'm sitting here staring at my schedule for school. Just wondering on what I'll decide on doing to create the best possible schedule. Oh, school.

Tomorrow will be a swell day. It's nice having a plan on what I'm doing in the future. I might not be the neatest person, but I am HUGE on scheduling. I already have my planner filled till October. Time management is so important. I wish I had realized that earlier on in life! haha.

Blog 5, River Song

I broke one of the rules of summer; I woke up before noon today. Today started around 8 am and I dozed off a few times till 1040 when I left to go to my friend Adam's house!

We watched an episode of Doctor Who then went upstairs to make a pizza. The hardest part of making this pizza was spreading the dough. It took both of us together to get it :) Adam made the sauce, then we added the cheese and pepperonis. We added cheese and wrapped the dough around it to create some cheese crust. After we finished all that we realized we didn't preheat! Preheating is always the first step in baking hahaya.

While we waited for it to preheat and then bake, we sat in his kitchen and just talked. We talked about our futures (Adam wants to be an engineer) and the tests we had to take to get there. We also talked about our school and the upcoming school year. Then we started talking about old video games. Yes, I might happen to be a video game nerd. haha. 

We watched another episode, then I was off to work. Work went well today. I'm pretty excited about my two new students. After work, I went straight back to Adams. We then tore through a bag of gummy worms with his brother, ate a delicious dinner, and continued our Doctor Who marathon. In the end, we were victorious; we made it through all of the episodes from this season.

On my way home, my friend Dominic called and asked for a ride home. I didn't really want to, but I felt like I should. So I went and picked him up and took him home. It was a little out of my way, but I knew I couldn't turn him down. I know how much I would appreciate someone helping me if I was stranded. 

Which reminds me of two hobo stories..

Story #1 Charlie's Story

At church camp Pastor Charlie told this story about when he was 17, he saw a homeless man outside the place he was eating. He invited him in to eat with him and his friends. He man spoke about how his house had burnt down and shortly after was fired from his job. He mentioned that he had an interview the next day. Pastor Charlie paid for his meal and wished him luck. Later he was thinking "Did I really help him? Was that all I could have done to help him?" He was thinking about how the man had an interview the next day but looked homeless. He drove back to the restaurant and said if he saw the man, he would invite him home. He saw the man. The man came home with him and stayed the night and Charlie took him to the interview the next day.

*I do not recommend taking strange men home, but I hope you see the moral to that story. Helping others.

Story #2 My Story

So right as I leave church camp, I take ONE left turn and run into a homeless man. My friend Morgan was with me, and I seriously laughed and wondered if this was a test. I literally had no money on me, so I drove to the ATM and withdrew $20. I went back to the man and gave him $5. Right as I was about to drive away, Charlie's voice popped into the back of my head, "Did I really help him? Was that all I could have done to help him?" I gulped and rerolled down my windows and asked the man if he needed a ride anywhere...Or a place to stay. The man said no, (to my relief, I'm not sure how I would explain that one to my parents) but he said he did need clothes. I got his sizes, and then we were off to Walmart to buy this man some apparel. He was diabetic so he needed diabetic socks. We also bought him a pack of shirts, underwear, shorts, and a Bible. I quickly chose a few verses out of the book and highlighted them. When we found the man again, I handed him the bag of things, and the first thing he pulled out was the Bible. He then started to cry, and he hugged us. He asked me to pray for him, so I did. We talked a bit longer, then we left and I returned home.

I'll never forget him. He has a tumor on his side (he had us feel it too), so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

I think helping others is what we're here for. Taking care of each other that is. It also makes life more interesting (:

I'll never forget this man, and I can only hope that I helped him. 

There are so many people out there who need help. 

Heck, everyone needs help sometimes.

Blog 4, soft loud

Garfield and I have a few peculiar things in common.

1. We love lasagna
2. I have a dog named Pookie, his teddy bear is named Pooky
3. We haaate Mondays

But for this Monday, only the first two apply. I definitely did have lasagna today, played with my dog, but, I enjoyed my Monday. 

I woke up and ate a Panera bagel while my dad and I watched 25 Top TV Blunders. Talked to one of my closest friends, Aya, about taking a road trip. Oh how I wish!  I practiced piano a little bit since Mondays are piano lesson days. I really do like the pieces I'm playing. I think my favorite kind of music is classical, and trust me, I listen to a wide variety of music :)

*Random Fact* The piano was first named the 'piano forte' which means the soft loud. And THAT is a shortened term for what it was originally called, the gravicembalo col piano e forte, which means the harpsichord capable of playing at the normal level, or more strongly.

Anyway, I went to my lesson and it went well :) 

I got gas (probably worst part of the day, $$$) and went home and ate lasagna. Went to work for an hour then I took Steven to the Water Park in our park. He didn't know what we were going to be doing. We played there; All the kids around us were about two feet tall. Haha :)

The pictures I uploaded today are from the water park thing and when we got back to my house. I was showing off my muscle :D haha

Came home, ate a delicious dinner, rewatched Love Actually, and here I am now :)

Tomorrow I need to plan our Student Government Association (SGA) meeting and go over to my friend Adam's house and have a Doctor Who marathon! Doctor Who is a BBC television show, and neither of us has watched the new season. We are also making pizza! I'll go to work for a little bit, but besides that its Doctor Who all day.

Something I mentioned to Steven today was how I won't be in four of my classes the first day of school because I have to go to the assemblies we have for each grade level. He didn't know what assemblies I was talking about so I reminded him by saying "Yanno, the assembly I talked at last year.." 

"Ohh, the one where you said to ban the R word?"

Which is exactly the assembly I was talking about. I went on to tell him that at church camp I was told when given the opportunity to tell people what you believe, stand up and do it. In this case, I stood up to tell my class how I detested the R word. 

If you don't know what the R word is, check out this website:

http://www.r-word.org/

I'll talk about it more in later blogs :) I have a lot to say about a lot of things.

I'll try not to overwhelm you, haha.