So mad I could cry!

Well, actually I did :(
So my dad comes home for lunch today and says he talked to the guy about my car. It's not good news. Now they're saying that what they had previously done with replacing the ignition stuff wasn't what's wrong. They say it's something with the computer and wiring. Which apparently is going to cost more to fix than my car is worth. For those who haven't seen my car, it's in good condition and I love it, it's worth over $2000 I think. I can't imagine having another car. :( But what's frustrating is that they've been working on my car since Monday and just now decided to tell us that. So I probably already have a bill over $400 just for the hours they've spent on it. Plus, if I do end up having to get it fixed, it might be over $1000! Now, we have two garages in A-town. But my dad is upset with one of them because of some stupid thing, so he refused to take my car there (the more reputable place), so now he's getting upset with this place too, because they're mechanics, they should have figured it out earlier. But now he says we might take it somewhere else. Arg! Which then leads to, if the car is too expensive to fix, I have to get another one, which is more money and with paying for a mission trip, I don't really have extra money and......................................
It's most stressful for me because I depend on having my car. I have to drive to school next week, and if I don't have a car, that becomes a little difficult. It helps that on Monday and Wednesday Heather and I planned to take turns driving, so she can drive, that takes care of 2 days. Not to mention that I also have to work, and various other activities during the week. So now, I've survived (by being homebound) a week without my car, I don't know if I can do another. Why does this have to happen now? Pray for me...I need it right now because I'm about to breakdown...

The answers you've all been waiting for

Haha. Sure you have ;)
Anyway, there were a lot of great questions, so here are my answers to them!

Q: I would like to know what extra curricular activities (sports, clubs, etc.) you participated in during your middle school and high school years. -Jennifer
A: Well, I shall make you a list. Let me warn you, it's a little long :)
6th grade- church stuff (Youth Group, Library, YC&W, Nursery {this is basically the same all years)
7th grade- Science Olympiad, Drama, Spyrogyra, church stuff
8th grade- Science Olympiad, Drama, Spyrogyra, church stuff
9th grade- Science Olympiad, Drama, Marching Band, Color Guard, Track!, church stuff
10th grade- Science Olympiad, Marching Band, Color Guard, National Honor Society, church stuff,
11th grade- Science Olympiad, Drama, Marching Band, Color Guard, National Honor Society, church stuff, started working part time, planning a mission trip
12th grade- Science Olympiad, Marching Band (president), Color Guard, National Honor Society (Committee chair and Secretary), Track!!, DECA, church stuff, still working, planning a mission trip
Whew! That's a lot more than I thought! I was crazy! :)

Q: I would like to know how old you were and the circumstances surrounding your coming to faith in Christ? -Cheryl
A: This was a two-fold journey for me. My mom used to work for our old church, and often I would go to work with her. I remember one day sneaking into the sanctuary and praying in there that Jesus would come into my heart. I believe I was 5 maybe 6. Then I went to summer camp at Camp Geneva, I think in 4th or 5th grade. We had an amazing night of worship and prayer and it suddenly hit me that I said I was a Christian, but had I really surrendered and truely given my life to Christ? I didn't think so, and we had an opportunity to talk to our counselor. I remember sitting outside on a towel with her, unable to stop crying, and this change happened and I recommitted my life to Christ.

Q: What are your favorite things to do in your "spare" time? -Laura
A: I'm glad you used the quotes!!! Spare time isn't something that I have much of, but when I do have it, I love to spend time with my friends, read, cook, bake, and watch movies!

Q: What is your favorite memory from all of your mission trips? I know, hard to pick just one, but.... -Nate
A: I'm going to cheat on this one. First I'm going to do my favorite of all the trips. Then my favorite from each trip. Nate, you know how hard it is to choose! (I'll warn you though, it's difficult for me to put it into words, so picture what I type with 1000 times more enthusiasm!)
All trips: My first year, the Romanian teenagers planned a day out for us. First we went to the salt mine, then the salt lakes, and then the underwater village. We also did some shopping at Gyspy "flea markets". I loved the entire day, every single minute of it, but my most favorite part was in the salt mine, there was a cathedral type area. We all stood there and sang songs, praising God in both Romanian and English. It was amazing!
2004: My favorite part was when my Romanian friends came over in the evenings and we would go for walks, play sports at the park, hang out and teach each other "country-unique" games, talk, eat, sing, and pray.
2005: I was on my own this year, which made every minute unique. I went to a village, Agarbiciu and they said we would go on a picnic. We ended up hiking about 1.5 hours up a mountain to the picnic spot (the hike itself was a blast!). The kids were amazing! We played games, I tried authentic Romanian foods (delicious!), sang songs, and had an incredible time!
2007: Choosing a favorite is so hard! But I would say it would be when we went to Axente Sever. The kids were so loving and attentive, and they just wanted attention. They wanted hugs and to hold hands, and play games...it was an amazing day.

Q: If you could visit anywhere in the world besides Romania- where would it be? -Cheri
A: Hands down, I would visit Haiti. I have heard so much about it, and with some of my closest friends getting to go there this summer... I think God might be telling me to expand my horizons to go to Haiti as well! (Hmmm...one more person for next summer Nate!)

Q: What us your favoirite class in college and why? -Mari
A: Yay! An easy question! My favorite class is Spanish, because I love learning languages, and I had a wonderful professor. It's always been one of my favorite classes, and I was so glad to get to take it this year! I'm really sad that I'm not taking Spanish this semester!

Q: What are you majoring in and what are your plans after college? -Diane
A: I am majoring in Business Administration. Other than mission work, after college (just 3 more semesters!) I hope to do something in the Hotel/Restaurant/Hospitality industry. I'm not sure what just yet. I've toyed with the idea of hotel management...or running a restaurant...or...well, the possibilities are endless, we'll see how God leads me!

Wow! That was really fun to do! I hope that you have learned something about me, and if you think of another question, feel free to ask! :)

Annoying car!

I was all excited because I thought I would be able to get my car back tonight. So I called, to pay for it over the phone, so I could get it after work tonight. And the man said that it's not ready yet. What they thought was wrong didn't fix the problem, so my car still won't start! Back to square one. However, they think they should have it fixed by noon tomorrow. Which wouldn't be a problem except that I have class tomorrow at 9:30 :)

Great questions so far...keep 'em coming!!

UPDATED AT 9:33- Yay! My parents generously worked it out that I can take my mom's van to school tomorrow, so I don't have to walk to GVSU to take the bus!!

100th Post!!!

I can't believe this is already my 100th post! I tried to think of something creative to do for it, however, I wasn't having much success. Then I saw a link on Jennifer's site to Sue's site. For her 100th post, she let people ask her questions about whatever they wanted to know about her. So that's what I'm going to do. Ask me anything you want to know about me, and on Thursday I'll make a post answering all those questions!

Cran Hill Ranch

This weekend I went up to Cran Hill Ranch with the middle school youth group from church. I wasn't sure what to expect, and it was a little strange for me to be going as a leader when I'm used to going as a student the past 7 years! But it turned out to be a great weekend! We left around 5:30 Friday evening. When we got to the ranch, we unpacked and then met for our first large group meeting. The topic for the weekend was "God made you for this". We discussed how we're all made for a purpose and what we're here on earth for. Then we did a small group response and then free time until bed time.
Saturday morning, we had a personal quiet time. This was interesting, because quiet for middle school girls is different for quiet for adults! :) Then we went to the work project. We had 3 groups. Mine was assigned to move firewood. We had to separate it, move it, stack it, carry it, etc. The other two groups did scrap metal and moving the woodshop to a new location. I didn't take any pictures of the work for fear of damaging my camera. We worked before lunch and after lunch. About 5 hours or so, which was long enough to be cold and tired and a bit sore. Then we had a long free time. Some went tubing, some slept, some played games and just hung out. I was in the latter group :) After dinner, we had another large group meeting and talked about how we are made to serve. We had a time of Servant Commissioning, washing of feet, which was a neat experience. Then we had free time until bed time. It was neat for me because some of the girls wanted me to hang out with them during free time. We painted nails, sat on Kaylyn's bunk for "girly talk" and had a great time. The highlight was getting attacked by silly string, but I'll let Tori or Anna tell you about that! Bed time was a different story though. The girls told a scary story after I had left the room. Then when they found out that the doors didn't lock, they got scared. So they asked if I would sleep in their room that night, instead of with Patty and Jennifer. I said sure. So I moved in there. We said a quick prayer and went to bed. 2 seconds after laying down, I heard "Melissa, I'm still scared" So I crawled up into her bunk, turns out she was homesick, so we talked for a while, and I went back to bed. A few minutes later another girl was scared. So she went to sleep with a friend, and I crawled up there too to comfort them. I guess we learned not to tell scary stories any more!!
Sunday morning we had our last large group time. We talked about ways to live out God's plan and ways to serve Him. We kicked off the fundraising for 30 Hour Famine (details coming another day). We also had a personal quiet time and then packed up and cleaned the cabin. That being done, we had some time before lunch so we played some games. After lunch, we headed home. It was a great weekend but it sure wore us out!!!
I let Kaylyn use my camera...but I'll spare Jennifer the embarassment by not putting most of the pictures up! :)




Drying our clothes by the fireplace











Breakfast group









Breakfast










Some of the adults






More people eating

Not what I need right now!!!

It started about 2 months ago. I got into my car one day to leave school, and it wouldn't start. A lovely red light came on "Theft System" it said. So I called my dad, and took the bus home. After doing some research online, I found out that this system could be overridden by putting the key in the ignition and leaving it in the start position for 10 minutes. This way, the system could be recoded and the car would recognize they key. So I went back downtown, and it started right away. Go figure. Assuming the problem was fixed I continued to drive my car. The same thing happened again about 5 days later. So I did the key thing, and it was fixed. It happened maybe 2 or 3 more times. Then on Wednesday, I was getting ready to go to Alecia's and it happened again. This time my car didn't start after 10 minutes. I tried again and again. After 50 minutes, it still didn't start. When my dad got home, he tried it, and after 10 minutes it started. Grrrr... On Friday I was headed to school to coach Science Olympiad. On the way, I stopped to get a steamer. When I went back out to my car, the stupid light came back on and the car wouldn't start. After 50 minutes of frustration, my friend came and picked me up. Thank goodness for cell phones!! I went to try it again before I left for the weekend, no luck. So my mom tried it Friday and Saturday, as it sat in the Beans to Brew parking lot. Nothing. On Sunday, my dad talked to someone at church who happened to know how to hotwire my car! So they drove it down to the garage, where it sat until today. Then this morning I got a call saying that there are parts in the steering column that are broken. Just peachy. Sounds kind of dangerous doesn't it? So when my dad gets home, he will go get a used on from some auto parts store for only $60. Not too bad, and then hopefully they can fix it. But for now...I'm stuck at home. Thankfully I didn't have school or work today! I guess that's giving me time to "revamp" my room. Haha.

4:02PM UPDATE: Just found out that the steering column I need is still in the other car, so I can't get it until tomorrow afternoon. So until then, I am without transportation. Hopefully they can fix it tomorrow, and I'll be back on the road Wednesday!

Please Pray

I found out today that the daughter of a high school friend passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. She was born on November 29th, and from what I've been told stopped breathing yesterday morning. It's obviously quite a shock and my friend and her boyfriend and family are devastated. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.


I'll update tomorrow about the retreat this weekend. I need to sleep first ;)

UPDATE: As of this morning, they believe that the baby passed away from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)

Dessert

When I got up this morning, one of the first things that I thought of was "hmmm...I haven't baked anything in a while, I should make supper tonight." Ok, probably not the most common thing to think of when you first wake up in the morning. I had plans to go out for brunch with some friends, but other than that, my day was free, so I figured I'd make supper since my mom had to work today. So I head downstairs and find a note, "Melissa, Plans for supper: Leftovers." Ewww!!! How boring! Here I was planning on making something good, just to find out that we're going to have old leftovers! So I went along with my mom's plan, because I know she would be mad if I made something new when she already had plans. We had ordered some Chinese on New Years, so we planned on eating that. Then my brother decided to have it for lunch, even though it was clearly labeled with mine and my dad's names! Brothers!! :) But anyway, I decided if we had to have boring old leftovers, we might as well have something yummy for dessert. One of my favorite desserts to make is crepes. I've been making them for a really long time, but today I decided to make something new using the crepes. I haven't decided what to call it yet, but basically it's crepes stacked on top of each other with (homemade) blueberry sauce and whipped cream on every other layer. Here's how it looked...



From the top










A side view









Once we cut it, we could really see the layers!







It reminded me of some pretty earrings my friend Kaylyn picked out for me!

Blogging Christmas Celebration

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*** This is a "sticky post" and will remain at the top of the posts until January.***






This is a really neat idea that Laura came up with. Everyday in December, she will post a new "Christmas Favorite". Then those of us participating will post our "Christmas Favorite" that falls into that category. If you miss a day, just make it up next time you log in. For more details, you can visit her site. If you want to play along, you can make a "sticky post" to stay at the top, or post it in your sidebar. Link to the button (above) so new people can join in the game. This will be a really fun way to learn more about our blogging friends. Have fun and Merry CHRISTmas!!

Dec 1- Favorite Christmas Song: Well, that depends...out of the ones they play on the radio, probably A Prayer for Every Year, for carols or ones we sing at church, Go Tell It On The Mountain, Silent Night, or Do You Hear What I Hear? There's just so many to choose from, and this said pick your favorite, so I tried to narrow it down! :)

Dec 2- Favorite Christmas flower or plant- Mistletoe...haha! Just kidding. I think I'll pick Holly.

Dec 3- Favorite Christmas smell- That's an easy one for me!! The smell of homemade sugar cookies and other Christmas treats!

Dec 4- Favorite Christmas decoration- The St. Nicholas Square Villages that my mom and I set up all over our house every year.

Dec 5- Favorite Christmas color- Hmmm...this is a hard one for me, I have to narrow it down to one? I guess I would say a shimmery red.

Dec 6- Favorite Christmas drink- I'm not sure if this is really a Christmas drink, but Hot Apple Cider. With a cinnamon stick in it.... mmmmmm.... I love the smell of it, because we let it simmer on the stove with cinnamon sticks in it. It's perfect on a cold winter day!

Dec 7- Favorite Christmas movie- This one's easy for me! Mary Christmas It's a made-for-TV movie. Otherwise for "real" movies, I like comical ones like, National Lampoon's Family Christmas or the Grinch...

Dec 8- Favorite of Santa's Reindeer- Rudolph. Because he found out that what he always thought was a flaw, was actually a blessing!

Dec 9- Favorite Christmas Candy- Rock candy! The first time I ever made it, it didn't harden, so I was left with a bowl of flavored goo. I tried it again last year, and it turn out! It's such a sweet treat, and you can make different colors, so it's quite festive!

Dec 10- Favorite Christmas quote or saying- "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." and also "God bless us every one!" ~Charles Dickens, from A Christmas Carol

Dec 11- Favorite Christmas ornament- A small house that has a hole in the bottom for a light to go through. It looks so pretty on the tree!

Dec 12- Favorite Christmas cookie- Pecan snowballs

Dec 13- Favorite Decorating style- Traditional? I guess I've never really paid attention. I like green, red, snowman, Nativity sets, trees...

Dec 14- Favorite Christmas animal/creature- Reindeer

Dec 15- Favorite Christmas store- Bronner's

Dec 16- Favorite Christmas gift ever received- This is really hard. I honestly can't pick out a gift that I could say is my favorite. I think about it some more, and if I come up with one, I'll post it...

Dec 17- Favorite Christmas gift ever given- 3 years ago, I bought a leather office chair for my parents. They totally did not expect it, and it was something they really needed. The look on their faces when they unwrapped the box was priceless! It's gotten a lot of good use since then.

Dec 18- Favorite Christmas activity- I have to pick? I like everything, wrapping gifts, decorating the tree, shopping, baking, eating....but if I have to pick my favorite, I'd say carolling!!! It's been a tradition for the past 4 years for me and a group of friends to go carolling together, then come back to my house and have cookies and hot chocolate. Last year we went to see the lights at the ballpark. Sadly this year, I'll be in Canada when my friends come home from college, and by time I get back, Christmas is over and it's too late for carolling. I'm kind of disappointed, but still my favorite thing to do is sing Christmas songs!!!

Dec 19- Favorite person to buy for- I can't choose a favorite person, but my favorite group of people to buy for would be my friends. I love walking down the aisles at a store and picking out things that describe that person!

Dec 20- Favorite way to wrap a present-I like simple wrapping. I choose out a fun wrapping paper and make matching "tags" but cutting a square of paper and folding it in half. Sometimes I'll finish it off with a bow...but usually mine are nicely wrapped but simple.

Dec 21- Favorite Time of Christmas- I love the whole season and the hustle and bustle. But I especially love Christmas Eve. The church service, the excitement and anticipation, and the gifts...

Dec 22- Favorite part of Christmas Dinner- Eating it of course!!! My favorite food is the homemade stuffing.

Dec 23- Favorite Christmas Celebration- I love the big family get together, but usually it's so insane and I have a crazy family, so I prefer Christmas Eve when it's just the four of us.

Dec 24- Favorite Christmas Place- By the tree

Dec 25- Favorite Christmas Verse- Luke 2:13-14 "Suddenly a great company of heavenly hosts appeared with him praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all men on whom His favor rests'."

Dec 26- Favorite Christmas Tradition- Baking and setting up the villages.

Dec 27- Favorite Christmas Lights- Colorful ones :) We always have colored ones on our tree, my dad would rather have white, but the rest of us outnumber him! :)

Dec 28- Favorite Christmas Memory- Almost every year we go to Canada for Christmas and my favorite part is that after dinner, we stay around the table and sing Christmas carols as a big family.

Dec 29- Favorite Christmas Leftover- Turkey! Cold turkey is so yummy!

Dec 30- Favorite Time to Take Down Decorations- We usually take them down on the first. I got lucky today because I had to work, then I came home and slept, and by time I got up, it was all done!

Dec 31- Favorite Outdoor activity- Skiing....or snowball fights!

2007 in review

January-May- Science Olympiad (this is last year's picture, I couldn't find one from 2007!)




March 23- Spending time with the exchange students from Spain (the first and the third ones)








April- The throwing team







May12- Prom 007







May31- Graduation!!!!








June 7-22- Mission trip to Romania







July 16- Last time together before Andy left for Basics







July 20- Vacation Bible School








July 21- Finishing the basement as a surprise for my parents while they were in Canada








August 3- A friend from Romania came here for the weekend








September- Started college. Spent all day in Downtown GR








October 13- Going to the zoo








November 2- Football playoff game








December 1- Mom's surprise 50th Birthday party








December 28- My birthday