The Best Year of My Life...So Far

   2013 has been an amazing year!  I look back at this year and can smile and praise God for all He's done.  There have been some difficult things such as losing my grandpa to cancer at the beginning of this year, and some friendships have not lasted, but God is good and has provided exponentially more things to thank Him for!

  At the beginning of this year, I made a cute little jar to fill throughout the year.  On little slips of paper, I wrote down special times which stood out to me; days I learned a lot, or just had a great time.  It was a super fun thing to do, and looking into the jar now, makes me realize just what an awesome year I had!

  I wanted to type them all out here now.  I have to admit, the main reasons are 1) because I love reading them, and 2) I have a weird need to make lists.  They make me happy. :)  But I also thought maybe some of you would enjoy seeing what happened throughout 2013 in my life.  I'm a pretty sentimental person, so these will be going into an envelope to be kept and I will continue doing this for as long as I can. :)
  So...here goes!

• picking Erica & Gilmar up front he airport (and the car-ride with Terri & Sandi!)
• going through pictures with my dad
• tubing at Wild Mountain with my family, Erica, Gilmar, and the Slacks
• passing Principles of Marketing CLEP
• getting pink roses on my 18th birthday

• the entire day of my 18th birthday :) (and the fact I turned 18)
• started going to Westwood -- I couldn't be more grateful for the people who are there.
• CollegePlus gathering in Virginia

• Bible study on Ephesians (one specific evening was really good)
• Friday night hangout -- Scavenger hunt!
• passed the Biology CLEP (finally!)
• spent the day with Megan & baby Piper

• LIVE's Minute to Win It party
• graduated high school (!)
• passed ALEKS Statistics in 2 weeks -- brought my credit count up to 51
• sleepover with Brooke, Ashley, & Jess
• my high school graduation party

• Christine invited me on the August mission trip to Haiti
• laser tag with my family, Lynda, Daniel, Marcos, and Gislaine
• paintball games with my family, Gislaine, Marcos, Daniel, Blake, and Jenna
• helping Gislaine and Marcos with their English homework
• game night playing Ticket to Ride with my dad, Frankie, Aidan, Blake and Jenna
• Trollhaugen adventure park with my family, Marcos, Daniel, and Gislaine
• River walk in Haiti

• New Jerusalem and climbing mountain in Haiti and going to Power Girls there
• swimming in the Caribbean Sea in Haiti
• alright...the entire trip to Haiti :)
• laser tag and whirly ball with my family, Marcos, Gislaine, and Jônatus
• Valley Fair with Aidan and Jônatus
• became a college Junior!!
• trip to Florida (and Disney World!) with my dad

• Bible study on Mark 8 at community group (Westwood)
• evening with Lindsey: Noodles & Co., Grace Unplugged, and Cold Stone
• LIVE meeting on modesty
• girls' night with Ashley and Jess and helping Jess move

• a late dinner at Applebee's with Lindsey
• CollegePlus Texas gathering (dancing, card games, meeting friends, etc.)
• phone call with Lindsey and making lists :)
• swimming with the manatees in Mexico

• snorkeling in the reef at X-Caret (Sea Turtles!)
• Trainer for a Day at Xel-Ha
• day at Xplor - zip lining, ATVing, and paddling through stalactite caves
• the entire trip to Mexico
• getting 75 credits before Christmas!
• our first Christmas as just our family
• LIVE's Christmas party

 I know, that was a lot. :P  I'm looking forward to 2014 as I will get to travel a bit more this year, continue in school, continue to develop LIVE, as well as develop new friendships.

 God bless you in 2014,

    Sierra

Vacation 2013: Mexico

  From December 12th to December 20th, my family took a vacation to Mexico.  We haven't been on a family vacation in a few years and we've never gone anywhere like Mexico.  So...we all packed our bags and headed down to the wonderfully sunny, warm, and sandy Play del Carmen.  It was a wonderful escape from our cold, snowy, negative temperature Minnesota. :)

  Many of the days were spent by water and since my camera is bigger, I left it at the hut and just took my phone.  So once again, my cell phone photos will have to do most of the time.  Also, not all pictures are mine -- some are my sister, Frankie's.

  Chichen Itza was our first stop on Friday.  It was beautiful there, but my favorite was Ek Balam (below).

Ek Balam is the oldest discovered Mayan civilization.  Ironically, it was the only one of the two (Chichen Itza and Ek Balam) where you could actually climb the buildings.  The bottom photo is the view from the top of the "pyramid" (left-side photo) -- they still haven't finished digging it.  The steps are super narrow and at one point, at the top, my legs literally would not move, but I eventually made it down.  The top photo has been reconstructed.

We also got to spend a little time (only 15 minutes) in a cenote!  It was beautiful...and cold. :)  We only jumped off the "cliff" (~20 feet) twice because it took us so long to get up the nerve since it was so cold.  It was a blast, though!

  On Saturday, Aidan, Frankie, my Mom, and I went to Dolphin Discovery where we spent time with dolphins and manatees (my personal favorite).  It was so much fun!  We were dragged by the dolphins' dorsal fins and also got the foot push.  With the manatees, we got to feed them and when they want food really badly, they'd wrap their fins around your legs and hold on for dear life.  It was awesome!

  After we met up with my dad again, we all headed for a walk on the beach.  It was gorgeous!

can you tell i've found picmonkey.com?  awesome!!

  Sunday was spent at X-Caret.  It was a beautiful day and we got to go snorkeling in a cave and then we took a snorkeling tour in a reef.  That was the highlight of the day -- maybe even the trip.  We all loved seeing life under water...but my personal favorite was the sea turtles.  I saw three and they were so close we got to hold them between our hands!!

 Now, Monday was an interesting day.  It was not my favorite, but I found it very fun and adventurous!  My mom, Frankie, and I were supposed to go spend the day with more dolphins and my dad and Aidan were to go ATVing.  However, there was a mixup of pickup locations for us girls and we didn't end up going.  And the boys' activity was rescheduled for later in the day at the last minute, so we decided to just spend the day as a family instead.  We ended up taking a ferry to Cozumel.  Before we boarded, we were told that we would be able to help release baby sea turtles into the ocean and snorkel since it would be nice on the other side of the island.  So when we got to Cozumel, we rented a car...

...a 35-year-old, falling apart Volkswagen Beetle.  All five of us piled (literally) in and we just couldn't help but laugh.  When we got to the other side of the island, we discovered that we had been taken for a ride as there were no baby sea turtles to release and, by george, it was just as windy as the other side of the island!  We stopped at a beach-side restaurant and then Aidan and I did some body surfing -- at least the waves were still enjoyable for something!

  Tuesday dawned nice and sunny.  We spent the day at Xel-Ha and spent over three hours snorkeling that day.  And although the day started out sunny, it down poured three different times while we snorkeled.  At Xel-Ha they have a large lagoon for snorkeling, a small rope course that Aidan loved, a few small zip lines, and cliff jumping.  Aidan and I decided to try cliff jumping and took a few plunges from 40+ feet -- that was FUN!!!  Although the second time, I lost a strap to my flipper and therefore had to go without flippers for the next hour and a half.  Swimming with no flippers in a windy rainstorm is not easy.  At one point, I was kicking with all my strength and was seriously staring at the same seashell at the bottom for about 20 seconds.

  Wednesday ended up working out for us girls to spend the day with dolphins at the program, 'Trainer for a Day'.  We spent over three hours in the water with them and also got to see a couple trainers training their dolphins.  In the water, we got foot-pushed more, got dorsal-dragged more, participated in training them (I made a dolphin jump! my highlight), and got to snorkel among them.  It was a day well-spent...we all had a blast!

 Our last day of activity was spent at Xplor.  This was definitely a tiring day but it was SO.MUCH.FUN!  We went on over two miles of zip lines, over six miles on ATVs through caves and water, and went paddling through a stalactite cave.  All three activities showed gorgeous proof of God's beautiful creation!  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of this; it was such an active day that we didn't really have time nor the ability to take pictures.

  Friday morning was beautiful and us girls went out to the beach to take a few last photos before we headed to the airport.

  We all had such a good time, but we were definitely tired!  We all agreed that we should have taken one more day to just sit on the beach.
 
  And now that we're home...there's so much to do!  Christmas is only a few days away...I have a ton of school to do, I have so many opportunities for this coming year my head could explode, and I have a lot of things for LIVE to plan and look forward to.  I'm so excited for 2014...but more on that later. :)

  Sierra

Happy Thanksgiving

  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Every year I think about what God's blessed me with the past year and this year my list keeps going!  I feel so blessed by all that God has done in my life in 2013.  Below is a list of just a few of many things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for....
:: the precious time spent with my grandpa before he passed away in January
:: my dear, sweet LIVE girls - I've so enjoyed seeing them grow up
:: all the opportunities I've had this year to travel
:: I'm especially grateful for the opportunity I had to travel to Haiti.
:: my family and all the support and encouragement they've shown me
:: the great Bible study/community group I've become a part of and all the friends, role models, and spiritual growth I've gained from it!
:: the opportunity to do college at home so I can participate in many of the things listed above :)
:: the way the Lord has revealed Himself to me this past year

  May you have a blessed day with your family as you recognize all that the Lord has blessed you with over the past year.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Sierra

playing catch-up

  Hello again!  :)  The last time I've posted about what's going on in my life was the post about Disney World.  Wow!  That was almost two months ago - I can't believe it!  So much has been happening!  I'm going to try to cover most of it in the following photos (which, again, are taken with my phone).

I took a couple girls I'm mentoring and my sister to a conference 

in October.  A couple old friends joined, too.  It was an 

awesome weekend.

Went to a Jared Anderson concert with several others from my 

Bible study I attend.  It was such a wonderful night of worship.

My dad's cousin visited from out-of-state in October, so we spent 

the day down in the Cities with her.  We went to the Science 

Museum and then out to eat.  It was a fun day!

The past couple months have contained several sleepovers with 

Jess, Ashley, and Brooke.  Movies, talking, tests, games, and...

...ice cream out of the carton!  That was a fun night. :)

This is what a lot of my days consist of: studying.  

I now have 69 credits as of yesterday when I passed 

Organizational Behavior.  I now have a goal of earning 

3 or 6 more credits before December 5th.

I've been working on a lot of things for LIVE, including making 

these photo books for the girls.  I enjoyed doing it and I love the 

idea of the memories that will fill those books. :)

Had my Bible study group come out for a fire and 

games at the beginning of this month.  That was a lot 

of fun!  After coming in from the bonfire, we played a few 

rounds of the Family Game and a few rounds of Mafia.  

I've gone to a couple movies with Lindsey, as well as 

gone to Cold Stone, Fridays, her place, my place, etc. :)  

I think we have more movies on the list, right? ;)

 Other things I've been up to:

      :: having LIVE meetings and preparing for them

      :: brainstorming

      :: getting ready for my trip to Texas in less than three weeks!!!  I'm going for a CollegePlus gathering and I'm getting pretty excited!

      :: trying to plan as far ahead into 2014 as I can.  So far, I've gotten as far as May.  :D

      :: getting ready for our family vacation to Mexico in less than a month!!!  Yep, we're pretty excited for that, too. ;)  

      :: going to Bible study in St. Cloud

      :: teaching a couple Wednesday night lessons at church

      :: slowly getting back into reading...and then finding more TV shows to watch instead. :P

      :: making a budget

      :: making lists :P

In Christ,

     Sierra

Strangely Dim

  Tonight on the radio, I heard "Strangely Dim" by Francesca Battistelli.  I really like this song, but tonight it really encouraged me.  It encouraged me to not focus on any worries that I may have, but to truly focus on Jesus, who He is, and who I am in Him.

  My favorite lines are found in the final chorus:

I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are

'Til every doubt I feel

Deep in my heart

Grows strangely dim

Let all my worries fade

And fall to the ground

I'm gonna seek Your face

And not look around

'Til the place I'm in

Grow strangely dim

~"Strangely Dim" by Francesca Battistelli

Love,

   Sierra

Don't Worry

  Every Tuesday night, I attend a Bible study with several other young adults.  I feel very blessed to be a part of this group - I've learned so much from all the discussions and studies from the past eight months!

  A few weeks ago, there was a Tuesday evening which was especially encouraging to me.  In our small group, we read through Mark 8 several times over, digging deeper and deeper each time.  What stood out to me the most was found in verses 14 through 21.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.  "Be careful," Jesus warned them.  "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."  They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."  Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not see or understand?  Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?  And don't you remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"  "Twelve," they replied.  "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"  They answered, "Seven."  He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

  What stood out to me?  The disciples were worrying about the fact that they had no bread.  They were worrying about this after Jesus had already fed the crowd of 5,000 (plus women & children) with five loaves and two fish!  This was after Jesus had fed the crowd of 4,000 (plus women & children) with seven loaves!  This was after Jesus had performed so many other miracles that the disciples had all witnessed!  After seeing Jesus perform all those miracles, how could they even entertain a small doubt that He would not provide them with the food they needed?

  But then I thought...how can I look back at all the God's done in my life - all the ways He's provided for me, all the prayers He's answered - and yet worry that He won't do the same in my future?!  How can I entertain the doubt that He won't provide me with what I need (and want...inside His will)?  Reading this passage comes at a time when I'm sort of looking into my future and wondering what God's going to do.  Reading it really came at the perfect time.  God really does work in great ways!

 Love,
    Sierra

Disney World

  I'm looking back, and the past 7+ blog posts have been about my trip to Haiti.  And I now, as of last week, have a new trip to add!  Last week, from Tuesday to Sunday, my dad and I went to Florida.  My dad co-owns an elevator company - they specialize in custom elevator cabs.  There was a convention in Tampa and I went along with him.  We only went one day of the two day event, which gave us an extra day at...Disney World!!  I'd never been even outside a Florida airport before, so I was very excited to experience Disney World.  I'll share some photos with you, but please excuse the fact that they are from my phone camera. :P

  Our first day was spent at Disney Hollywood Studios.

 I am an autumn girl.  I love fall.  I love the cool, crisp weather that requires sweatshirts and sweatpants.  I love the colorful trees which are beautiful.  I love pumpkin bars, corn-mazes, night-games, apple cider, and more.  And finally we were getting that weather here in Minnesota.  Until...I stepped out of the airport in Tampa.  Hot, humid, and raining.  However, with the chance of thunderstorms in forecast for the whole weekend, it definitely cut lines down!  There were only a couple rides in the whole weekend where we had to stand in line for a long time.

  One of our favorite things from the whole weekend was the Great Movie Ride.  The building where you wait in line is modeled after Grauman's Theater in Hollywood.  You are taken on a track through several scenes filled with animatronics.  These animatronics are amazing!  It was incredible to see each detail put into the sets and the people.  The rooms were very dark, so that's why the poor quality photo. Below is Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain.

  Our second day, we spent at the Magic Kingdom!  We were in the first hundred people in the park!  Whoo-hoo! :P

  My favorite thing was probably the Small World ride.  Sounds cheesy, I know, and I thought it would be.  Not at all!  Everything at Disney World is so elaborate!  In every nook and cranny, even those where you wouldn't notice if they were bare, were elaborate and extravagant decorations!  That was a very fun aspect to see.

  I apologize for the blurry photo.  This was just one small part of the Small World ride. 

I am counting on the fact that I'm not the only 18 year
old who got excited when I saw Cinderella's castle. :P

  I love Tangled.  Little Mermaid is first, but Tangled is definitely a close second. :)  We were just walking along and I noticed the tower.  That was pretty fun! 

  When we rounded the corner, I saw Rapunzel's village!  Well, at least, a small part of it.  If we want to get specific, they made her "village" the restroom stop, but nevertheless, it was pretty awesome.

  I saw a couple other "castles", too, that I had to take a picture of!

The Beast's castle (Beauty & the Beast)

Prince Eric's castle (The Little Mermaid)

    Our last day was spent at Epcot.

  Our favorite ride at Epcot was Fast Track.  The only ride we went on twice.  You go in a room and create your own car.  You pick the wheels, the shape...everything.  Then you scan your design to a card and when you get on the ride, the computer scans the design into the car you're riding in.  The ride then takes you through "storms" and tests the responsiveness, capability, efficiency, and finally, speed of the car.  You end up going around a rounded building over 100 miles an hour before the ride was over.  Below was the first car we made.

  Hidden Mickeys.  Can you see it?

  There was a building which had soda that you could taste (for free!) from around the world!  I tasted all of the except the Mexico one because of all the kiosks, it was gone.  As I was getting the Italy one, someone looked at me and said, "It's gross."  After I tasted it, like seven other people agreed including myself.  :P  China's was a watermelon flavor which was really good.  

  You may think me ridiculous, but I got a picture with Mary Poppins!  So...I was happy. :)  She's the only character I stood in line for, but I also saw Merida, Alice, Peter Pan, Wendy, Buzz Lightyear, Mike & Sully, Jasmine & Aladdin, and Snow White.  It's kind of fun seeing them all dressed up.

  So that was our trip in a nutshell.  We wanted to take the Keys of the Kingdom tour, but trying to get tickets the day before does not work.  So...if you're going to Disney World, my tip would be to plan.  Know that you're going at least a week before. :P  We had a good time, though.

  Sierra