Of Boredom, Final Grades, and Experiences

I'm just going to ignore the fact that I've not posted for over a month, okay?  Thank you.


  At the end of February, I began taking the final class in the Signature Leadership Courses by Dr. Jeff Myers.  This was an eleven week class, set to finish on May 10th.  I was not going to be able to start classes at Thomas Edison until June...so I was excited for that three week break!  Well...long story short, for multiple reasons, I wanted to finish a week early.  However I ended up finishing almost two weeks early.  I was pumped that I would get over a month break!!  That quickly ended -- I believe it lasted only through the night.  I found that I didn't have much to do.  Sure, I could clean, watch movies, or read...but for some reason, that sounded a lot more fun before I was on break.  Typical.

  I kept myself busy by trying to sell books, enrolling in Thomas Edison (yes, that did indeed take a full day), and minimal cleaning.

  Finally, I could start preparing for LIVE's Mother's Day Brunch, which was happening Saturday, May 10th.  See, if I start planning too early, I'll get it all done, and then have nothing to do in the final days' leading up to it.  So I have to wait to plan for bigger events.  Anyway, I started meeting with a few of the planning committees comprised of my older girls.  I made way too many trips to Target...especially for someone who lives twenty minutes away from the nearest one.  I planned for the planning meeting which was happening two days prior to the Brunch.  I stayed up late prepping final touches for the gift that the girls were making for their moms.  I cleaned (sorta).  I painted my nails (which I never do).  We packed three laundry baskets full of food, decorations, and other supplies.  And I stayed up late Friday night relaxing watching TV (that's how I de-stress).

Shopping with the Decoration Committee!

  Even though I felt a little overwhelmed, and a tad-bit nervous for this Mother's Day Brunch, the event went spectacularly!  I can't even begin to describe how well it went and how fun it was!  I was thrilled to find out the moms enjoyed themselves, also!  My girls put a lot of work into helping me plan this event, I'm so proud of them!  They worked hard on decorations, writing a skit, writing their testimonies, singing, and making food.  I wish I could share more pictures, but for the sake of my girls' protection, I won't be able to.  But here are a couple photos to give you a small glimpse of the fun we had!

This young lady, who I have the amazing privilege of mentoring, shared her testimony in front of the moms.  Two other girls did as well - they all did a beautiful job!

  Other things that have been keeping me busy....

Mother's Day, 2014

My friend Ashley had surgery so I've spent a couple days hanging out with her as well as some others from our small group.

 On May 9th, I was given a ticket to Leadercast -- a world-wide, day-long simulcast featuring speakers including Laura Bush, Andy Stanley, Randall Wallace, Malcolm Gladwell, and more.  This was such an incredible opportunity for me, especially arriving on the heel of finishing my leadership class with Dr. Myers!  I learned so much, and would love to go again next year!  If you ever have the opportunity to go, GO! 

  A few great movies have come out recently, and my mom has taken my sister and I to them.  I love that our movie theater has $5 Tuesdays. :)

Watching Disney movies with my sister.  Boy do these bring back memories!

Yesterday, I made red velvet cake pops. (this is as great of a picture as I got)

Reading...

okay, so I've read one book on that list so far.  BUT, I still have 16 days of my break left!  Need to fill it with something besides my Nancy Drew games! :D

  Oh and that course I mentioned at the beginning?

Yep, I passed with 99%!  And...I am now a Senior in college!  Wow.  Finally!  :)  I begin my year at Thomas Edison in June and have ten classes to take with them.  By this time next year, I will be finishing up my very last college course EVER!!!

 There ya go, an update on my exciting life. ;)  And for those of you wondering...no, I do not have any more trips planned.  I wish I did, but I think traveling will have to wait until after I graduate (remember, just one more year!).  Besides, I have a four-month long backpacking trip through Europe to save for!! ;)

Sierra

Leadership Capstone, Colorado

  Last week, I took my second trip to Colorado in three months.  Actually, I just realized I forgot to write about my time at the World-Changers' Summit!  To quickly describe it: it was incredible!

  This trip to Colorado was a four-day leadership intensive for school.  I am currently taking Dr. Jeff Myers' third leadership course, titled Leadership Learning & Execution.  Sixty-one other students and I are in week seven of eleven of this class.  I have taken Dr. Myers' two other leadership classes also: Leadership Theory & Practice and Leadership Management & Communication.  These courses have all been amazing!  This third class has been focusing on mentoring, which has been such a blessing!  I started mentoring two girls last fall and I love it!  But since I have never been mentored, I had no idea how mentoring worked...just that I felt called to do it.  I was so excited to find out mentoring was the focus of this class!  I have a mentoree and a mentor for this class, both of whom have been blessings to me!  When a student completes all three classes of the Signature Leadership Courses, they receive a leadership certification for completing over 360 hours of leadership training!  I'm looking forward to receiving that in about a month!

  The one thing that differentiates this class from the other two is that there is a four day Capstone mid-way through.  Everyone in the class gathered in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado to learn together!  Although I didn't know what to expect and was a bit nervous about meeting my fellow students, I was really excited to hear Dr. Myers speak.  And my nervousness quickly melted away when I met my roommates!

they were the best.

we spent way too long taking these group selfies.

  We stayed in our room the first....two hours....and just talked.  It was never so easy to carry on conversation than with these girls!

"Planning is everything, but plans are nothing."

~Dwight Eisenhower

  The sessions were beyond amazing, in my opinion!  I had heard Dr. Myers speak in person at the World-Changers' Summit in January, but unfortunately he only spoke for one session there.  Last week, we heard him speak for over eight hours, and it was the general consensus that we could have listened for hours more!  All we would have needed were snacks and bathroom breaks, and listening to him for 24/7 would have been welcomed and easy! :)  I learned many principles last week about mentoring and coaching that I cannot wait to apply!

  I also had the opportunity, on the second night, to sit at the dinner table with Dr. Myers along with about eight others (although, by the end, that crowd had grown to about fifteen).  My roommate, also sitting at the table, asked him, "Dr. Myers, what do you love most about your job?".  First, you should know that Dr. Myers is the president of Summit Ministries, a very successful and highly regarded ministry.  And his answer was this, "I love being able to help others succeed at their jobs."  Wow!  I was blown away by his humility and wisdom as he continued to explain.

"I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing."

~Ronald Reagan

  Another highlight of the week occurred the first evening.  My CollegePlus coach, Heidi, showed up!!!  She had four students there last week, so she surprised all of us by coming!  Heidi has been my coach since the beginning of CollegePlus...three years ago.  It was so fun to finally meet her in person and get to know her better!

  On the second day, there was about two hours of "unstructured activities" (must be the grown-up way of saying "free time").  I joined a small group of people who were going to spend some time in worship.  In the end, we sang for about two and a half hours!  It was such a blessed time of worshiping our Lord together.

  For a few projects throughout the Capstone, we were split into ten groups.  My group consisted of eight others.  They were so fun to hang out and work with throughout the week!  It was so encouraging to hear the dreams they have to serve the Lord and further His kingdom...I'm excited to see what He does through each of them as we stay in touch!

thanks, Jeanne, for joining our group!  we loved having you with us!

"God doesn't just reveal His plans; He reveals Himself."

  The last night, since we didn't have sessions in the morning, I decided I didn't care how much sleep I got (a common decision the last night of CP gatherings).  One of our roommates was leaving at 3am, so we decided to stay up with her.  Around midnight, some girls across the hall invited us over to watch a movie.  So...seven of us squished on a double bed to watch an action film on an iPad.  It was so fun, and photo-worthy...unfortunately, we were too tired to think of that.  I ended up getting about three hours of sleep that night.  :)

  I had a later flight (5:30pm) on Saturday, as did several others.  We were able to sit at the airport together for about four hours before we all split.

Liz and I at the airport

  And eventually, it was time for me to say goodbye to these beautiful mountains.

  Overall, it was a blessed time where I learned a ton, met a lot of new friends, and had such a fun time!  These classes are awesome and unfortunately, there's only three.  I will be savoring these last few weeks of this class!  Although, I do have to admit that I'm pretty excited for the three week break I get after its done. :)  

 God bless,

   Sierra

From a Homeschool Graduate

  I recently had the privilege of sharing a bit about my homeschool journey with our local group of homeschool moms.  I thought I'd share on here, too, for any other homeschool moms who are interested in knowing what my mom did right and what we could have done differently on my homeschool journey.  Also, if you're not a homeschool mom or a homeschooler at all, maybe this will put some of your questions at ease. :)

  First of all, I am SO glad that I was homeschooled.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I remember in maybe 5th or 6th grade, I was behind in some of my school work.  It was around Thanksgiving, and my parents told me that if I didn't catch up by Christmas, they were putting me in school in January.  That was possibly the worst punishment, in my opinion, and I got down to work and caught up on that school! :)  I realize that homeschooling isn't for everyone, but for me, it was the right thing.

  My dad is actually the one who wanted us kids to be homeschooled.  My mom was a public school teacher for 12 years until my sister was born (I was 4).  I went to public school for kindergarten, but after that, my mom pulled me out and we started homeschooling.

  One thing I have to put to rest is that YES, homeschoolers have friends!  This is a common misconception - one that actually prevents other kids from befriending you.  The majority of my friends were also homeschooled.  I can only name two other people who were friends with me in spite of being homeschooled.  But, right after starting to be homeschooled, we started attending a local homeschool co-op where, twice a month around 30-40 families got together for three hours and the parents taught/supervised and students went to three different classes.  The classes changed throughout the years, but they included a geography class when I was younger, a logic class (my personal all-time favorite), science, creative writing, gym, art, and as high schoolers, we got a game hour to just have fun with each other.  It was a great place to meet new friends and build that initial foundation of friendship.

  I also attended a discipleship group for girls with several friends, before I started my own when I was 14.  Going to this group was a highlight, twice a month, where I learned more about living a life for Christ and also got to spend more time with friends.  But besides, those structured times, my mom was really good and purposeful about getting together with friends for my siblings and I.  We had friends over all the time, whether those friends lived in our neighborhood or 30 minutes away.  My mom recognized how important socializing was and made every effort to help us develop friendships.  I remember one year, my mom did a creative writing "class" just at our house with 4 or 5 of my friends and we got together for maybe four sessions and at the end had a mother's day...day where we presented our moms with an acrostic word project we'd made.  Every Christmas for a few years, my mom would organize a mother-daughter Christmas Tea with several other mothers and daughters we knew. We'd have a couple games, a devotional, singing, and had amazing food!  Because we didn't celebrate Halloween, we would invite about seven other families who also didn't celebrate it and just have a "harvest party".  This event often included a potluck, a campfire, and night games.

  My mom was also big on birthday parties, which she often allowed me to help plan!  I remember having a water-park birthday, a Hello Kitty party at a playground, a scrapbooking party/sleepover, a Nancy Drew computer game race birthday, a mystery dinner party, a soccer-themed party, and then my extremely memorable 16th birthday (which was a surprise).  She even let me and one of my best friends plan that soccer-themed party all on our own!  By helping plan those parties, I learned what all went into party-planning: invitations, RSVPs, decorations, games, food, cleaning, etc.  And now that I plan about a half-dozen parties for LIVE every year, I realize how important that experience was for me!  And as you can see, I never lacked time with friends.

  When I was in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade, I went to band at the public school, where I played flute.  I had a good friend who had started full-time public school the same year I started band, and although she was a year older, it was fun to be able to see her after school.  However, after 7th grade, I quit and just took private lessons.  People create stereotypes and oftentimes, all it takes is one person.  Just as it might take one homeschooler for every public schooler to be against them, it can take one public schooler for every homeschooler to not be so positive about them.  In 7th grade, we were supposed to play seven songs at the Spring concert.  By the time the concert came around we could play three or four.  That year was the worst!  My band director walked out crying twice because the kids were so disrespectful, I hardly learned anything that year, because the majority of the kids were disrespectful, and not enough students practiced at home nor paid attention in class to learn the assigned songs.  It was very frustrating to me, and I know that not every class is like that, but I was very glad that year that my parents homeschooled me, because of that experience I had.

  There are many things that, had I gone to public school, I would not have been able to do.  One of the biggest things is leading my discipleship group.  I started when I was 14 with girls in my neighborhood and it was then that I started writing curriculum, too.  I loved leading the group and those girls were so special to me!  My family moved in 2011 and that's when I started LIVE, with girls from our local homeschool group.  I cannot imagine what it would be like not having these girls in my life!  College has crossed my mind a few times, but the primary reason I won't go is because I would no longer be able to lead LIVE.

  Another thing is traveling.  My family has always taken vacations at least once a year with several camping trips crammed in, especially when I was younger.  Lots of families take vacations, I know.  But we would be able to start school a few weeks early and then, once school had started for everyone else, we would pack up and get out of waiting in lines and having those crowds!  One fall, my parents made the very hasty decisions to purchase a vehicle online...in North Carolina (and the funny thing is, that wasn't the only time, either!).  After they won the eBay bid, it went back and forth about who was going to go pick it up.  First, it was just my dad.  Then, I was going to go with him (I was 10 at the time).  In the end, two weeks later, all five of us were on a plane to NC.  But it wasn't just to NC that we went...we ended up driving to Williamsburg, VA!  That was one of the best vacations, ever!  In fact, we even decided to stay longer than originally planned because we could!
  One year, in 8th or 9th grade, I did a research paper on the Amish.  And that same year, my brother did a project on Gettysburg.  So on our vacation to Washington D.C. (which, by the way was SO much fun and SO much learning! :D), we stopped in Gettysburg so Aidan could see his project practically come to life.  And on the way home, we stopped in Ohio and stayed with an older Amish couple for a couple days and I learned so much after I'd done my paper!  That same trip, we also went to Assateague Island and Maryland City.
  Another year, it was a week and a half before Christmas and we got a call from my dad's uncle, who we didn't really know that well.  He told us they had some vacation points that needed to be used within two weeks and they wouldn't be able to.  He said he had two suites and asked if we knew any other homeschooling families who would be able to with us.  Of course, we said yes and invited three other homeschool families and four days later, we were on our way!  Oh, the joys of being able to drop it all and leave! :)
  We've also gone to Colorado, California, Wisconsin Dells (on other occasions), Mexico, and South Dakota.
  Last year was the first year that my parents allowed me to travel alone.  I was able to put school (both high school and college, thanks to CollegePlus) on hold and go to Virginia for a week.  I was able to take a mission trip to Haiti, go to Texas, leave on four days' notice to Florida with my dad, and in January/February of this year, I went to Colorado with three weeks' notice.  Traveling is something I love to do and it looks like I'll be able to more of it this year!

  Having a close relationship with my mom is something else that I don't think would have been possible had I gone to school.  I began growing closer to her in high school, which if I were in school, I probably would have been gone 9-10 hours a day, if not more.

  Also, being homeschooled provided me with opportunities for some jobs!  One year, a neighbor came over to our house to ask if I would be able to get her autistic son on and off the bus when she worked.  He rode a different bus than his siblings, so it actually came later in the morning.  If I had been at school, I wouldn't have had that experience.

  One more big thing is doing CollegePlus.  I did their CollegePrep program when I was 14 and by the time I was 15, a Sophomore in high school, I had 12 college credits.  By the time I graduated high school in 2013, I had 58 credits and was a Sophomore in college, and I currently am a Junior with 81.  I will be (Lord-willing) graduating in June of 2015 with my BS in Organizational Leadership through Thomas Edison State College.


  There are some things that my mom and I wish we had done differently in my "high school career". I hope maybe it will be helpful to you homeschool moms. :)

  Science.  I am not a science person at all.  My mom found a science curriculum one year and I...strongly disliked it. :)  I'm not sure what it was called, but it was boring and I didn't learn all that much.  And, when the time came for me to take the science CLEP test to earn college credit, I did not have a very strong foundation in science.  Yes, I did study (for four months, in fact) other resources for the CLEP, but honestly, I felt like I was starting completely from scratch.  I ended up failing the Natural Sciences CLEP...twice.  I realize that it's not all the curriculum's fault, but I do believe it played a role in it.  I think had we done Apologia, it would have been fine.

  Math.  So I'm not really a math person either.  Let me rephrase that...I love math when I understand it.  If it's easy for me...it's all good.  So I loved math up until 10th grade.  In 10th grade, we started Algebra II and I didn't understand it.  So, we switched to Geometry.  However, not only did we switch to Geometry, but we switched curriculum, too.  And I didn't not like this curriculum.  I think it's important that you have a curriculum that your student can understand and enjoys.  Otherwise, we're not going to get as much out of it as we should.  And the beauty of homeschooling is that you have dozens of curriculum options for each student!

  Foreign Language.  My mom and I would suggest you allow your student choose their own foreign language.  You can approve, sure, but let them choose.  My mom chose for me...Latin.  She thought that learning Latin would make learning any other language easier.  I did not want to learn Latin the first place, which made those three years kind of miserable.  I would have much rather learned French.  Yes, Latin may have been useful had I been a science major, but as we discovered with the failing of two Natural Science tests, that was NOT going to be the case. :)  Most people I know who have been out of high school for a couple years do not remember the foreign language they learned.  So by the time I ever get around to learning French, if ever, that Latin wouldn't be any use to me anyways.  Just something to keep in mind. :)

  Deadlines.  One thing, I wish my parents had been more strict on is deadlines.  It wasn't that my mom didn't set them, I just usually got out of them if I wasn't finished with m paper by then.  And when I started taking CLEP tests for college, there was no structure there, either.  For those tests, I was in complete control.  I ordered the books I thought I needed, I made my own study schedule, and set my own goals.  Because CollegePlus is flexible (which is awesome), my college degree could take me six months or six years...it didn't matter.  Now, I'm not hitting the six year mark, but I certainly didn't get it done by high school which was the original goal.  Because I was in complete control, I could push my goals further and further back over and over again.  And by the time I had to take my first online course, I was like, "Wait, what?  I have to get ALL this done by midnight on Saturday?!"  It was very stressful for me.


  I hope you found this post insightful into a homeschooler's life and somewhat helpful. :)  I am so glad that I had my parents as my teachers for my whole academic life, and that I get to have the SAME teachers for the rest of my life in all other areas. :)

In Christ,
    Sierra

Virginia CollegePlus Gathering

 Where to start, where to start...

 Last week was one of the best weeks I've ever had.  I never ever imagined I would have so much fun.  I was honestly kind of nervous before I went.  But I am ever so glad that I went!

 I flew into Virginia for a CollegePlus student gathering hosted by a CollegePlus family.  By the end of the week, we had about 19 students total - a great sized group!  I stayed from Monday to Saturday - a total of six short days.

 Flying by myself went smoothly, and in fact, my plane landed early on Monday afternoon.  When the "R" family did pick the airport people up, we all hopped into their vehicle and drove to their home where others were already there throwing around a frisbee.

 There was the first five minutes of introductions and unloading, and the gathering had officially started!

 On Monday, it was mostly hanging out.  A group of six of us played Settlers of Catan.  It was very fun and interesting to see the differences in house rules.  After games, everyone started pulling out their instruments.  Oh.my.word.  I told my mom that I am going to take piano lessons next year again.  I used to play, but quit.  Everyone played different instruments and were amazing, and it was so fun to hear the pianists play songs such as: Downton Abbey - The Suite, The Piano Man, Pirates of the Carribean theme song, etc.  We then dove into our Bible study of 1 Thessalonians led by Mr. R.  I believe it was around 2:30 by the time everyone went to bed that night.

 On Tuesday morning we all enjoyed one of my favorite meals of the week: Jenn made delicious baked oatmeal. :)  After that, we all headed out to go on a hike at Great Falls National Park.  It was a beautiful day to hike!  It was sunny and cool - a temperature that was perfect so no one was cold or too hot.  The hike went along the Potomac River.

This was only some of us.

(photo credit: Mr. Joe)

 Jenn led us up the trail to the top where we ate lunch.  We all hiked back down, jumped in the vehicles, and examined our blisters. :)  When we got home, we worked on our skits which were to be performed on Thursday night, listened to more wonderful music and played several games.  Apples to Apples and The Family Game.

my turn judging cards for Apples to Apples

(photo credit: Mr. Joe)

 Wednesday morning brought a windy day, which had been assigned to playing Ultimate Frisbee.  Now, I did not play Ultimate.  I stood watching and shivering and chatting with Emily. :) When we'd all warmed up, we spent the rest of the day playing more games.  Four more drove in on Wednesday afternoon, which was fun.  We played The Character Game, Party Quirks, 2 Truths and a Lie, and card games.  After Bible study, music, and card games, Star Wars Episode I was started, however, I only lasted about 20 minutes (at the most) before I was falling asleep.  :P  But it was 1:30, I think...

 Thursday was Mount Vernon Day.  A great day!  We all made the trek to Mount Vernon and spent half the day there.  We toured the house and the surrounding grounds and spent time in fellowship together.

view from the Mount Vernon mansion of the Potomac River 

the beautiful Mount Vernon home 

our lovely group 

us ladies walked around the grounds of Mount Vernon while everyone

else went down to the farming part of the plantation

Spring was evident with all the lambs running (or laying) around 

beautiful gardens

Cassie and I

  Thursday afternoon was spent preparing for skits and getting all dolled up for Jenn's college graduation ceremony.  The graduation was super fun to watch and afterwards, we performed our skits.  There were four groups, therefore, four skits: CollegePlus-ers Anonymous, Changes to Facebook (a Messy Mondays skit), Phobias Workshop, and The Council (I think...) - a skit from LoTR.  The skits were pretty much epic and will forever be remembered.  We played cards after that, and I turned in early at 1:30.

Changes to Facebook skit

(photo credit: Emily Kn.)

 Friday dawned bright and early and we left for Washington D.C.  We drove a while to the Metro station, hopped on the Metro, made several changes to the day's schedule, and headed out.  We first made our way around the monuments.  Our first set of monuments were: Washington Monument, WWII memorial, and then the Lincoln memorial, where we had lunch.

 We then all walked to the Korean memorial, where we then split up.  Half the group went to the Library of Congress, and the other half went to look at more memorials.  I went with the memorials.

the Korean memorial

the "memorial group" at the FDR memorial 

 the Jefferson memorial

 After the Jefferson memorial, the group split up again; one to go to see the Cyrus Cylinder, and the other to go see the First Ladies' dresses at the American History Museum.  I went for the dresses. :)  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures. :(   I do have to include this picture of this beautiful Cherry Blossom tree.

 After D.C., we went to dinner at Chipotle (which is WAY to spicy for my taste), and then went to the R family's church's prayer meeting.

 When we got home, time was spent packing as much as possible, and that's when the night began. :P  A group of 7 of us watched Princess Bride which is a favorite of a lot of CPers, so if possible it's a must at gatherings.  The rule was: if you didn't like people quoting during the movie, you weren't allowed to watch it.  Maybe that's why we had such a small group. :P  During the movie, the rest of the group were upstairs swapping SD cards to copy onto their computer.  After Princess Bride, several went to bed.  However, 8 of us made the decision to pull an all-nighter.  :D  We played Apples to Apples (although that didn't last long), and then played The Ungame.  The Ungame was perfect for this group since we were full of caffeine, extremely tired (due to the time being 3:00am), and eating lots and lots of Skittles and Twizzlers.  Each of us got asked questions such as "What is your ideal home?", "What is your idea of a perfect marriage?", "Describe each person in the room with one word", etc.  The second question I listed had several similar ones which were the most hilarious since none of us are even in a relationship! :)  Four went to bed around 4ish, and the rest of us kind of sat around for a while.  There was a bit of Google+ hacking, which followed with an extreme amount of commenting.  We all ended up falling asleep for at least 50 minutes.  At six, we said goodbye to several people and finished up our packing.  The rest of the "all-nighter group" who hadn't left already were walking around like zombies the rest of the morning.  Needless to say, lots of coffee was drank.

 Starting at 10am, I said my final goodbyes.  I was brought to the airport, and Josh helped me get my ticket and find security.  Thank goodness, because being in a strange airport made me nervous!   After a layover in Chicago, I landed in Minneapolis where my dad came to pick me up.  We met my mom and siblings at a restaurant for dinner, and I headed home.  When I got home, I found out my family had been painting my bathroom for me!  That's been a project I've been wanting to accomplish for a while, and never have gotten around to it.  After being awake for over 40 hours, I slept for 13 last night!

So the following pictures are just pictures of people that I wanted to include.  :)

this is the group of us that were left on Saturday mid-morning

(photo credit: Mr. Joe) 

 Emily and I

I got to meet Emily at the MN gathering in August.  It was so fun seeing her again!

 Kaitlyn and I

another Emily and I :) 

 Here is a list of fun memories (mostly inside jokes - for those who attended) that I remember:
   ~ "are you lovely?"
   ~ "maniacal powder"
   ~ watching (helping? :P) Kaitlyn hack Drew's G+
   ~ running outside to greet Cassie, who happened to come 1+ hour(s) later...
   ~ "I thirst"
   ~ Josh shutting the TV off before the last 1 minute of Princess Bride (if you're a girl, you know that's a very important part! :D)
   ~ Dutch Blitz
   ~ playing Liar
   ~ ZOOM
   ~ Organization Leadership
   ~ "at the next gathering...."
   ~ frog milkshakes
   ~ drowning in Jello

 Honestly, that's all I can remember right now.  Once I post this, of course, I'll remember everything else.  :)

 Overall, it was an amazing week, and I wouldn't trade last week for anything.

Love,
   Sierra

Peaceful Chaos

 Life lately has been sooo busy.  I feel like every minute is flying by without my noticing it, and all of a sudden, it's midnight and time to go to sleep again.  Life has been just routine lately.  I wake up, do school, and then go where I need to be.  I've been reminding myself of this quote:

 I've been studying for the Biology CLEP test for the past several weeks.  There are days when I feel discouraged, and there are days when I feel like I could take it now and ace it (which would not happen.  ever.).  Science is...not my strong suit, so it gets stressful.  I've been absorbing so much more than I did when I was doing science for high school.  The scariest thing with taking these tests is that you don't know what's going to be on it.  You can get tips and suggestions from other students who have taken the test, but CLEP has several different variations of each test, and you never know which one you're going to get.  Anyway, I'm taking the test on the 29th, and I am confident that I will pass.

 Last weekend, I had some college friends over.  They are all from Minnesota, but drove quite a ways to come hangout for a while.  But it was so much fun!  We played Spoons, the Family Game, and a new game I had learned over my birthday.  It was just a fun time of fellowship with awesome people.  :D

 I'm counting down the days before I leave for Virginia.  Only 16!!!  I'm so excited!  I get to meet, in person, a couple of really good friends, some new friends, and I believe there may be a couple of people I had the privilege of meeting at the gathering here in MN.  We're going to tour Washington D.C., Mount Vernon, laugh a lot, go hiking, play games, watch movies, laugh a lot, sleep a little, and have tons and tons of fun!!!!!!  Eeeeeeeeep! :D

 Today I had my second degree consultation.  Yes, I have joined the ranks with countless other indecisive, college students: I've changed my major.  Today I went from being an Economics major (which really doesn't interest me) to being an Organizational Leadership major (which, if you know me, totally describes me).  My degree template looks so different now, but I have a feeling these courses I'll be taking and even the tests I'll be taking will be a lot more fun for me than the Economics courses and tests.  Now I can't wait to talk to my coach and decide what order I'll do them all in!! :D

 LIVE has been going well, praise the Lord!  It's been growing - from 16 to 18 girls (and to think we started with 5)!  We have quite the full house when LIVE days come around.  Yesterday, after singing three energetic songs, I was asked to open the windows because it got so hot downstairs with everyone dancing around!  The Lord's been good to our group; I just can't believe it'll be April before we know it and then we'll be going on summer break!  But I'm praying about several things right now to grow and develop the ministry next fall since I'll be graduated from high school (yay!).

 Besides those bigger things, I've been busy finishing high school Latin and Economics (almost.done!), attending a Bible study every Tuesday night, cleaning at my two cleaning jobs, planning my graduation party (which just got bumped up 2 weeks) and trying super super hard not to be distracted by my excitement for my upcoming trip.

 What's new with you?

Love,
  Sierra

Catching Up

  Yikes!  Life kind of took over there for a little bit.  I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to. :)

Passed Principles of Marketing on Friday!  :D  Studying took up a large part of my schedule from the end of January up until Friday.

I am going to Virginia in April!  I can't wait!  I'm going to another CollegePlus gathering!  We will be doing some D.C. touring, and other historical tourist sites, and just having fun with friends.  So right now, I am searching for airline tickets!

Another thing that makes this trip so exciting is that I am traveling by myself.  :D  A little scary, but still  exciting!

I've been planning my high school graduation party!  This is my 8-section notebook. :P  Trust me, this is one bad thing about being organized: I feel the need to plan everything 8 months ahead of time. ;)  I'm super excited!

Selling my old college books...so far, no luck. :)

Bought these yesterday.  Making them for my room/grad party.  The goal....

...is to make them look like this.

Yesterday, we headed to my cousin's house to celebrate my 18th birthday with her, her husband, and my uncle & aunt.  The "big day" is not until Tuesday, but we couldn't do it any other day since there is a huge snow storm in the works today and tomorrow.  We had an awesome time - played a new game together, which was hilarious!  My family is so much fun to play games with!

 So that has been my life the past couple weeks.  That, and cleaning (and yes, there is a reason there isn't a picture for that :P).  I have two cleaning jobs, which I am super thankful for, but it keeps me busy and worn out!

  I am really looking forward to this week!  I get to talk to my coach, turn 18, have a Bible study, watch Anne of Green Gables with my 16 LIVE girls, and go to a wedding! 

I hope to be posting more within the next few weeks now!  I actually have post-worthy things coming up. :)

 Have a blessed week!  And if you're getting this snow, stay inside! :D

 Sierra