Last morning, last post from the United States.
It is Friday, June 27. The day I've been trying not to think about for the past half year. I woke up at about 6.30 this morning. Nobody else is up yet, but I still got up because I don't want to waste another second in bed. My last days were amazing, and sad, and a little odd altogether.
Last Friday was the concert. It was sweet. But reaaaally long. After I had been helping Sheila with the cleaning for my party mostly all morning, Gary, Jimmy, and Chad picked me up around 2, and then we picked up Autumn and went out to Detroit. Like the All That Remains concert in February, this one was at the Majestic Theatre. Standing in line before they opened the doors at 3.30, we met the others: Justin, Ross, Eric, Ashlynn, Kyle, Matt, Doug, Chris, ... The first band started pretty much right at 4, and the last one finished their show at 11.30. It was a really good concert, but I have to admit that by that time, I was incredibly hungry and tired, and my feet hurt somewhat. I had a lot of fun that night.
On Saturday, we started the cooking and more cleaning for my Goodbye Party. We got as much as possible done before 4 pm, when we went to mass at St. Thecla. My last mass at St. Thecla for a while. Right after, we went to the graduation party of the kids' cousin Laura. It was nice.
On Sunday, we spent the morning finishing the cooking and setting stuff up in the garage for the party. It was a lot of work, but we finally got it all done when the first guests, Keith, Brittney, and Katie, arrived. I had put out my yearbook and a book for contact information out for the people to sign, so that I could keep in touch. Mostly everyone signed it. Shortly after Keith, Brittney, and Katie, Ross arrived, followed closely by Justin, Eric, Ashlynn, Doug, Chris, and Randy. Sheila's friends started arriving (the Evola's, the Curry's, and the DeCook's), Mr Curtis got here, Heather, Aimee, Matt, Courtney, Autumn, Gary, Jimmy, Adam, Kyle, .... I was very happy that they all came. It was a nice party. With an awesome cake :)
Monday around noon, I went to Coney Island one last time for lunch with Heather, Aimee, Kyle, and Adam. Later, around 3, Gary picked me up and we went to Autumn's house - her parents had invited us to go to the Detroit fireworks with them. The fireworks are for both the US and the Canadian independence days. We got our stuff together, stopped at a couple stores on our way for food etc., and finally got to Detroit. Although most spots by the water - where the fireworks take place - were already packed, but we still got a perfect spot. We had to wait a couple hours until the fireworks finally started at ten, so we walked around, played Mario on a Nintendo DS, and had fun buying ridiculous souvenier stuff. The fireworks were pretty awesome. They were huuuuge. And they had pretty cool shapes, too. They had hearts, and Saturns.
I stayed at Autumn's over night, where she and I stayed up until about 5 am, trying to think of the word "prosecution".
On Tuesday, Autumn, Gary, Jimmy, Matt, Courtney, Doug, and I went to Ross' house at night. Fun times. Autumn and I attempted to go swimming in Ross' pool, but it was freezing. I had so much fun that night, Jimmy is just hilarious. I actually didn't really get to meet him until just now... that's kind of sad. Doug's bike got stolen that night, and we went out to look for it, but it was too late. Oh well. It didn't seem to bother him too much. I had a great night.
Wednesday, I was home all day, spending time with my family. I went to Grayson's last T-Ball game with the entire family at night, and after that, we went to Eddie's drive-in for some ice-cream. Back home, Courtney and I had a photo session so that we have some photos together for myspace etc. It was hilarious :)
Yesterday, Sheila and I finished my packing (we ended up getting to get a bigger second suitcase, because the one I had was too small, luckily, there was a garage sale right across the street, and they had a perfect size suitcase for only a dollar). I got to choose my last dinner here - ribs with maccaroni and cheese - and after that, we just sat and talked for a while until a few of my friends came over (Gary, Autumn, Justin, Ashlynn, and Eric). It was good to see everyone one last time, and I managed not to cry until they were all gone.
Although today is the day that I leave, it still doesn't go in my head. What? I'm not leaving!
It feels like I'm going to call Autumn or Gary later on, and we're going to hang out tonight. Although I know that we're not going to be. Jake just came in a few minutes ago, and said "You can't leave!!!" and had tears in his eyes, and gave me a big hug. And I still can't realize it. I don't think it's going to hit me until I get to the airport. Or until the plane takes off. And then, it's going to be bad.
Wow, I remember posting my last post from Germany the night before I left there...
This sucks.
6/27/2008
6/18/2008
Quick Note
So, if anyone feels like making me happy when I'm back in Germany, here's some things you can do:
1. Mom, make me pancakes.
2. Mom, make me strawberries with milk.
3. Dad, make me Tortellini with cheese sauce.
4. Get some Beck's, some Asti champagne, some Amaretto, and some cherry juice.
5. Get some German chocolate for me.
6. Get a flute for me (flute im Sinne von QUERfloete).
7. Buy me a ticket back to the USA! (Haha.)
8. Take me shoe shopping (not with my money, of course).
9. Listen to me when I get lost in about a million stories about how amazing my exchange year was. I know it's going to get annoying, but do me the favor and try to understand.
10. Oliver/Jannis: Make sure The Sims 2 and all the add ons we have are installed on Oliver's computer and on the island when I get back so I can play it for an entire day.
11. Take me to bars, clubs, and parties in general... well, as soon as I'm over the jet lag.
12. This one's especially for my mom: NO COMMENTS ABOUT MY WEIGHT. I gained some, yes, and I'm going to lose it again as soon as I get back, automatically.
13. Get me the Guitar Hero game plus controller for Play Station 2.
14. Mom, dad: Let's go visit relatives over the summer, I haven't seen them in a year. Especially my grandma's.
15. Relatives: Come visit me.
16. Freddy: Help me fix my computer some time. I'll make a cake for you! :)
17. Buy some paint and give it to me. I feel like I might want to redo my room over the summer. Not 100% sure yet.
Well, if I think about anything else, I'll update this list. That's it for now.
1. Mom, make me pancakes.
2. Mom, make me strawberries with milk.
3. Dad, make me Tortellini with cheese sauce.
4. Get some Beck's, some Asti champagne, some Amaretto, and some cherry juice.
5. Get some German chocolate for me.
6. Get a flute for me (flute im Sinne von QUERfloete).
7. Buy me a ticket back to the USA! (Haha.)
8. Take me shoe shopping (not with my money, of course).
9. Listen to me when I get lost in about a million stories about how amazing my exchange year was. I know it's going to get annoying, but do me the favor and try to understand.
10. Oliver/Jannis: Make sure The Sims 2 and all the add ons we have are installed on Oliver's computer and on the island when I get back so I can play it for an entire day.
11. Take me to bars, clubs, and parties in general... well, as soon as I'm over the jet lag.
12. This one's especially for my mom: NO COMMENTS ABOUT MY WEIGHT. I gained some, yes, and I'm going to lose it again as soon as I get back, automatically.
13. Get me the Guitar Hero game plus controller for Play Station 2.
14. Mom, dad: Let's go visit relatives over the summer, I haven't seen them in a year. Especially my grandma's.
15. Relatives: Come visit me.
16. Freddy: Help me fix my computer some time. I'll make a cake for you! :)
17. Buy some paint and give it to me. I feel like I might want to redo my room over the summer. Not 100% sure yet.
Well, if I think about anything else, I'll update this list. That's it for now.
6/17/2008
How 10 Months Become 10 Days
Ten days. WHAT? Where did the 10 MONTHS go???
I hate my short term memory... I don't remember what I did the Thursday after minigolfing. I don't think I did anything special, actually. On Friday, Gary picked me up in the afternoon and we went to the mall to get my ticket for a concert this upcoming Friday and a Father's Day present for my dad. I got him a Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions shirt. Then we picked Autumn up because she and Gary were going to go to Gary's house for his sister Claudia's birthday party while I went back home. I helped my family with the weeding, and later Sheila with making dinner.
Saturday was the day of Gary's graduation party. I got a ride with Ross around 4, and we were pretty much the first people from our group there. So we hung out with Gary and his family for a while, and then his family started leaving, while his friends arrived. Autumn came, then Eric and Ashlynn, Justin and Kyle, ... It was nice. Ross and I made an amazing plan to put water and blue food dye in a water gun and attack Gary with it. It was hilarious. Later on, we went swimming for a while, and I got drowned by both Ross and Gary. Gah. Hate you guys. Chlorine in my nose. Just kidding, you know I love you.
Eric and Ashlynn gave me a ride home when they went on to Jarrett's grad party around 11.30 pm.
Sunday was Father's Day. We went to church for 10 o'clock mass, and back home, dad opened his presents. He liked the shirt :) Around 2, we went to Uncle Steve's house to celebrate with the family. It was nice. I hadn't been to their house before. They have a huuuuge pool... I didn't go swimming though, I was too busy talking to people. Amanda is home from college at the moment, so she, mom, and Aunt Bridget started telling lots of fun college stories. That made me even more excited to come back here for college soon.
Talking about colleges... I've been getting a lot of little brochures from colleges lately. Even colleges that I never sent my scores to. I guess they found my ACT scores in the database and liked them :) Well, so far I got something from a technological college in Illinois (Chicago!), Michigan Tech, Eastern Michigan, Milwaukee School of Engineering, something in Ohio, Grand Valley (Michigan), ... I might have forgotten something. I'm so excited. And then today, I got a call from Michigan Tech! They have their students call potential future students and talk to them. So I talked to Stefanie, student of Michigan Tech, and she asked me a couple questions about myself, and I explained the entire exchange student situation, and she encouraged me to apply at Michigan Tech when I start planning my college career. It was really nice, I like how personal Michigan Tech seems to be. Their brochure was also the most informative of all. When I start applying for colleges, Michigan Tech is definitely going to be a consideration.
Yesterday was a fun day. I was bored, so I called Gary, Autumn, and Ross to set up something, and we ended up going to Ross' house later in the afternoon, then to Taco Bell for some food, then to Justin's house until he went to bed (he's working this summer), then Seven Eleven for slurpees, and then to Autumn's for a couple minutes before I had to go home. Fun times, fun times. Love these people.
Today was rather depressing. I had been going through my stuff the last couple days to figure out what I'm taking, leaving for somebody, or throwing away, and then today, I had to make a packing try to see how much I can fit in my suitcases and how much is left to be shipped. Mom helped me a lot, and I was very happy about that. Not only was she able to fit about 4 times as much stuff in a suitcase than I could, it was also nice to not have to do it alone. That would be even more depressing. We did a pretty good job and were able to fit a lot in the suitcases while still being perfectly within the weight limits. With the left-over stuff, mainly winterstuff, we could fill one box that I will have to ship. It weighs 20 pounds, so it's not going to be cheap I guess. I am also going to get a rolling carry-on as big as possible for some little stuff, and Sheila found out that I can additionally take a purse of any size. So I'm just going to take my biggest purse and stuff it full as well.
Airport person: Excuse me, Miss... why is your purse so stuffed?
Me: Tampons.
Yea. That's what's going to happen.
Anyways, I suppose this is going to be one of the very last posts in this blog posted from the amazing United States of America. I might write one more about my Goodbye Party on Sunday, but that's probably pretty much going to be it.
The end of the most amazing year of my life is near. I don't think I'm taking this very well.
I hate my short term memory... I don't remember what I did the Thursday after minigolfing. I don't think I did anything special, actually. On Friday, Gary picked me up in the afternoon and we went to the mall to get my ticket for a concert this upcoming Friday and a Father's Day present for my dad. I got him a Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions shirt. Then we picked Autumn up because she and Gary were going to go to Gary's house for his sister Claudia's birthday party while I went back home. I helped my family with the weeding, and later Sheila with making dinner.
Saturday was the day of Gary's graduation party. I got a ride with Ross around 4, and we were pretty much the first people from our group there. So we hung out with Gary and his family for a while, and then his family started leaving, while his friends arrived. Autumn came, then Eric and Ashlynn, Justin and Kyle, ... It was nice. Ross and I made an amazing plan to put water and blue food dye in a water gun and attack Gary with it. It was hilarious. Later on, we went swimming for a while, and I got drowned by both Ross and Gary. Gah. Hate you guys. Chlorine in my nose. Just kidding, you know I love you.
Eric and Ashlynn gave me a ride home when they went on to Jarrett's grad party around 11.30 pm.
Sunday was Father's Day. We went to church for 10 o'clock mass, and back home, dad opened his presents. He liked the shirt :) Around 2, we went to Uncle Steve's house to celebrate with the family. It was nice. I hadn't been to their house before. They have a huuuuge pool... I didn't go swimming though, I was too busy talking to people. Amanda is home from college at the moment, so she, mom, and Aunt Bridget started telling lots of fun college stories. That made me even more excited to come back here for college soon.
Talking about colleges... I've been getting a lot of little brochures from colleges lately. Even colleges that I never sent my scores to. I guess they found my ACT scores in the database and liked them :) Well, so far I got something from a technological college in Illinois (Chicago!), Michigan Tech, Eastern Michigan, Milwaukee School of Engineering, something in Ohio, Grand Valley (Michigan), ... I might have forgotten something. I'm so excited. And then today, I got a call from Michigan Tech! They have their students call potential future students and talk to them. So I talked to Stefanie, student of Michigan Tech, and she asked me a couple questions about myself, and I explained the entire exchange student situation, and she encouraged me to apply at Michigan Tech when I start planning my college career. It was really nice, I like how personal Michigan Tech seems to be. Their brochure was also the most informative of all. When I start applying for colleges, Michigan Tech is definitely going to be a consideration.
Yesterday was a fun day. I was bored, so I called Gary, Autumn, and Ross to set up something, and we ended up going to Ross' house later in the afternoon, then to Taco Bell for some food, then to Justin's house until he went to bed (he's working this summer), then Seven Eleven for slurpees, and then to Autumn's for a couple minutes before I had to go home. Fun times, fun times. Love these people.
Today was rather depressing. I had been going through my stuff the last couple days to figure out what I'm taking, leaving for somebody, or throwing away, and then today, I had to make a packing try to see how much I can fit in my suitcases and how much is left to be shipped. Mom helped me a lot, and I was very happy about that. Not only was she able to fit about 4 times as much stuff in a suitcase than I could, it was also nice to not have to do it alone. That would be even more depressing. We did a pretty good job and were able to fit a lot in the suitcases while still being perfectly within the weight limits. With the left-over stuff, mainly winterstuff, we could fill one box that I will have to ship. It weighs 20 pounds, so it's not going to be cheap I guess. I am also going to get a rolling carry-on as big as possible for some little stuff, and Sheila found out that I can additionally take a purse of any size. So I'm just going to take my biggest purse and stuff it full as well.
Airport person: Excuse me, Miss... why is your purse so stuffed?
Me: Tampons.
Yea. That's what's going to happen.
Anyways, I suppose this is going to be one of the very last posts in this blog posted from the amazing United States of America. I might write one more about my Goodbye Party on Sunday, but that's probably pretty much going to be it.
The end of the most amazing year of my life is near. I don't think I'm taking this very well.
6/12/2008
Minigolfing with Mr Curtis
We had a blast.
Yea, as I told you, we went minigolfing with Mr Curtis yesterday. It was lots of fun, of course. Mr Curtis, the only pro golfer among us, won to nobody's surprise. I actually came in 2nd - yay! After we had completed the course, we went to Dairy Queen for some ice-cream, still with Mr Curtis. We talked for a while, but then he had to leave :(
Fortunately, we got the opportunity to shoot some myspace pictures first ;)
When Gary, Autumn, and I left Dairy Queen, we went to the dollar store to get some supplies for Autumn's graduation party - which I won't be able to go to :'((( - and then to the bank to cash in our senior checks. Bored as we were, we then decided to go get on Ross' nerves for a while. Ross is always fun to hang out with. He has a pool, too.
Too bad we didn't have our bathing suits.
Yea, as I told you, we went minigolfing with Mr Curtis yesterday. It was lots of fun, of course. Mr Curtis, the only pro golfer among us, won to nobody's surprise. I actually came in 2nd - yay! After we had completed the course, we went to Dairy Queen for some ice-cream, still with Mr Curtis. We talked for a while, but then he had to leave :(
Fortunately, we got the opportunity to shoot some myspace pictures first ;)
When Gary, Autumn, and I left Dairy Queen, we went to the dollar store to get some supplies for Autumn's graduation party - which I won't be able to go to :'((( - and then to the bank to cash in our senior checks. Bored as we were, we then decided to go get on Ross' nerves for a while. Ross is always fun to hang out with. He has a pool, too.
Too bad we didn't have our bathing suits.
6/10/2008
Summer
Times running...
The day after my last post, which was a Tuesday, I went to Dairy Queen - an ice-cream place - with Gary, Autumn, and Autumn's brother Ronnie after dinner. When we were done eating our ice-cream, we went to the dollar store, bought some ridiculous presents for Justin, and then we went to Justin's house (he was not happy because he had been working all day, but when he saw Ronnie - whom he loves - he was okay with us showing up I guess). We stayed there for a little bit, and then we went to Autumn's house. I had bought a treat for Rosie at the dollar store, so she didn't try to eat me, or my flip flops :)
I don't think anything exciting happened on Wednesday...
I am not sure about Thursday, but I think I went over to Autumn's in the evening. Actually, I'm pretty sure I went over to Autumn's, because that was when we made the plan to go visit Mr Curtis before 1st hour the next morning. Oh, and Rosie demolished another pair of my flip flops ;) Yea... gotta love that puppy.
So then on Friday, I got up early and went to the school with Autumn, Gary, and Courtney. We dropped off Courtney and went to Mr Curtis' room - and he wasn't there. Huuuuge disappointment. He didn't get there until like, 4 minutes before the bell rang. Anyways, at least we got to talk to him for a little bit. And we made plans to go minigolfing with him :)
After that short visit, I had to go back home to watch Grayson for a little bit. But later, Gary picked me up and we went to Autumn's again for a while. Zelda time. On the way there, we stopped at Kroger for ice-cream (it was a RIDICULOUSLY hot day... like, 90 degrees) and a dog treat (to protect my next pair of flip flops). It was a good day.
On Saturday, I had to get up early again, this time for the SAT test. I was a little nervous, but it all went pretty good. The test site was Grosse Pointe North High School, Doug drove me there in the morning. I guess I struggled a little on the reading part, like I did in the practise tests I did at home, and didn't get to finish the last sentence of my essay, but I still think I did pretty well.
In the afternoon, Gary, Autumn, and I went to Eric's graduation party. I really liked it a lot, because I got to talked to people who I haven't hung out with in a while. It was good. Pretty much everybody was there, plus Eric's relatives. "Scenetology" was invented, and Eric got a cake shower. Haha. Funny nonsense, like always. That's why I love these guys so much.
Sunday was a busy day. Mass at 10, then to Gino's. I invited my family for brunch there, as a thank you present for being such an amazing host family throughout this year :) I am going to miss them soooooo much!!! After brunch, we went to Grandma's to celebrate GG's 91st birthday. It was nice :) We had brownies and ice-cream... yummmm.
Yesterday, I was pretty much being bored all day, until finally Gary called me after dinner. He, Autumn, and I went to Dan's house to play like a million video games (I'm almost positive that Dan has every good game system every created, plus a ton of games). Mike was there also. It was fun... it was thunderstorming outside, too :)
It's actually been thunderstorming a lot lately. One big one with possible tornados (that didn't happen -.-) came by on Sunday night. And there've been several power outs in the area... luckily, none of them hit us yet.
Today I did nothing special. I went to Jake's baseball game after dinner though, with mom. They lost... poor guy. But it was nice to watch, and the weather was pretty good today. It wasn't too hot to be outsite, for once.
Minigolfing with Mr Curtis tomorrow :) Can't wait!!
The day after my last post, which was a Tuesday, I went to Dairy Queen - an ice-cream place - with Gary, Autumn, and Autumn's brother Ronnie after dinner. When we were done eating our ice-cream, we went to the dollar store, bought some ridiculous presents for Justin, and then we went to Justin's house (he was not happy because he had been working all day, but when he saw Ronnie - whom he loves - he was okay with us showing up I guess). We stayed there for a little bit, and then we went to Autumn's house. I had bought a treat for Rosie at the dollar store, so she didn't try to eat me, or my flip flops :)
I don't think anything exciting happened on Wednesday...
I am not sure about Thursday, but I think I went over to Autumn's in the evening. Actually, I'm pretty sure I went over to Autumn's, because that was when we made the plan to go visit Mr Curtis before 1st hour the next morning. Oh, and Rosie demolished another pair of my flip flops ;) Yea... gotta love that puppy.
So then on Friday, I got up early and went to the school with Autumn, Gary, and Courtney. We dropped off Courtney and went to Mr Curtis' room - and he wasn't there. Huuuuge disappointment. He didn't get there until like, 4 minutes before the bell rang. Anyways, at least we got to talk to him for a little bit. And we made plans to go minigolfing with him :)
After that short visit, I had to go back home to watch Grayson for a little bit. But later, Gary picked me up and we went to Autumn's again for a while. Zelda time. On the way there, we stopped at Kroger for ice-cream (it was a RIDICULOUSLY hot day... like, 90 degrees) and a dog treat (to protect my next pair of flip flops). It was a good day.
On Saturday, I had to get up early again, this time for the SAT test. I was a little nervous, but it all went pretty good. The test site was Grosse Pointe North High School, Doug drove me there in the morning. I guess I struggled a little on the reading part, like I did in the practise tests I did at home, and didn't get to finish the last sentence of my essay, but I still think I did pretty well.
In the afternoon, Gary, Autumn, and I went to Eric's graduation party. I really liked it a lot, because I got to talked to people who I haven't hung out with in a while. It was good. Pretty much everybody was there, plus Eric's relatives. "Scenetology" was invented, and Eric got a cake shower. Haha. Funny nonsense, like always. That's why I love these guys so much.
Sunday was a busy day. Mass at 10, then to Gino's. I invited my family for brunch there, as a thank you present for being such an amazing host family throughout this year :) I am going to miss them soooooo much!!! After brunch, we went to Grandma's to celebrate GG's 91st birthday. It was nice :) We had brownies and ice-cream... yummmm.
Yesterday, I was pretty much being bored all day, until finally Gary called me after dinner. He, Autumn, and I went to Dan's house to play like a million video games (I'm almost positive that Dan has every good game system every created, plus a ton of games). Mike was there also. It was fun... it was thunderstorming outside, too :)
It's actually been thunderstorming a lot lately. One big one with possible tornados (that didn't happen -.-) came by on Sunday night. And there've been several power outs in the area... luckily, none of them hit us yet.
Today I did nothing special. I went to Jake's baseball game after dinner though, with mom. They lost... poor guy. But it was nice to watch, and the weather was pretty good today. It wasn't too hot to be outsite, for once.
Minigolfing with Mr Curtis tomorrow :) Can't wait!!
6/02/2008
Graduation(s), Extreme Shopping, and Other Exciting Events
Oopsi. That was a looong time without a post again.
The weekend after prom was Memorial Day weekend. So everybody had Friday and Monday off - looong weekend. On Friday, the entire family went to Metro Park by bike for a lunch picknick. It was a lot of fun. The spot we chose for our picknick was at the very end of the park, close to the water, with a great view of the lake. The weather was perfect. After we had eaten, we played baseball on a nearby old baseball field for a while. It's a fun sport, it was actually the first time I ever actually played baseball. I'm definitely not the best batter, and here's one advice: Don't ever attempt a homerun being barefoot. It hurts.
Later, Courtney and I wandered off and found a pretty little tree full of flowers to lie under and talk. All in all, it was a really nice day.
I am not sure if we did anything important on Saturday... I forgot.
On Sunday, we went to church like usually. Later that day, after dinner, I went to Walmart with Gary and Autumn to get birthday presents for Justin, whose birthday was the next day. I got him a reaaaaally cool Speedracer toy car (it does a barrell roll) and a notebook to write down ideas for the book we make him write ("Justin's Logic."). After that, we stopped for ice-cream at Dairy Queen, and then we went to Autumn's for a while. Rosie liked it. Especially the fact that I brought my flip flops - she liked them so much that she ate one of them :D well, partially. I love that puppy. She's so funny.
Monday was Grayson's actual birthday, and, of course, Justin's birthday. So during the day, I was home and we celebrated Grayson's birthday a little bit more and made little cookies that he could share with his classmates the next day. Later, Gary picked me, Ross, and then Autumn and Ronnie up and we went to Justin's for his birthday party. Eric, Alex, and Garrett were there also, and later, Roo, Kyle, and a couple other people joined us. It was fun. We had a barbeque, and the cake Autumn made for Justin later, Justin really liked his presents, and there was also a bonfire. Unfortunately, when Gary was going to take me home around midnight, his car wouldn't shift out of park. So he had to borrow Mrs Hanigan's car, and then his car was broken for a week.
I don't remember doing anything important on Tuesday. I did get a call that day though, from the school - my cap and gown were finally there.
On Wednesday, Gary went to the school with Justin in the morning. Justin had to stay there and finish a painting, and in the meantime, Gary borrowed Justin's car to come and get me so we could pick up our gowns (his had finally arrived, too). After that, we went to McDonald's (coffee for me and breakfast for Gary). Then we basically just drove around wasting Justin's gas for a while (I bought new flip flops at Family Dollar) and ended up at Autumn's. We then went to Taco Bell, where Gary got a call from Justin who wanted him to come pick him up. When Gary came back, Autumn and I were so disappointed that he hadn't brought Justin with him ("He didn't want to!") that we decided to go to Justin's house for a while, where we only stayed for a little bit because Justin had to go buy fancy pants for graduation and Autumn and I kind of wanted to go home.
The graduation ceremony was on Thursday at the huge Bethesda Church. It reminds me more of an opera house than of a church. I was supposed to be there at 6 p.m., but didn't get there until 6.30 because of traffic, and on top of that, I had lost my tassel somewhere. I wasn't the only one being late, but unfortunately they had already run out of extra tassels. I found Autumn and my name card (the purpose of those cards will be explained later), and when we were asked to line up and stand with the people we would like to sit next with, we found the guys in a corner. Standing there waiting, I noticed one of the teachers walking by with an extra tassel in her hand, so I hurried over there and asked her for it before anyone else could. A little bit later, we started walking through the back hallways to the auditorium where they had reserved the front rows for the graduates. Unfortunately, Gary got separated from us, and I got put in the row next to Autumn and the others, although I was supposed to sit with them. But it was okay I guess. There were a couple speeches of some graduates and other important people, and then they started sending row by row up to the stage. Before going up the steps, everybody posed for a picture with a diploma folder in front of a USA and a Michigan flag. Then we had to line up by the left of the stage behind Mr Miller, whom we had to give our name card before we walked over the stage. We told him how to pronounce our name right, he announced it, and then we walked over the stage to our principal Mr Mulcahy, while another picture was taken of us walking. Mr Mulcahy gave us a diploma folder (we didn't get our actual diplomas, or, in my case, a Certificate of Attendance, until later). Then we had to shake his hand and keep walking past all those important school officials, shaking everybody's hands, receiving a "Congratulations!" from every single one and constantly mumbling "Thank you!". It was pretty cool. But with one person walking across the stage at a time, and about 400 graduates, it took a looong time.
After the ceremony, we stood and symbolically put our tassel from the left side of our cap to the right (that's a sign that we successfully graduated). Then we left the auditorium and went back to the room where we had met before to receive our diplomas. Outside of the building, I found Courtney, Grandma, and Michaela. Sheila and Grayson had gone to the car because Grayson was tired. Because I wanted a picture with Autumn and couldn't find her right away, I asked Justin for a ride so my family wouldn't have to wait so long. Lots of pictures were taken with lots of people, I will have to try and get all of them. When we finally left the place, Justin, Gary, Autumn, and I went to Taco Bell (I had been so nervous before the ceremony that I hadn't eaten much of my dinner before at home). There, we met Kyle, and Steve dropped by later. After that, Justin dropped me off at home.
Grayson's graduation from kindergarten was on Friday morning. I went to the school with Sheila when she dropped off Michaela and Jacob, we attended 9 o'clock mass, and then the graduation started at 10.30. Doug, who worked at home that day, came to see Grayson, and Jake and Michaela were also excused from class so they could watch their little brother graduate. It was a cute ceremony :) The kindergarteners sang, presented pictures that they had painted, and then got their diploma.
On Saturday, I went to Kyle Manikas' (my play co-actor ;) ) graduation party with Keith from about 2.30 to 3.30. It was a very nice day, and it was good to meet a few of the play people again. When I came home, my family had just left for church, but they picked me up after and we went to Ms Amber's house for dinner. It was a lot of fun, I played with Baby Vito and the other kids outside and got to talk to Daniella, their Korean exchange student. I think she's going back home this week.
Sunday was a lazy day. I spent most of it reading.
Yesterday was a GREAT day :)
I got up with the kids in the morning, and Grayson and I went with Sheila when she dropped off the other two kids at the school in the morning. The three of us then went to Grandma's workplace to switch cars with her because we were driving out to an outlet mall which is about 65 miles away - and it would take a lot of expensive gas to drive the huge van up there, which is why we took Grandma's little Ford. The outlet mall is amazing. It has some really cool stores and they had the GREATEST sales.
We first went into the GAP store, where I found some white shorts. At Big Dog, I found some really cute and cheap pj's. I bought underwear in the next store - for unbelievable prices, like $4 for a bra! - and then we got to Rue 21. I love this store so much. I tried on about a million pieces of clothing, and ended up getting a yellow and a blue tank top, a striped black and white top, a white top with yellow flower print, a white top that is almost like a mini dress, my very super favourite black/grey/white skirt with POCKETS, 2 pair of striped shorts - one brown and white, one green and white -, and a pair of brown shorts. Everything was on sale, most of the things were between $3 and $6. At Old Navy, I got a red top for 5 bucks. The last store where I bought something was Aeropostale, and they probably had the best deals of all: Everything was on sale already, and you got an additional 30% off of the sales prices. I got a pair of dark blue, long pants there, a really nice, grey summer jacket, yellow, short sweat pants, a dark red 3/4 sleeve top, a grey mini dress, grey shorts, and a striped green and white top. I know, that is a lot. I got like 24 pieces of clothing overall, but I only paid about $6.50 per piece on average. Sooo cheap! I'm done with my shopping for this entire summer, and probably for most of the next summer, too. That means I won't have to buy ridiculously expensive clothes in Germany for a while.
Okay, I'm sick of typing now. Here's some pictures.
Talk to you soon.
The weekend after prom was Memorial Day weekend. So everybody had Friday and Monday off - looong weekend. On Friday, the entire family went to Metro Park by bike for a lunch picknick. It was a lot of fun. The spot we chose for our picknick was at the very end of the park, close to the water, with a great view of the lake. The weather was perfect. After we had eaten, we played baseball on a nearby old baseball field for a while. It's a fun sport, it was actually the first time I ever actually played baseball. I'm definitely not the best batter, and here's one advice: Don't ever attempt a homerun being barefoot. It hurts.
Later, Courtney and I wandered off and found a pretty little tree full of flowers to lie under and talk. All in all, it was a really nice day.
I am not sure if we did anything important on Saturday... I forgot.
On Sunday, we went to church like usually. Later that day, after dinner, I went to Walmart with Gary and Autumn to get birthday presents for Justin, whose birthday was the next day. I got him a reaaaaally cool Speedracer toy car (it does a barrell roll) and a notebook to write down ideas for the book we make him write ("Justin's Logic."). After that, we stopped for ice-cream at Dairy Queen, and then we went to Autumn's for a while. Rosie liked it. Especially the fact that I brought my flip flops - she liked them so much that she ate one of them :D well, partially. I love that puppy. She's so funny.
Monday was Grayson's actual birthday, and, of course, Justin's birthday. So during the day, I was home and we celebrated Grayson's birthday a little bit more and made little cookies that he could share with his classmates the next day. Later, Gary picked me, Ross, and then Autumn and Ronnie up and we went to Justin's for his birthday party. Eric, Alex, and Garrett were there also, and later, Roo, Kyle, and a couple other people joined us. It was fun. We had a barbeque, and the cake Autumn made for Justin later, Justin really liked his presents, and there was also a bonfire. Unfortunately, when Gary was going to take me home around midnight, his car wouldn't shift out of park. So he had to borrow Mrs Hanigan's car, and then his car was broken for a week.
I don't remember doing anything important on Tuesday. I did get a call that day though, from the school - my cap and gown were finally there.
On Wednesday, Gary went to the school with Justin in the morning. Justin had to stay there and finish a painting, and in the meantime, Gary borrowed Justin's car to come and get me so we could pick up our gowns (his had finally arrived, too). After that, we went to McDonald's (coffee for me and breakfast for Gary). Then we basically just drove around wasting Justin's gas for a while (I bought new flip flops at Family Dollar) and ended up at Autumn's. We then went to Taco Bell, where Gary got a call from Justin who wanted him to come pick him up. When Gary came back, Autumn and I were so disappointed that he hadn't brought Justin with him ("He didn't want to!") that we decided to go to Justin's house for a while, where we only stayed for a little bit because Justin had to go buy fancy pants for graduation and Autumn and I kind of wanted to go home.
The graduation ceremony was on Thursday at the huge Bethesda Church. It reminds me more of an opera house than of a church. I was supposed to be there at 6 p.m., but didn't get there until 6.30 because of traffic, and on top of that, I had lost my tassel somewhere. I wasn't the only one being late, but unfortunately they had already run out of extra tassels. I found Autumn and my name card (the purpose of those cards will be explained later), and when we were asked to line up and stand with the people we would like to sit next with, we found the guys in a corner. Standing there waiting, I noticed one of the teachers walking by with an extra tassel in her hand, so I hurried over there and asked her for it before anyone else could. A little bit later, we started walking through the back hallways to the auditorium where they had reserved the front rows for the graduates. Unfortunately, Gary got separated from us, and I got put in the row next to Autumn and the others, although I was supposed to sit with them. But it was okay I guess. There were a couple speeches of some graduates and other important people, and then they started sending row by row up to the stage. Before going up the steps, everybody posed for a picture with a diploma folder in front of a USA and a Michigan flag. Then we had to line up by the left of the stage behind Mr Miller, whom we had to give our name card before we walked over the stage. We told him how to pronounce our name right, he announced it, and then we walked over the stage to our principal Mr Mulcahy, while another picture was taken of us walking. Mr Mulcahy gave us a diploma folder (we didn't get our actual diplomas, or, in my case, a Certificate of Attendance, until later). Then we had to shake his hand and keep walking past all those important school officials, shaking everybody's hands, receiving a "Congratulations!" from every single one and constantly mumbling "Thank you!". It was pretty cool. But with one person walking across the stage at a time, and about 400 graduates, it took a looong time.
After the ceremony, we stood and symbolically put our tassel from the left side of our cap to the right (that's a sign that we successfully graduated). Then we left the auditorium and went back to the room where we had met before to receive our diplomas. Outside of the building, I found Courtney, Grandma, and Michaela. Sheila and Grayson had gone to the car because Grayson was tired. Because I wanted a picture with Autumn and couldn't find her right away, I asked Justin for a ride so my family wouldn't have to wait so long. Lots of pictures were taken with lots of people, I will have to try and get all of them. When we finally left the place, Justin, Gary, Autumn, and I went to Taco Bell (I had been so nervous before the ceremony that I hadn't eaten much of my dinner before at home). There, we met Kyle, and Steve dropped by later. After that, Justin dropped me off at home.
Grayson's graduation from kindergarten was on Friday morning. I went to the school with Sheila when she dropped off Michaela and Jacob, we attended 9 o'clock mass, and then the graduation started at 10.30. Doug, who worked at home that day, came to see Grayson, and Jake and Michaela were also excused from class so they could watch their little brother graduate. It was a cute ceremony :) The kindergarteners sang, presented pictures that they had painted, and then got their diploma.
On Saturday, I went to Kyle Manikas' (my play co-actor ;) ) graduation party with Keith from about 2.30 to 3.30. It was a very nice day, and it was good to meet a few of the play people again. When I came home, my family had just left for church, but they picked me up after and we went to Ms Amber's house for dinner. It was a lot of fun, I played with Baby Vito and the other kids outside and got to talk to Daniella, their Korean exchange student. I think she's going back home this week.
Sunday was a lazy day. I spent most of it reading.
Yesterday was a GREAT day :)
I got up with the kids in the morning, and Grayson and I went with Sheila when she dropped off the other two kids at the school in the morning. The three of us then went to Grandma's workplace to switch cars with her because we were driving out to an outlet mall which is about 65 miles away - and it would take a lot of expensive gas to drive the huge van up there, which is why we took Grandma's little Ford. The outlet mall is amazing. It has some really cool stores and they had the GREATEST sales.
We first went into the GAP store, where I found some white shorts. At Big Dog, I found some really cute and cheap pj's. I bought underwear in the next store - for unbelievable prices, like $4 for a bra! - and then we got to Rue 21. I love this store so much. I tried on about a million pieces of clothing, and ended up getting a yellow and a blue tank top, a striped black and white top, a white top with yellow flower print, a white top that is almost like a mini dress, my very super favourite black/grey/white skirt with POCKETS, 2 pair of striped shorts - one brown and white, one green and white -, and a pair of brown shorts. Everything was on sale, most of the things were between $3 and $6. At Old Navy, I got a red top for 5 bucks. The last store where I bought something was Aeropostale, and they probably had the best deals of all: Everything was on sale already, and you got an additional 30% off of the sales prices. I got a pair of dark blue, long pants there, a really nice, grey summer jacket, yellow, short sweat pants, a dark red 3/4 sleeve top, a grey mini dress, grey shorts, and a striped green and white top. I know, that is a lot. I got like 24 pieces of clothing overall, but I only paid about $6.50 per piece on average. Sooo cheap! I'm done with my shopping for this entire summer, and probably for most of the next summer, too. That means I won't have to buy ridiculously expensive clothes in Germany for a while.
Okay, I'm sick of typing now. Here's some pictures.
Talk to you soon.
5/22/2008
Prom...
... was fun :)
So on Saturday, I went to the hair place with Courtney so she could get her hair cut. Other then that, I didn't really do anything exciting until after dinner, when I went to Walmart with Gary to get a birthday present for Grayson (they have some really cool Speedracer toy cars there ;) we had fun pressing buttons...). Later that night, Sheila and I figured out my hair for prom.
On Sunday, we went to church and cleaned the house after. Around 3, guests for Grayson's birthday party came. Grandma was here, aunt and uncle, cousins Tony, Cassy, and Amanda, and Melinda's family (Melinda is Sheila's friend who lived in Germany for like, 3 years. Now they've been back for a year, but this summer they go there again for a year.). Melinda had called me in advance, because she wanted me to help her play a joke on her son Christopher whom I hadn't met yet. She told him that I didn't speak English very well, so he talked German to me for quite a while until we told him the truth ;) It was funny. But I'm pretty sure his German is better than mine is at the moment.
On Monday, I went with Gary in the morning when he brought Courtney to school (although he's out of school now, he still has to take his sisters in the morning, so he takes Courtney, too), because I had some little presents (German candy) for some of my teachers. After that, we went somewhere to have breakfast, and then we came back to the school for 3rd hour so I could take my Precalc final. After that, he picked me up again and we went to get Autumn. Until 6th hour, I explained the Precalc stuff to them at McDonald's, and then they had to go to take their final.
Tuesday was the day of our graduation practise. Again, I had to get up early, because it started at 7.30. We took our Senior picture, and then they explained to us what we have to do on graduation day. I still don't have my cap and gown... that kind of starts to bother me. Gary doesn't have his either, neither do Randy or Adam.
After that, we got our yearbooks and tickets for graduation. Then, Gary, Autumn, and I went to my house to look through the yearbooks until 4th hour, when we went back to the school to hang out with Mr Curtis during his prep hour. He signed our yearbooks :) AND he's coming to my goodbye party!!
And then, yesterday, was the day of our prom! I slept in, did some chores, and prepared for prom as much as I could so far... there wasn't really anything to start yet, though. When Sheila got home (she had to sub) she started doing my hair. We weren't even done with that yet when Eric, Ashlynn, and Kyle got to my house. Oh well, they were early, I was in time ;)
While I was doing my make-up and getting my dress on - with Courtney's help - Gary and Gina got here as well. Finally ready, I came downstairs, and Kyle gave me my cresage and flowers :) We waited for Matt, Courtney, Garrett, Autumn, and a couple parents, and then we started a looong photo session. Around 6.40 pm, we all left for Villa Penna, where the prom took place. It was a pretty cool place, and the dinner they served was good. As expected, the music consisted mainly of hip hop... oh well, it was alright. Autumn improvised with some epic hand-dances :) (she's still on crutches). The night ended too soon, and then Kyle, Gary, Gina, Matt, Courtney and I went with Autumn to Autumn's house. I stayed overnight. Rosie finally starts putting less effort into chewing me and more into chewing dog toys. Yay! I love that puppy. But she CAN get annoying. I've been back home since 2 pm. It felt amazing to take a shower and brush my teeth when I got home ^^
So on Saturday, I went to the hair place with Courtney so she could get her hair cut. Other then that, I didn't really do anything exciting until after dinner, when I went to Walmart with Gary to get a birthday present for Grayson (they have some really cool Speedracer toy cars there ;) we had fun pressing buttons...). Later that night, Sheila and I figured out my hair for prom.
On Sunday, we went to church and cleaned the house after. Around 3, guests for Grayson's birthday party came. Grandma was here, aunt and uncle, cousins Tony, Cassy, and Amanda, and Melinda's family (Melinda is Sheila's friend who lived in Germany for like, 3 years. Now they've been back for a year, but this summer they go there again for a year.). Melinda had called me in advance, because she wanted me to help her play a joke on her son Christopher whom I hadn't met yet. She told him that I didn't speak English very well, so he talked German to me for quite a while until we told him the truth ;) It was funny. But I'm pretty sure his German is better than mine is at the moment.
On Monday, I went with Gary in the morning when he brought Courtney to school (although he's out of school now, he still has to take his sisters in the morning, so he takes Courtney, too), because I had some little presents (German candy) for some of my teachers. After that, we went somewhere to have breakfast, and then we came back to the school for 3rd hour so I could take my Precalc final. After that, he picked me up again and we went to get Autumn. Until 6th hour, I explained the Precalc stuff to them at McDonald's, and then they had to go to take their final.
Tuesday was the day of our graduation practise. Again, I had to get up early, because it started at 7.30. We took our Senior picture, and then they explained to us what we have to do on graduation day. I still don't have my cap and gown... that kind of starts to bother me. Gary doesn't have his either, neither do Randy or Adam.
After that, we got our yearbooks and tickets for graduation. Then, Gary, Autumn, and I went to my house to look through the yearbooks until 4th hour, when we went back to the school to hang out with Mr Curtis during his prep hour. He signed our yearbooks :) AND he's coming to my goodbye party!!
And then, yesterday, was the day of our prom! I slept in, did some chores, and prepared for prom as much as I could so far... there wasn't really anything to start yet, though. When Sheila got home (she had to sub) she started doing my hair. We weren't even done with that yet when Eric, Ashlynn, and Kyle got to my house. Oh well, they were early, I was in time ;)
While I was doing my make-up and getting my dress on - with Courtney's help - Gary and Gina got here as well. Finally ready, I came downstairs, and Kyle gave me my cresage and flowers :) We waited for Matt, Courtney, Garrett, Autumn, and a couple parents, and then we started a looong photo session. Around 6.40 pm, we all left for Villa Penna, where the prom took place. It was a pretty cool place, and the dinner they served was good. As expected, the music consisted mainly of hip hop... oh well, it was alright. Autumn improvised with some epic hand-dances :) (she's still on crutches). The night ended too soon, and then Kyle, Gary, Gina, Matt, Courtney and I went with Autumn to Autumn's house. I stayed overnight. Rosie finally starts putting less effort into chewing me and more into chewing dog toys. Yay! I love that puppy. But she CAN get annoying. I've been back home since 2 pm. It felt amazing to take a shower and brush my teeth when I got home ^^
Prom's over, graduation's coming closer... and after that? Nooooo... :'(
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
