I'm blank...

I just can't think of a title. So whatever.

Practice was really fun and easy today..... which was nice.

On the way home though..... we ran into some stand-still traffic and that went on for about 2 miles.... creeping along. Then actually stopping. Then creeping along some more..... when we finally arrived at the problem, we discovered ---- a cop car, parked in the left-most lane. Another cop car was on the shoulder, and a barely damaged and completely empty blue car was sitting on the shoulder also. I guess we were supposed to assume that there was a wreck?? It look pretty bad for the cop who was parked IN THE ROAD and causing a huge traffic issue though. He was on his laptop... I hope he wasn't surfing YouTube.

I feel like there was something else I was going to say, but I can't think of what it was.... Oh, yeah. Something about enjoying today and not rushing time. Time will sometimes go too slow, and sometimes too fast, just remember to live in the moment that you're in. I think kids spend too much time straining forwards, and adults have a tendency to look back. Us young adults.... well, we're caught in the middle, looking forwards and backwards. Now is the time that you looked forward to when you were little, and the time that you'll look back on when you're older. Enjoy it, and live it to the fullest. I'm not crazy about Steven Curtis Chapman, but I really like some of his songs, and this is the chorus of one:

Breathe it in, breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There's a wonder in the here and now
It's right there in front of you, and
I don't want you to miss
The miracle of the moment

~Lizzie

Truth and strangers.

Most people think I'm strange when I say this, but I actually take the Bible literally. Not only that, but I put the Bible as top authority. Meaning that I take what it says, and believe that over anything else. The Bible is over science, "logic," text books, the government, and, believe it or not, even....*gasp* what I read online!

Sometimes, when my beliefs don't match up with someone else's, I wonder why I'm so weird. Why do so many Christians disagree? For example, (and this is something most of my friends do agree) I believe that the world isn't millions and billions of years old. The disagreements come into play when I think that the earth is 6,000 years old. (And we won't get into that, because that's not what this post is about. It was just an example.)

I think that the real issue is that we don't focus enough on the fact that this world is NOT our home. We are strangers in a foreign land, here to bring glory to God. So, as strangers in a foreign land, what do we have that isn't foreign? We have the Holy Spirit, and the Bible. The Holy Spirit guides us, and the Bible is the book that God gave us. Other than that, everything should be weighed against the Bible. Does it match up? Or does it contradict?

There is a third question that I just recently realized you can ask. Sometimes a particular issue doesn't seem to be addressed by the Bible, and in that case, you can ask: Does it really matter? For example, the Bible doesn't say you should always wear purple. Nor does it say you shouldn't wear purple. Does it really matter? No. It really puts things into perspective for me to think about it this way. I get so caught up in gray areas being right or wrong, and I feel like I have to decide for myself since the Bible doesn't specify. It seems like such a simple concept, but it's hit me very suddenly, and I'm really excited to be able to say that, "I've weighed such-and-such against the Bible, and I don't believe it's necessarily right or wrong." (Just for clarity, I'd like to point out that I'm not talking about issues of the magnitude of whether or not to wear purple here.)

But before you ask "does it really matter?" you really have to dig into the "does it match?" and "does it contradict?" questions. I try to have a Biblical reason for everything that I strongly believe in. Sometimes my beliefs seem pretty removed from the Bible, and probably most people wouldn't agree with my reasons. For example, I'm very opinionated about herbs. I don't do "modern medicine" and I don't do homeopathy, which is probably more common than herbs. And I have a Biblical reason, not because the Bible says "Thou shalt only use herbs for thy health and not medicine or homeopathy or any other substitutes" (we all know that's not in there, right?) but simply because God created plants for our nourishment. He didn't create chemotherapy, vaccines, sleep aid pills or water containing the energy of a certain substance.

But it's not the side issues (like herbs) that really gets to me. What really bothers me is when Christians can't agree on things that are obviously addressed in the Bible. Like, what really counts as stealing? If money is just lying somewhere, is it stealing to take it? Well, is it yours? Does the lack of an owner standing right there make it any less stealing? What about lying? Does it count as lying if the truth might hurt someone's feelings? I mean, what are you supposed to say when she asks what you think of that horrible skirt?

We as Christians need to start taking the Bible seriously. It applies to everyday life, not just becoming a Christian and following the rules. The more I read, the more I realize it applies to EVERYTHING. If you don't agree, I challenge you to read your Bible more. Read the whole Bible, all the way through, and then come tell me that it doesn't apply to every aspect of life.

~Lizzie

WALL-E

This will probably do a number on my nice little facade of being a mature 17-year-old, but I have to confess.

We went to see WALL-E yesterday, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I didn't think I would, because the previews were so sad (please don't ask me how an animated robot can look cute and sad enough to evoke emotion) but it was really good! Even if it did ALMOST make me cry..... that's the really pathetic part. A Disney Pixar film for little kids almost made me cry.... *shakes head* But I guess that's how they make their money. All the mature people taking the little kiddies to see the movie like the movie too.

*Spoiler warning*
The problem? Earth was completely covered in trash, and all the humans are on a "cruise" in outer space, waiting for robots to clean it all up before they return. The hero? A lone robot - WALL-E - who is still cleaning up earth, with only the companionship of a cock roach (a CUTE cock roach). All the other robots have apparently stopped working, as you see when WALL-E visits a huge pile of other WALL-Es to borrow a pair of "shoes." WALL-E compacts trash into cubes, and builds huge towers out of them. At the end of a day of work, he goes home and watches Hello Dolly, obviously longing for the companionship he sees in the movie.

Then one day, a gorgeous white robot arrives in a huge space ship. He's immediately smitten.... and almost gets killed when she blasts him upon sight. She's looking for something.... he tries a various line of gifts to get her attention and approval, then finally breaks through and learns her name: EVE. Then a sand storm comes up and he takes her to his home, where he shows her all the neat things he's collected from the trash, the last of which really excites her. A plant. She puts it inside her internal container, and shuts down with a green light flashing on her panel.

WALL-E desperately tries to revive her to no avail. The ship that brought her arrives to take her back, and WALL-E rides along..... to the cruise spaceship, containing the world population, all as fat as beached whales and lying on floating chairs with TV screens in front of their faces. They've been in space 700 years, and they aren't interested in returning to earth. But the plant that WALL-E gave EVE is proof that earth is ready for rehabitation. The captain's interest is revived by the plant, and he researches everything about earth that they've forgotten over the 700 years and decides to go back.

But the robots on the ship are determined not to go back. They have their orders.... from the original cruise director: Never return. They try to destroy the plant and incriminate EVE and WALL-E. Just to skip all the boring stuff, EVE and WALL-E get the plant and take it to be evaluated by the ship. If it is a plant from earth, the ship will set a course back to earth. Just before they insert the plant, the co-pilot (a robot) intentionally crushes WALL-E into the stage with the receptacle that is supposed to identify the plant. The captain disables the robot (and learns to walk!), but WALL-E is already crushed.

The plant is identified, and the ship returns to earth, where EVE tries to repair WALL-E with spare parts. He works again, but doesn't recognize her. She tries everything and is just about to give up when he snaps out of it and remembers her. And they lived happily ever after; The End.

It really was a cute movie. My new Pixar favorite! I can't wait to see it again. :P

~Lizzie

Camping trip: Part 3

This is probably the final installment of my very boring series (may I suggest Jess's blog for a much more interesting version).... perhaps my next post will spark some more discussion as I have a pretty controversial and probably inflammatory opinion post forming in my head. Or maybe I won't post it and I'll just type it out to relieve my frustration.

Anyway. We slept in much later on Sunday.... us gals were woken up by everyone else giving up on being quiet. We got up and breakfast was already underway.

Watermelon!!

Our little camp kitchen area......

My sis, the bacon mistress.

Scrambled egg sandwiches.

Then we went out for our last time on the lake. We did a lot of the same things that we did the day before..... but a new occurrence was Daddy letting me sail the Sunfish! Jess and Nathan were brave enough to ride with me... and after a small incident where I almost crashed into a nice motorboat while casting off (I DIDN'T hit it!) I did a pretty good job... if I do say so myself.

Packing up. Yep, all that actually fits in (and some on top) of the suburban. The 6 of us were pretty squished with baggage riding next to, around and on top of us though.

Our Sunfish, packed up and ready to go.

And I just remembered that I still haven't shared Sarah's pictures... so if I ever get that to work I might have another post. But that's it for now... try to contain your disappointment.

~Lizzie

Camping trip: Part 2

Before I get started on another long post about our fantastic camping trip, I want to mention this article that Natalie linked on her blog..... "20-Something Reasons to Live at Home". It's really good and has given me even more reasons to continue living at home when I'm older. Thank you, Natalie, for sharing it!

Now to continue with the description of our camping trip.... since there's nothing else for me to blog about and I'm sure all of our faithful readers are on the edges of their seats in anticipation.

Jess, Sarah and I were up at 6:30... and we were hungry. Unfortunately for us, all the food was in our Suburban, and the Suburban (or "Sub" as we affectionately call it) was locked. Aaaaaand, the keys were in my parents tent, and most likely in an inaccessible place (My guess: my dad's pocket). So we suffered for a while before our trying to break into the Sub aroused my parents enough to ask what was wrong with us and give us the keys. We wolfed down some fruit yogurt and popped our Starbucks frappuchinos into the cooler to get cold. The rest of our group appeared in small clusters and we played cards while we drank our frappuchinos.

Joel discovered his 3rd alternate identity...... for those of you who don't know, he already has his normal self, which goes by the name Joel. Then he has a goofy character with a high-pitched voice that goes by Lenny. He put on a camo hat backwards and found Bubba. Bubba is an Italian trucker person...... I still haven't gotten used to him. (I know it sounds like some weird thing, but really, Joel's just pretending..... he doesn't have multiple personality disorder. Just to clarify). Jess started an add-on story about Bubba, where we disclose his life story and some very traumatic secrets about his unfortunate personality. (Sarah has a picture of Bubba which I tried to upload, but as you'll see in more detail below, I'm having difficulty with her pictures.)

Then we had a full-fledged breakfast of pancakes and egg-sandwiches before heading down to the beach. We played an slightly improvised version of water polo (with no goals..... go figure), floated in floaties, swam and sailed our Sunfish. Here are a few pictures that I took:

Daddy, Marck and David on the Sunfish.

Hannah and Chandler on their "boat."

Mr. M, my dad, and Joel, putting the Sunfish away for the night.

A neat shot.... not sure how I got it, it was entirely accidental.

This is a shot of a kayaker. Believe it. Ha, I'm not sure what setting I put it on, but for some reason it "clicked" for about 5 seconds.... thus the fuzziness. I decided that it looks kinda like a modern piece of artwork and decided to share my diverse artistic talent.

And because Sarah said that she won't do a post with her pictures, I asked and received her permission to share some of her photos (infinitely superior to mine). Unfortunately, I have spent the last hour trying to get her pictures to upload to blogger and it isn't working. So they'll have to appear later. *frown* Maybe from her computer....

So anyway. This is going to sound somewhat anticlimactic.... we all watched the sunset, and everyone started heading back to camp. Jess and I hung out on the beach until it was decidedly dark, discussing serious topics.... and when we got back, there were only 2 marshmallows left! So we each got a very small s'more and then we all played Infinite Questions (near cousin to the game "20 Questions") until we turned in.

~Lizzie

Camping trip: Part 1

We got together a group camping trip at Jordan Lake this past weekend, with us, the M's, the J's and Jess and Marck. (Some others were invited, but they couldn't make it.......)

At first we had a bit of difficulty with our campsite. We thought at first that we needed to stop at a separate ranger station, but after a call to Mrs. M, determined that we should just go on to the actual campsite and there would be a way to register our site there. Jess was waiting at the separate ranger station, so we called her and she headed over to Vista Point a few minutes behind us.

We got to Vista Point and told the guy at the booth that we wanted a group campsite, and he asked for our reservation. "We called twice and were informed that it is first-come, first-serve," my mom replied. The guy told us that that's true for individual sites, but you can and should make reservations for group sites, and that all their group sites were full. He called Crosswinds for us and found that they had some duplex sites available, which should be big enough for our not-so-big group.

We went over to Crosswinds and spent a while trying to pick a site, since all the sites on the water were already taken. We finally picked one, and Jess and Marck arrived. Jess, Marck and I pitched 2 of the tents with little-to-no help from anyone until the J's arrived. Nathan very obligingly hammered in stakes for us while we kicked back.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on what you want to read) I can't give a very detailed account of everything that we did after that, because I was tired. I know that we went down to the beach to watch the sunset. And I got some pictures.


Then we played Apples to Apples and Hearts before supper. We had hotdogs cooked on the campfire, and s'mores. Then we brushed our teeth and went to bed.

~Lizzie

First meet of the summer!

We won!!! 277 to 183. It was pretty cool, since last year we lost to them by 57 points. We got a great start to our season, and it was so much fun! The pool was absolutely terrible though. The water's already gotten warm and the water is salty and murky, you can't see 2 feet in front of your face. At the turn the wall just appears and you're like, "Ahh!" It's a really slow shallow pool (feels really slow after swimming in 7-12 feet water) and the blocks AREN'T ATTACHED TO THE WALL! For backstroke races, the starter had to actually say, "Someone hold the blocks, please" otherwise the blocks would just fall in (on top of you!) when you tried to start.

Here's some pics my mom took with my camera (since I was kinda busy).

Before a swim.

Sean and Joel after an event.

Me with my Indiana-Jones'-alien-imitation swim cap and mad breastroke skillz.

Rachel and Hannah interviewing Maryn with Jessica's voice recorder.

Joel winning butterfly. This has an interesting story. Butterfly is the last of the individual events, and it was the only one that Sean didn't swim. The 13-14 boys on the other team got 2nd and 3rd to Sean in all the other events, and beat Joel (mostly because Joel doesn't do flip turns... a REALLY bad idea). So before this race (in Joel's hearing) the 2 boys in question were saying "Ooh, I feel a first coming" and the other boy says, "Yeah, I feel a second!" And then Joel is so far ahead in this pic that you can't even see them. He beat them pretty bad.

Our 13-14 boys relay team (with 2 11-12's swimming up [yes, that's legal]).

Doing the hand motions to a song from "Annie."

Abby and Hannah smiling... and Rachel F's hand. *shakes finger*

When we heard the score, we pushed Coach in.

And Mr. Y.

Then we played until we were commanded to get out.

On the way home, we were stopped at a red light and a sheriff pulled up next to us. He had a laptop on a swivel arm right next to the steering wheel, and we could see what he was doing..... browsing videos on YouTube. We couldn't quite tell what he was watching though. Good thing no one ran the red light, because he never would have noticed.

~Lizzie