Where a kid can be a kid

So my family is really close to this other family, the Larnerds. My dad and Mr. Larnerd have been best friends since they were 13. Jory and Karen Larnerd have 3 boys: Colin, 17, Cameron, 13, haha and Caleb 12. Recently their cousin Jorden moved in with them too who is also 17. So we always have alot of fun hanging out with them. When we were younger we started going to Chuck E Cheese alot when we would hang out. The kids could play while the adults hang out and talk. That way we could entertain outselves and my mom wouldn't have to worry about having 3 boys running around the house :-p So I guess the tradition just kinda stuck. We don't go to Chuck E. Cheese as much as we used to but once in a while we still go there to hang out. Last night was one of those times. It was the entire Larnerd family (plus Jorden) , my family, Tash, Matt, and Joe Yost. It was a really good time. We played skee ball, basketball, climbed in the tubes, and took really awesome pictures (my personal favorite :-p) So yup. You are never too old to have a good time at Chuck's place.

Feelin' So Fly

Sorry I haven't gotten to blog in a while! I have been busy and then I haven't really felt so good the last few days. But anyways! Last Saturday night I went to a Tobymac concert in Elmira. Most of you have prob never even heard of him, but he is a white christian rapper haha. Funny image right? He isn't like my favorite artist or anything, but his songs are really catchy, and he is AMAZING in concert! I have seen him twice now in concert, and they were both like the best concerts I have ever been to. Tobymac has so much energy! You can't help but get up and dance! I went to the concert with my family and 6 other girls from my church. I told my mom before we went to the concert that she was going to love it. I told her he is so amazing in concert, but she said to me after the concert "wow Katie, I didn't think it was going to be THAT good!" It is one of those things you have to experience for yourself to get it :-p But anyway it was a really good time! I have a video you can watch below but it isn't that great a quality and doesn't sound nearly as good as in concert. Like I said, you have to be there to truely experience it :-p

blind as a bat

I went to the eyedoctor today for my annual checkup, and I realized that if it wern't for the invention of contacts/glasses I would be blind! The eyedoctor first checked my eyesight with my glasses on. So when the eyedoctor took my glasses off to just look at my eye, I realized that the chart that I was reading with my glasses on just seconds before, looked like it had nothing on it when my glasses were off!

A few weeks ago, I did the 30 Hour Famine. One of the games we played at the church was this tribe game. We got a card with a picture of a child from Africa on it. It had a small paragraph about the child on it and at the bottom it said what the child's disability was. My child was blind, so for the remainder of the game I had to be blindfolded. I had no idea how hard that was going to be! I had to take a jug of water to the other side of the room, dump the water into a big bucket, take my socks and shoes off, wash my feet in the big bucket, put my socks and shoes back on, refil the jug again, and bring it back to the other side of the room to the next person in line. I had to do ALL this blindfolded!!! It was so hard. I had no idea where I was going, or where the big bucket was I had to dump the water into. It is amazing how much i take my eyesight for granted.


Thank goodness for the invention of contacts/eyeglasses!

So long UEHS

UE Highschool, wow where to start? I remember my first day of highschool as a freshman. I was so scared. The seniors looked soo big and I had no idea where to even go. I was sure I was going to get lost! I remember it helped so much being on the swim team because I met so many upperclassmen before school even started. I soon learned highschool wasn't as scary as it seemed. The school is just one big square, and all the teachers are really nice. My first year of highschool I had one of favorite teachers, Mrs. Krieger.

Sophmore Year. Sophmore year was interesting. I became really close to a group of friends and we had alot of fun, although there was also some drama within the group too which wasn't very fun. I also has another one of my favorite teachers sophmore year, Mr. Friend. Sophmore year was the only year I went to snowball. It was alot of fun, but I just didn't end up going the other years because I had other stuff going on.

Junior year had a lot of good things, as well as bad. I started hanging out with a new group of friends outside of school, and became incredibly close to them in a really short amount of time. I was able to be myself around them, and not alot of people know the true me. I got a boyfriend which was a new experience for me, and I learned alot from it. I had some rough times too junior year. I graudually began to grow apart from some of my friends from school. I also got really bad "junioritis". Near the end of the year I really didn't want to do any work. I just went through the motions to get to the weekends. I struggled with italian, almost dropping the course, but I stuck with it and passed the regents!

That brings me to Senior year. Senior year has been my favorite year so far. I am not taking a science or language, so I actually get to take courses I want to take! I feel like I have so much more time and not as much homework. It is so much more relaxed. I have also had some really tough times this year. I pushed alot of my friends away junior year. I took them for granted and I had to deal with those consequences this year. I learned there has to be a balance. I can't just forget about some of my friends and expect them to be there for me when I decide I need them. I almost lost one of my best friends this year because I took her for granted. Thank goodness for grace! But anway, senior year has been really different than other years for me. I feel like people are alot friendlier and less cliquey. I have grown closer to different people this year than in past years. Overal, its just been a great experience!

So anyway, I have learned a lot throughtout my highschool experience, and I will miss some things about highschool but for the most part I think I'm ready for college! So long UEHS!

Snoozing away the afternoon

I love naps! I never really used to nap, but I do all the time now. I just get so tired I always feel like I need a nap in the afternoon. I usually come home from school and just crash on the couch! I always nap on Sundays too after church, before youth group. I decided to blog about this today because I actually just woke up from a nap! I was so tired this morning and so a nap was just the thing I needed to get me though the day! Nothing beats wrapping up in a cozy blanket on the couch and a fire in the fireplace!

One thing I really hate is when you say you have to get together with someone sometime, but then it never happens. You always have good intentions to get together, but then you get busy or something happens and you just never do and you graudually grow apart from the person. It doesn't even have to be friends but family or teachers too. I always say I need to get together with my cousins again, but it never happens, and I always say at the end of a year I will come back and visit certain teachers but i never get around to it.

Yesterday was a really interesting day. I went to BCC to see what courses i'll be taking next year and just learn more about their program. So while I was there I got a text from someone I hadn't seen since the summer! He was at Broome and wanted to meet up. So after I was done talking to the student advisor I went and met up with him. It was cool to just catch up with him and see how things were going. While I was at Broome I also saw alot of people who graduated last year. It was just so weird to see people I hadn't seen in so long!

So I went home after BCC and later on I got a text from a friend I have been wanting to talk to forever! He is extremely busy, but I was starting to think he forgot about me. I had tried contacting him but never got a text or myspace comment back. In the rare cases we did talk we always were saying "wow its been way too long!" or "we really need to stay in touch more". But then life went on and it was months before I would hear from him again. So anyway I heard from him last night and we talked for hours, just getting caught up on each others lives! It was just really awsome and I realized how much I really missed talking to him.

But anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say here is I really can't stand it when you say you want to get together with someone sometime and it just never happens for whatever reason. I know I do it all the time too, but I really wish I didn't. I mean think of all the people you have lost contact with because you said you would stay in touch and never did. Blahh ok i'll stop now because this is getting really long and I'm beginning to repeat myself... :-p