GINA'S BLOG

A few days ago I found my diary/ journal from sophomore year stashed underneath my bed. It was exciting looking through my old journal; however, it wasn’t a typical high school girl’s journal. Instead of writing about boys and girlfriend drama, I wrote quotes. Almost every day sophomore year, I wrote a quote or Bible verse in my little blue journal. I often wrote little sayings down that were meaningful to me on that particular day- things that comforted me. Memories flooded back as I read through the quotes in my journal. I was reminded of friendships that I no longer have, worries that I no longer need to fear, and days that are LONG gone.
Looking back on all my years at Western, Sophomore year is probably the year I remember most, and I am going to give credit to my journal for those memories. I was thinking I need to start “journaling” again…. Yes, I am mostly just saying that for brownie points.
I would like to leave you with a few quotes out of my journal. I realize they are probably not as meaningful to anyone else, but I need approximately 50 more words to complete this post. Enjoy..
- Lord, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
- Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt 6:34

Questions for people in Australia: Here in Iowa, we have problems with deer on the roads. Do you guys have problems with hitting kangaroos? What other interesting animals are living in Australia that do not live in America?

Questions for people in Mexico: We have Mexican restaurants in America. Do you have American restaurants in Mexico? Do you ever get sick of the HOT weather, and what do you do for fun in the summer?

Questions for people in Canada: Isn’t there snow in Canada? Why did you need to make snow for the Olympics???

When most people think of Northwest Iowa, I would imagine they would think of boring farmland with a whole lot of corn. Im sad to say that this is mostly true. However, there are a few attractions in Northwest Iowa to keep us Iowans from being bored out of our gourd. Here is a short list of attractions that can be a ton of fun!

1. Arnold’s Park Amusement Park – The amusement park near Lake Okoboji is filled with many attractions and has over 30 rides that bring in a large croud during the summer months.

2. Ice Cream Capitol of the World – Lemars is another fun place to visit during those hot summer months. Visitors can watch how Blue Bunny ice cream is produced while enjoying a cold treat.

3. Pumpkin Land – In the fall, vistors can go to Orange City to see the beauty that autumn brings. Pumpkin land has a 7 acre corn maze, munchkin maze, a petting zoo, and, of course, pumpkins.
Thats not all Iowa has to offer! For more attractions and places to see Click Here.

This past weekend, a few of my friends and I decided to travel down to Des Moines, Iowa, for the State Basketball championship. We were very excited for the big weekend as we left early thursday morning. We weren’t by ourselves though; we followed caravan of girls from our class. After a few pit stops in Boyden and Sheldon, we were on our way. The ride started off fun! We were busy rocking out to loud music while drinking unhealthy amounts of caffeine. About an hour and a half goes by, and we are driving though the town of Cherokee. Suddenly I hear a soft humming noise, and I turned off the music momentarily to listen closer. Sure enough, a quiet buzzing noise seemed to be coming from the hood of my car. Amber- the smarter one of the bunch- said that the rain was making the engine wet. (who knows why, but i chose to believe her.) Then we hit a stop light, it turned green, and I stepped on the gas. Amber, Steph and I just sat quietly as the humming noise became a large rumbling noise. We called the others to alert them that my car sounded like a large boat. After checking it out, we decided to drive it to the mechanic. LONGEST 2 MILES OF MY LIFE!!! By this time it sounded as if it were meant to be in the derby, and the smell of burnt rubber filled the car almost instantly.
…And that was pretty much the end of my car for the weekend. It stayed in Cherokee while we were cheering on our boys. I am happy to say that the rest of the weekend didn’t go as horribly as the first 2 hours, but it will probably be the most memorable part of my trip. : )

The blogging challenge has started today, and our first challenge is to write a post about why someone would want to visit my blog.
This is what I came up with: I have no idea why people would want to visit my blog. Nothing on my blog is too interesting- mostly because I’m not a very interesting person. I suppose if they were like me, they would visit other’s blogs because they are required to. However, I hope this blogging challege is enjoyable, and people enjoy reading my random blog.
Challenge 1

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher asked a little boy: Tommy do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yes..
TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.
TEACHER: Did you see God up there?
TOMMY: No….
TEACHER: That’s my point. We can’t see God because he isn’t there. Possibly he just doesn’t exist.
A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions.
The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yessssss!
LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
TOMMY: Yessssss!
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
TOMMY: Yes
LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
TOMMY: No
LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she possibly may not even have one!
‘FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT’

II CORINTHIANS 5:7

I am sitting in study hall next to one of my greatest friends, Cierra. When I asked her what I should write a post about, she told me NOTHING. NONE. She couldnt think of anything fun or exciting for me to write about, and that was when I decided to write about her. She is brunette who normally acts more like a blonde. As long as she is with her dogs, she is a happy person. Kaidee, Trixie, and Charlie run her life. I am constantly hearing about every move her dogs make.
She is the coolest person in the world. She is the most amazing person in the world. She is telling me exactly what to type.
Her favorite class is lunch, and when she grows up she wants to be anything but an astronaunt. She has green eyes, and dark features. She has gotten a total of 9 piercings, 4 of which she did herself. ( Ears only. I promise.) In her free time she enjoys playing the piano and spending time with me. Usually you can find us eating.
TACO JOHNS!!!!!!!! yum. She usually gets a small, chicken, number 6. Then we normally follow that up with a cookies and cream blizard at dairy queen.
And that is a little about my friend, Cierra.

I am bored. I can’t think of anything exciting to blog about. hm… Today has been pretty uneventful. I did get yelled at by Mr. Van’t Hul today; that was exciting. I don’t think a teacher has ever yelled at me.  I’m not one to get into a ton of trouble in school, and I didn’t know Mr. Van’t Hul was capable of yelling. hm… I’m sitting in study hall trying to get this last blog done before college composition starts. Hopefully it doesn’t need to be longer than 200 words, because this would be the most boring post ever written. Bye.

One of my favorite things about winter are SNOWDAYS! Yesterday we were priviledged to have yet another snowday at Western Christian. Although my day was not too exciting, I did get to spend it with my lovely cousins from Inwood. They came ready for school in the morning, not knowing that it was cancelled,  and then decided to hang out in town for a while anyways. We decided to venture out into the wind and snow with my little sports car and, therefore,  learned an important lesson involving blacktops and winter weather.  In the end it was worth it because we found what we went to sioux center to look for: discounted valentine’s day chocolate. : )

Because it was a relaxing day away from school, it was hard to get out of bed this morning. I can’t wait for another snowday! I just wanted to know what you guys do for fun on your snow days. Feel free to leave a comment!

During these past two weeks, we have been doing a pickle ball unit in P.E. At first, it was really fun and a nice change from volleyball. However, now there are only a couple days of pickle ball left, and I am frustrated beyond belief. I am awful. It seems like the decent people keep getting better, and the people who are downright terrible keep getting worse. Sometimes its not worth trying while looking clumsy if the other team is just going to slam it right back down at your face. Sometimes it does actually hit you in the face. That hurts. If being bad at pickle ball isn’t enough, I always feel bad for my parner. Boofy has been my partner the past couple days, and he truely does all the work. Sure, I occasionally serve and move to the other side of the court, but he is the only reason we made it to the championship round. Boofy, if you are reading this, I am sorry.

Today Amber and I were partners! It was fun, and we actually won a few rounds amazingly! I don’t think I have laughed much harder in P.E. Im sure we were a sight to see. : )

All in all, it has been an interesting two weeks, but I am completely ready for a new sport. Badminton anyone?