Monday, April 26, 2010

Temporary Home

Carrie Underwood - Temporary Home Lyrics
Songwriters: Laird, Luke Robert;Maloy, Zac;Underwood, Carrie

Little boy, six years old
A little too used to being alone
Another new mom and dad
Another school, another house that'll never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face
"This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my temporary home"

Young mom on her own
She needs a little help, got nowhere to go
She's looking for a job, looking for a way out
'Cause a halfway house will never be a home
At night she whispers to her baby girl
"Someday we'll find our place here in this world"
"This is our temporary home, it's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know this is our temporary home"

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers "Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says "I can see God's face"
"This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was my temporary home"
This is our temporary home

It is amazing to me how some songs make you really think about life. This one in particular really gets to me especially since a family friend has recently been diagnosed with cancer. It seems like more people are being affected by this fatal disease. Many of these people accept the news and are able to say, "I am going to a better place." They know that this Earthly life is just their temporary home. Personally I am not sure how I would respond. I am not sure I would be as accepting to the idea of leaving my temporary home. At least not any time soon.

Monday, April 19, 2010

From melon to yellow

Every year around prom time, my church puts on a prom like dance for the youth that are aged 16-18. This year instead of being asked by one guy I was asked by two. I later found out that they had planned to ask each of the six girls so that no one got left out. (Which, to me, didn't sound like a good idea in the beginning because I didn't want girls to feel left out at the dance. But when I found out that most of the girls were OK with the idea, I quickly replied and decided that the dance would be fun no matter who I was going with.)

The morning of, (yes we waited until then) my mom took me to go pick out some fabric to make sleeves for my dress. (It was a melon color and I could not find any jackets or covers that matched). Surprisingly we found a matching color at the first store and were on our way back home before long. She made plans and started to sow while I took off to the church to help with decorations.
The decorations were nothing elaborate. The theme was It is a Dream. One of my dates, Craig, and I were in charge of the backdrop for the pictures. The initial idea was to have a huge tree and make it look dreamy (somehow... We weren't really sure how, but it was going to be dreamy.) Our tree did not look quite as elaborate as we were wanting it actually looked kinda sad. The dreamy part was in the balloons, which we wanted to look like clouds, but I am not sure if that is what happened. The balloons made for some fun entertainment during the set up as we blew them until we were lightheaded and started to see stars. These balloons provided another kind of entertainment throughout the dance as some of the boys found it fun to scare girls by popping them). I left the church at 4:45 to get dressed (keep in mind I was supposed to be at Craig's house at 5). When I got home my mom was a little upset that I had not told her the exact time that I was needing to leave and she was not done with the sleeves for my dress. I tried to do something with my hair but ended up throwing it up and curling the ends. Time for the dress.... or was it? My mom decided to pin the sleeves on due to lack of time. As she was pinning the second sleeve she found that it was too short so she had to pull it really tight.. causing a problem with the color in my arm. Then as I was being zipped up (I couldn't move my arm to do it myself) my mom found that it was getting stuck at a point. She called in my dad, who found that there was a tooth missing from the track. Then the doorbell rang... Craig was there to pick me up. Great! I was stuck in the kitchen wearing a dress that I was not be able to wear to the dance. No, fear, I made it to my room, had the dress that I had wore last year and made it out the door.
Aside from being an hour late to the dinner... and 30 minutes late to the dance, the rest of the night turned out alright.



This is all of us together right before the dance.
The dance was fun! Some highlights were the Cotton-eyed Joe (a classic line dance), Hannah Montana Hoedown Throw down,teaching Craig how to Waltz and Swing, the Cupid shuffle, of course all of the slow songs where I got to get to know some guys, and sprinkling glitter all over friends when the dance was over. Not your typical prom, but still a good time.



This is all of us plus one boy, minus one girl and my shoes. I am not sure what the gang signs are all about and I was told that we were all leaning... guess not.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The world needs more Daltons

Yesterday was the second day that I went to the Wanda Grey Elementary School playground after school. The boys that I babysit wanted to go to a different park and the elementary just so happened to be the closest one. There were a lot of kids because of the after school program. The boys that I babysit were able to meet up with some of their friends and spend some playtime with kids their age. I sat at a picnic table and wrote. I have to admit that it was very hard to concentrate on what I was doing because there were so many kids. This was a new experience for me. No, not a lot of elementary aged kids, but the at school, or rather after school, setting because I didn't go to elementary school. I found myself wondering which group I would have been playing in. Would I be in the group of girls who were all wearing pink? Or would I be one of the only girls playing tag with the boys? Would elementary school have changed who I am today?
As I sat asking myself these questions, I noticed a cute little boy walking toward me.
"Whacha doin?" He asked as he climbed on to the bench across from me.
"Writing." I wonder what he thought when I said that because I had not been writing when he first started my way I am sure. "What is your name?"
"Dalton. What's yours?" He asked
"Karee."
"Karee, you wanna play with me?"
"Sure," I said closing my notebook. I wasn't going to get anything written anyway.
As he was telling me how to play baby tigers, I could not help noticing how friendly he was. Is this how kids are when they are in kindergarten? Do they just see people who they think need a friend and decide I am going to be their friend. He taught me how to speak tiger and got me food. Within minutes, I had four baby tigers surrounding me. The game of baby tigers did not last very long because they had to go inside, but I had fun. Before Dalton went inside he gave me a hug! It was so cute. He thanked me for playing with him and then he skipped away.
I wish there were more Daltons. Cute, nice, and friendly boys, but my age.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Little Pink Stinker

Yesterday had to have been the most stressful day of my life! I had procrastinated writing my science fair lab report as well as putting together my board. So I got what I deserved. Here is how the day went.
I woke up around 5:30 (which means I ended up getting 5 hours of sleep thanks to this lab report) And was late to seminary (early morning Bible study) because I had to get all of my things together. When I got to school I grabbed a package of Poptarts from the vending machine and then was off to ask a few questions and work on my board. The day went on like normal (aside from being extra tired). I sat through an extremely sad assembly about Safe and Sober Prom (I hope that they got the message across!) Third block my cal teacher let me go down to my dads room to work on my board (I had nothing on my board!). I worked straight through lunch and all of the class, so when the bell rang I knew I needed a break (and I didn't want to miss my favorite class.) As I was putting my board away in my dad's office, I collapsed. I am not sure if it was low blood sugar, lack of sleep, or stress, but what ever it was it caused me to black out and fall on a tool box. After waiting around/regaining my strength I went to my class, wrote some, and visited with my teacher Mrs. Fraser, who wrote the nicest letter of recommendation for me!
When school let out the pressure was on. I worked in my dads room till 5:13 running back in forth between computer, printer, paper cutter, and my board. I made a quick run to Walmart to get some letter cut outs to use for my title. Then I was on my way. I found out how hard it was to change into a skirt in the car, before rushing to Hammon's Hall being blown away as my tri-fold acted as a parachute catching the wind. I made it there around 5:45 and put the title on my board only to learn that I still had 45 minutes before the judging was to begin.



This is how my board turned out. Not the most eye catching, but not too shabby.



I was so glad to have friends there to talk to and to walk around with for the 45 minutes. We walked by most of the projects and joked around (which happens when you get a bunch of sleep deprived girls together.)


(This picture was funnier last night!)

I guess the whole thing turned out OK. I answered all of the questions, got signatures (I have no idea what that means), and was asked to present it again at the end of the month. AND I got a pink sticker, or a pink stinker as I called it, which told me I was a winner! I am not sure what I won, but I was told I could have won more then one thing, which would be pretty fun! I will find out tomorrow, but for now I am going to read a book and take a nap!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter Sunday

I was so glad that this Easter weekend was nice. I didn't get to really enjoy the nice weather because of a project that I had procrastinated, but it made it feel like spring!



Here is the family (minus one) on Sunday after church. My cousin was jumping up and down making the funniest sounds, which explains why some of us are laughing.



We tried to color coordinate our outfits, but I could not find a melon color dress to match, so I ended up the odd one out.

Spring is indeed upon us, but I have no time to enjoy it, at least not today. For now it is back to my Science fair project.