I guess I should tell y'all...

that....

I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE TODAY!

And that's about it. 

Well. I guess not.

It's been gorgeous in O-H...... (I-O)

Good weather. About 60, 65. 

I'm applying for about 15 jobs. 

A bunch o jobs. On St. Patrick's day. Some retail, some food service. And the library. Wherever that fits into the bunch. 

So yeah. That's been my life recently.

Anything else you want to know? Leave it in the comments!

SWEET FREEDOM... but not yet.

I finished my LAST in-car driving session today! Which means that I can get my driver's license! As soon as I get my certificate and the horn on the car (Honda-diddy) is fixed.
So I will have sweet freedom sometime in the next couple weeks. But SOON! :D

Sweet freedom is not quite mine... I have some school left to do... which I should do during the commercial breaks of American Idol. They're picking the Top 24 tonight! There's a kid who is a mix of Joe Lew, Kevin K, and Zach Roys. CRAZY. He looks like all three of them. And all three of them are musical. His biggest resemblance to Zach is his CRAZY long curly bright red hair! Love him. haha
I love all three of those guys! :)

hmmm... Dancing at the Falls game went well! I messed up a bit, but nothing major! It's sooooo much easier to do double turns on the gym floor. So that's nice. It's like it's slick, but you still have enough traction that you don't go flying. It just doesn't really make sense. haha

School. Uhg. I have a lot of it left to do. So I think I'm going to sign off and do some physics. And eat some pudding. :)

Adios mi amigos!

NIPTO, Day 280

Hola.

Today was good.

Got up. Did music at church. Drove to Kent. Came home. Ate lunch. Facebooked/watched football. Drove to Chapel Hill. Pretended to be my sister. (It was nothing serious. Don't worry about it. It's cool hahaha That was for Hannah.)

I just kinda... was on facebook a whole lot and ate some food. Then I went to youth group. It was good. BK did a great job, even with the 50 million distractions. It was good. 

I talked to Kayt a little bit. And I'll be thinking a lot now. Gee, thanks, Kayt. I'll have to call her or something haha.

Now I'm home. Just watched Undercover Boss. It was a good one :)

And now I shall blog and then type up my questions for class tomorrow and then go to bed. 

Sound good? 'Kay!

Ecclesiastes 10:12-20

¹² Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
   but fools are consumed by their own lips.
¹³ At the beginning their words are folly;
   at the end they are wicked madness—
 ¹⁴ and fools multiply words.

   No one knows what is coming—
   who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

Ahhhhhh words. So powerful. So... seemingly insignificant. 

The wise have gracious words. Words for others. Fools have words only for themselves. They're consumed by their own words. When they begin to speak their words are foolish and full of folly. In the end, their words are wicked madness. Their words multiply. Like mice. haha. But sometimes in multiplied words things get distorted. Although things are probably distorted to start with if they're coming from the mouth of fools...

And then the ever-recurring "no one knows what's coming so who can tell someone what's going to happen after them?" question. 

 ¹⁵ The toil of fools wearies them;
   they do not know the way to town.

Fools work so hard at nothing that they get tired. The don't know where they're going.

 ¹⁶ Woe to the land whose king was a servant
   and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
   and whose princes eat at a proper time—
   for strength and not for drunkenness.

Woe... woe. Woe to the land who has a king that was a servant and who has a prince who feasts (gets drunk) in the morning. 

But blessed is the land who has a king of noble birth and who eats at the right times. He eats for strength, not to get drunk. Yaaaaaay for not getting drunk early in the morning?

 ¹⁸ Through laziness, the rafters sag;
   because of idle hands, the house leaks.

If you're lazy, things will start to fall apart. This talks about a house, but I think it's really talking about our hearts. Our lives. If we're lazy with our relationship with God, things will start to fall apart. That is not good.

 ¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
   wine makes life merry,
   and money is the answer for everything.

This verse taken out of context (and even in context) could an would be taken very wrongly. HEY! Food makes laughter, wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything! Sweet! I'll go eat and drink and be merry! (for tomorrow we die. LOVELY!)

 ²⁰ Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
   or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
   and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

Oooooo. Be kind to people in power. Don't think badly about them even in your thoughts. A little birdie will tell them what you say. And that gets ugly really fast.

That's it for me tonight. I'm going to go to bed now. Because sleep is good. And tomorrow is a school day. EWWWWW. I haven't thought about school... at all? this weekend. Weird. Nice, but weird.

G'night all!

NIPTO, Day 228

Hey-o blog readers!

Todayyyy I did a little school, went driving for 2 hours (/did maneuverability), came home, ate lunch/watched Music&Lyrics (LOVE!), annnnnd did school stuff, babysat/did homework/helped with homework, came home, bummed around a bit, ate dinner, did Physics and LIT, put my laundry away, and now I'm blogging. And we're about to watch the Glee season premier if it works...
Yupppp. After I finish blogging and watching Glee, I'm going to bed. And I'm going to sleep in tomorrow! (Watch, I'll probably wake up at like, 5 am and won't be able to go back to sleep... It would happen to me, ladies and gentlemen.)

Today for NIPTO, Joshua 8:1-29

1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city."

God told Joshua again to not be afraid. To not be discouraged. He told him to take the whole army and go to attack Ai.  God assured him that he would deliver the king of Ai, the people of Ai, and the city and land to Joshua/the Israelites. He told them to do the same thing they did to Jericho, except that they could take plunder and livestock from the city.


3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: "Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are running away from us as they did before.' So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. 8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders."

Joshua told them what to do: set an ambush behind the city, not too far away. Be alert. Then the people with Joshua were going to "charge" the city and then turn back to draw the people out of the city. The people were going to think that they were running away from them like they did before. But in actuality they were going to amush the city.
Set the city on fire and then wait for further instruction. It's almost like a secret mission like on Chuck... :)

9 Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

Joshua sent them to their places and they wait...

10 Early the next morning Joshua mustered his men, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. 11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 They had the soldiers take up their positions—all those in the camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

The next morning they set off and went to Ai. They set up camp. And then they went to set up their ambush.


14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the desert. 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

Eek. I wouldn't want to be in Ai.... heh.
The king saw what they were doing and assumed that they were doing what they did before. But he didn't know about the ambush. And the ambush worked like God said it would, because God doesn't break his promises.
No one was left in Ai who did not go after Israel. They left the city an open target. Oops.

18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city." So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai. 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.
.
plan. But if God tells you the whole plan, you'll probably mess it up. He just reveals a small portion of the plan.


20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising against the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction, for the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the desert had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from the city, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22 The men of the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. 23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

The guys of Ai looked back and saw smoke. Because the Israelites set the city on fire. And they didn't have any chance to escape. Because then Joshua and the other people of Israel saw that there was smoke, they knew the ambush had been successful and turned around and attacked. The Ai-ites were caught in th emiddle. Israleites on both sides. *gulp*

24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua.

They killed a lot of people. And the women were repping! Kinda. Just kidding. Maybe not. I think they were just killed. Joshua kept that javelin held up in his hand until everyone had been killed. Israel listened to God and took livestock and plunder But it was okay, because God told them they could.


28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Joshua burned Ai down. It stayed in ruins. And he hung the king of Ai. Ew. That's all.

Annnnnnd now I'm going to go to bed. (I wasted a little bit of time while writing this by writing with the pen&touch screen on my Dad's laptop... it's fun/facinating. I'm sooooo easily amused!)
G'night all! (Or good morning if you're reading this Friday morning ;)

Catching up

Hey allll!

I didn't have time to blog about my day yesterday, so I'm going to use this post to do that and blog about today! So:

Tuesday morning I got up and did some school. Then I went driving for 2 hours. In-car! YAY. I'm glad to get it done...
It went well. I didn't do anything stupid. I just drove. Drove to East Canton via back roads... drove in a square on one way streets... drove back to Green.

Thennnn when I got home I ate lunch because I was hungry. (I got home at about 11:30.) And I watched the season premier of Chuck. FANNNNtastick. With a K. YES. That good.

Then I did more school. Annnnd then went to Urban Vision. Was in the gym, reading, and art. I also determined that I'm going to start helping with the ballet class that is from 6-7 on Tuesdays. So that should be fun.
Annnnd then we came home for a brief bit. And then I went to dance for 2 hours! Jazz was good... it's still hard. I'm still getting used to it. More jumps. Lots more sharp. But it's fun!
Annnnd we fixed a little bit of the dance that we started last week. And did a couple of combinations that were sweet.
Then I came home, blogged really quick, took a shower, and went to sleep.

Woke up this morning (Yes, I did feel like P. Diddy. Whatever that means =P)
Got ready. Went to school. Had Spanish class. Got minorly freaked about the test that we had. Took the test. Got a good grade. Was in study hall for a while and got very little done. Annnd then ate lunch with Mom and sat in on her class. Cleaned up. Came home. Did Geometry. Did Physics and listened to Dave Ramsey. (LOVE HIM) annnnd then went to Alpha!

We had baked potatoes for dinner. Yum. :D
Annd talked about faith.
This is the guy who does the videos. He has a great accent.


I love our group. Still. We're starting to open up a little more... people are starting to talk a little more... express their opinions.
It's good. :)

Came home, watched last week's episode of Survivor, am doing this and am now watching this week's episode of Survivor. My dad's amazing (It's been over for an hour and we're watching it. And no, we don't have DVR.)

And now I'm going to skip over to a NIPTO post :D

NIPTO, Day 194

Today... we drove. Home. From New York City. That's a long time in the car. I slept for a lot of it. We stopped  (kind of) for lunch. And kept driving. We were in a Harry Potter coma so it was all good. =P
Came home... drove a little to pick up a package at the FedEx store (we've been there a LOT this week! I didn't even know where it was before and now I know several different ways to get there! (Okay, 2, but whatever. =P))
Came home.... went on a walk... then I sat and talked to Kaytee for a long time. And it was great. I love her to death. I hope we can get coffee soon because I miss coffee! =)

NIPTO me thinks!
^{Acts 16:11-24
11}From Troas we put out to sea  and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. ¹²From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.


Luke is writing this. And was apparently there. Because "we put out to sea." Not "they." So, yeah. The traveled... stayed somewhere for a few days. Ya know. 


 ¹³On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.

On Saturday (their sabbath) they went outside of the city to the river where people would be coming and going (and where there was a place of prayer, apparently. Or maybe not... because they "expected to find a place of prayer" there... so maybe they didn't. I don't know!)
So they went out of the city and sat down and started to talk. They told about Jesus. I'm assuming. 
One of the people listening was Lydia. She made/sold purple cloth (expensive! Think... royalty.) in Thyatira. She believed in God and God worked in her heart and she responded&believed what Paul said.


¹⁵When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
She, and everyone in her household, was baptized and then she invited them to stay in her house. 
(I wonder if they were worried about a place to stay before she invited them... probably not, but something that could've been a possibility.)


¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.


This is such an interesting section! They were traveling some more and came to a place of prayer. They were talking and a slave girl who was considered a fortune teller came up to them and started following them proclaiming that they were God's servants. She followed them for days. Paul got so fed up that he went up to her and told this "future predicting spirit" to come out of her. And it left her. And they went on their merry way. I'm assuming :) (I'm assuming a lot, aren't I?)

 ¹⁹When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

Wow. Way to read ahead, Abby. Not. 

They didn't go on their merry way. The people who owned that slave girl were angry because she wouldn't make them money any more. So they grabbed Paul&Silas and took them into the center of town. They made them go to the authorities and basically got them into trouble for 'disturbing the peace.'

 ²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The crowd joined (mob mentality much? (Nice alliteration too =P))

So the people in charge had them beaten. And then they threw them into prison and the guards were instructed to watch them very carefully. So they were put into the inner cell and their feet were in stocks. 

Sounds pretty grim... But I'm going to be done for tonight. Hah. Sorry. You can keep reading if you want. And I'll try to blog tomorrow morning. We have a lot of stuff going on tomorrow!

Goodnight people of the interwebz!

NIPTO, Day 188

Oh my! Today has been a busy day.
Ready for the daily rundown?
Woke up. Ate breakfast. Did yoga. Ate Oreo's. Took a shower. Sat around with the family for a bit? Went to the bank, Wal-Mart, and Target. Got Icee's at Target. Came home&divided Icees 5 ways. Ate lunch with Icee. Got stuff together and went to Wal-Mart again to return something that we had just gotten, went to the FedEx place, drove on the HIGHWAY for quite a ways. Went to the library... got reprimanded for not having my MOM's library card. HAH. Went to Giant Eagle to get some stuff. Came home. (I drove all those places! Got a lot of driving in :) PACKED. Ate dinner. Finished packing for the most part. Went on a walk. Did some random stuff? Watched an episode of Psych. Ate a s'more and some amazing Ritter Sport chocolate. (Peppermint and Cappuccino!) And I just backed Dad's car out of the garage. That's fun. haha.
And now I shall blog. And I'm not completely sure when I'll get to blog tomorrow. Probably in the evening. That's when I usually blog. :)

Acts 14:21-28
²¹They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, ²²strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said.


They (Paul&Barnabas) got a lot of people to follow God. That's the basic gist. Then they went back to these other cities to re-visit the disciples there so that they could encourage them. 
mm. I think the part after the "encouragement" bit is something that we, as Americans, don't really like. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." I think that's going on a piece of paper and being taped to my wall next to my bed :)




²³Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. ²⁴After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, ²⁵and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.


They appointed elders in every single church. Every church needs leaders. And these leaders were appointed with prayer and fasting. They committed them to God, whom they trust.  I think what I'm getting at was this was a big deal. The people appointed were very carefully picked. And they were committed to God.
Then the guys went through a few cities. The end. (PSYCH!)


 ²⁶From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. ²⁷On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they stayed there a long time with the disciples


They went through more cities... and they went to Antioch where they had been comitted to the God. That's where they started. They went back to where they started when they finished their work. I feel like there's something significant there. I could be way wrong, but that's my opinion. Going back to the beginning when you finish something. To remember what you did to get through whatever it was. There's something about that that I really like.
When they got there they told everyone what God had done through them... not what they had done in and of themselves. They told about how God had opened up the Gentile community to them. 
And they stayed in Antioch a long time. 
The end. (No psyching here :)

Alright. I must go upstairs and get ready for bed. And finish packing.
Y'all probably know where I'm going. But I'm going to keep it a secret until we get there and I can post a picture. A significant picture. Hopefully. :)

Adios readers!


P.S. Here's a picture of a square of Ritter Sport Pfefferminze chocolate! (Peppermint. German version!:)

You can even see the peppermint filling oooozing out the bottom! YUM

Driving With Abby - Driving School: Day 6

Last day today!

We talked about school zones, school buses, emergency vehicles, mail trucks and ... I'm not really sure what else.
I stayed inside for break and ate the snack that I brought from home (chips from Panera and fruit snacks) and looked over my notes for the test.

Then everyone came back in (and it really smelled like Subway (what everyone gets for "lunch" at 10 am)... NOT FAIR) and people asked questions for about 15 minutes... and then we talked about driver emergencies.
Flat tire, tire blow out, hood flies up, running out of gas, and various other things. Skidding, ABS vs normal brakes... all kinds of stuff.

And then we had our tests. She handed them out to those of us who were taking them, and then we took them! It wasn't that hard, but I definitely had to think for some of them. They were either multiple choice, true or false, or fill in the blank from a work bank questions. So it wasn't that bad. I got 6 out of 50 wrong. (I got 88% if you were wondering.)
I want to know what I got wrong, but we never found out. And I'm not going back to that place again. Except for maybe practicing maneuverability. Maybe.

I'm glad to be done. But it wasn't that bad. But I'm glad to be done.

I'm a driving school graduate! So exciting. (Except for the fact that I haven't gotten my certificate yet because I still have to do the in-car driving bit. But that's not school. That's just driving for 2 hours 4 times with someone I don't know. No biggie.)

Oh yeah, after we took our tests, she put on a couple videos so she could grade them. And then she called each of us over so we could initial some stuff and sign something and get our scores back. And then she let us out. And it was glorious to be free. =P Just kidding. It was pretty much like normal. Nothing exciting.

And now I'm done. With driving school and this post.

Adios!

Driving With Abby - Driving School: Day 5

Day 5...

We talked about:
Fatigue
What you can do to prevent fatigue
a little bit about alcohol&drugs (again)
emotions and driving
"comfort&control" aka A/C, heat, your gauges and gizmos on the dashboard (goof lights, as she calls them)
Pavement/roadway markings (double yellow line separates traffic going in different directions, you can pass if there's a dashed yellow line. White lines separate lines of traffic going in the same direction. And it shows the edge of the lanes.)
And the shared left turn lane.

Then we had our break. I went to Dollar General and got a bag of Lay's because I forgot to pack a snack :(
But they were good.
And then we talked about
Stopping distances
Speed limit laws
and Intersections.

And we watched a couple movies... 3 I think, throughout the whole day.

It was a decent day. Tomorrow's the last day. I get to take my test and be DONE! :)
It seemed like the other people didn't have very much trouble with it last week... and I've taken a lot of notes. I'll go over them tonight and then probably tomorrow during break.

Soooo... that's it.

Hope you're having a good day :)

Driving With Abby - Driving School: Day 4

Ahhh today began the second week of driving school.
It's kind of funny, because in one week, you become the expert. You can just come in and plop down in your seat. And then there are the new kids who look SO uncomfortable. It's pretty funny. And it takes a little longer on Mondays because the new people have to pay&stuff.

Today we went over why driving school is important (we had lessons 1&2 today), the point system, mistakes young drivers make, we watched a movie about young drivers... we talked about seat belts... and watched a video about that... and then whoever came up with a question got to leave for break (aka go to Subway or Dollar General). I came up with a question about something completely unrelated to seat belts (but we had talked about it earlier) and went to Dollar General and got myself a Hershey's bar. It was delicious.
Second half of class we went over road rage, driving courteously, and some other stuff that I don't remember, but took notes on. OH! The SIPDE and Smith systems. SIPDE-
Search systematically- keep your eyes moving
Identify- look for specific clues about what's coming up-break lights, signs, other people's signals.
Predict -what are other people going to do?
Decide- Decide what you're going to do (with your speed&direction)
Execute- Execute what you decided to do.

Smith system is
All Good Kids Like Milk.
Aim high-look out as far as you can/keep your eyes moving
Get the big picture-Don't pay attention to just what's around your car. Look at the big picture
Keep your eyes moving
Leave yourself a way out. (Aka don't get stuck in the middle of 4 cars.)

And then we talked about managing your space/tailgaters/ then road rage. At the very beginning of class we talked about air bags and such.
We talked about your total stopping distance. And then being courteous.

It was a good class. I just want my test to be over! Hah.

That's all for now.
Look for Driving School : Day 5 tomorrow!

NIPTO, Day 175

4-ish
It's hot out today.

I feel very lazy today.

Here's what I've done today (so far):
Got up. Got ready for church. DROVE to church with Dad. (More on that in a bit.) Went to the 1st service. Helped Mom set up for Rosie's bridal shower. Sat around for a while. Ate lunch. Watched Rosie open presents. Ate cake. (It was delicious! And very cute. If I get up between now and when I publish this post, you might actually get a picture of the cake. But that is yet to be determined.)
Came home... got stuff out of the car... went to the neighbor's garage sale. Now this. I feel like taking a nap... I'm just so tired...


9ish
Okay, so I did lay down for a little bit. Then I decided to take a shower. Then it was time for Encounter.
It was a good time. We chilled and ate and LAUGHED. It feels so good to laugh. Alexa cracks me up the most probably. She's just so stinkin' funny! I should just video tape her for a while. She's bound to say something funny. She's especially funny when she tells stories. Because she doesn't tell boring stories. So that's good.

We went inside and watched a video. It was... almost difficult to hear. It was kind of like "Who do you say Jesus is?" It makes you think. Who do I think Jesus is?
This was also included in the video. Joe Gibbs was(is?) the coach of the Washington Redskins. It was interesting to hear what he said. It's worth the 3(?) minutes to watch it.



OKAY! Driving today. I drove on the expressway for a longggg time. (All of like, 15 minutes)
It was good, although I feel like I needed to have my seat up a little further because my muscles in my right leg hurt when I got out of the car. And I felt like Shawn Spencer. Dad was Henry (his dad). He kept asking me what cars were around me and stuff. I told him. Then he asked me one time how many hats had passed us. "I have NO clue."
It was good. I know I'll make that trip about 50 million times in my life, so I should get used to it now. :)

Annnd now I have to figure out what I'm reading for NIPTO this week.


10:30ish
Acts 11:1-18
¹The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him ³and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."


Literally, my first response to this was "oh my goshhhh. really? That's la-may"
People were criticizing him for going into the houses of the uncircumcised people. That's just ri-di-cu-lous (Pronounced like the disarming charm in Harry Potter. :D )
But yes. This is pretty ridiculous, although it was pretty scandalous. 


 ⁴Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: ⁵"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'
 ⁸"I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
 ⁹"The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' ¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

So he starts explaining. That he was in Joppa, praying, when he had a vision, and that God told him to go kill&eat what was "unclean." Then God told him to not call anything that he made unclean. (Aka uncircumcised people? Yeah.)


 ¹¹"Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹²The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.'

So then these guys from Caesarea show up at the house he was staying at and the HS (Holy Spirit, not High School) told him to go with the men. The men gave him a message from Cornelius, that he had had a vision that told him to send for Peter in Joppa. The angel told him that Peter would bring a message that would save his entire household. 
We all have that same message. We can save households! 


 ¹⁵"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"
 ¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.

So then Peter started to talk annnnnd the HS came down an all of them. And Peter remembered what Jesus had said "John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So God gave them the same gift of the Holy Spirit that he had given the Jews. The same gift for both the Jews and the Gentiles. Once they heard that story, they had no further objections. 



Good story :)
Now for a VEGGIE TALES music video for you, and sleep for me. Deal? Deal.



Driving School: Day 4 begins tomorrow at EIGHT am. Toooo early. Actually, not too early. But still, early.

Good night, dear readers. (I feel like my mother. OH well! hah)

NIPTO, Day 173

Whew. Today's been... busy.


Got up. Sat in bed for half an hour. Ate breakfast. Read blogs. Went to Target with Mom&Hannah... got 2 sweeeet folders for school. Went to McDonalds and got a Happy Meal. Went to Kohls... got a new shirt. Went to Wal-Mart and got a planner.


Then we came home. (Hannah got a bunch of stuff for school at those places!)


I just kinda chilled for a while... then went over to the neighbors so I could do my job. Then went with Dad to pick up pizza. Drove on the express way on the way home and didn't die! YAY! (Not dying is always a good thing in my book!)
Ate dinner... went on a walk... watched an episode of Psych. 


And then I did the dangerous thing of looking at cameras. There are so many beautiful cameras out there. And I really shouldn't want another one. Or a different one. And I don't really because I don't have the money, but yeah. I'm interested to see what Hannah's camera is like when it comes!


I'm also interested to see what KATIE looks like when she comes to our house!!!!! She'll be leaving Dresden... soon? Then going to Cologne, Germany, then... somewhere I don't remember that's supposed to be GORGEOUS. Then to Amsterdam where she flies out to come home next Sunday!! She'll fly from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, then to Akron/Canton!!! And we pick her up and hug her. And cry. Probably. haha. I can't wait to see her face! And it's just a little over a week!
If she gets in at 6 pm on Sunday night, here are the stats as of RIGHT NOW: 8 days. 211 hours. 12,676 minutes. And I'm not going into seconds. hahaha. Here's the link to the countdown! It's pretty cool.


AH! I'm so easily distracted. I just went through my saved "SAT Question of the Day" e-mails that I haven't looked at... since I made them automatically go into their own folder. So now I do them in bulk. Except for the math ones. I flag those to do later when I have more time. The improving sentences and whatnot I have no trouble with. For the most part. I probably got... 4 or 5 out of the... 17 wrong. 




Okay. I neeeed to do NIPTO. And then sleep. I'm tired.


Acts 10:23b-33
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. ²⁴The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. ²⁶But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."


Alrighty. Peter goes with the guys... and some of the people from the church in Joppa decide to come with. So they get to Caesarea and Cornelius is there waiting for them. He told his family and close friends to come and they did. Peter gets into the house and Cornelius just falls at his feet. Peter's like, "Dude. I'm just a guy. Get up."


 ²⁷Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. ²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?"

Peter talks to him for a bit and then they go inside and there are a bunch of people! He gives them all the "It's technically illegal for me to be here associating with you, but God told me that I shouldn't call anyone/thing impure or unclean" talk. (Remember the sheet and the voice telling him to go and kill and eat? That was what God was getting at: Nothing that he's made is unclean.)
So he's kinda getting to "Why did you want me to come?"


 ³⁰Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me ³¹and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. ³²Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.' ³³So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

Then Cornelius starts talking. He was praying and this guy in shiny clothes comes and tells him that God hasn't forgotten that he's generous and gives stuff to the poor. And that he should send for Simon. 
So Cornelius obeyed the "shiny guy" and sent for him. Now Cornelius wants Peter to shed his wisdom on them. "[To] listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us." 
I'm going to give this an overview: Paul goes to a city to share the gospel with people who he wouldn't normally associate because this other guy was visited by an... angel? and the angel? told him to. 
Amazing. 
When God speaks to you, and you listen, amazing things can happen.






And now I am going to go to sleeeeeeep. 
We have our church picnic tomorrow! I should take all the 1,388 pictures off of my camera before that... HEH.
Now: G'night!

Driving With Abby - Driving School: Day 3

*yawn*

Hi. Today was another day of driving school. Right off the bat, after roll-call and counting off and making sure that everyone who was on the list was actually there, we talked about alcohol. And a lot of other stuff. Such as: what to do if you get pulled over, drugs, when it's legal to drink when you're under 21 (aka when you're with your parents, they give you the alcohol and you consume it in front of them. That's when it's legal. And no where else.), insurance, the car inspection that you get when you take your drivers test, and purchasing and maintaining a car.

During the last hourish (45 minutes, really) some people took the test (if it were their second week of class) and the rest of us just reviewed and looked at a crossword puzzle that's impossible. HAHA. (I got 1. You had to come up with the actual answers on your own, so it was more of a crossword AND a word search. Insane.)

And one last thing: We watched this horribly acted movie about this teenager who was on his way home from prom with his girlfriend and his friend and his friend's date, and they got into an accident. And the guy looked like Zach from Saved by the Bell. And his girlfriend's name was Kelly. It was hori-blay.

And now I'm done until next MONDAY! WOOHOO!


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Driving With Abby - Driving School: Day 2

Hola! Driving school... It's fun. We watched at least 2 movies today. (45 minutes&21 minutes from what I can remember)
We talked about bad weather conditions. You basically do the same things for rain, snow, and fog... just with little variations, but not really. hah.

We talked about motorcycles and trucks... annd blind spots on trucks&stuff... I drew on my paper a lot today... A sweet musical staff (wavy! hah) and some hearts and peace signs&more musical notes. It was pretty win.

I talked to a girl whose name I can't remember during break... she goes to Manchester... she knows Cat&Connie because they play soccer together, so that's cool. She finishes tomorrow... I have another 3 days. But I'm cool with it. I like how it's set up M, T, W, and then another M, T, W. It makes it easier and makes you more sane.

I should take a picture of this writing on the table... I think it says something like "Sanity is not underrated" or something like that. People draw all kinds of stuff on the table that I sit at. I'm tempted to add a musical note to it. :)

But yeah. It wasn't crazy today... we're talking about drugs&alcohol during one of our classes tomorrow...
And I figured out from a statistic today that 10 of the people in our class (statiscially speaking) will be in an accident involving a drunk driver. Also, two people from my family of 5 will be involved in a crash. CRAZY. (2 out of 5 people... 25 people in the room, 10 out of 25. Craazy.)

Annnnd I think that's about it for today. I'll try to blog earlier tomorrow so I remember more... I was lazy and read all day today! hahaha.

Byeeeeee

Driving With Abby - Driving School: Day 1

Woooooooooohoooooooo!
I can guarantee that that is not the first thing that comes to anybody's mind when driving school is mentioned.
But I really don't think that driving school (from here on out referred to as DS) isn't that bad.

We got there... and waited a little bit because the instructor wasn't there yet. She got there and we went inside. Dad paid&stuff... I had to sign some papers... other people had to pay&sign papers&stuff... so then class started and we kinda just jumped in. We talked about highway driving, pedestrians, maneuverability, and what to do if you get into an accident during the first 2 hours... then we had a 15 minute break... a lot of the kids (there were 21 in the class!) went to Subway (or Dollar General) to get food . I went to Subway so I could get a cup for water... I left my water bottle at home this morning :(
Then during the next 2 hours we talked about signs and parking.
Pretty basic stuff. There were a few things I didn't know, but I knew a lot of stuff. But it's still good to review stuff or whatever.

That was Day 1 in a nutshell! (A pretty big nutshell, but still a nutshell)

NIPTO, Day 168

Hello people!

Today was a good day.

We did music at church. A good set. We spoke. I didn't do anything majorly bad. So that's good.

Then we went to Elysia's grad party after church... we ate and hung out and held babies. It was great.
Then we came home... and sat around for a little bit. Then Dad asked me if I wanted to drive the van around the neighborhood. So I did. And then he asked if I wanted to drive to Giant Eagle. So I did. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I actually really like driving the van because I feel like I can see SO much more. And I have less lane to negotiate with. Which is good and bad. But I feel like it's mostly good. (The turning isn't as easy, but that'll come with practice.)

So Dad and I went to GE and got a newspaper and returned some hamburger buns. And then we got gas in the van. I drove home. No one died. It was a successful outing :)

Came home... talked to Katie for a little bit on Skype... went for a walk... ate dinner... watched a Psych... now this. :)
Annnd I should really do NIPTO because I have to be up early tomorrow. Oh they joys of having to be at driving school by 7:45 (AM) tomorrow. Bleh. I'm sure I'll have oodles of things to talk about... NOT. =P Everyone says driving school is boring... I'll have to see if they're right. Maybe I'll know someone in my class! (Doubt it.) We'll see.

NIPTO!

Acts 9:1-19
¹Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.




Wooooooooah. This is intensity right here. Saul. Crazy dude. He seriously hates Christians (members of "the Way") So. Because he hates these people so much. He goes to the high priest and asks if he can go and arrest a bunch of people and take them as prisoners in Jerusalem. Crazy. (He's going to Damascus to get the letters that he needs. I think.)




³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"


So he's headed to Damascus. And there's this SUPER bright light from heaven. And he falls down and hears this voice. "Saul, Saul, [he repeats the name twice! Importance... =P] why do you persecute me?" I would be kinda freaked out.


 ⁵"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
   "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. ⁶"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

He asks who it is. And it's Jesus. The one you're persecuting. Duh. Now. Go to the city and someone will tell you what to do.
This is crazy. Like. Seriously. If this happened today, it would probably be on the news. Saul was this super important (or at least well known) guy. So this was... bigish news.


 ⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.


Okay. If I were one of the people who were with them, I would definitely have been speechless. I mean, there's this voice, but there's no body to go with the voice. They can't see anyone! It's all insane. But Saul gets up... and opens his eyes. But he can't see anything. So they had to lead him by hand to Damascus. Crazy. (I've used crazy like... 5 times... so far.)
He was blind for 3 days. And he didn't eat or drink. Wow.  



 ¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
      "Yes, Lord," he answered.
 ¹¹The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."


Sooooo now we go to Damascus. And there's this guy named Ananias. And God spoke to him and told him to go to this guy's house and to ask for Saul. Saul was praying and he saw a vision of someone named... you guessed it! Ananias to come heal him.



 ¹³"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
 ¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."


Ananias was kinda hesitant because he'd heard of Saul. He heard that he was one of the major persecutors of the church. And he knew that he had come to Damascus to arrest everyone who believed in God. 
But God told him to go anyways. God revealed to Ananias that Saul was chosen by God to be his witness. And God told Ananias that he would show Saul just how much he would have to suffer for God's name.



 ¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.


So Ananias goes to the house and goes over to Saul. He kinda tells Saul why he's there (announces it, really) and then "something like scales fell from Saul's eyes." Uh wow... uh... Yeah. And he could see again. Then... here's something that I've overlooked in the many times that I've read this: Saul got up and was baptized. And then he ate and was strong again. 


WOW. This is a ridiculous story. And I think you can probably see how ridiculous it is. So I'm going to go to bed now. Soooooooooooooooooooo. GOODNIGHT!

NIPTO, Day 164

Oh my. I can officially say I'm sick... not just "I think I'm getting sick." Because I really feel it. My sinuses are bad. But I'm living. And surviving. And I'm actually able to do stuff. But my nose is stuffy and my throat still hurts.

I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance right now. These dancers are pretty fantastic. (Although someone else got hurt this week... It's kind of been crazy. 3 weeks straight someone different has gotten hurt.)
Also, Adam Shankman cracks me up. 'Nuff said.

Today has been a crazy day weather wise... it was sunny and hot... then it rained. Then it was sunny... and then it was sunny and RAINING. It's been great. There was a little bit of a rainbow. And now the sunset is pretty.

Pretty clouds...

I thought Katie would like the pink :)

Innnnn other news: I start driving school on Monday! Bright and early at 8 o'clock.
And I listened to most of Tammy Smith's breakout session (Honest Freedom: Living Christ's amazing victory in the face of our issues, patterns, and past.) from IGNITE 2009. It's awesome. She is so funny. And if you have an extra hour and a bit (20ish minutes?) (or a long drive somewhere!) I would definitely suggest listening to her breakout session (and some of the others too!) You can find them all here :)

That's all in other news.


NIPTO!


Acts 7:54-60
⁵⁴When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.


When they heard "this," this being the story he just told them and him basically insulting all of them, they were very angry... and they ga-nashed their teeth. That seems... really threatening. Not.




⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.


What on earth?!? This guy has people gnashing their teeth at him, and he is so full of the Holy Spirit that he looks up to heaven and sees the glory of God and sees JESUS sitting at his right hand. Uhm... That's pretty fabulous.




⁵⁶"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

 ⁵⁷At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,⁵⁸dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Okay. So he's like "DUDES. Look. I see heaven. It's opened up and I can see the Son of Man standing next to God." They apparently didn't like this and so they covered their ears and yelled a lot. (LALALALALALALA I cant' hear you!!! ... That's what I picture.)
So they drag him out of the city and start to stone him. All the while there's a man named Saul who's witnessing the entire thing. And the guys all put their clothes by him so he can "guard."


 ⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

While they were stoning him Stephen was praying. And he prayed some amazing and tough stuff. He asked that God wouldn't hold this sin against those who were stoning him... I don't think that's what I'd be praying if someone happened to be stoning me. Just sayin'. But it's pretty amazing.




Okay. Sooooo Dad was talking tonight about Brick... annd he has to be my favorite character on The Middle. And this is one of the things we've "picked up" from him. So funny (when done at the most random times!).





Hope you had a good evening and such!