My Bucket List

My Bucket List

1. Go to the MN State fair with a significant other.

2. Try out for America's Got Talent (...and make it...).

3. Go on a cruise.

4. Play Tracy Turnblad (Hairspray) and/or Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

5. Go back down to the size I was in 7th grade (size 6-8)

6. Have a book published. Either of memoirs/blogs and poems of mine or a fiction novel.

7. Meet my birth mother Alisha.  (Completed April 20th 2011)

8. Live in New York City for at least a year.

9. Have my own children's community theater (very similar to Youth Theater Workshop).

10. Get married.

11. Go to Disney World AT LEAST one more time.

12. Be on Wheel of Fortune.

13. Visit all 50 states (14 down…36 to go).

14. Travel to Ireland, India, Italy, England, France, Spain, Greece, the Bahamas, Jamaica, China, Japan, Australia, New Zeland, Egypt and Madagascar.

15. Fly first class on an airplane.

16. Be on a Broadway stage in front of a live audience. (Completed June 6th 2010)

17. Meet Johnny Depp and/or Orlando Bloom and/or Gerard Butler and/or Elijah Wood and/or Hugh Grant and/or Sandra Bullock and/or Kristin Chenoweth. 

18. Sing the National Anthem before some sort of sporting event. 

19. Be asked to sing at a wedding.

20. Take a ballroom dancing class. 

21. Adopt many kids from different countries
22. Ride on a passenger train

Tribute to a Great Two Years

So, it was Seniors night at youth group and it brought up some really fun memories from the past. So I thought I'd see if I can remember my awesome youth group slash church memories :) I'll try chronological order but we will see how well that works out..... :D
Feel free to comment and add any more I have forgotten! :D

*First day in Nebraska. Hadn't even moved here yet. Just met Janine Wagner, felt REALLY awkward around people I didn't know. J9 told Arielle Haslett to take me to McDonalds. I went with Arielle to McDonalds. The End. :D :D 

*Dawn Dramse's small group. 'Nuff said.

*Met Carl Harter for the first time. We had to share the seat in the front of Dawn's car on the way to small group with the boys (Dawn, it's ALLL your fault! :-p!!!!).

*Going to IHOP KC with a bunch of awesome people and meeting Chelsey Thompson.

-----> Throwing water balloons at the boys room with Chelsey :)

*After much pushing from Russ Janssen and Dawn, went on my first big outing with the youth group. Dare2Share. 

----> Driving down a one way street in Lincoln with Brad Roe ;D
----> Going to Village Inn with the group and discussing Twilight with Carl.
----> Sharing an air mattress at the church with Rachel Pasteka and it being deflated when we woke up. :-p
----> Seeing Chelsey freak out when she met the guy from Dare2Share :D

*LSD :D

----> Fitting the entire group in that.....ladybug? on the playground
----> Having to wear Mark Richard's big socks over my flip-flops when we went hiking at LSD because I was dumb and didn't bring tennis shoes. Sorry bout that Mark....
----> Being stuck outside in the cold in jail during capture the flat during almost the entire game withJon Miller. The stars were pretty though... 
----> Watching the video with the comedian guy that sang about the winking frowny face ;-(

*Video scavenger hunt when Sarah was here with Grace Iverson. Buying a bunch of stuff at Nobbies. The cow hat. And winning :D

*Going to IHOP KC with the Wagners, Dramses and Amanda Lopez

*VBS 2009 :D

*Montana

----> Mt. Rushmore
----> The awesome rides in the vans. Great bonding time :D
----> Playing M.A.S.H. in the van
----> My first Monster drink
----> Coloring SpiderMan pictures with Grace...and Brad drawing the picture of SpiderMan
----> Writing little notes for people and putting them in their brown bags
----> Kids Club
----> Painting a house
----> Buffalo game
----> Sasquaches, Mountain Lions....and what were the other groups? Llamas??
----> Being adopted as Arielle's little sister
----> Alyak (Kayla Blackwell) and Bunny (Brenna Boyd)
----> Buffalo Jump
----> That one battlefield.... (is it sad that I don't remember what the name of it was?) Custer's last stand?
----> Dawn's scary but yet amazingly entertaining drive to the Jewel Caves
----> the Jewel Caves
----> Holding Carl's hand in the van for the first time

* The worship conference in Kansas City with Cheryl Smith, Mike James, Chris Harlow, Dawn and Brad. 

* The youth garage sale. And my 17th birthday :)

* Youth weekend at church. That was fun.

*Cleansing Stream

* Having Koren Michl, Rachel Brannen and Arielle over for a sleep over...

----> Spoon safety
----> "Rapunel Rapunzel, let down your long golden arm hair"
----> "What's that noise?" "Oh, it's just my Frito's bag"
----> Dressing up in my old costumes
----> Being TPed by Justin L, Nicolaas V, Aaron Stumme and Ryan Connet

*LifeLight 2009

*Mid Size Community at Janine's house

----> Small group in the little room downstairs
----> Watching Kung Fu Panda outside

*Collecting canned food on Halloween

*Superbowl party

*Girls sleepover night at J9s

*And of course, who can forget all the smiles, laughs, jokes, tears, hugs, and stories we have had over the last two years.

Thank you for making these two years, two of the best years of my life. 
I love you all.
<3

New Favorite Song

Come as You Are
by Pocket Full of Rocks


He's not mad at you
He's not disappointed
His grace is greater still,
than all of your wrong choices
He is full of mercy and he is ever kind
Hear his invitation, His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,
with all your broken pieces
And all your shameful scars
The pain you hold in your heart,
bring it all to Jesus
You can come as you are

Louder than the voice that whispers your unworthy
Hear the sound of love,
that tells a different story
Shattering your darkness and pushing through the lies
How tenderly he calls you,
His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,
with all your broken pieces
And all your shameful scars
The pain you hold in your heart,
bring it all to Jesus
You can come as you are

You can come as you are

You can come as you are with all your broken pieces
And all your shameful scars
The pain you hold in your heart,
bring it all to Jesus
You can come as you are

The Hand Song

I had iTunes on shuffle today and The Hand Song started to play. It used to be one of my favorites. :)

The boy only wanted to give mother something
And all of her roses had bloomed
Looking at him as he came rushing in with them
Knowing her roses were doomed
All she could see were the thorns buried deep
With tears in his eyes as she tended his wounds

But she knew it was love
It was one she could understand
He was showing his love
And that's how he hurt his hand.

He still remembers that night as a child
On his mother's knee
Holding him close as she opened her Bible
And quietly started to read
Then seeing a picture of Jesus he cried out
"Mama, he's got some scars just like me!"

And they knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that's how he hurt his hand

Now the boy's grown and moved out on his own
When Uncle Sam comes along
A foreign affair, but our young men were there
And luck had his number drawn
It wasn't that long till our hero was gone
He gave to a friend what he learned from the cross

And they knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that's how he hurt his hand