LINKS and the season...

Here's what I'm currently into:

                                                                                                                                                 I just found this website called squishable.com because of David Carlile from my Advanced family. (Thanks!) I know these really have nothing to do with anything but in all reality, they one-up the pillow pets. Plus, they made me smile.

I recently acquired a Pinterest. By recently, I mean about ten minutes ago. I don't know what I'm doing quite yet but I'll figure it out. I'd appreciate a follow if you even know what I'm talking about. If not, here's a link! Pinterest check it out! 


I've also got instagram. I'm in the cliche club of people where you take a picture of your coffee, add a tint to it, and it's "art". I really like the app though. 


Staying updated socially isn't a main priority in a busy schedule; but it sure is easier with an iPhone. 


Besides the busyness, it is my favorite season! Fall! Finally the months I've been waiting for; the times of wearing sweaters, boots, and scarves and not being worried about the heat being overbearing! I'm ready for Christmas and decorating the tree with bright lights, the scenery of snow (hopefully) and of course, turning the big 18! Legality, hello. I'm not sure why Americans are so infatuated with turning 18 and becoming a "legal adult". It isn't going to change much for me. The only difference will be that I'm going to be able to receive money my grandmother stored away for me. And, I'll be legal. But, that's no big deal to me really. 


I'm not much for a lot to say as of right now. Taking it's almost eleven and I should be heading to bed. I got church in the morning! It's been a while but a while it shall be.


-Holly Joy

Building bridges

Once in a while I get to thinking about my life. Some things just trigger this wondering about my future and where all this effort I'm putting in to my school is going to lead me to.

This time it was the so called "brigde builders". No I'm not referring to bridge builders in the words literal meaning. When we reach 8th grade in the Danish school system we have to visit a school of higher education for a about a week, in order to get some kind of idea as to what we want to spend the rest of our lives doing. This process of visiting schools and making desicions is called "bridge building" or being a "bridge builder". Now that I've given you some kind of definition to the words I'm going to get to the point!

This week is the bridge building week at my school. Usually we're about 800-1000 students mingling among each other, prepraring ourselves for three different kinds of education. You wouldn't think approximately 50 8th graders would make that big of a difference, but guess what? It does.

Today, I was sitting in my math class not really paying attention to the teacher (don't judge, I actually learned something in Mrs. Rob's last year, so I pretty much know what we're doing at this point). I ended up listening to the quiet conversations of the visitors. It made me think of myself when I was in their position. I was scared to death that the teacher would ask me a question or that the students would actually notice my presence.I had absolutely no idea as to what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't even know that I had the possibility of going to the US for a year.
Anyhow, as I was listening to them it dawned on me that I still don't have any idea where I'm headed with my life. The IB World School progam I'm currently enrolled in can be big advantage to graduate, except if I have to go to a Danish university.
The IB grade scale is different from the Danish one, making it very hard to get a good GPA. If I decide to study abroad (requiring an absolutely insane GPA) IB is considered a better education.

I now stand before the choice of transferring schools or have absolutely no social life for the next three years. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but you know where I'm going with this. It kinda feels like I'm in the bridge builder's positions again, I have to make a big decision regarding my future and for some reason it's just not going to be easy at all.

But thinking about my future isn't the only thing I'm doing at the moment.

Student council is a big thing at my school, at least compared to THS. Two or three representatives is chosen from each class and these people get together with the rest of the class representatives once in a while to make big decisions about the school's future. Again the Danish school system is different. We have more than the usual 4 classes, we have about 27 classes at my school containing somewhere between 25 and 32 students each. I was elected to the student council with two other great people from my class and I'll be in the student council until next summer. Once a month the student council gets together to discuss small or big issues about the school, we vote, and we just do cool stuff to make the school even more awesome than it already is.

I also applied to be a part of the school paper called "Spanskrøret" and I have absolutely no idea what the English translation for that is. I've been accepted and we're now planning our first meeting. Spanskrøret is published about four times a year and what exactly my role is, I don't know yet. I'm either going to write articles or I'm gonna end up correcting the other articles, making sure it's not full of with typos and other things like that.

I work anywhere between 4 and 15 hours a week. I like my job, but it can be tough at times. My position requires my full attention to customers and making sure the clothes isn't lying all over the floor or hanging in all the wrong places. It doesn't sound too bad, and it really isn't - most of the time anyway.

So that's a little insight in my life ATM. I hope it gives you some kind of explanation as to why I don't post blogs too often. My apologies!

It's becoming habit

I can't help to think of next summer when Denmark is brought up in class. We read Beowulf and the setting: Denmark. As of right now, I'm sitting in the seat Nanna used to sit in. I promise I didn't do it on purpose; it just so happened to work out as so.

I'm blogging consistently on my other site or trying to do so. Life in Tonkawa is as it's always been except, Terra Nova is OFF the CHARTS. God is moving in our lovely little town like never before. We're coming into His glory. There's going to be something big happen this school year.

Being busy isn't as fun as you'd think. It's different from being a ball girl for the football team and playing basketball to being a ball girl and going to work. Having a job is a whole lot more. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad I've got one. It's crazy having a 13 hour day. 
Here's my day:
MWF
6:15-30: awake as unwilling as possible
6:30-7: get ready for classes
7:30: breakfast
7:55: Make it to Early American History
8:50: Head to Psychology
9:50:All done. Time to go eat an apple
11:03: Head to high school
12:35: Go eat lunch
1:15: Physics begins
2:35-5:15: Footballlllll
5:30-7:30: Work
Then the evening is for homework, lazy time, etc...

Of course those are all subject to change but that's the rough, Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule for college classes. It's so different having to be as focused as I am at 8 in the morning on a Monday. College is different. It's also weird to go to high school from two college courses. Not that I mentally shut off, but I come quite close. I don't have to be as focused in high school. Maybe that's a part of senioritis. It's barely been a full week. I'm not wanting this year to rush by at all though. I can't wait to go to Denmark, but this is my last year in those hallways. 

This is the latest I've been up in a long while. I'd love to pull an all nighter but, I wouldn't be a very happy camper when mommy would come in to wake me. 

I'd better get some shut eye. 
For everyday blogs, look  -----> hi:) 
Love. 

One year anniversary

Today, exactly one year ago, I started my big adventure that somehow led me to Holly. There isn't much adventure in my life today. Actually, I'm bored, trying to entertain my new cat, and I'm resting my legs after 2 5 hour shifts of running around trying to figure out where all the clothes was supposed to hang at my new job.

I miss America. I can't seem to settle down again, I miss hanging out with Holly, I miss Terra Nova, overall, I just miss Tonkawa. Okay, I don't miss the heat at all, whatsoever. Actually, it's a bliss to hang out here in Denmark in 70-80 degree weather and rain all the time.

In 5 days I start a new adventure, well, if three years of school is an adventure. I'm ready to meet new people again but I don't know if I'm ready for the constant flow of homework. I'm ready to turn 18 so I can get my drivers license, I'm ready to go to America to see everyone again, I'm ready for Holly to come to Denmark, but until then I'm gonna have to deal with what I have, which sounds really depressing and bad, but it really isn't.

I'm amazed at how I have friendships in Denmark that just picked up where we left off. I'm still one of them! I don't know what I expected, to be an outcast or something like that, but I'm not for which I'm grateful.

Today I had my first encounter with a Jehova's Witness. It was odd, apparently they don't believe in the Trinity and that if you turn away from God for a period of time and come back, he doesn't love you anymore. They don't believe that everyone who believes in God goes to heaven either. Like I said, it was odd.

Holly, I miss you, I hope to come see you before next summer!

With changing times

Our lives are beginning to sweep into : The Rush.

What is the rush?
Well, I honestly just made it up. But it's metaphorically speaking of the busyness that every teenager falls into. Here in Tonkawa, American, senior year is coming up faster than ever. I've got to start looking up scholarships for college, begin to make a decision on a career path, and deal with senioritis. Commonly known as, "I don't need to do that. I'm a senior." Along with managing how to cope without basketball in my life. Instead, I've got a job. It will be a different ball of wax but, I'll learn to deal. I've come to the "I'm gonna need money" realization. Of course, fun is quite great too. Which I'm making the most of with these 13 days left before the big, senior year. 
It seems to me that summer disappeared from beneath my grasp. It doesn't register that it's August. Or that I'm starting my last year in Tonkawa High School. It doesn't make sense! How does time go so fast from being a scared Freshman to a "ruling" Senior? (Really, we don't have any more power. Seniority kind of flew out the window.) 
It really upsets me a bit that I don't have to be at school until 11:15. Don't get me wrong, sleeping in is going to be heavenly but, not seeing my best friend until then...what a crapper. The last few weeks of school, I went into our councilor's office to get my schedule for next year. Partly to know when I would be able to take college classes and what to look for...gotta be prepared. Anyway, she gave it to me. I compared it with my best friend's and we had the same schedule. Enrollment came and I had a completely different schedule. Talk about a let down. And, it was set in stone. I'd already planned my college classes around the schedule from last year...so I'm taking Psychology and Early American History. I'm going to take it for what it's worth.

As for Nanna, I don't know much of what goes on. I know she'll be starting a new school and she's started a new job. It's weird how we both are somewhat still doing the same things even though we are approximately 4000 miles apart. The world really isn't that different.

As much as I want to put of senior year, I want it to somewhat speed by me. I can't wait to see Nanna again and heck, fly over the waters to Denmark. There's so much in store for my future but the question I'm dealing with is...

How do I grab it all?

I'm scared to be honest.

It's finally here! The Bucket List

 The Bucket List was nothing more than a list of things to accomplish before Nanna left America. We were sitting in my car and we decided to write it and wah lah! All I had was an envelope, but we made it work, adding things to it slowly but surely. Practically all things we wrote were accomplished. A couple things weren't due to weather. Here goes!

BEFORE Nanna LEAVES 

THIS IS WHAT WE

DO:

Camping w/ a camera

Explore the Oklahoma countryside

Buy TOMS (red)

RANDOM PICTURE SHOOT

Accomplish prom without death

See Holly's house/sleepover

Get white v-necks

Go to Six Flags/ Frontier City

Play tennis

Road trip

Start Blog

Tag Colby's truck

roof

Try as many slush combo flavors as possible

tag Racheal's car

Everyday June

(the last one is for Nanna and I's eyes ;)

Starting off with the very first one, we weren't able to accomplish it because weather prevented it from being so. I wish we would have been able to. It would've been a super great day!

Exploring the Oklahoma countryside sounds like the worst possible thing to do. What is in Oklahoma? Nothing really but I've learned to make beauty out of ashes. We didn't document this much but for all the driving around and "exploring" we did, I'd say it was accomplished. We came upon a place that we classified as our "Sunshine Place". That was a place that Selina, a foreign exchange student from Germany, had.
 

Buy TOMS. Toms are the fad of this summer. I bought a pair a while ago and have completely worn them to their death. They've got holes but I still love them dearly. I knew Nanna had to have a pair before she left. We planned a special trip to Oklahoma City and successfully she got her red TOMS.

Random picture shoots never cease to fascinate me. We've had a couple of these. One we played props in Kansas City, Missouri when we went to International House of Prayer. Props is a game where you set the camera on self timer and grab a prop, jump into the lens range, and take a picture with it. Sounds ridiculous but you'd be surprised at how entertaining and how much time you are able to kill with it. The random photo shoot we did have though, we went for a walk and Nanna had to use the restroom so, we went into the church to do so and I decided to take her around a little since I wasn't sure she had seen all parts of the church. And we ended up taking pictures. There are more on a previous blog. Click here to see em.

Accomplishing prom without death was our next task. And task is the perfect word for it. I was Junior Class President which meant I had a lot to do with prom. Nanna, well, it was her first prom and she had to get all dolled up and beautiful, AND wear heels. Mostly she was scared of falling, or her dress not working out, or there were a multitude of things that could of happened. To say the least, she came looking gorgeous and the banquet, and prom went smoothly. Wonderfully honestly. I hope Nanna enjoyed her experience of prom. I know I did.

Here's a picture or two of our lovely time :) 

Seeing my house and sleeping over became a very continuous thing the last few weeks Nanna was here. She spent the night consecutive nights, and it became natural for her to stay. We could live together definitely without problem. Our living styles are quite parallel.

 

The next one I came up with for Nanna. The white v-neck is the shirt you go to when you have no idea what to wear. It's completely versatile to dress up, dress down, work it, sleep in, everything! Racheal and I came up with White V-Neck Friday and that's mostly why I wanted her to partake in our little invention. 

Going to Six Flags or Frontier City slowly slipped our fingers when the temperature in Dallas, Texas exceeded 100 degrees. Instead, we went to the Dallas Aquarium.

Next, we decided to play tennis...that was probably one of the funniest experiences ever. I've never really played it before but, it always looks so simple, right? WRONG! I was terrible whereas Nanna was good. It was an extremely spontaneous endeavor that resulted in fun at least.

Our "road trip" turned out to be our drive to Oklahoma City for Nanna to get TOMS. We also ate and had a jolly good time!

Obviously, we decided to blog together and here's what we have so far.....

Tagging Colby's truck. More so, it was a revenge type of task. He had gotten my car a few weeks prior and I needed some help getting him back. (Revenge really is not the answer) But, we went to buy our weaponry and colored in his windows successfully well. We also got a small amount of paint on ourselves...Red and black were our colors of choice.

The next thing on our list is for Nanna and I. Secrets, secrets are no fun. Yet secrets aren't for everyone.

Now, trying as many slush combos as possible was a truly hilarious thing to do. People don't realize how weird it is to say more than two flavors. We mixed some odd stuff. Most of which we liked. Here's what we concocted:

Holly                                                                                               Nanna                                      

1. lime, pineapple, coconut                                                                          1. vanilla, strawberry, pineapple

2. lemon, lime, watermelon                                                                          2. lemon, lime, pineapple

3. cranberry vanilla                                                                                      3. grape vanilla

4. grape, pineapple, coconut                                                                        4. strawberry, vanilla, cranberry

5. peach vanilla                                                                                           5. strawberry chocolate

6. peach pineapple                                                                                      6. peach lime

Next came the tagging of Racheal's car. She was also in the time my car was attacked by Colby. We got her back also...not as bad as Colby though.

EVERYDAY JUNE...self explanatory here and here.

That's how we concluded Nanna's stay in America. It was a fun little thing to do and when you make a list, it sets a goal of things to accomplish. It wasn't just a list, it was our goal to make the last few weeks something more. We made them memorable.

My year in a newsletter

I was asked to write something for the church's newsletter. There were two reasons I said yes. First, I do not have the ability to say no. Second, I thought it would be fun to try to write it.
Since Holly mentioned it in an earlier post I thought I might as well put it on here.

"I came to America with, literally, no expectations at all. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have stayed in Denmark.

My first American experience was YEC, a Baptist conference in Oklahoma City. One of my first impressions, during the sessions, was that it amazed me how these teenagers just devoted their lives to something they couldn’t see or feel. After this first weekend in Oklahoma City, I preceded my non-Christian lifestyle in Tonkawa. Every Sunday I would see my family get up to go to church and I wouldn’t understand their willingness at all. I mean, how could you give up your Sunday morning to go listen to some preacher?

I started to attend school at Tonkawa High School and I must admit that I was scared to death the first day. In Denmark the school day looks entirely different. First of all you stay in the same classroom for most classes which means the teachers go from classroom to classroom, not the students. Second of all, Danish schools don’t use lockers. These differences made my first day extremely confusing. Somehow I managed to get through the day without it being too embarrassing, though.

I soon learned that Physics was my favorite class, not because of my talents in the subject, but because of Josh Reese and Jake Love’s capabilities to make everything a joke. A mix between this class and the Terra Nova flyers in the hallway (Yes, they do actually work) made me aware of the youth group. I went a few times, in the beginning mostly because of the music. Little did I know it was worship – I didn’t even know what worship was at the time!

Life went on outside of church. I attempted to participate in Cross Country, but had to sit out due to shin splints. I made a lot of friends, faster than I thought possible, one of them being Holly Scheirman. Thanks to her, Josh, and Racheal Hernandez, I somehow ended up going to “the Bridge” in Blackwell. Speaking was a former drug dealer. I found it amazing how he had found a way to love God after all he had been through. It impacted me, as I thought about the trials I had been through in my life, but I still wasn’t convinced that there was a divine power who had created me and the Earth I live on.

September 9, 2010, I was saved, thanks to Pastor Derrick and Raphael Khabo, that night’s speaker at Terra Nova. I remember Raphael talking about Jesus in a way that completely blew me away. He said something along these lines: “You’ve probably tried it yourself. There’s this seemingly good movie that all your friends are talking about. They tell you all about how great it is. At some point you’re standing there thinking “I just want to see this movie for myself”, and it’s the same thing with Jesus. You hear all these people talking about him, but at some point you just want to experience what everyone else is talking about”. Later that night he came to pray for me as I was sitting in my chair by myself. He left with the words “all you have to do is say yes”. Obviously I said yes. After this night my perspective on everything changed. It made me a happier person.

Now, football is not a sport Danish sport teams try to be good at. We are a soccer nation. Therefore, I was blown away by the spirit everyone here, had for Tonkawa’s football team. I was overwhelmed by the time Homecoming came around. I’m from a country in which the schools don’t have sports teams, sports are something you do outside of the school hours if you’re willing to pay for a membership, so when the entire school basically spent a week preparing for this one football game, I think my reaction made sense. It was the experience of a lifetime.

In October I became a part of the praise and worship team on the East side. Besides being saved and baptized, it was probably the best decision I made while in America. As a new Christian, it meant the world to me to be surrounded by Christian people who constantly taught me about Jesus in ways I didn’t think possible. Not only did I grow in Christ, I also improved my musical skills a lot. To be honest, I don’t quite understand how it was possible for me to play on the level the worship team does, when I first started. I did, nonetheless, and now have some of the best memories with that group.

Christmas came around, and I started to miss my Danish heritage for the first time. It didn’t surprise me at all because, even though Christmas is a worldwide tradition, the American way of celebrating Christmas was way different from the Danish way. Just taking that we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day makes a huge difference. I remember making my first gingerbread house on Christmas Eve, and it didn’t quite meet my expectations of my entire Danish family eating together, singing Christmas carols, and unwrapping presents. We went from Christmas to New Years Eve and once again I was shocked by the big differences. I’ve been used to a 4th of July kind of New Years, so it was definitely different.

In February I skipped a week of school to go to a worship conference at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas. It was truly an amazing week. If you’ve never been to Christ for the Nations you’re missing out. The place is filled with God’s presence even when nothing special is going on. I learned so much about worshipping God that week and it completely changed my ways of doing worship in the church. I also learned that it’s not enough to believe in God, you have to teach others about Him. Soon after the worship conference I was baptized, again, one of the best decisions I’ve made this past year.

The next highlight of the year was prom. I really wasn’t all that excited about it, I’m not the kind of girl who likes to dress up and be in the spotlight. Honestly the idea of prom scared me a little. There aren’t proms in Denmark. The closest thing we have to prom would probably be equivalent to a Mid-High dance. We still get to dress up, but not nearly as much as prom allows it. Though prom scared me, I had a great night and I would love for every girl to try it at least once. There’s just something special about it.

Somehow my mom and Lori Ross worked out a way for me to get an extra month in Tonkawa. This resulted in me going to YFN for which I was grateful! I honestly didn’t know what to expect of it. I hadn’t heard anything negative about the camp; I’d only heard quite the opposite. I was blown away the first night of camp, but God didn’t really reveal himself to until the third night. For the first time I didn’t feel fatherless anymore, I was overwhelmed with peace and reassurance. That was the night I knew that He had prepared me to leave America.

I can honestly say that I’ve had the year of my life and I would never give it away for anything. The church has been a big part of my year and I can now go back a different person thanks to all the people I’ve met through the church. All I have left to is: Thank you for an amazing year, it wouldn’t have been the same without you! This is not a goodbye it a “see you later”."

So yeah, in short terms that was my year in America. It was great and I miss Tonkawa so much it's ridiculous.