So...Christmas anyone???

Yep, been there did that.
Its usually amusing and always kinda sad to me to see the way that different people act around Christmas. For instance, I'm watching a movie right now about a group of terrorists who have taken a building hostage and are working to open the vault. The tech guy (who's name is ironically Theo) is talking to the boss guy, the tech guy says "This last one is gonna take a miracle." To which the boss replies "Its Christmas Theo! It's the time of miracles, so be of good cheer!!!" There's the people who give at Christmas because you're supposed to, the people who give because other's are giving or other's are watching. There's the people who give new unwrapped toys to Toys for Tots and the ones who write the annual charity check (just in time for taxes). There's the people who work the soup kitchen on Christmas afternoon and the ones who attend the special Christmas service whether its Christmas or not because "that's what good Christians do."
Believe it or not, I do know all that "Jesus is the reason for the season stuff." I also know that perfectly pagan institutions do marvelous amazing things for people around Christmas time. And yet...
I've seen families with nothing merry and content because they're together; and families with everything whine and moan because they (usually some 14 year old) didn't get the newest iphone or the car. I've also seen perfectly well meaning families somewhere in the middle who understand the 'reason for the season' and wish only to be together and celebrate with each other but who get caught up in the rest of it, the peripherals, the extras. The presents and the meals and the driving and the people and the smiles and hugs and the food and the presents and who gets what from whom and and and and and...
It makes me sad that they (the infamous 'they') have taken our holiday and made it materialistic and horrid and now they won't even let us say 'Merry Christmas'. I mean really.
Of course I can't find it now but there was an email that went around a while ago about "If they want my Christmas" and it talked about how if we can't say Merry Christmas anymore than I want things like all the stores open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and the post office open extra extra. I (OF COURSE) can't find it, but it was pretty stinkin amazing and if any of you have it I would LOVE to get it again.

My God Is Disconcerting

My God is disconcerting:
He is close to me, and He is transcendent,
He is gentle, and He is violent,
He is eternal, and He is ever born anew.
He has created us for happiness and nourishes us on pain.
He blesses what many people fear,
He loves what so many despise.
He asks for what seems impossible.
He came to bring war, and He is peaceful.
He is God, and he is man,
He is One, and He is three.
He curses the unjust, yet tolerates injustice,
He is the Almighty Father, yet He allows pain and sorrow.
He demands that we conquer the world, that we live in it,
that we love everything human, yet He wants us to think about the next world.
He asks all of us to be saints,
yet He chose as the head of His Church the apostle who denied Him.
He prefers the weak and the poor, yet it is they who go on suffering the most.
He engraves His law on the conscience of every man, yet He founded a church whose magisterium may create more than a few conflicts with this interior voice of conscience.
He is always present, yet no one sees His face.
Whoever loves his neighbor loves Him, yet He is still one God.
He is our whole life, yet He has no name. The closer you get to Him, the more you love Him and the less you understand Him.
He is freedom, yet He came to obey. He is love, yet hell exists.
He exalted matrimony to such a point that He made it a sacrament and the image of His union with His church, yet He and His mother were virgins.
He is at the heart of human history, and not even a hair falls from our heads without His permission, yet millions of men go on feeling that the world is empty of Him and that He really is superfluous.
He is at once both joy and sorrow.
He is holy, but was a friend of sinners.
He was a virgin, yet He allowed Himself to be touched and loved by prostitutes.
He cried out against the rich, yet He used to dine with them.
My disconcerting God is difficult for the man who wants to take His full measure, for those who wish to impose their logic on Him.
But my God goes beyond all logic and all means of measurement.
My God is marvelous and ineffable, unique and disconcerting.
He is being and movement.
He is what was, what is and what will be.

He is everything, yet nothing is Him.
My disconcerting God is He in whom one believes without seeing, whom one loves without touching, in whom one hopes without understanding, and whom one possesses without deserving.

Psalm 12:1

Psalm 12.
"Help, Lord, for the godly man cease to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men."

Ain't that the truth!!!!!!
I mean really!!!!! How many godly (unattached) men do you know?

Updates.

Wow. It’s been a long time. Sorry about that. I’ve been thinking about posting something since camp – I know that was over a month ago; but there’s just been so much going on inside my head that the thought was kind of daunting. So I’m just going to start typing and see what comes out.

Children’s Camp

What a week. We only had 30 kids, but I loved it. By Wednesday at lunch I knew every child by name, which is not only good for disciplinary purposes but also for edifying purposes. I slept in a tent all week with Rachel and Lisa (most of the timeJ) and while the outer part was really messy (you put three teenage girls with a week’s worth of stuff in a tent and keep it clean) the inside was warm and cuddle with mattresses and sleeping bags and sweatshirts. I got sunburned on Wednesday, which kinda stunk, but didn’t really hit me until about 2:30 am when all the heat left my back and shoulders and I was FREEZING and couldn’t get warm the rest of the night. That was the only morning I woke up grumpy – mostly cuz I didn’t ever really go back to sleep after I woke up cold. My two favorite parts of this week were teaching the kids Sword Drill and meals. The Sword Drill part of it was kind of trying – God was teaching me patient, again…still… - but also rewarding. Sword Drill is one of my favorite things to do and it was SO much fun teaching others a way to learn about the Bible. Meals were amazing – for several reasons. First because they tasted good (Good job Doug!) and second because I got to help with set up and clean up and stuff, which helped me because I need to have something to do to be a part of stuff and serve. The other major fun part about Kids Camp was the rock wall – Duane made it and we put it together on Monday before the kids got their on Tuesday. 16 feet high with little holds and a good ole harness – good times!!! Oh!! And the snack bar!!! Rae and I did snack bar and we had a blast!!!! We had everything stashed under the counter, so Rae would sit down there and pass stuff up to me, while I was taking orders and money and giving change. Other than that – not a whole lot happened. We came up with some new lines: “You just got puppet slapped!!” “One, two, three. Eyes on me.” Shane got hit on my several people (and a puppet!!!) and we learned some new songs!!! Good stuff!!!

Youth Camp

Again – only 36 campers, but it was still amazing. Again – knew ever kids name just a little while into camp and was calling them by name often, youth are more mischievous than children. This year I was in charge of the low ropes course (alas, no high ropes this year) but on Tuesday (my ‘day-off’) I got to go with Doug up to the rock. I always forget how beautiful it is up there, and how peaceful, even though it’s hot. This year Doug did two ropes down the rock and I got to be the first down one; Doug just forgot to tell me that when you’re the first one down the rope it tends to coil and wrap. At one point I was balancing on the dirt mound trying to get the rope untangled in order to drop the last five feet. I also got sunburned this day – although mostly on one side – from being strapped to the rock and belaying kids up the crag. Wednesday and Thursday I had kids up on the ropes course – talk about trying to learn patience; enough said. Overall – good week. There were some trying times, and God worked in some lives. Mostly He brought us together; because of the size of our group we all got to know each other a little bit better than we usually do. Hopefully this will lead to better accountability and more kids at rallies and camp.

Work Week

I spent the week after Youth Camp in Redding working. I worked like 47 hours or something, not that I’m complaining, far from it, but it was rather exhausting. Honestly – I don’t remember what we did all day, but I worked a lot, and it was hot.

Happy Birthday Corinne and Abi!!!!!

Mission Camp

We spent this week at Duane and Corinne’s new house in Magalia, along with some time at Billy Park in Paradise and Merlo Park in Stirling City. We did all the usual bond builders and lessons, just a little different for several reasons. First because there were only three of us; second because we weren’t at a camp ground; third because of the new baby. Again – a good week. Learned a lot, actually got some sleep, found out I had (I think I still have) a sprained shoulder, and watching Shane go from quite boy in the corner to crazy both who sneezes and pops his back. Rachel – no nose pushing, it’s against the rules.

And then – back to normal life. What have I done since then? Well, I left there to go to the family reunion, and then straight back to Redding. I started work on Sunday morning at 11:00am and I don’t think I’ve stopped since. Worked a week; drove down on Saturday for the rally, drove back up that night to work on Sunday morning. I’ve spent this week working a lot of LONG days. Tuesday I started work at 7:30 in the morning and didn’t get done til midnight. Not that I worked straight through – that’s illegal – but I’d work for two hours and then get two hours off etc and was finally down at midnight. LONG day.

Today I’m a ‘gym host’. Translation – I drove out here to Grant Elementary (West of Redding) and opened everything up, set up the waters, turned on the air conditioning and the lights. Now I’m sitting here typing all this (and several other things) up on Jimmy until 11:10 when I get back in the Intrepid (HAHA!! I LIKE driving the Intrepid!!!) to go back to Simpson and get lunches for the kids (I’m still not sure what I’m gonna eat) and drive back here until 3:30. The whole time I can do whatever, mostly work on Jimmy and watch movies, but I have to be here the whole time – it’s Grants stupid rule. Anyway, so that’s what I’m doing today!!!!

I work today, tomorrow and Monday, Tuesday’s my day off and then I work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Fun fun!!!!

In other news…there really isn’t any other news…it’s just me being me. (If anyone knows what that is, please let me know.)

Oh yeah – additional email address: skippy@missionpossibleministries.net – off the coolest site ever: missionpossibleministries.net. YAY!!! Check it out – it’s cool. And there’s pictures!!!

Oh!!! And speaking of pictures!!! Here’s one of the pictures that we took last month in Reno at UNR. (Haha!!! No more hair!!!)

Major Skippy

Well...the results are in and the decision is: Francesca. I have NO intention of calling her Fanny - cuz that is just WRONG. I'll probably call her Cesca. I like the way that sounds.

In other news - I obviously cut my hair last Friday!!! It was scary and exciting and fun and crazy. I can't even describe to you what it felt like when she started cutting through the ponytail. It's all gone now - mailed to Locks of Love last Monday. I'm still getting used to it - but I definitely like it. I can blow dry my hair in like two minutes flat!!!! That's a huge improvement from the half an hour it used to take me!!!! It was quite fun to watch the reactions of other people as they noticed. One particular friend didn't notice until I shook my hair (what was left of it) in her face. In some cases my hair was back and under the hat and so it took until I actually took it out of the hat for them to see. My favorite reaction was my 9 year old niece who took one look at me and said "who are you and what have you done with my aunt?"

I also spent last week up at Lake Almanor working a children's camp with my team. Talk about crazy and fun!!! Now I'm home for two days and then leaving for youth camp for a week!!!! YAY!!!!!

Okay - that's the update on my life!!

Love you all - Skippy

It's amazing what scissors can do...

Before:

After:



The difference? 13 inches.

Now is the time to vote!!!! After many suggestions I've narrowed it down but I just can't decide!!!! So I've decided to allow ya'll to vote!
So here are the options:

Fredrick

Francesca

Smurfette

Cast your vote by midnight Saturday June 16, 2007 and tune in Sunday for the revealing of the name of my car!!!!

All entries must be submitted via blog or written down and personally delivered; all rules and restrictions apply see store for details.


Skippy

Duh!!

How could I forget all the details????
Thanks Julie for the reminder!!!

It's a Chevy Aveo, 2005 - prior rental. Four doors (obviously), automatic, radio, air conditioning.

Names anyone?

Skippy

Exciting!!!

What's little, blue, and gas efficient?
MY CAR!!!!!!!
Look:
Yes - that's the underside of my laundry basket - you just DON'T pass up the chance to do your laundry for free, you just don't.


The back.


The front.

I'm so happy!!!!
Anyway - its pretty and blue and REALLY gas efficient!!!!

I'm taking input for the naming of said car, so comment your suggestion and I'll decide and post in a few days!!!

Hope all is well with everyone!!!

Love,
Natasha

The GOD side of today...

And no, it's not just because it's Sunday.
Last night I was saying that I was empty, that I had no more to give. It's something I've said often lately. And this morning in church we sang a song that (brought up some GREAT memories and almost made me cry and) made me realize that in order for me to re-fuel, I have to go to the one who has fuel.

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all

Seeking you as a precious jewel
Lord to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down you pick me up
When I am dry you fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your name
(I love you) Jesus, (oh precious) Lamb of God, worthy is Your name

So there's the cool God thing for today.
Kind of like a friendly slap in the face just to get my attention.

Anywho - who else has a God story? I know that they happen to all of you - are you looking for them?

Major Skippy

I can tie my hair in a knot!!!!
Isn't that cool?
Okay, at least weird!!!



Of course it only works when its wet...but that's only a minor detail!!!

It has officially been more than a month since I have posted anything. Almost a month and a half. Hmmm...

Anyway!!! So - what has happened since March 31st?
Well...I made it through Easter, three birthdays in one week, and finals.
And then I started work!!! I work for six hours on Friday the 27th setting up for graduation. Most of it in the sun, setting up 3,000 white chairs. Then, I spent five hours on Saturday the 28th - taking them all down. Oh yea - loads of fun!!!!
Monday the 30th was First Aid and CPR training day - I'm certified!!! (No, not certifiably insane - that's you!)
Tuesday we moved - Nicole and I - down the hall, up the stairs, through the lobby, and into the room I'm in now!!! I'm still getting settled in, but whatever - it's all good!!!!

The first week of May was 9-5, every day. Crazy work. Fun work, but crazy work. This week has been more low key, and more sporadic. Next week I only work Tuesday and Wednesday.

There's really nothing else going on. I get up, I go to work, I come back, I go to my other job, I sleep. Same-o, same-o every day.

Trivia question!!!!!! What president's last real tooth and four sets of dentures on display at a Dentistry Museum??

Love to all - yes, that means even you.
Skippy

So it's been almost three weeks...not my fault!!!
The first week there was nothing I could do about it because I was home on Spring Break and we were moving and the DSL didn't get changed over and we had no Internet. ("And like, no phone!" If you know what that's from, let me know - you'll be my hero.)
And then last week my niece Tate from Boise was at school with me, and I barely had time to do my homework, let alone post.
But now, now I'm posting.
I'm home at the moment, I came home yesterday to take Tate to the airport this morning (we left at 4 am...) and I'm heading back tonight to spend the rest of the night and tomorrow reading like crazy and trying to catch up.

The thing about blogging is that your supposed to have something interesting or at least intelligent to say. What if you don't have anything very interesting or remotely intelligent to say?

Alright, that's it. Later. Skippy

God is GREAT!!!!!!!!!

Ya wanna know why? Here, let me tell you:

1. It's SUNNY outside!!!!
2. I have the GREATEST friends in the world!!!!!!
3. I'm going home this weekend!!!!
4. We're finally moving this weekend!!!!
5. I get to see Becc on Monday for the first time in months!!!!
6. I get to spend a week and a half with my long lost niece from Boise!!!!
7. There are people who love me enough (I have no idea why) to come help us move on Saturday!!!!
8. I get to see T.K. in 72 hours!!!
9. I get to see my chiropractor on Wednesday!!!! (Yes, that is AFTER we move.)
10. Professors at Simpson are AMAZING!!!!

So those are the first 10 reasons that popped into my head, there are about a zillion others.

OH!!! And here's#11 - this makes the second post in a week!!!!

Love to ALL!!!!
Skippy

Yay!!! I made it!!! Another post within a week!!!! SWEET!!!!!!!

There is no real point to this post, I have nothing great to say. But I do have something kinda cool to share! This week is Genesis week, and our chapel speaker has been Christ Brown - he's a storyteller. It's AMAZING!!!! He brings the stories from the Bible to life in a crazy insane way!!!
Anyway, I would suggest that you check him out (www.northcoastchurch.com) if you're interested, there should be some sermons online.

So life is crazy, that's nothing new.

Going to go eat what they call food in the cafe - it might actually be decent because we have visitors on campus.

Love to all,
Skippy

Once again I have failed in my duties as a Blog Writer.
I will honestly attempt to get better, but we'll have to take it slowly. I'll start with an attempt to blog once a week, and as I get better I'll aim for twice a week.

Lets see what's happened since my last blog:

I got through my first set of midterms and am now upon my second. There's something wrong with having two sets of 'midterms'. Bio test on Friday, Bio lab test on Tuesday; Psych paper due Wednesday; Phil paper due Monday and another one due on the 26th that I have to read a DISGUSTINGLY boring book for; NT quiz on Monday, test on Wednesday and quiz on Friday. It's going to be a busy week.

Our boys made it to the final round of Regionals, but didn't make it to Nationals. I'm fairly certain that they will next year as we have no Seniors on the team.

The answer to the trivia question is an hour and a half. Which is why if you don't have a full hour and an half to sleep, you should only sleep for 15 or 20 minutes - otherwise you wake up when you are at the deepest part of the sleep cycle and are groggy and mean. :(

Onto something exciting!!! God is doing amazing things in the life of one of my girls!!!! I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to watch Him work in someone's life, especially when you can't feel him working in your life.

Okay - I'm off to go do my Biology flash cards.

Love from Skippy!!!!

Alright - I know that it's been a month (and a day to be exact) but rather than bore you with excuses, which most of you would probably shoot down anyway, I'll just get straight to whatever point it is that I'm supposed to be making.
...
...
...
...
I'm sure that I'll come up with one eventually...
I took a nap today!!!! It wasn't a very good nap, but I did get to take one.
And I get paid this week!!! That's always happy.
And I'm in the middle of midterms!!!! I had two tests and a paper on Friday. Got grades for the two tests today, pleased in both cases. Had another test today. Have an Intro to Biology Lab Exam tomorrow and another test and a quiz on Friday. And then an essay test on Tuesday.

We only have two more basketball games left. One on Thursday (Women only, vs. CSU East Bay) and Men and Women on Saturday vs. William Jessup.

Question of the day: how long does it take to rotate through all four stages of sleep?
Answer - come back later (I won't say how long because if I do and I don't get it posted then, I'll be in trouble) to find out!!!

Love to all!!!
Skippy

Does anyone else find it disturbing that I work more hours than I'm taking units?

It happened again...

Sometimes life sucks. Something happens, something like (let's say) losing a parent. And life just sucks. But you move on and you have support and you have God and you think things are going again. And then you hear the horrible news - someone else has lost a parent. I guy I graduated lost his mother this past week. She had the flu which turned into double pneumonia. Both her kidneys failed and then her heart gave out. The funeral is tomorrow. I've been thinking the past couple days about the last days that I spent with my father, not the last days of his life but the last days that he was really my dad. Sometimes life sucks for you, and sometimes you can't do anything about it. Sometimes life sucks for others, and then you really can't do anything about it. And that makes life suck.

Please be praying for Daniel, his sister Ashley and brother William as well as their father. This is going to be a tough time for them; Daniel lives away from home at school and William is in the Marines, Ashley goes to high school at Biggs. They need all the prayer they can get - please pray.

Sorrowfully - Skippy

I got it!!! Remember how I told you that I had something deep to post, but I forgot? Well, I remembered!!! Or, more accurately, I was reminded. I was driving this morning and I heard this song again on the radio, this is what I wanted to post on.

The title of the song is “If you’re going through hell”, Rodney Atkins sings it, and its pretty popular right now. The title comes from Winston Churchill who said “If you are going through hell, keep going.” (Found that online, thank you DaveShearon.) Here’s the chorus:

If you're going through hell
Keep on going, Don't slow down
If you're scared, don't show it
You might get out
Before the devil even knows you're there

If you’re going through hell
Keep on moving, Face that fire
Walk right through it
You might get out
Before the devil even knows you’re there.

The question of whether or not you could get out before the devil knows you’re there is debatable; however it has no bearing on the purpose of this post.

The purpose here is to agree with the Winston Churchill – if you’re going through hell, keep going. Recently I’ve been feelin kinda down and not really looking forward to anything. And I’ve heard this song before, but yesterday on the way home from Redding I actually listened to it. There are times, lots of times, when I feel like throwing the towel in and throwing my hands up and quitting. Quitting everything – school, work, friends, family, everything. While I have yet to do that, the desire is often there and is often strong. I find that its easier to accomplish something when I don’t have to slow down and think about it. When I can just push through: eyes on the prize, focused on the goal, I can make it.

The point? If you are going through hell on earth right now, keep going. Don’t slow down because when you slow down you start to feel sorry for yourself and you start to get dragged down. Just keep going, focus on Christ and never shift that focus. I once heard a talk on Peter walking on water, he was doing just fine until “seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”” (Matt 14:30 NASB) Peter w as walking on water, but when he took his eyes off Jesus to look around him (no doubt in awe of the experience) he first became frightened, and then began to sink.

And here’s some more food for thought about the second section of the chorus – “face that fire, walk right through it”. Sound like anyone you know? How about Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah? (That’s Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.) They faced the fire, and walk right out of it. Why? Because of the angle of the Lord. How? Because they were focused on God.

If you’re going through hell, keep going. Don’t slow down. Face that fire, walk right through it. Keep your eyes on Christ.

Well, nothin much new to report. Went up to Redding yesterday to work a game. Came back to Biggs today with Allison.

Honestly, other than that there's not much to say.
I had something deep to post, I thought of it on the way home today, but then I forgot it, and so now I can't share it, sorry.

Classes start next week, that might be interesting.

Leaving now,
Natasha

The long awaited revealing…

Okay, so it may not have been that long awaited, but at least one person has asked me what my Christmas pet peeve is, and so now I’m going to share. I know that its past Christmas and that you are all getting ready for the New Year, but I KNOW that you all remember Christmas carols, and if you’re still listening to them, listen for this and you’ll hear it.

My BIGGEST Christmas pet peeve is that songwriters and poets alike all use the phrase ‘born in a manger’. Does anyone else see a problem with that? The Bible does not say that Christ was ‘born in a manger’, it says that he was laid in a manger. Christ was BORN in a stable, and LAID in a manger. One simple word!!!! Why can’t people get it right? You can’t use syllables as an excuse either because ‘born’ and ‘laid’ are each only one syllable and ‘stable’ and ‘manger’ are each two syllables. The only possible (decent) argument would be the need for rhyming. However, I cannot remember one song in which the word ‘born’ or ‘manger’ was used in the rhyming scheme itself; and even if it was! Substitute out the other word, and you’re fine!!!

So, there you have my biggest Christmas pet peeve. In other news, I only have one more week at home before its back to classes, back to work, and back to the insanity that is my semester. My load is slightly less on the school side, and slightly more on the work side this semester, so we’ll see what that turns into.

Family is all good for the most part. Christmas went well and we managed to survive the ‘day after Christmas’ sales. I’m starting to realize how truly messed up life is though, and that’s quite a bummer.

Love to all,

Skippy

So it's been three weeks, whatever.

Postings, of a general nature.

So, I survived finals. I had five of them: turned my Math paper in on Friday (before finals week) and then came home for the weekend. Got back on Monday and studied like crazy for my Geography final, which I took on Tuesday morning. Wednesday was my hard day: I had OT review at 8:30, Hermeneutics final at 10:30, and Oral Comm. final at 1. Made it through all of those and then went back and spent the next two and a half hours packing and cleaning and cleaning and packing. Mom came and got me and we headed home (by way of Red Bluff of course).

Since then I have enjoyed vacation. I’ve gotten some much needed sleep and managed to watch movies for the first time in forever!!!! Mom had to work this past week, which was handy because it allowed me time to myself to recoup from the absolute insanity that was this past semester.

She got done with work yesterday, and we went up to Magalia to hear my LOVELY MPBC’s Christmas program. We stayed up way too late and had trouble getting up this morning.

It other news, I’m looking forward to getting some NON-school reading done this week, and of course Christmas on Monday. Oddly enough, I don’t feel like its Christmas, I keep thinking that I should be headed back to school because I’ve definitely been here longer than a weekend.

Yes Andrea!!! Jacques Chirac is the French President. Now comes the hard question (and I’m not sure it counts as trivia, but I make the rules for this game and I say its in, so there) – what is my BIGGEST Christmas pet peeve? Even if you don’t think you know, it be interesting to hear what you have to say, so respond – it’ll be fun!!!

As to the house, well……I promise that I’ll explain in full, by the time the semester starts.

Lots of love and joy to all in this happy season – remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!!!!

Major Skippy

Hey ya'll. Sorry its been so long - its just the samo-samo, life is CRAZY. I home right now (again) but I'll be back at school tomorrow. This is the last week of classes for the semester - next week is FINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH and NOOO at the same time. Its a mixed feeling.

Home - still up in the air. I know that I said I would explain all this weekend, well, it got shoved to next weekend.

In new News: Andrea, my dear sweet Andrea - you know me well!!!!! But unfortunately, the greatest food on earth does not have a place in either of those acronyms. MPM is Mission Possible Ministries, that's my mission group that you hear me talk so much about. MPBC is Magalia Pines Baptist Church - the church were I spent my summer working. AND, I don't think you get to ask trivia questions, that's my job!!!!

How lets see, what was the last trivia question? Right! The seven partners that just joined together to build a fusion plant in France are China, Japan, India, Russia, South Korea, the European Union and the United States.

Okay - new question: What is the name of the French president?

Love to all -
Skippy

I think this is the longest I've ever gone without posting . . . its kind of odd. I keep forgetting that I need to post, sorry!!!

Anyway. Thanksgiving is tomorrow!!!!! (I don't know why I'm excited, all I should eat is turkey.) But my grandparents are here, that's always entertaining. And I'm home until Sunday - which is definitely happy news!!!! AND I not only got to have my best friend come home with me for a while yesterday, but the two of us got to go get my other best friend from the airport!!!! Good times!!!!!

As far as the past month . . . I've been home every weekend, which makes it kind of difficult to study a lot. Last weekend was our annual MPM Retreat, and that was fun. We heard happy news (YAY for Rufus Kumquat the 3rd!!!!) and went door to door on Saturday morning; the rally went really well and it was REALLY great to be at MPBC once again - I missed it!!! Sunday night was fun (singing with Doug and Corinne) and the food was pretty good (Baptists sure do know how to do Thanksgiving!) This week was short (we only had two days of classes) and that was DEFINITELY a happy thing!!!!

In other news - still looking for guidance and direction. Praying for those who ask for it, still willing to know more.

Trivia - YES Lesa!!!!!!! And yay Google!!!!!

New question - what 7 partners just joined together to build a fusion testing plant in France?

Love to all!!!!!
Skippy

What is this? The Andrea and Brady show? Doesn't anyone else have some input???

Correct Brady!!!!!! Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfall in the world.


Well, we're full swing into basketball...okay maybe half swing. We had a Women's Basketball tournament this weekend: three days, four teams, six games, 18 hours on the time card. Our girls did pretty well, and we were mostly injury free until tonight.

We have a tournament just after Thanksgiving, but that's it for the month of November - which is SUPER exciting because it means I might be able to concentrate on only 10 things instead of 12 for once.

Home is interesting as ever, I really will have a nice long blog about the whole story the first week in December. Until then, just keep praying.

Which brings me to another point - prayer request.
I have several, but I've shortened it down to this: I need some guidance and reassurance from God about everything that's going on and where He wants me to be headed. If you think to pray for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

And again - if you have anything you would like me to pray about, just let me know and I'd be glad to do so!!!!

New trivia!!!!!! Africa has three 'great' lakes - what are they?

Love to all from the beautiful Simpson bubble,

Skippy

P.S. Duane-n-ator - you called me General the other day on the phone - does that mean I get another promotion?

Delayed for reasons out of my control.

I really REALLY would have posted on Wednesday, but Blogger wouldn't let me. And I have tried several times since then, and FINALLY today it let me on.

So there's my excuse. Deal with it.

K. Updates on the home front - life is interesting. That's all I'm saying. I'll fill ya'll in later.

Updates from the school front - Soccer is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I managed to survive through Midnight Madness!!!! Yay God for strength and patience and factors out of my control!!!!!!!!!!!

Updates on . . . another front - I got glasses!!! Oh wait, I told you all that. Well, you'll just have to wait for me to have a cute picture and then I'll put it up. Maybe.

Trivia answer - Yes dear Andrea!!!! That is correct!!!!! The Great Antilles are made up of four islands, five nations. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island, then you have Jamaica, Cuba and Puerto Rico which is actually a dependent and not an independent state.

New Trivia: the highest water fall in the world is?????????

Love to all from the Skippy!!!!!

Major Skippy

P.S. MPM folk - Retreat weekend the 17-19, RALLY on the 18th!!!

Lala, whatever.

Lalalalala - so its been a while.

I'm SORRY Brady!!!!!! (See, I can write to you other than in an email!)

Things have been INSANE!!! I know that I say that all the time - but for real - INSANE!!!!
School and work and school and work and homework and coming home to have a crazy weekend and then back to school and work and school and work and then maybe I can sleep after.....oh say - finals?

Anyway - prayer group is going well . . . classes are going well (think I'm gonna meet my grade goal!) and work is going well. We're gearing up for Midnight Madness - if you read this and you go to Simpson, you had BETTER be there!!!!!!! (for those of you who don't know - Midnight Madness is an event put on by the Athletic Department once a year in October to get the students pumped up for basketball season.)

God is good - all the time!!!! Just thought I'd throw that in there, to remind you all in case you forgot!!!

I got glasses today - its been interesting, to say the least!!!! Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll a post a picture.....maybe not.

Congratulations to both Brady and Andrea!!!!! You are both correct - isn't it crazy that a lake is almost 10 times saltier than the ocean?!?!!?!? It's crazy!!!!!

K, new trivia. This is a multi answer question - what are the Greater Antilles???

Love to all!!!!

Skippy

MY FEET HURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that's how I feel about that!!! Just thought you like to know!!!!! And so far tonight, homework seems to be going fairly well, so I can take a moment and post!!!

Two days!!! Do you see that?!?! TWO DAYS!!!!! Since then, I'm back at school. Today was okay - but I've been on the run since 8 this morning, and I'm tired!!!!

We had two soccer games today - Men and Women vs. Menlo. Both teams lost, but they both put up a good fight!!!!

Other than that...not much is going on. I can't post a new trivia question, because no one answered my last question!! So get on it people!!!

Love you!! Skippy

Hey folks.

Well, its been a long week. Lemme give you the Cliff Notes version:

Disneyland was GREAT!!! We had a blast!!!! The flight home was good, the drive up to Biggs wasn't bad. When we got home K and the kids had moved out, so we had lots of adjusting to do. This week was okay in classes, although I had a LOT of catch up work to do. Work went well, but I was exhausted by the time the week was over. We had a long weekend this weekend - THANK YOU JESUS!!!! So I didn't have classes on Friday and I won't have classes tomorrow. Because of that, I have appts tomorrow, and the last - my favorite!! - is with my chiropractor!!! So after over a month, my hip finally gets to go back where its supposed to!!!!!!! YAY ME!!!!!!

Last night I spent 9 hours babysitting 5 children under the age of 11. It was great. No really, it was fun!!!

Okay, leaving now because, well, because I want to.

But wait!!!! Trivia!!!

The last question was about Czech and Slovakia - brownie points to Lesa for getting the right answer!!!!

This weeks question is . . . what percent of the Great Salt Lake is salt? And what is the average for the Oceans?

Love to all!!!
Skippy

A week and a day - I'm back to long periods of time between posts - SORRY!!! I thought that I had posted something last Sunday night, apparently it didn't go through. I don't remember everything that was in it, I do know that I said I was VERY excited, but I didn't tell you why. In fact, I believe I said that it would all make sense on Tuesday night. The reason? Lemme tell you:

Monday - I went to three classes and then my sister picked me up and we rushed home and picked up mom and then rushed the airport. We flew from Sacramento to LAX where my grandfather picked us up and took us back to his house.
Tuesday - we got up and that afternoon my sister took me to CBU (California Baptist University) to surprise (and I mean SURPRISE) my best friend, Rebecca. She had ABSOLUTELY no idea that I was coming!!! It was SOOOOO much fun!!!!
On Wednesday Grandpa brought us into Anaheim and dropped us off at the Disneyland hotel. We spent Wednesday in Disneyland and went to dinner at a place by the hotel called Hook's Pointe.
Thursday we went into Fantasyland (early entry!!!) and then over to California Adventure. This was Mom's first time on Soarin, and she loved it!!!!! Jocelyn, although she has been on this ride several times, still loves it, as do I.
Today (Friday) we're headed to Goofy's Kitchen for a character brunch, and then into Disneyland to finish up. We're watching the parade of dreams this afternoon, and the last thing on the agenda is the 50th Fireworks show. Inbetween the parade and the fireworks is my FAVORITE part of the whole place - Fantasmic. It is the best music!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

Okay, I have to go now. I must finish getting ready so we can be down at the restaurant on time.
Love to all!!!
Skippy

From the Skippy . . . take 2?

So. What do you want? Updates? Trivia questions? RBI's? (Random Bits of Information - I just came up with that myself, right now!!)

K - updates = life is crazy. Class is awesome. Work is tolerable.
It has been brought to my attention again that I have learned a lot this summer. Through the whole thing with Dad I was learning; and the month at Magalia was an EXTREMELY educational experience. Now I'm back in classes (which is the obvious place of learning) plus I'm in meetings and at games and being a prayer leader and all that stuff. So all around - I'm learning a lot.

Random bits of information - we had a theft in the dorm. It's a sad thing when your home isn't safe. Like my home-home is safe. But this is my school home and it makes me sad that the home that I'm at now is not safe.

TRIVIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When did Slovakia split from Czech? And what is that split known as?

Skippy

God is good!!! All the time!!!!

Three days!!! How's that for a change?!?!?!?

Not a WHOLE lot has happened since my last post. But there are a few things. First off, Harold got to come home from the hospital yesterday!!!!!! The second thing is that the rally went really well!!!! (Thanks again Duane!!!) And the third thing is . . . last night I had a conversation with an old friend, and I feel like I have the friend back better than ever. YEAH GOD!!!!! Oh, and another thing to say YAY God to - my financial aid is (finally) finished and I get to continue to go to school!!!! God has blessed me (once again) with money from an unexpected source and has continued to provide for me!!!!

Lastly - I REALLY love my sweatshirt!!!! And I love sleeping under so many covers that you don't really move throughout the night because of all the weight. Good stuff!!!

Okay, going now. I'm starting to get back into the swing of things and I'll begin to post more often and post shortened posts.

Coming next time:

the first trivia question of the semester!!!!!

Until then;

Major Skippy

From the Skippy:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. That's about how I feel, and about how I'll continue to feel, until oh . . . say . . . graduation????

So I know its been a while (18 days to be exact, although the first 10 don't count cuz I TOLD you I couldn't post then) and I really am sorry. Every time I go online I keep meaning to post, and then I forget or I don't have time or I have to work on that pesky little thing called homework.

And I know that you all know that my life is CRAZY insane, but let me give you an idea of my normal week. 15 units (that means 15 hours of in class time and 30 hours of homework). 15 hours a week for my Athletic Student Clerk job; three hours a week for my Book Repair job; plus whatever home games we have that week (I'm working pretty much all of them.) So pretty much - life is insane!!!!

However, there are some other things going on in my life that I'd like to share with you!!!! This year I'm a prayer-leader on my floor. I have ten girls who have been 'assigned' to me, and we meet once a week and pray and hang out and talk and whatever. We had our first real meeting on Monday night, and it went really well!!!! We talked about the ground rules and about the importance of going to God with confidence. I had 8 out of those 10 show up and we just about filled my room!!!

That's a total praise, here's a total prayer request: my brother-in-law is in the ICU right now, he had a series of small strokes. They are running all sorts of tests (yesterday and today) and we don't have a prognosis but it looks like he's getting better.

In other news - we have a RALLY this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO excited!!!! I can't wait to see everyone again!!!!!! (Heather, are you coming? I still can't finish that scarf!!!! :( )

Anyway, I think I'm done now . . . . . . so love to you all,

Major Skippy

So, I week and a day . . . I'm on a roll!!!!!

Actually things have been crazy this week . . . wait a minute, that's nothing unusual. I moved to school this week, but I'm home for the weekend: RALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I go back to school tonight, but I'll be home next weekend for the baby's 1st birthday party, and then I go back to school and start classes.

Anyway, I won't be able to post much for about a week and a half because I don't have my computer so I can't post from my room and that's really the only time I have to post. I did get all the way moved in to my room. I know who my suitemates are, and I can't wait til they get here!!!! (there, whatever) But it turns out that I won't have a roommate, which is pretty awesome. It means that I have more space and I have alone time. And it also means that when I have prayer meetings I won't have to talk to anyone about making sure its okay that the group of girls is in my room.

Nothing else is really going on . . . that I can think of. Lemme know what's goin on with y'all - I feel very far out of the loop/

Love to all my Magalians!!!!

Major Skippy

Okay - so it's been a whole week. Sorry - I've been a little busy. Nothing really is new, worked all week and did a destructive recovery on my dear Jimmy - I've finally gotten everything downloaded again and all is well!!!! The problem is that now all the hardware still needs to be fixed but its taking forever!!!

Congrats to Chris and Mandy on their beautiful wedding today and good luck for your future!!!!

It was REALLY great to get to see everyone (Doug, Duane, Corinne, Lesa, Cathy, Heatherly and Sam, Rebecca, Debra etc etc) and great to hang out with Lesa!!!!

Tonight I'm in Corning (go figure) with my sister and her roommates, I'm going home tomorrow for Church. Monday I've got stuff to do in Chico and I have to say goodbye to one of my best friends. Tuesday is goodbye to two of my other best friends. Wednesday is load up day and moving day and saying goodbye to my other best friend and my mom! :( That's the plan for next week - and after that its all work and school.

Going now, stuff to do - people to email, organizational needs to be met!!!

Well . . . my wonderful lovely absolutely awesome southern girls and guy are gone. :) I took them out to LP's house last night, and we shed lots of tears, and then I found out I had locked my keys in the truck. I'm so brilliant, I know it, you don't have to say it. So my sister came and bailed me out and then I came home and stayed up too late knitting and working on my computer. This past week has been interesting. Monday I did lockers, and since then I've done locker combos and entering them into the computer, and between the girls and I we finished two hundred packets and sorted all of the stuff that needs to be filed. Yesterday Karen and I cleaned the house like CRAZY before the summer missionaries came over (Erica is allergic to cats). It was really fun to get to spend all that time with my nieces and my sister while we were actually getting something done!!! I can't wait to get to church tomorrow and see all the kids and Grandpa Emmons!!!!! I smile just thinking about it!!!

Also, I have an announcement to make: as of Tuesday evening - thanks to the Duane-n-ator, I am officially-

MAJOR Skippy.

Yes, that means that I got a promotion!!!!! And it makes me very happy!!!! And I have every intention of living up to that promotion!!!!!
So, on that note, I'll sign off:
Yours forever,
Major Skippy

So I'm home now. I'm still sad that I had to leave Magalia. I should have posted before I left, and the day that I had to leave, but I didn't have time. So here's some back tracking.

Last week we had two VBS's. We had around 100 people every day at Magalia, we had three kids make professions of faith and we had lots of fun singing the songs!!!! Saturday I was up at the crack of dawn to go down to Yuba City to help set up the tent for the Migrant VBS that is taking place this week. We got back around 11, and I crashed out for a couple of hours. Sunday was a long, LONG day, and it was a sad day. The evening service went well, I think. I miss everyone so much already its not even cool.

Today I spent the day at work with Mom doing lockers - yeah! not really, but I got them all on!!! - and then I sorted the filing. There was a whole mail tub of it that hadn't been filed since spring of 2005.

This week I'm working with Mom and spending time with my wonderful missionary friends before they leave. :(

Here's some pictures!!! The first two are of the putting up of the tent.
It went from this:


To this:


And ended like this:


And this is me and my WONDERFUL missionary friends:


So I'm going now, what with pictures and all this post is long enough.

Love to all - Skippy

I of course forgot to post a picture - thanks for pointing that out!!!!

So here is Georgie (foreground, big and black) and Gunner (smaller and brown and in the back) along with Doug (green shirt) and Duane (he's with Gunner). Getting up on Gunner was new and interesting. Getting up on Georgie was an adventure.

La, la, la, la

So the carnival went REALLY well. We did have the dunk tank and the bounce house and the pony rides!!!! And I got to help with the horseys!!! Duane and Doug brought Gunner (who belongs to and is strangely similar to Duane) and Georgie (who belongs to and is strangely similar to Corinne) to the church for the pony rides. Doug led Georgie with Jody walking behind him with her hand on the saddle in case the child started to slip. Duane led Gunner and I walked behind him doing what Jody was doing. I held the lead rope while Duane loaded kids and Gunner kept snotting all over me and biting me (he got smacked for that) and nudging me (he kinda got smacked for that). We had over forty helpers and at one point we had over 100 people there. And, after it was all over and done with, I got to ride the horses!!!! Both of them, not at the same time. I had never ridden a horse, and so I told Duane that I didn’t want a pony ride, I wanted him to teach me how to ride, and he did…kind of. Anyway, so I got up on Gunner and rode around the building pad (they’re getting ready to build another building, so there’s the pad that they’re going to build on.) once and then I got up on Georgie (that was an adventure, you can see why in the picture) and rode her for quite a while – at least it seemed like a while, I’m not really sure how long I was on her – but it was REALLY fun!!!!!! And then I cleaned up and then I went to a concert at the church where I got to see a few of my favorite people.

Sunday was fun: church, lunch (at Happy Days, where else when you’re going with Doug?) and then the missionaries and I went back to the church and started decorating for VBS this week. About 4:30, the four of them found out that they were not only speaking in the evening service, they were leading the music as well!!! So we went to dinner (GREAT pizza – I have really got to stop eating that stuff, but its just SO good!!!) and then we rushed back to the church and started to frantically get ready for the evening service. I ran the power point, so I was trying to put in all the words for the songs they were singing. And then Matt got up and gave a presentation on his trip to Brazil which lasted . . . a long time. What was funny was that he thought he was controlling the power point with the remote, but he wasn’t because for some reason the remote wouldn’t work. Anyway . . . then we did a slide show of the pictures from the carnival, and that was fun. And then . . . we were done. So I went home with Duane and Corinne (YEAH for the Honda!!!!!!!) and took a shower and went to BED!!!!

This morning started bright and early; up at 6am, ready at 7am, out the door at 7:20 when my ride got there. Rewrote the Bible study that I was going to do; did the power point for the worship rally; learned all about hooking up the computer to the projector, and had Chex Mix (traditional style) for breakfast – good times. The actual VBS went really well: we had 64 kids and 34 helper-teacher-leader people. We were late getting started, but that’s usual for Monday of VBS; but the rally went well and the kids liked Arctic Edge fairly well. The time between the rallies I did my Bible study and I walked around taking pictures. The closing rally went well, Erica taught them “I Know that I Know that I Know” and we sang Arctic Edge again.

Then we went down to Stirling City (oh, side note, they almost forgot my lunch!!!!) and did VBS there. We had 10 kids, and it went fairly well. But it bugged because we didn’t have as much time . . . and I REALLY wanted to make a scrapbook and didn’t get to – but it’s okay because there’s still time!!!

Anyway, I’m leaving now, because I have things to do and sleep to catch up on etc.

Love from: Skippy

Free Carnival Today!!!! (Tomorrow) from 10 am til noon!!! Dunk tank! Bounce house! Pony Rides! Games, prizes, food!!!! That's what I'm doing tomorrow, the kickoff Carnival for the Magalia Pines (and Stirling City) Vacation Bible School(s) 2006!!!!

Other than getting ready for VBS, and the Carnival, I haven't done much. VBS this and VBS that and Carnival this and Carnival that and we're doing two VBSs so that adds to it all the more!!!! Magalia Pines does their own VBS and then they put the VBS at Stirling City on as well. It should be fun!!!!!

I'm finding more and more that I am less and less of a perfectionist . . . in some things. Some things that I used to FREAK OUT about, I don't so much care anymore. Other things I still definitely care about, but there are some things that I'm losing my perfectionist grip on.

Going now, hopefully for some food. Later!!

Skippy

Sunday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Saturday. It's a definite pattern.

So, last night I went home for a few hours - that was AWESOME. Not only did I get to see my cat (YEAH T.K.!!!!!!!!!!!) but I got to see all my cute little nieces (pinching the cheek, pinching the cheek) and my sister and my MOM (YEAH MOM!!!!) and my two bestest friends in the whole wide world!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I did an outreach thingy at the Billie Park in Paradise, and it went fairly well. The best part was getting to hang out with two of the girls from here in Magalia and the hike that I took with Duane before the picnic started.

Now I'm sitting in an empty church (having keys is AWESOME) doing all my 'online' stuff before I head up to my pastor's house for the night. Next week is 'call back week' for VBS: I'm going to spend the whole week calling parents back and reminding them and getting addresses for the bus route, and Cathy is going to spend the whole week calling back the workers making sure they're all ready to go!!! That Saturday is the Carnival - with horsey rides and fun games and balloons (hopefully) and snow cones (hopefully) and lots of fun stuff!!!! And then Monday starts VBS, and I'll actually be doing 2 VBSs. I'll do the one here in Magalia from 9 to noon - doing the music and one Bible study (maybe) - and then I'll do the one up in Stirling City - doing music and crafts - from 1:30 - 3:30 and then I'll come home and crash.

The Sunday after VBS is my last Sunday here, and then I'm home for two weeks and then I go to school to work for a week and a half and then school starts. 18 units, 15 hours of work, leadership position on the floor. That's the plan. Am I insane you ask? Probably. Are you? Probably, after all - you are reading this!!!

Going now, lots to do!!! Love to all, esp those I saw last night!!!

Skippy

Ya know, in the grand scheme of things, Sunday to Wednesday is not that long. Not that long at all. Anywho, so far this week I have gone door to door twice, spent yesterday putting up signs, took Duane out to lunch today for his birthday,

Happy Birthday Duane!!!!!!!!

and . . . talked to my mom a few times (she's in Nashville. Well, actually at the moment I believe that she's getting on the plane in Atlanta to come home, but that's beside the point.) And I can't think of anything else that I've done. At the moment I'm at the church in Magalia, waiting for Bible Study to start. Better go make sure they didn't start without me!!!


Love you all tons, hope to hear from you!!!


Skippy

What? You want me to update? Wait, that means that I have to think . . . and form sentences not only in my brain, but on the computer . . . and they have to make sense?????? You might be asking too much, but I'll see what I can do.

First off, typing makes my finger hurt. Know why? Because I cut it, diagonally across the nail all the way through the nail to the skin on whatever day it was that my phone got stolen. Its my index finger, so its pretty important when it comes to typing, and it hurts.

Second, its hot - but I'm much better now that I'm back inside the church building. We (Cathy and I) were out going door to door to register kids for Vacation Bible School. We got like 80% of our area done, and got one child registered and several promising families. But, like I said, I'm back in the church building now and its much better in here.

Thirdly, what else has happened? Well, this week I got my phone stolen and then returned (CREEPY situation) the same day that I cut my finger and that we went out and didn't get ANYTHING. Last night Corinne and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean II and LOVED it!!! And, it was really great to hang out with Corinnne and go to a movie and just have fun.

Other than that, not much is going on . . . I don't think. I spent the week going out door to door and getting stuff ready here for today (we had three groups of people go out door to door) and sorted through a ZILLION camp pics. Which reminds me, if you have any camp pictures, PLEASE email them too me!!! I would LOVE to have them!!!!! If anyone in your youth group has camp pictures, I would LOVE to have them!!!!

Anyway, I'm hoping to put together something soon that I can upload so you guys can see a lot of the GREAT pictures we got from camp. . . any suggestions???

Okay, I'm leaving now. I hope that everyone is keeping cool but still ON FIRE for Christ!!!

Love you all loads!!!! Skippy

Sunday

Okay, so I’m late again, deal.

Sunday of Missions Camp: Sunday consisted of two main things: the electric fence and the all night vigil. We did our other Bible studies, and we ate and all that, but the main things were the fence and vigil. Getting over the electric fence (in 6 minutes flat, I might add) was totally NOT my team, it was GOD. We know that because we were all so physically, mentally, emotionally exhausted, that there was no way that we could have done that on our own. SO it was AWESOME to get to see God work through us for that. The other thing was the prayer vigil, and that was also cool. Much needed, intimate, one-on-one time with God. AMAZING. We finally got to bed around 5 in the morning, and then had to get up for youth camp. Hey, no one EVER said you got to sleep at camp!!

Friday AND Saturday

Okay, so I’m late; what’s new?

Friday:

Missions Camp: Goodbyes are never easy, but for Missions Camp, they don’t come for a while!!! We did, however, have to say goodbye to the children who had been at children’s camp. We did a final skit, helped them to build pyramids (showed them one of our really cool ones), and then watched as they left. That afternoon we reverted to 1^st year, there was need for some knee bending back arching, but it didn’t happen. (If you understood that, laugh, if you didn’t, don’t try.) Friday was the first day that we tried to get up the tree and get the stick that Duane pointed at. It didn’t happen, we failed. And we failed not because we didn’t get the stick, but because we didn’t communicate, prepare, or think at all let alone think it through.

Youth Camp: Goodbyes. It such a sad thing. And for Youth Camp, they are on Friday. We started the morning hurrying to pack, and then I got yanked from bathroom duty (YEAH!!!) to go belay Tim for him to help Duane take Jacob’s Ladder down. That was . . . interesting. Long and hard, and much MUCH harder for Tim and Duane than it was for us. At one point, I had Tim on belay all the way, because that he wasn’t standing on anything or holding onto anything. YEAH for Rachel being on my rope behind me giving me extra weight, balance and pull. After Jacob’s Ladder was down, we sang, took pictures, cried, hugged . . . and then everyone left.

And now (drum roll please . . . ) Saturday!!!!!!

Missions Camp: Camp on the weekend? DEFINITELY!!!!! Saturday consisted of two and a half things. The half is Duane beating up Corinne and me breaking in to help and only adding to the problem AND getting dirty!!!!! The first, was taking the first years on the blind walk. (picture a BIG, HUGE, mischievous grin on my face.) And the second thing was the second attempt to get the stick on the tree. Today was much different: today we planned, we prepared, we worked it through, we talked about it, through it, we communicated, we PRAYED. It was amazing, absolutely AMAZING. No, we didn’t get the stick, but we did accomplish one thing: teamwork. After we tried for a while to get it and couldn’t, once we were done, we gathered in a circle and each one of us prayed. That day, we succeeded.

Okay, okay. I'll stop rambling now. Love to all, Skippy

Thursday:

Missions Camp: Thursday was probably the highlight of the week; Duane and Lisa got baptized!!!! Now no jumping to conclusions. Duane has been saved for several years, and while baptized as a child, he had never been baptized when he actually understood the significance. Lisa has also been saved but is making a decision in her life to live for Christ no matter what. It was AMAZING!!!! Also, two of the children’s campers were baptized, and that was pretty cool too!!!

Youth Camp: Thursday was pretty normal, we did Sword Drills, Bible Study, lunch, afternoon activities. We also stayed late at the ropes course and up on the rock so that people who wanted to go again had the chance too. AND we had cake for the birthdays of three of our campers!!! DON’T LOSE YOUR PLATE, THERE WILL BE CAKE!!! Thursday evening was filled with cabin bond builders and games: that was fun to watch!!!! Thursday night was, of course, campfire. It was a great time of sharing and getting to know each other, as well as worship and praise and fellowship.

Wednesday

Missions Camp: Wednesday is the real official first day of Missions Camp. We did our Love Bible study in the morning and then we (well, we had lunch, but then we) headed up the big hill to the rock. We started with pyramids, and after working our heads out a little we moved onto our study on God. Much to our delight, on our return (from somewhere, I don’t remember where) we found that the first year mission campers had been taped together!!!! The boys (Matt and Brock) and then the girls (Chrissy, Nicole, and Kristin) were TAPED together at the wrists!!!! It was AWESOME, and we spent a large portion of the afternoon congratulating Corinne on being so brilliant. I believe Wednesday night was the first night tears came at camp fire, but it was great all the same.

Youth Camp: Again, Sword Drills and Bible Study preceded by the boys having to do wall sits (Don’t sleep in) and followed by (for my cabin at least) some trust building exercises. We did some trust leans, a group sit, and then trust falls off not only our cabin porch, but a rather high stump. My girls of course did WONDERFULLY and I got some great pictures. Again off to the afternoon activities. That evening, after Duane spoke, God moved in that place like I have never seen before. The entire camp was in tears, just being broken and put back together, leaning on each other and God like crazy and it was just amazing. People all over the place were on their knees crying out to God, we were encouraging each other and getting to know each other. It was just awesome. The weird thing was that it usually happens on Thursday night, so us old times (Tim, DJ, Me) were all messed up on our time lines because usually after people finally get their heads out of their butts its time to go home; but this year, we still had a whole other day!!

Tuesday!!!!!

Missions Camp: YEAH!!! Finally!!! After a year of waiting, we were finally back at Missions Camp!!! And what did we start with? The luggage move. Over, under, over, under, over, under, over, under . . . ALL the way to our cabins, with Tim muted and Lisa blinded and my EXTREMELY heavy bag. It was great. That even we started a skit series for the children’s campers in which I played the tomboy who…yeah, I’ll save that one for later. Anyway.

Youth Camp: Tuesday was my first every counselor meeting, that was interesting. We did the first official Sword Drills, and our first Bible Study. We had Mac and Cheese for lunch, and then headed off to do our afternoon activities. I couldn’t tell you what happened on the field or up at the rock because I was down at the ropes course. Tuesday I belayed my first person ever, not really though cuz I belayed Tim on Monday while Jody was registering people. I can’t really think of anything interesting on Tuesday.

So . . .

. . . I have decided that what I’m going to do to debrief all of you about camp is this: each day this week I will post a section on Missions camp for that day and on Youth camp for that day. So, here’s Monday:

Missions Camp: Unfortunately, Missions Camp doesn’t start until Tuesday. So, for me, Monday was spent cleaning and getting ready and packing and freaking out.

Youth Camp: Do to our exhausting Missions Sunday Night (more on that later) we slept in until around 10 on Monday morning. I got up and got clean (only stayed that way for about an hour but it was a nice shower all the same) and then I went up to the ropes course. The boys, Tim and Duane, were putting up Jacob’s Ladder (five rungs, each progressively farther apart, hung up in a tree, you must climb it using only the boards and your partner, climbers were roped into a person on belay, one of which was me). Jody taught me what I was doing and I roped in and then I took over Tim’s rope and Jody went to register kids. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting my cabin, meeting my girls, moving into my cabin, moving my girls into my cabin, getting to know each other, finding out that my watch was an hour fast, and then dinner. We did a demonstration Sword Drill, which was the only Drill of the week that I got to be involved in. Then worship, sermon, and Capture the Flag!!! No flag was caught, but Duane basically turned himself in so the girls got to say that we got him.

INSANITY!!!!!

One of these days I will learn how to remember everythign that happens at camp; until then, ya'll will just have to wait for my brain to start working again - which could be a VERY long time. In the mean time, I decided that I should post, and let you all know (in case you care) that I made it back safe and in one peice (with a few things (okay, a LOT of things) VERY VERY VERY far out of line) from two WONDERFUL weeks of camp!!!!

I'm so exhausted, its funny. I know, the phrase is usually I'm so exhausted its not even funny - but I'm way past that, I'm so exhausted that EVERYTHING is funny. Isn't that funny?!?!?!? Just ask Duane and Corinne, they'll tell you what a nut job I am at the moment. Or my mother, she'd tell you too. I do some pretty stupid things when I'm tired.

I'm in Magalia right now, and I"ll be here until the beginning of August, and then it's two weeks of work with Mom and then back to Redding for work and school. I'm SOOOOO excited!!! I get to be a prayer leader this year!!!!! You'll hear lots about that as school gets closer.

Other than that, not much is going on, mostly exhaustion and more exhaustion. k

Okay, leaving now.

Love from:

Cpt. Skippy


P.S. I miss you all terribly and I think that you should leave a comment or email me!!!!

Off to explore....

And go crazier than I already am!!!!!

Camp is tomorrow!!!!! And I'm there for 10 WHOLE days!!!!!!! No cell phones, no internet - it's gonna be great!!!!!!!

So I will be out of touch for those 10 days, no blogging and no cell phone reception. If you really need to get a hold of me, call my house.

I really should blog something about Daddy . . . but I just feel peaceful about it and am so glad that he's not in pain and uncomfortable anymore. Maybe when I get back I'll be able to really blog something about it. I'll try, I can guarantee that I will write about it at camp, so maybe I'll blog that when I get back.

Love to all:

Skippy

The viewing will be held on Thursday 5-8 pm at Gridley Block Funeral Home.
The services will be held Friday 10 am at Gridley First Baptist Church.
Interment will take place at 2 pm at the Auburn Cemetery.

Just for informational purposes. Please continue to pray for us, we're all kinda scattered brained and tired and snappy. Also pray for the possible ministry opportunities. Thanks!!!

Skippy

Daddy

In Loving Memory of Garry F. Rothchild

Born: September 19, 1939 Mankato, Kansas

Entered to rest: June 10, 2006 Biggs, California

He is survived by his wife and his five daughters and numerous friends as well as 6 siblings and countless nieces and nephews.

"It well may be, that we will never meet again, in this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me, is made of what I learned from you,
You’ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine, by being my friend…
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

Updates of a general nature...

Hello folks!!! I have good news!!!!! I finished the back room!!!!!!! That's right!!! Last week we (Rebecca and I) got it all cleaned out and cleaned up, then over the weekend Jocelyn and I redecorated it. And now, it's perfect!!!! Well, not perfect, But I'm not asking for perfect, I just wanted a room!!!! And I got it!!!!!

Dad seems to be doing okay, no significant change, but there is definite deterioration. My eldest sister is coming this weekend to be with him and then the middle sister and her husband and child are coming on Monday to stay for a while. We're also expecting an adopted sister of Dad's to come for part of the week.

Camp is in 18 days!!!!!! How exciting is that?!?!?!?! VERY!!!!!!! I'm SOOO looking forward to two weeks with some of my favorite people; I think this year more than ever before.

The second line to the VBS theme song is boring, it's "or take a little hike." All in all though, the songs are pretty good this year.

The trivia thing isn't working out so well at the moment, my guess is because it's summer. So we'll stop it for a couple of months and then when it's school time again (at least for me and all you other people still in the educational system) we'll start it up again. Ok? Ok.

The other thing that I've been working on is compiling all my stuff. Most of you know how much stuff I have, and most of it has been in the storage pod for months now. But this week I was able to pull most of it out and work it around and cut down on a lot of it. So now it's all stacked neatly in tubs which are stacked neatly in the corner of my room in two piles: school, and home. Most of you don't care, but the fact that my stuff has been spread out for so long has been bugging me for MONTHS, so this is quite a relief for me.

Other than that, not much is going on. My 11 year old niece got second degree (I think) sun burns this week, so she's home from school today. My 14 year old niece is on her 8th grade trip at the moment, they are probably just pulling into Six Flags Marine World. The little one, she's 7, is working on this musical program called "The Planets" which she sings bits and pieces of all the time, and that's all fine and dandy, but it's the same program I did in elementary school. What does that tell you??

Okay, signing off now. Love to all, Skippy

So, then....

Sorry!!!! It's been a crazy couple of weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been working on cleaning out the back room of my house so that my sister Jocelyn and I can have a room, and I've been home with Dad. And, that's about it.

Dad update: If you asked me three or four days ago, I would have said great! Only not really, better than 'the norm' but no where's near where he used to be. However, the past couple of days have been really difficult. I appreciate all the prayers and the support, really. You guys (you know who you are) have come out and helped in ways you can never imagine.

Other than staying home with Dad, not much is going on. The girls are out of school in a couple weeks, which means that they will be home, ALL day long. Well, yeah but it doesn't really matter because I only have to deal with it for a week and then I'm going to CAMP and then to Magalia!!!! Neika is graduating from 8th grade, Nicole is graduating from the 8th grade at a different school, and Bethany is graduating High School!!!!!! Mom of course is going through the freakout of school closing, not to mention everything else that's going on around here and at work.

I was going to ask why I haven't gotten comments lately, but then it suddenly dawned on me - I haven't posted lately!!!! Go figure.

Trivia: Four years to be a chiropractor??? Works for me I'll take it!!!!

New trivia: No suggestions??? Okay then......let me think..........................Got it!!!!!! What is the second line to the VBS theme song this year?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I'll bet no one gets this one!!!!!

Anywho, leaving now!!! I'd love comments or emails or whatever; and you don't have to write and say you're praying (although I do appreciate those), you could just write and tell me what's going on in your lives!!!!

Love from: Skippy

Still lacking a cool title....

I officially passed all my finals. I've been home for a while now.

I sent out an email on Dad, and I really don't want to repeat it all again.

However, since that email: he seems to be doing really good. Last week was good, the weekend was really good (my oldest sister and brother-in-law and their girls came up to see Dad) but TOTALLY exhausting.

This week I'm going to finish cleaning out the back room and hopefully make my back stop hurting (I think those two things are oxymorons, but whatever) and just hang out.

I'm thinking it may be time for a template change, what do you people think?????

Trivia: I have no idea if Duane was right or not, but it was a pretty cool answer and it makes sense - oh, and he was the only one who replied - so I'll take it!!!!

New Trivia: How long do you have to go to school to get a license to be a chiropractor???

Up coming trivia: I'm opening this one up for grabs; whoever can leave a comment with a question (a good question) first will get their question posted.

I hope you all have a great week!!!!!

I need a cool title . . .

Any suggestions???

So I think I passed all my finals . . . but I can't tell you for sure, because one of my professors won't post the grade!!!!!! It's making me crazy!!!!!!! (No comments on my insanity please.)

I've been home for a week and three days now, it seems a lot longer than that. Nothing new, still have lots of stuff to do, and lots of the stuff that needs to be done is all the stuff that I don't want to do. I would appreciate the continued prayers for my family, they are needed, a lot. I'm getting REALLY excited about camp!!!!!!!!!!!! My niece is coming this year, and so she's asking questions and I'm just loving it!!!!!!!!

I'm also learning the VBS songs, and that's always fun!!!!!!! No really, it is. The songs are really quite good this year, and I have to cut one, and it's hard to do. The motions are good and the lyrics are good and I'm just having fun!!!!

Trivia: yes Rebecca!!!! Most war campaigns were started in the Springtime.

New question: what's the difference between a pot and a pan?
I asked the question a couple of times to people in my family and got a couple of different answers, but I'm interested in what ya'll have to say.

I'd love to hear from everyone about what's going on in their lives!!!!!!

Love to all,

Skippy

Updates of the general kind, again.....

So . . . I love that in my last post, I said midterm, instead of final.

All done with finals, think I passed all of them, we shall see we shall see. I'm home now, my wonderful mommy came up and got me yesterday. It took us FOREVER to get all of my stuff in the truck - I have a lot of stuff.

Now, its just a matter of unpacking, and moving stuff around. I have to clean out the back room, get all the yardsale stuff ready, and deal with the living room.

Continued prayers are appreciated for my family; and I would still love to hear from you all about prayer requests.

Trivia!!!!! Actually, the wall is called the soregh. That was for my Biblical Backgrounds class!!!!

New trivia: in Biblical times, when were most war campaigns started?

I can't think of anything else to say . . . so I'll leave it off at that.

Have a good weekend - love you all!!!!

Skippy

Blogs...

Hahahahah!!!! (Triumphant laugh!!!) I have successfully gotten my family on blogger!!! I am a genius!!!!!

No not really, I just lucked out. Ya wanna see something weird? Google yourself and see what comes up, you might be surprised!!

Ummm, homework, classes, work. Nothing new nor interesting. One midterm down, four to go. We shall see, we shall see.

Good job Lesa!!!!!!!!!! You are AMAZING!!!!!

New trivia: What is the name of the low wall that separated the Jew from the Gentiles at the 'Second Temple' in Jerusalem???

Love you all!!!!!
Skippy

Did you see the sun rise this morning?

Me neither. But not because I wasn't up, because the clouds and the raining yucky were covering it up and we had to have the Sunrise service inside. Sad day, let me tell you.

Anyway. So Friday I . . . renewed my license, and that's pretty much it. Oh, and I went to my best friend's birthday dinner (I'm not going to tell you that I was late, really late). Saturday I . . . gotta think for a minute. Saturday I pretty much just watched TV. Today, Sunrise (inside :( ), breakfast, Sunday School, Church, lunch, Easter Egg Hunt (my nieces are SOOO cute!!!). Then we watched Chronicles of Narnia (mom hadn't seen it yet) and then Joce helped me download ringtones. And then I went to the storage pod and moved some stuff around and got some stuff out. Now we're watching a movie. Good times!!!!

I need something really cool to post about - not like something that happened or is going to happen. Something . . . something that I thought of, or saw or interpreted or something. But if I waited for something smart and impressive to post about, I'd never post!!!!

Trivia answer: V-J Day stands for "Victory in Japan" day, it was August 14, 1945; and surrender was signed on the USS Missouri (GOOD JOB ANNA!!!) on September 2, 1945.

New trivia . . . Who were the original 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council? (Hint: they are the same as the permanent members today.)

Leaving now, love you all!!!! Skippy

P.S. Four days of classes left!!!! And then finals . . . .

From the home front . . .

"Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow. Don't worry 'bout what you don't know, life's a dance you learn as you go."

Now that I've gotten that out of my system. I'm HOME!!!!!!! For four days!!!!!! I did indeed make it home for dinner on Thursday night, and it was wonderful!!!!!

Tuesday I went to a traditional Jewish Passover meal, talk about a new experience. It was so amazing to get to do that, I have a new respect not only for God our Father but for His people. Wednesday was lots of working, and Thursday was classes and cleaning and driving HOME!!!!

Today I get to go renew my license, whoo-oo. And oh, before I forget: Happy Birthday Becc!!!!

In answer to the second trivia question: four. Count them four. In a 12 day period. Its insane.

In answer to the first trivia question: I'm impressed!!!!! Who is responsible for that Anonymous comment? Cuz that's awesome, I'll I was looking for was Commander of the Central Pacific fleet in WWII.

Ummm. New Trivia . . . (think WWII, that's what we're learning about in World Civ, so that's what you get) what day is V-J day and where was the Japanese surrender signed?

Love to all, have a good weekend.

Skippy

Darth Vader

Why? Because that's what I see on my wall that makes an interesting title.

I really don't like allergies. Really really don't like rubbing my nose raw and being all stuffed up and sinus drainage and I just don't like any of it. And I know that some of you are thinking "Yuck!! That's gross!!!" And to you I say "deal, be glad you don't have them." I know that some of you are sympathizing with me (mainly my sisters, we all have them, you can't deny it) and wish that allergies everywhere would just die out.

Anyway. Not much has happened in the past four days. I did homework this weekend, and spent some time with some old friends. And actually got to watch some movies. And today in class - nothing exciting happened. Except that I did really good on a quiz that my Theory II professor decided not to grade. Handy huh? Oh and I got to talk to two friends that I haven't talked to in forever. AND - my sister brought over dinner for me and my roommates and the girls across the hall - and it was ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. I love people who feed college students, they deserve medals.

Trivia - the name of the actual 'operation' was Sea Lion - don't ask me why. And it failed - Germany tried for nearly a year to get into Britain and they never made it.

New Trivia question: Who was Admiral Nimitz?
Trivia question #2: How many of my CLOSE friends have their birthday in the month of April? Specifically in a two week period that started on the 7th?

Love to all,

From Skippy

P.S. I will be home for dinner on Thursday night!!!!!!

Hey all . . .

First off: Dad updates.

Dad started chemo on Monday March 20^th. Two Mondays with treatment, one off to recuperate – repeated four times. He came through the first Monday okay, the second his white cell count was so low that they only gave him half a dose. Friday we found out he has pneumonia; he spent Friday – Tuesday at Enloe. They did a spinal tap so we know now for sure that the cancer hasn't traveled to his brain. They've decided to stop the chemo because the possible benefits don't outweigh the risks. He's still as confused as ever.
So please pray for my family, I appreciate it. Thanks!!!

Okay - also. Another week of homework and work. Becc was in an opera - that was AWESOME. And we had 'shopping cart' races at school - it was like Nascar Simpson Style.

The answer to the last trivia question - somewhere just under 250. For one test.

Let's take a look ahead - this weekend, homework and begin studying for finals. Next week - homework and work and classes and HOME ON THURSDAY!!!!! And then back to school Monday evening, classes Tuesday - Friday. CRAZY study weekend, then I have:

Music Theory II 8 am on Monday
World Civ II 10:30 am on Monday
Biblical Backgrounds 8 am on Tuesday
Faith and Culture 1 pm on Tuesday
Music Theory Lab II 1 pm on Wednesday
Music in History and Context 1 pm on Thursday

And then I crash. On second thought - I'll probably crash before then.

Anyway, so that's the plan.

I love you all and I miss you all and I hope that you have a GREAT weekend!!!!!

Skippy

Oh yeah - Trivia!!!!! WWII - what was the operation name of the German attempt to invade England? This took place from July of 1941 until June of 1940.