Kids say the darndest things

ALSO KNOWN AS: GWEN HAS AN EPIPHONE

This is the greatest story ever. So last night "the gang" was at Jessica's apartment watching a movie while Gwen played quietly in her room, watching Dora the Explorer and whatever else she does in there. We're nearing the end of "Joyride" when all of a sudden from Gwen's room comes the voice of a four-year-old who just made a miraculous discovery: "I'm a colored person!" All of us stare at each other in shock, as we all know that Gwen has no idea that the color of her skin is any different from any one else's. My immediate thought is, "What the heck is on that Dora video?!" Mikey's immediate reaction was, "WHO TAUGHT HER THAT?!", to which we all, of course, denied any knowledge of anyone ever saying that to her. A few of us start laughing just because it was so funny, and Gwen, realizing she had said something funny (but of course not understanding why) went on to repeat her statement a couple of times, giggling at herself. So Jessica gets up to go have a talk with her while the rest of us laugh a little more, and a few minutes later she comes back out, carrying Gwen, and trying not to laugh. Gwen is now decked out, not in her pajamas, but with different colored mittens and socks. "Look everyone," Jessica says, "Gwen's a colored person." Gwen erupts into giggles and the rest of us practically fell on the floor laughing. I was seriously crying, it was so hysterical! Gwen goes running back into her room, and Jessica follows. Mikey says, "Great, now she's going to go up to random people and think that's a joke that gets a good laugh!" to which we all busted up laughing again. Gwen runs out again, after her mother has expanded her vocabulary a little, and this time when Jesse asks, "Gwen, what are you?" he is answered with a four-year-old grin and "Colorful!"

Piercings and such...

Why is everyone so into getting something pierced all of the sudden? First, Bethany Saxman shows up last year with this tiny stud in her nose that she had to cover with a tiny band-aid when in class, until this year when CHC decided nose piercing was not in fact satanic (still working on the dancing thing though). I must admit, it does look cool. Now all of the sudden our dear Adelaide has gone and done the deed as well, influencing Peach to strongly consider it herself. At camp two summers ago, I discovered that two girls I had always considered non-piercing types (Mary Moss, Peach's sister, and Leah Larson, both CHC grads last year) had their belly buttons pierced! Ouch! How does one handle that kind of pain? My mom took me to get my ears pierced at age four. I do not fully remember this horrid experience, although I do see flashes of it in my mind sometimes, but according to my mom, I freaked out completely when the first one went in, and it took her six months to get me to go back for the second one. Perhaps this has tainted my opinion of piercings. The nose thing is kind of cool, as I admitted before, but I don't know if I could handle it with my own past experiences and Adelaide's description of her own ("It hurt like a mother...."). And I think I would only be doing something like that to freak my friends out since I'm not that type. Maybe I'll go crazy and get second holes in my ears....

Reflections from long ago

I visited my high school today, to return a book my English teacher had lent me for a college report. Boy, it's different going back. I only recognized one girl in the crowd of kids, and nobody knew who I was. It's been too long. The year after I graduated I could go back there and here everyone yelling,"Hi, Jordan!" and a flock would come running to talk with me. Those were the kids I grew up with in junior high and high school. Now, even they are gone. It's been three years; the last class I was really familiar with graduated last year, and now the little kids who were freshman my senior year are the one who are running the place. It's so weird! Justins, you would understand....
But of course, we were the coolest class hands down. Even Mr. Newkirk and Mrs. Cherry admit that. So here's a nice walk down memory lane, via fun pictures taken throughout high school.

Our wonderful class, all twelve of us-- We had a lot of fun. 

Watching a movie/napping on the houseboat-- if it looks like there are more guys than girls, it's because there are... they outnumbered us with a 3:1 ratio. 

Road trip! 

Many hours spent working on the yearbook... and eating Jack in the Box food.... over the 'No eating by computers' sign.... 

Don't be fooled by this studious look-- the teacher is standing in the opposite direction that Justin is looking 

Mikey and I in Mr. Newkirk's class-- you can tell we learned a lot in there.... 

The good ol' days-- I think this was our junior year 

San Diegans: Rock On

Where else can you live and have the ability to go to the beach one day and the snow the next? San Diego, the best place ever in the world. We kicked it at the beach on Saturday, sun lounging and exploring and watching the sunset. Jesse and Justin taught me all about the little biting creatures that live among the rocks. I did not know of these things before, but I have been fully enlightened now, and even came out of the day with an educational video of the little monsters' sea-shell eating habits. Anyway, it was a quite relaxing, beautfiul, sunshiny day. Shout out to Brittney Keener, my friend who's in the snowy trenches of Virginia right now! Don't worry, you'll be back soon to enjoy this!

Chillin' at La Jolla on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. 

Yea sun! No more rain! 

Jesse and Justin #1 (no, they're not posing, that's how they naturally stand...) 

You don't get those sunsets everywhere. Special thanks to Justin #1 and his amazing picture taking abilities for capturing this quality photo. (Yes, Justin, I am trying to make your head explode with pride.) 

And then there was snow...

The next day, as one can only do in California, we hit the snow, or what was left of it this far down, anyway. Justin #1, Jesse, Mikey, Jessica and Gwen, and I headed up to Stonewall Peak, a place we hiked every year during our high school retreats. We decided to go back for old time's sake, but we never made it to the top, what with the four-year-old with us and the late time of day we started out. Actually, the four-year-old was still going strong when we got back to the car, although she did sleep on the way home. Maybe next time we'll get all the way to the top before a snowball fight ensues....

Gwen Sattler, the most photogenic kid in the world, shows off her cuteness with the snowy mountains in the background. 

Justin and I at the top of the world (or that big clump of dirt thing...) 

Attention: new song

In deference to my good friend, Justin #2, I have changed my song from it's "depressing" Three Doors Down original, to a more upbeat tune, namely that of Sara Evans' "Born to Fly". This is only a temporary change however, because he is being a brat about it.

Thank you.

Something wicked this way comes...

... or something like that. I think that's the tagline for Harry Potter, although I've never seen it- I just like the way that phrase is worded. And the wicked thing is the unbelievable amount of papers that are required over this semester. Here's a rundown of my classes and how I feel about them thus far in the semester (four days).

English Lit II-- pretty much the same as English Lit I: ten-pound book, three essays, four tests, and Dr. White. Enough said.

Nutrition-- should be fun. The book cost 78 dollars and it's not even all that big, and it's paperback, so somewhere somebody's making a lot of money. A good chance to feel guilty about what I eat during the day. But Mrs. Peterson teaches it, so that makes it a thumbs up. No big projects this semester, but four research articles.

The Novel-- EIGHT STINKIN' PAPERS!!!!!!!!!! You've got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!

Ethics-- Another ten papers, belive it or not, these ones focusing on the deep recesses of my mind (where most people should not be permitted to go) to find out what I belive and why. That's a lot of soul- searching. And a lot more papers.

Those are my only CHC classes. Advanced ASL has not yet started up, but I'm sure it will be pretty hard. Beginning was cake, intermediate was pretty crazy trying to keep up, and I'm sure advanced will be insane!

This is all just to say that if nobody sees me for four months... this wickedness is why.

Conclusion of the picture trip

Anyway, hopefully those pictures show up on here. You have to look at them from bottom to top to go chronologically. After Starbucks we headed to Jessica's, where I made the guys try Sardines for making me try Starbucks (Jessica claims that was not a fair trade), and then we all watched Wicker Park, which was not at all what we expected it to be. Not bad, just not what the previews made it to be. Then we stayed up till one making new ring tones for Jesse's cell phone. It's been four days, and the boys still laugh hysterically everytime they hear one go off. Yeah, it was really late. Good times, good times.

And after a quck trip to the bathroom.... 

Hmmmmm...... 

Justin's yummy and cold strawberry drink-- I think I like that one the best. 

Jesse's yucky coffee drink 

After La Jolla, we went to Starbucks, where the guys made me get my first real, hot Starbucks drink, much to the chagrin of Justin # 1 who would have saved me from such torment had he been there. Truthfully, the drinks they had me try weren't bad (they also weren't coffee!!), but my opinion of Starbucks still has not changed: it's way overrated. 

Justin #2, Jesse, and I took pictures of the stormy day down in La Jolla.... 

The first picture outing pictures taken with the new digital camera. First we stopped at the cave at La Jolla shores to take some pics... 

Funny cartoons you should read

Everyone who wants to know what being on support staff at camp with a bunch of crazy "I don't know what you're talking about" men running around in little clothing, should go to my friend Adelaide's site (link offered to the right) and check out her true-story cartoons of said experiences. Only then, perhaps, you will fully appreciate the craziness of camp. Thank you.

Resolutions

Well, it's another new year. Last night we had our New Year's Eve "Party" at Justin # 1's house. We ate KFC, Ben and Jerry's, and popcorn, and watched I Robot before moving on to cycling through all the Scene It questions (actually playing the game takes way too long). We called Tyler at nine because it would be New Year's in DC, but he must have just gone to sleep already. At midnight, we opened bottles of sparkling cider and took to the streets, yelling and screaming and spraying cider everywhere. But we were the only ones out there so we went back in fairly quickly and played some more rounds of Scene It before moving on to Black Jack. Eventually a simple game became too much for the Justins to handle and as cards started flying I pulled out my new digital camera (best Christmas present ever!) and began recording as a wrestling match ensued. This two minute movie has been titled, "Grief over Tyler's absence." Riiiiiiiight.

I spent today all by myself, thinking about the next year, the things I have to look forward to and the things I want to change. For the first time I actually sat down and made resolutions-- real ones-- that I plan to actually keep. I'm excited about what this year has to hold for me, and I know God's got something good in store. Happy new year to all of you guys!