Summer Happenings

June has been a whirl of visiting family, working, and shopping for college.  (And I mean alot of shopping.)  I just finished up my last day at the winery last night, where I have been working for the past few months, so I thought I would take some time and recap what I've done in the first half of my summer.

Middle of June found my family and I making the short roadtrip across the state to the city of St. Louis.  While there, we visited the Muny in Forest Park to witness the musical Wizard of Oz.  We also visited different parts of downtown, including the Basilica.  All in all, it was a very enjoyable time for our last visit to St. Louis before we head north.

The Wednesday following our expedition across Missouri, my mother, sister, and I went and toured our old school.  My parents used to teach here, and my sisters and I used to attend before we were homeschooled. 

Having taken many online classes throughout the years, you establish some friendships that span states, timezones, and even continents.  I had the pleasure of seeing one of my former classmates as she traveled through Kansas City on her way to the east coast.

Don't worry, we actually do tolerate each other.

Along with working at the Winery over the weekend, I also work as a window washer during the week.  This week, the biggest project we faced was power washing a house and cleaning all of its windows:

I hope you all have a blessed summer!

Stay Away From Cliffs, Kids ~ Near Death Experience Part 2

It was in early February, when Abi and I stepped out our door into a bitter, overcast day.  We had just arrived in Germany a month and a half ago.  Now that we were settled into our new home, we decided to explore our new village.  So, without further ado, she and I hiked up to the castle (or Chateau, if you're French, but we didn't live in France) that was perched on the top of the hill.  As we crested the top of the hill, we did a reconnaissance trip and made a circle around the top of the hill.

The castle was built right into the cliffs that rose up suddenly from the hill itself.  When we got to the back side, we actually saw something that could've been a path that hugged the cliff face.  We couldn't see where to climb up from, but we thought that maybe we could see it from the top and try it from there.

Now, I should take a moment here, and tell you that it had snowed before we had gone out exploring.  That's an understatement..  When we first arrived in Germany, there was about two feet of snow, and this snow hadn't gone away yet.  Instead, it had solidified into something more like ice.

So, as we circled back around to the gate of the castle, we looked at each other and grinned.  We were actually going inside a castle.  You could just feel the history oozing out of the centuries old stones.  As we walked through the archway, we looked around and saw that some of it was still in ruins.  After surveying our surroundings, we turned and headed right up the side of the cliff that sloped down to the castle.  You could tell what the builders had in mind, it was a veritable natural fortress.

The ascent was made difficult, due to the fact that it had a foot of snow on the ground.  But after much huffing, puffing, and sliding back down, we crested the peak.  As we stopped to catch our breath, we looked around at the view.  You could see for miles around, despite the fact that it was so cloudy.

Once we shook ourselves from our reverie, we walked to the backside of the cliff and peaked over the edge, scanning for the path that we had thought we had seen from the base of the cliff.  Then, I looked down..  It was probably close to a thirty foot drop.  Sheesh.  

I did a double take.  Ah-ha.  There it was.  

I slid to a smooth part of a snow, and then scooted another foot.  Then, the snow caved in.  And I lost my stomach... still wondering if I ever got it back again.

On my way down, my head thumped against a boulder.  But then my body landed into the snow.  Thank goodness for that.  I heard Abi over my muffled groans.  "Are you okay??"

I replied, "Yeah, I think I'm still alive," as I made my way unsteadily to a park bench.  When I reached the bench, I looked around and saw Abi trying to make her way down the supposed path.  I told her to go back, but she refused, because she couldn't remember exactly how to get back to where we could go to meet back up.  And with it being a strange new town, I don't blame her.

For a moment, it looked like she might actually make it down, but only for a moment.  Pretty soon, she followed my example as the snow fell out from under her.

Of all the times that she could follow my lead, this was the time that she decided to follow my example.

Surprisingly, we both made it out unscathed.

Moral of the story: Stay away from cliffs, kids.

Careful, falling cows.

New in the Old

This past weekend marked the end of a chapter, and the beginning of another.

Over this weekend, I graduated from highschool!  I can't believe how fast time has flown, but I am excited and ready to go to college.  But not only was it special that I graduated, but my older sister and father came into town for it.  It was the first time since January of last year that the entire family had been together.  And so accordingly, just like every other time we come through Kansas City, we revisited the old haunts.

Although we have seen the sights of Kansas City more than I can count, every time we come back to it, I see it differenly.  We either have an addition to the family, or we've grown up and gone off to college.  The story is different even if you've already been there before.  It's the tradition that my family has made, and that is what makes it special.

Here are some pictures of this past weekend:

When you go to the airport back to back nights, and you're running on 4 hours of sleep, you do goofy things.

I was just marveling at their follow through.  I wish I could throw pennies like them.

On Friday, we all went downtown to ride the new streetcars that were just put in place a couple weeks ago.

Taking pictures like this is difficult in a streetcar.

Hipster coffee house is hipster.

Here we go, abit more space out here.

After wandering around Union Station and riding the streetcars, we drove up to Liberty Memorial.

Saturday rolled around, and it was time to graduate.

Back together again.

Thank you to everyone who made this journey possible!

You Gotta Keep Grinding

I've had a ball in my hand since I could remember.

I first started playing competitively when I was six.  I've experienced alot since then.  And since I began my highschool career, I've worn three different jerseys within that span of four years.  I've played on a team that won only one game all season long, and I've been on a national championship team.

Basketball was and is my passion.

But I wouldn't have been there if it weren't for one person.  One who really pushed and groomed me as a player.  My dad.  He has always been there.  We've put thousands of hours in the gym together.  When I was younger, he taught me the fundamentals.  As I grew up, he taught me the best way to utilize what skill and talent I did have, to be able to compete against much quicker and more talented players.  He not only taught me how to play the game, but he taught me how to play the game.  How to play the game with character, as a godly young man should.  Like I said earlier, he was there for me since the start.  Even if he was deployed and halfway around the world, he would listen to me vent after a frustrating game.

I must confess that there was a time during this season when basketball became difficult to enjoy.  The team was struggling.  We had quite abit of talent and alot of potential, but we weren't playing as a cohesive unit.  We were playing down to many of the teams we faced.  Then, players started to leave, and we went through a period where we were struggling to find our identity as a team.  And before you knew it, it was the middle of January.  I was starting to wonder,"Isn't this when you want to start seeing progress?"  I was starting to become stressed, which rarely ever happened to me when I was playing basketball.  My dad told me to wait and hang in there, or I might regret checking out.  And boy, he was right.  There came a point in the season when something finally clicked.  And it was a fantastic feeling.

My dad said that, "Once you play pure basketball, you won't want to go back to playing streetball.  Once you play basketball as a unit on defense and offense.. there's nothing quite like it."

I can now understand what he meant.  It really seemed to click in the second half of our first game at Regionals.  We were actually trailing at the half by 10, but then a switch was flipped.  For the following stretch of 8 1/2 games we would only lose two.  And that was because we only had a 6-7 man rotation, and therefore our legs just ran out of gas.  But in this stretch, we held teams to under the average of 40 points per game.  It was one heck of a ride.

To my teammates and coaches,

I just want to thank you.  I've never been part of team like this.  I wished we could've played longer, because I still don't think we reached our ceiling, even after winning the Championship.   I won't ever forget what coach kept on drilling into us: "Keep grinding it."  When we learned to grind away on offense, and lock down on defense, we were unstoppable.  Thank you all.

Keep grinding.

When you beat your cross-town rival, there's definitely a sense of accomplishment that accompanies a hard-fought victory.

Post National Championship dub.

The banquet was the last wrap of the season..

Class of 2016

Senior speech.

Mission Impossible Day Three: My Near Death Experience (Part 1)

We've all had those moments when we have thought, "Why did I do this?"  Normal people just have moments, whereas, I had an almost entire afternoon of this.

It all started when we took my sister up to college this past August.  I ended up staying with a few guys from her freshmen (now sophomore) class.  And we had a blast!  It was truly fun.  But then I heard that they were planning a trip.   Just a day trip down to the Snake River.  To go cliff-jumping.

**Before you read any further, I must forewarn you by saying that I am not as appreciative of heights as other people are.**

Now, I have gone cliff-jumping before.  So, I was not that apprehensive about going with them.  It ended up being a group of fifteen of us, and we had a great afternoon.  We parked down by one side of the river and clambered out of the fifteen passenger.  Some of us started unloading the one man canoe that we had rented for the occasion, while the rest of us climbed up to the point that we would be jumping from.

I glanced over the edge. It was probably about a thirty foot drop.  Not too bad, I thought to myself.  But I didn't really think that when I jumped over the edge a few minutes later.  My stomach did drop out, but I was able to get it back at the bottom.

After we had leapt a couple of times, some of us (not I) started eyeing the cliffs on the other side of the river.  Apparently, they were bigger.  After some discussing and debating, we finally decided to swim across.

Although I am not a fantastic swimmer, I do enjoy the water.  But when the river is over a quarter mile wide, you do become acutely aware of how far it is to the other side.  So, it was definitely with a thankful spirit that I reached the other shore.  By this time, many of the group had already started ascending, actually, hiking  would be the best word, to the point.

Now, in my mind, when you have to hike to a certain point, you should not jump from it.

By the time that I joined them at the top, there was only about five of us left.  As I reached the summit, I saw a guy walk back from the edge and say, "I shouldn't have looked..  I'm not jumping."

Of course, I'm thinking, Really.  That's just great.

And so we stood there on the plateau for abit.  None of us wanting to be the first to walk away, but none of us had the urge to jump.  During this game of waiting, my mind was in a state of war.  But, out of all the emotions that I was feeling, curiosity won out.  Oh, curiosity, you foul temptress.  I shuffled to the edge, and peered over.

Why?

It was quite the drop.  That's definitely soft-serving it.  Just imagine the rest of the group at the base waiting for us.  Now, these guys aren't small, but from that vantage point, they looked small.

What had I gotten myself into?

When I walked, or rather, backed away from the ledge, I expressed the sentiment that we all shared.  "I shouldn't have looked over."  Thus, the torturous game of stalement continued.  But, finally, one of us cracked, and jumped.  Then the next followed.  Then pretty soon I was by myself on top of the cliff, who hadn't jumped yet.  It was the domino effect in real life.

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to collect myself.  But I had a severe case of deerintheheadlights.  I heard the encouragements from the base of the cliff shouted up through the different hemispheres.  I looked over again.  Nope.. shouldn't have done that.  

And then, without thinking about it, or reasoning about it, I turned, ran, and fell off the cliff.  I would be lying to you if I said that I jumped.  Because I barely left the ground.  Rather, the ground left me.  I only fell for about four seconds, but four seconds is enough to prepare yourself for Heaven.  Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about being suspended in midair for too long, because my back soon made plenty of contact with the water to last me awhile.

Ouch.  

That was the only word that was floating around in my head as I re-emerged.

Story Weaving (EOYG 2015 Part 1)

As many of you may know, I was finally able to attend the End of the Year Gathering for my online school, Veritas Press Scholars Academy!  And I have written about it a couple of times..  I wrote about it just the other day.  And here.  ...And over here.  Okay, maybe more than a couple, but you get the gist. I was excited about it.  

I had high expectations of this week.

And it lived up to those expectations.  Every bit of it.

First off, I would like to thank the Rush  Family for hosting me.  It was brilliant!  Noah is one of my oldest friends from Veritas, and it was fantastic to finally be able to see him after three and a half years.  Thank you so much!

If you look up in the title section of this post, then you will notice a "Part 1."  There are many stories and pictures to come, and I do not think that I would do right by the EOYG if I tried to cram everything into one post.  So here we go.

It all started with being picked up by Noah at the airport in Philly.  We made it to the Eden after a quick stop at Taco Bell (twelve pack of tacos to be split three ways).  Having not eaten much that day, I believe I ate half of the dozen. (This was my week off, okay?)

At around 6 o'clock, we arrived at the elusive Eden.  I had heard about this resort for the past three and a half years, and I was finally walking into it.  It wasn't really the location of Gathering that caused excitement for me.  It is what it held for me.  The promises that it held in its depths.  And the friends that had arrived before me were assembled somewhere in that place.  So you can imagine that I could hardly contain myself.  We soon dropped our bags off at the room, and I dashed out with Noah in tow.  He showed more self-restraint.  I start acting like a platypus that hasn't been in the water for weeks when excited.  

We spent Wednesday evening weaving through the different little groups that would form as we strove to find our different friends and classmates.  The major activity was game night with Dr. Collender in charge.  It was very enjoyable.  Pizza was also served there, but I was still full from the six tacos I had consumed earlier that afternoon.  (I didn't think that one through.)

Thursday morning dawned bright with the promise of new adventures.  (As would the following three days.)  Big events included the Barbecue and Photography Scavenger Hunt.  Once again, I was just enjoying the fact that my friends actually existed.  It is an odd feeling when you realize that you've known someone so well for years and have never met them. It was odd, yet at the same time, it came naturally.  Why shouldn't we be comfortable around each other?  Only the setting was different.

I could regale you with endless stories, but as I said before, it would take far too long.  I am now going to skip to the end.  At least, the end for me.  Saturday was another fantastic day.  After Grad Lunch, Graduation, and the Dinner Dance on the previous day, it was comparably laid back.  The majority of the students went out to Cherry Crest Farm.  There were various activities to do there, but for the most part, we fellowshiped and attempted to avoid getting sun-burnt, as it was one of the warmest days of the week.  There were also a few inner-school competitions between the different grades.  (At this point, I will advise you to not run up a steep slope in khaki shorts.  It is highly uncomfortable.)  

Saturday was also my last day.  It was probably one of the toughest goodbyes I have ever experienced.  (And I have experienced far too many goodbyes.)  It left me aching inside, and I hope that I shall not have to experience it again.  But the joy that I experienced that week made the pain bearable.

(Photo creds: Mrs. Smith.)  At the dinner dance with my broski.

(Photo creds: Sarah Diesing)

The crew.

The fantastic Rhetoric II section.  (Missing the other two great classmates!  Wished they could've made it)

At the Dinner Dance.

(Photo creds: Kaitlynn Smith.)  

(I stole this from Harry.  This has to be one of my favorites.  Noah looks so serious, and Harry is being goofy.)

As I wrap up this rather long post, I just want to thank you all.  Thanks for the memories.  Thank you for the laughter.  Thank you for reminding me of the reason that I enjoy going to online school so much.  It's easy to become caught up in the fact that I can't see you all daily, but this week was really worth the wait.

Thank you all for the stories we wove that week.

I'll never forget it.  

Super Sonic Sense of Smell

I looked up.  My eyes drifted along the trafficway across the parking lot as cars zipped past on their different missions.  That smell smelt familiar.

Then my eyes landed on it.

Sonic.  Oh yea.

My mom and I were out yesterday running errands, and I had had a busy morning.  It was mid-afternoon, and while my stomach wasn't empty, it knew that dinner was nearing.  That probably sharpened my keen sense of smell.  Anyway, we were walking into a bookstore as a smell wafted into the way of my nostrils.  Accordingly, my nostrils picked up the scent.

Now, I lived in Europe for nearly four years, so saying that I was deprived of something would sound petty.  But, you may not know this, Sonic hasn't been established in Europe.. yet.  (It may or may not be on the bucket list.)  It left me hurting.

I have developed over the past year, while dwelling in El Paso, a fondness for Sonic.  And apparently it has affected my nose.  When the smell of those delicious burgers caught my attention, I looked up to find Sonic.  And it was over a block away... up the street.

You may say there is something wrong with me.

I just call it my super Sonic sense of smell...

Yea.

Summer Plans

Hello, good people of the internet. 

I wanted to alert you to some plans I have for the summer!  The school year has been hectic, and thus it has been difficult to produce posts that wouldn't be incoherent.  And, even though this summer is panning out to be fairly busy, I'm still making it my goal to write and blog more.  I have multiple ideas running around in my head that I need to put into order so that they would actually be enjoyable to read.

But to give you a little idea of what's ahead, I'm thinking of telling more stories about the End of the Year Gathering, East Coast Trip, traveling in general, Silas, and just different little things that I have done that will amuse you.  (Hopefully)  My goal is to do two blog posts a week!

Also, an update on my book blog: The Sterling Trilogy.  I'm planning to put that on hold and possibly take it down.  Not because I don't like the trilogy, but because I don't think the way I am writing it is working.  I think the idea of publishing it in chapter-by-chapter segments was a good idea originally, but I found as I went along that it interrupted the flow of the story.  It was also tough for my readers to keep a rhythm without getting confused about what had happened in the previous chapter.  Writing has always interested me, and I think the Sterling Trilogy can be expanded on throughout the next few years. Who knows?  Jason and Abraham's adventures in that other world may very well be my first published work.  (Yay for optimism.)

Finally, one little tid-bit of exciting news.  My blog has almost reached 10,000 views.  I would like to thank those who have read many of my posts as I have explored and learned more about my writing style.  I know I have plenty to learn, but so far, this has been fantastic.  Thank you once again.

Put it Down in Words

Words.

Words are how I convey ideas.  Words are how I communicate to others my thoughts and feelings on a given subject.  Words are how I convey my story.  Others sing, paint, even dance.  I do it by writing you a story.  I experience something.  That something can be new; it can be old, or somewhere in between.  Then when that experience is over and done, I come back here and I write.  I put it down in words so that you can experience something.  That is my goal at least.  If a thought strikes me, or something happens to me,  I put it down into words so that it may make you laugh, think or maybe even feel a tinge of sadness.

Writing is an art.  It requires precision.  You need to be able to convey your thoughts and feelings on a subject so that your audience can see clearly what happened.  It's like a window, you look through it, watching.  You're not there.  But you feel like you are there.  You know what is happening in that moment.

But this story... this story is difficult.  How can you describe it?  It was a roller coaster.  I have never experienced so much in so little.  The End of the Year Gathering was something I will never forget.  I doubt that if someone wrote a five-hundred-page novel they could capture what we experienced last week.  The simplicity of it and yet the complexity of it is astounding.

I think the best analogy for it is a roller coaster.  You arrive the first night, and you experience joy. Simple joy.  Then, at the very end, you experience a sadness that seems to take a piece of your heart and refuse to give it back.  And in the in-between time you get a little taste of different emotions that you didn't think were possible to experience in such a short breadth of time.

At the Gathering, our student-body president, Collin Smith, spoke to us about stories.  We need to be willing to make our own story.  After all..  Life is a story.  God is a storyteller, and it is only appropriate that, since we are made in His image, we should imitate His story-telling.  Even if it is a broken picture of a wonderful Masterpiece.

Last week was a tapestry with different stories woven into it.

We made our own story there.

And this is my attempt to put it down into words...

(PC: Sarah Diesing)  The crew looking dapper.
(Don't worry.  I'll be doing another post mostly dedicated to stories and pictures from the Gathering.)