HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yeah...so it's not the new year yet but before I go to the new years eve party, I figured I'd write you all and tell you:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Have a good new years eve, new years day and new year to come!

-Kristen

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wishin' you all the best for Christmas! Hope you have great holidays and lots of fun! Hope that you get just what you wanted and enjoy your time with family.

-Kristen McNeilly <3

Report Card!

Okay...so last week I got my report card. Sorry I haven't had a chance to post anything about this yet but here are my marks:
English 10: B (81%)
Foods 9: A
French 9: A (89%)
Math 9: B (lots of 86%'s though)
Music 9: A
Phys Ed 9: A
Science 9: B (84%)
So yeah! I did pretty good!
Anyways...I'm super busy lately! Ugh. I have a lot of school work to do and I have my extra things to work on too. Moms & Tots Group finsished for the year this week. We ended it off with a big potluck and we were awarded with our regular pay plus a gift certificate for a manicure or pedicure. So Darby and I will have to arrange a time for that sometime soon. (I want the manicure :P ) So yeah. You know that book Eragon that's now a movie (that comes out tomorrow)? Yeah...well I bought the book on Tuesday, discovered how freakishly good it is and am now reading that between lessons.
Guitar lessons are going great. Ryan's teaching me Christmas songs now....
I'm playing a song in church on the 24th so that's cooool! I wrote a Christmas song and Auntie Sue needed another musical act for that day so I was signed up. Sweet!
I'm going to Christmas pageant-y-play-ish thing at King's Christan school soon. Travis is in it so I'm going with my cousins. Should be fun.
Um...so yeah! I guess I'll talk to you all again soon!
Peace,
Kristen

P.S.- Gram, THANK YOU FOR CHRISTMAS PACKAGE! I was wondering how I was going to survive without fudge and other Gram-treats! YAY! But I have saved the gift from Auntie Dee until Christmas :D ('cuz I'm such a good girl)!

Pictures

Here's my new bass and my Bronze Medallion stuff!
Picture#1: My Bronze Medallion certificate, badge and medal as well as my emergency first aid certificate from last summer.
Picture#2: My new bass!
Picture#3: Yes...It's a Dean. In fact, it's a Dean Edge.
Picture#4: My new base again...at a cool angle...sidways.
Picture#5:All houses are built sideways in BC...or I just forgot to rotate the picture before uploading it to the blog.
So yeah! That's my new bass...the first instrument I've ever bought myself. It's really awesome! Now all I need is an amp!
All for now!
-Kristen

Welcome To December

Happy December 1st!
24 days 'til Christmas!
YAY!!!

So yeah! There's like, six Switchfoot songs in my head off their new CD and it's driving me insane because I only know bits of them off their site. Their new CD isn't out until the 26th. Ugh.

"Oh, Gravity! Why can't we seem to keep it together?!" - Switchfoot.....

Yeah...all for today. I'll post pictures soon. Promise!
-Kristen

Today...

Helloooo...
So, today went well. Ron was really impressed and took like, all of our homsechool stuff to photocopy. I also played him a song ("Yourself") and he loved it. I lent him the CD of bed tracks from my new CD as well. He's going to give me a grade ten mark for music and english. I'm stepping down to Science 9 to make it easier for this year and I'm also getting some sort of mark for a computer course.
Overall...a very productive day.
Last night I transferred all my Word documents and old pictures to our new computer so...YAY...I can finally continue writing the billions of stories I've got started.
Well...yeah! That's about all I've got to say for today. I'll be posting some pictures soon of MY NEW BASS and my Bronze Medallion that came in the mail a few day ago.
Yeah! Talk to you all later!
-Kristen

P.S. - for those of you who don't know...I bought a bass on Sautrday! I'm very proud of myself. It's the first instrument I've paid for and it's really cool! It's orange with red strings (but I might change 'em to blue) and it's a Dean. It's so cool. Now all I need is a bass amp!

Today's News!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CATHERINE! Your card will come on a plane on November seventh! Hope you have a great day. Please eat lots of a cake (or chocolate). You ARE in the McNeilly family so...it's mandatory to eat lots and save lots for your step-daughter!

Have a great day!

-Kristen

Halloween

Well...yesterday, was a busy day. In the morning, I babysat twelve kids with Darby and got paid 20 bucks. SWEET! Then, it was the "Harvest Party" at church and I volunteered to run a booth. It kind of sucked that I got stuck on the lamest game of all though (pin the nose on the pumpkin). It was so lame. And no one came except on RUDE little girl who must've come about twelve times and took my coupons that were supposed to be for the kids who got it right on the nose. Erg. she was so rude.

Costumes: I was a hippy/flower child. Brendan and Preston were like...terrorists posing as business men or something like that and Travis was an Army Dude with a gas mask. Darby was a mouse.

Anyways...then, after the night-mare that is the party, there was a pretty sweet fireworks show that Brendan R., Preston and some guy shot off. So that was cool. Then, the youth group had an hour of crazy games! The first game was kind of lame. It was like rock paper scissors only ninja, gorilla and gun. Yeah...it was a bit boring...but then, we played this HORRIBLE game! We had to sit in a tight circle and it was like playing hot potato...only with babyfood. Everyone got their own spoon and you had to pass around three open jars of baby food and the three people that ended up with the jars had to take a spoonful. It was so gross! I got carrots and peas...TWICE! The taste isn't that bad but the texture is like...ew. it's just gross.

Anyways...then we played this game where we were given a card and it had a C, S or D on it. C=Christian, S=Saint and D=Devil. So, I got a C. Then, ALL the lights went out and you had to walk around and if someone tapped you on the shoulder (they were the devils) you had to fall over and yell "I have sinned!" and then, the lights would come back on and someone else had to guess who the devil was. But! the devil could get saved if they knew who one of the saints were (who could save the sinning people). Otherwise, they'd have to go to "the lake of fire" on the stage. But yeah...it was pretty fun. Ms. Sandy (the leader of the whole thing) made me a devil at one point and but I couldn't kill anyone because everyone was in a little group and I'd get caught if I tapped anyone. So, I was aiming for Brendan because he was the only one NOT in a group but he kept walking around really fast and if I chased him it'd be obvious...so yeah.

We also played a game where we had to stand in a line and no one knew at first but Ms. Sandy had put lipstick on a few of the kids' fingers. The, we had to turn the the person behind us and pinch their cheeks, their nose and then their chin. It was weird at first but then when we looked at some of the people, they had red on their cheeks and stuff! it was so funny! Alexa got some on her cheeks and Brendan's nose was completely covered. Jade's ENTIRE face was covered too! It was hilarious! Luckily, Darby and I were lipstick free.

We also watched some "volunteer games". The first one was hilarious! Ty, Travis, Alexa and...someone else went on stage and Ms. Sandy stuck the icing half of an oreo on their forhead and then they had to get it into their mouths without using their hands. It was hilarious! Ty and Travis made theirs fall onto the floor and then ate it. I wasn't watching the girls because they were all wimpy and afraid to get dirty. Anyways...the next game was even better! Ty and his friend Luke were one team and Janelle and another girl were on the other. Janelle and Ty got their heads seran wrapped and then covered with whipped cream! Then, the other teammates had to through popcorn at their heads and the team with the most popcorn on their head won! Ty and Luke were covering each other with whipped cream after! It was so funny! Then, there was one more game where one partner had to have a stocking over their head and the other person was blindfolded. It was like a criminal-ish thing where the blindfolded person had to help the stocking-headed person to eat as much jello as they could through the stocking. It didn't work all that well though because the blindfolded people had no idea what to do...but it was funny to watch!

Then, Brendan, Darby and I were having wars with wrappers and mouse ears (long story) and Brendan was shooting at us with his "terrorist gun". So yeah! that was pretty fun!

Anyways...it was a good halloween even though I didn't get to go trick-or-treating. But yeah! Go fun!

-Kristen

P.S.-I got my Bronze Medallion on Saturday! I PASSED! In your face swimming people from Brampton! I PASSED!

So we went to IKEA and ....

Bunk Beds!

Follow this link is where there are some funny pics of Arden and Catherine, but most importantly pictures of what was once Arden's room and now is Kristen and Arden's room. We have added a bunkbed, a new chest of drawers and some mirrors. We are not quite done yet, so this is version 1.

We are all getting very excited about Kristen's first visit back to Onatari-ari-ario! We are going to havea a one day Christmas/ New Years extravaganza. We are somehow going to record bed tracks for ten (!) songs, we are going to see a play, a couple of movies, celebrate Gram's birthday and a lot more.

Can't wait to see you, Kristen!!

Everything

So, I was sick all week. Super busy with tons of stuff now. I have to catch up on lots of work and try to get ahead before settin' out to Ontario. I'll have to do a few lessons of each subject each day! Ugh. That's a lot. Anyways...the weather's pretty nice out here! It's a bit cold but it's still fairly sunny! So, I was asked to babysit tonight and I'll probably do it but I don't know yet because my mom went to Salmon Arm to pick up Bri from work and Anna Marie called to ask while they were out. I was left here to schoolify. So, I did some scrapbooking stuff, 2 science experiments, a lesson and a quiz and some writing and now I'm doing a blog to put on my language page. So yeah. I have to go now! But I'll post more when more stuff happens!
-Kristen

New stuff

Hello there! I guess that I haven't written in about a week...but I've been really busy! Kyle turned 3 on Tuesday and we had this little party for him when Darby and I were babysitting for the Moms and Tots group from our church. It was really cool! But it's weird to think of Ky as 3 already!

Anyways...In this past week, I've done a ton of stuff! I've done 6 hours of swimming, 3 hours of babysitting multiple children, gone to church, gone to youth group, jammed with the youth band, met with our homeschool guy, done about five hours of shopping, done a ton of school work, submitted a poem to Chicken Soup For The Soul, had Darby over for about 6 hours, had guitar lessons, read two novels and had three birthday parties for Kyle. Bri's parents are also here from Ontario, visiting for a week. I'm tired! Ugh. Anyways...Travis went with a family from our church to Mexico for a missions trip today. A ton of other people went too. Hopefully they'll have a good time helping the orphans...I want to go next year. Travis also got a 30Gb iPod for his sixteenth birthday! YAY! I'm not the only person in BC with an iPod! Yay!
Okay...Time for math and french!
-Kristen

P.S.-Can't wait to come in November! I look forward to seeing everyone! And my Christmas list is in progress so I'll have it out very soon!

Stuff Lately

Well...Things are pretty crazy lately! I have things planned for every day of the week!
Sunday: Church/babysitting the kids under 3
Monday: Youth Group and Youth Band
Tuesday: Babysitting about twelve kids for Moms and Tots in the morning for two hours...but this, however, invloves twenty bucks!
Wednesday: Guitar lessons at 7pm
Thursday: SURVIVOR!
Friday: The day used for catching up on any missed school lessons.
Saturday: Swimming lessons from 9-1pm
Friday was Travis' 16th birthday! So that's cool! His parents are paying for him to get his liscense...so no car...yet. Saturday was my first swimming lesson! GAH! Complete madness! It's so tiring! Especially doing the 20 lengths in fifteen minutes...and it's an olympic sized pool! So my arms felt like rubber after that. But then, as soon as I got home at 1:30, I had to eat 8 chicken nuggets in about five minutes and then go to the church with my mom. We had to set up a bunch of stuff for my Auntie Sue's CD release party. Travis, Shanan, Auntie Sue and Jeff Cuell make up the band (which originally invloved a different drummer and bassist) and Brendan R. and Ty were doing the sound. So, we set up a bunch of stuff and then headed home for dinner. At 7, we arrived at the church to see the place fairly full and Jeff already talking about their songs. They played a great concert and stuck around for snacks afterward. It was pretty cool! I also got to sleep over at Darby's that night. Sunday was church in the morning. I watched the three kids that showed up for nursery with Raquel and then ate some really good bread that Darby saved for us from the Sunday School class. So that was pretty cool! After church, I went back with the Arens family to hang out there until four when Travis' Birthday Bash began. We launched these cool little rockets and stuff and it was so cool! Except for the fact that the rocket Darby and I used was a bit of a dud. It was plastic and too heavy so it didn't work all that well. We played some fun games after that and had dinner followed by CAKE (which Grandma gladly provided)! So, it was good! Monday night at 6:30, I went over to the Ministry Centre at the church for Youth Group. The band practices for a half hour and then we perform the three or four songs for the rest of the group. Then, everyone sits around the table and we do a little Bible study thing and then Carol talks to us for a little while. Then, we get a snack...this week was chocolate chip cookies. We ended up finishing a bit early this week and so we got to do a bit of jamming! It was fun! We were playing like, Sweet Home Alabama and Smells Like Teen Spirit and stuff. It was pretty cool! Then, this morning, my mom and Kyle were picked up by Anna Marie and I was picked up by Karen (Shanan's wife) and we all went to Moms and Tots. Darby was picked up by another lady. Darby and I and a grandma of a few of the kids went down and looked after about twelve kids. All of the kids are five and under. It was pretty fun! We got paid twenty bucks. Most of the kids are pretty well behaved. A couple of them needed some dicepline but for the most part, they were good! We gave them cookies and pretzels for snack and that kept them satisfied for a while. Next Tuesday is Kyle's birthday, so we're giving him a little party. My mom and I are going to make mini cupcakes and have a whole little party thing! It'll be cool! Oh! And on Monday, we met with the new homeschool guy! His name's Ron Sullivan and he's awesome! He's really nice and he used to be a principle. He's so encouraging and he's trying to help in any way that he can! He's going to help get me marks in pretty much everything I do and make up course outlines for a few subjects so that I know what I'm doing. He's also getting us a new grade 10 language course because I was so confused and dissatisfied with the other one. So that's great! Everything seems to be working out well!
Saturday also would have been Poppa's birthday so I'm kind of glad that I was really busy that day because it kept me from dwelling on thoughts of mourning. He would have been 66. But anyways...I have to go do some science. All for now!

-Kristen

hello

Hi! Okay, so I tried to put more pics up but apparently I'm not able to today. So, I'll tell you about my weekend. Okay, so Saturday night was Youth Group "Fun" night so, we met at the church at 6:30 or something. Then, we broke into groups. I was in a group with Darby (who got to stay even though she's not in Youth yet), Preston, Daile and Brendan Reutlinger but the guy driving us only had three seats so I was put with Sean (the tow-truck driver, our driver and the event-coordinator) and two girls that I've never met before. So, we were sent on a scavenger hunt across Sorrento. We had to get lots of strange things: an apple, a paint ball, a cup of sand (?), a business card, a menu from Frank's Pizza, a leaf that's not brown, a homemade cookie, a real estate paper, Pastor Reuban's signature, a dog treat from Petro-Canada...Other weird things. So, off we went. Sean, winding up and down the already windy roads. We got all our stuff so fast that we were sure we were going to win. It was a total race back to Sean's house between us and Travis' team (which included Carol, the youth group leader). But, of course, being the cheaters that we are and getting our dog treat at Sportsmans', we made it there first since we had one less stop. So, we got there before Carol and Travis' team...but the Darbins made it there before us! REVENGE WILL COME! Travis stole my cookies. They stopped at my house and he took my last four homemade cookies. Ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! They get back to Sean's house and all four of them have a cookie. I made them. They were good. Arg.
Anyways...after hotdogs (which Darby and I didn't eat because we were so full of spaghetti), four people went out and hid in Sorrento Park in the dark. I believe Carol drove Travis, Ty Peters, Brianna and someone else to the park to hide. About ten minutes later, we went and were supposed to find them. Well, no one found Brianna, Travis or Carol....but Brendan found Ty...lying in the grass. (???) So, we left without them. :D Yes... and it was fun. We went to the church and waited. We made lots of noise when we left. And we piled nine people into the seven seater van. Although...nine was nothing compared to the twelve we crammed in later.
Anyways, we hung out in the church parking lot for a while, chucking apples at each other and fighting over dog bones and candy wrappers (DON'T ASK). Eventually, it started getting cold, so we piled in the van and listened to music...all twelve of us. There was Sean, Preston, Darby, Brendan, Ty, Me, Aaron, Alexa, Jade and three other girls. Brendan, Ty, Me and Darby were crammed into the TWO seats in the middle and Aaron was sitting on the floor beside the seat. We kind of just sat there for a while and drove around a bit to see if we could find Carol and the gang. But there was no sign of them for a while. When we did find them, they were wondering where we'd gone and we were wondering where they'd been! It was crazy. After a while, we finally ended up getting everything straight and my mom and Bri picked me and my cousins up, along with the van, which we were to return to Auntie Sue.
So, that was my Sautrday. Sunday night, we went to Shanan and Karen Saddler's for a bon fire and roast...WHICH WAS SO GOOD! We ended up eating wine grapes off their huge vine and then we had two kinds of really good pie for dessert. That was awesome! Last night, we had youth group. Which is basically a meeting and a little Bible study. We didn't get to do Youth Band this week though because we were missing Brendan Osborne (our singer and winner of the Shuswap Idol competition at the Fall Fair) and Travis...drummer boy. I could've sang but I don't know the songs yet. Last week I was trying to figure them out because I'd only heard one of the three. But it was fun nonetheless.
Well...that's about all I've got to say. Give me a call sometime folks! You all have my number, I emailed it out! :D So yeah...that's about all. See you all in November! Have a good Thursday! Survivor started last week! YAY!
Okay...really. this is the end!
Bye!
-Kristen <3

Pictures: 1

Hello! So, here are some of the pictures from the parade. We were playing hold my hand.
#1: As we leave! that's the back of our float.
#2: Ryan and Darby. That was during Ryan's solo.
#3: There's all of us except Travis is just out of view.
#4: ME! That was when my mom realized she was on the wrong side of the street and ran across in front of the float behind us.
#5: Us again, being pulled by the Blue Water Music truck. Now you can see travis.

More to come in a minute!

Bask In My Awesomeness!

Hello! I have so much to tell you! YAY! Okay, so, to make this easier for you to understand, I will put it in order of time.

Friday:

4:00pm: I get ready to go to Salmon Arm.

4:16pm: Bri arrives home from work with KFC

4:27pm: After eating a few fries, I get picked up by The Band and head to Salmon Arm

approx. 5:00pm: We arrive at Blue Water Music in Salmon Arm and head inside.

approx. 5:30pm: Ryan shows up with Molly The Jam Dog and a haircut, and heads into the Jam Room with the other band (Shadows Deception) while Preston, Darby and I wait in the store.

5:47pm: Auntie Sue and Uncle Des show up in the van with McDonalds for our dinner

6:00pm: We head into the Jam Room and practice each of our songs twice.

approx. 6:30pm: We head out of the store into the parkinglot and realize that our plans to see Zoom on opening night are toast, since the show starts at 6:40

6:43pm: I realize that Shadows Deception is made up of very nice people. Perhaps some that we will be jamming with in the future.

6:50pm: John (Blue Water Music Owner/Ryan's Dad) shows up with the "Blue Water Music Sound Guyz" truck and a run-down "Shuswap Lake Estates Golf Club" float.

6:55pm: We begin the float-decoration process.

7:00pm: We realize that McDonalds wasn't necessary since they ordered us two pizzas. We meet ODD-BALL Dean. Ugh.

7:30pm:Darby and I had been waiting around for half an hour while the "men" did all the stuff that we couldn't do because we are not six and a half feet tall or able to lift about 250lbs with one hand. Yeah, they had to set up two huge light fixtures and two ENORMOUS PA system speakers.

8:00pm: The expected time to finish....did not end up as planned.

8:30pm: We wait around for Ryan, John and Dean to get the sound hooked up and adjusted perfectly.

9:00pm: Dean recruits Darby and I to go over to the gas station and buy ten cans of pop for everyone. Mmmm...someone elses 20 bucks!

9:30pm: After two of the girls and Charlie from Shadows Deception are long gone, we end up doing the sound checking. We practiced all of our songs on the float and realized how hard it was to play on it. it's pretty darn wobbley! (Oh! And yes, we covered up the cheesy golf sign.

approx. 9:37pm: A young couple walking through the parking lot stops to hear us play "Hold My Hand"

10:00pm: After trying to get encored by Robyn (sp?), from Shadows Decpetion, we end up being forced off stage by Uncle Des because...well...we had to go!

10:33pm: We arrive at my house and I try to get some sleep!

Saturday!

7:00am: I am woken by Bri and a gloomy day. I head to the shower right away and wash my hair so that it's not all EW for the day.

approx. 7:23am: I eat breakfast and get ready for the day, being sure to pack a sweater.

8:00am: I pack up my guitar and iPod and throw some product in my damp hair.

8:23am (ON THE NOSE): We head out the door to get to Salmon Arm by nine.

approx. 8:57am: We arrive in Salmon Arm as one of the first float-people-es-s(?). Then, we wait around for about ten minutes for the float to show up.

approx. 9:09am: We find the float and get set up, hoping the tarp that rests on Preston's head while he plays doesn't collapse and dump water on us.

9:45am: We're all set up and ready to go. Too bad the parade doesn't actually start until 10:45.

Okay, so this is where I lost track of time and I'll just tell you what happenend now. Soooo, both bands ended up practicing all their songs...twice. Then, as we were the first ones to go on, we just jammed for about half an hour until nearly 11:00 when the parade actually started. So, when the float started moving, I almost fell over. We started playing when Charlie spotted people and watched all the people smile at us as we passed. OH! AND WE WON A THIRD PLACE RIBBON! I'm not really sure which category we were in..but who cares? Our crap-like float won a ribbon! (Yes. Our float was pretty lame looking, but what was on it was much better!) It was really cool because there were a bunch of little kids when we started and they all watched us so intently! Anyways, we did really well! I also got to play a guitar that belonged to a girl from the other band. It made it faster to swithc off. Anyways, Preston handed out Rockets to the little kids when we were done our three songs and then hopped back on when we were up again. So, our second time around was...different. We saw Jeff and Debbie Cuell (Jeff Auntie Sue's partner on their CD). Debbie was clapping madly! :D Then, we saw the Hippy Guy who gave us this crazy smile and a thumbs up from the driver's seat of his beat up pick-up truck. Then...ugh. There was a float with super-soaker things. So, Dean decides to be weird and go get a water blaster thing. In the middle of Hold My Hand when Ryan's doing his solo, Dean runs by and blasts him (while he's holding another girl's guitar). So, Ryan's drenched, my back got soaked and Darby (playing Robyn's base) also got completly drenched. Thanks, Dean........

Well...that was pretty much the highlight(s) of my last two days. Oh! But after the parade was over, we end up going back around to Blue Water Music...still singing! Shadows Decpetion was playing when we went around again. It was cool because the parade was LONG over but we were still blasting music at people...who loved it! Then, we took the float apart and headed to the fair...where we spent the rest of the day. So that was cool. I just got home about two hours ago. It was great! I'm so glad I got that experience. I'd totally do it again. LOUDER THAN WORDS! WHOO HOO! We got a couple pictures. I'll post them later. I gotta go folks! I still feel like I'm on a float! I'm all wobbley! It's such a cool feeling to feel like you pleased people! YAY! Okay! BYE!

-Kristen

NOVEMBER ARRIVAL!

Howdy! What's new everyone? Enjoying school? I like it! I'm having fun working ahead. I started guitar lesson yesterday which was cool. Now I can play even more! WHOO HOO! So, tomorrow, we go to Salmon Arm to decorate the float and then on Saturday, at 9, we have to be there again to get all set and then we go around the city and perform! IT'S GONNA BE SO COOL! I start swimming lessons next Saturday. Brendan Reutlinger (from church) invited me to play in the youth group band (which is all boys and my cousins failed to mention it to me). Anyways, I've been enjoying life out here. I miss people but I'll SEE YOU ALL IN NOVEMBER! Yes, I am coming from the 7th to the 21st. Andrea, I'll be there for your birthday. And I'll be there for Gram's brithday. And, we're having Christmas and New Year's a month early. :D So that will be interesting. So, the long weekend: we went up to Nesconlith Lake (which is about an hour away). We had to drive up the side of a mountain where the cattle run free! It was cool because there was this little baby brown and white cow and it's mother walking down the road. They walked right beside the van! It was so cute! Bri, Uncle Des and Travis and Preston all went out before us at like, 6:30 to try to catch some fish. Although no one caught anything. Well, we ate lunch when we arrived and then went swimming in the somewhat disgusting water. Travis, Darby and I went out in the canoe for a little bit so that was cool. But, no one caught any fish. So, the girls left earlier so that Kyle could have a nap and we left the guys behind because they wanted to keep fishing. When they arrived home about four hours later, Preston had two little tiny raindow trout. One had a smashed in eye....this is pretty gross...because Preston had to knock it out and the club was behind Uncle Des so he didn't know it was there, so instead, he hit it with a rock and apparently, its eye smashed into its head and ended up in its mouth...EW. So yeah, we had pizza for dinner. And two minnow-ee-things for dessert. mmm.
So, last week, we realized we hadn't seen Mario all day and he hadn't slept on anyone's bed for two nights. We came to the conclusion that he wasn't around anymore. He'd gone somewhere. so, we looked all over the house and all over the yard and called for him and stuff. My mom was scared that he'd gone off to die somewhere or had run away or something so we were all kind of freaking out. He's nine and pretty old. So, anyways, later that day, Bri and I went to Sportsmans' (a cool little store) and on our way, we spotted Mario lounging in a chair on the deck next door. He must have just got there because we hadn't seen him all day. I can't even explain to you how happy I was to see my Mario/Mivvy/Stripo/Pookie-Pants. YAY! So yeah, I have my Mivvens back and everyone's happy. YAY!

So yeah, that's about it. I'm doin' pretty well out here. I'll keep you posted! Post something friends and family!
All for now!
-Kristen

Actions Speak LOUDER THAN WORDS

Hello, hello! How's everybody doing tonight? So, yesterday, I drove with my cousins to the BC Wild Life Park in Kamloops. Grandma and Grandpa treated all of us to a day there for their 64th wedding anniversary. It was really fun! There was this cool bird show and they set one of the falcons on Preston's head and then on Bri's head. The only problem was that it was REALLY, REALLY hot. We were sweating to death after five minutes in the park! But they had some cool animals and a COOL water park thing. It's meant for kids, but they only get like, thirty-five people a day, so we went right in and got all cooled off. We also rode this little train around the park, so that was cool. I got a stuffed chipmonk and a cool sticker at the gift shop. So yeah...
Anyways...back to the point of this post: when we were on the road yesterday, we were listening to Relient K. they have this song called Hello McFly and it's really good. So anyways, when we got out of the car, Auntie Sue was like, "Uncle Des came up with a pretty cool band name: Louder Than Words," because there's a line in the song that's like "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!" How is it that of all the names that we've come up with, that Uncle Des comes up with one and it's the one? So yeah...we've finally decided. We are Louder Than Words. It's got a cool little ring to it. Whoo hoo!
So...uh...oh! Last night I slept over at Darby's. Travis made me bring all my sound equipment: you know, mike, stand, guitar, amp, mixer...the whole mess of it. Then, we jammed and practiced for about an hour and that's all we used it for. Ugh...moving things. Anyways, I didn't get much sleep because we went to bed at 10:30 and I kept waking up and then at 3:30, I woke up with this really bad stomach ache. So i got up and hung out with Grandma for about half an hour until I felt a bit better. Then I finally fell asleep at 4:45...and woke up fine. So that was odd. We spent the whole morning playing with the excessive amount of Lego that my cousins have. That was actually really fun. :)
So, today, when Auntie Sue and Darby, dropped me off at home, we installed two of the homeschool programs that i'll be useing: Grade 10 language and science. I was kind of excited about that, so I tried it out. I ended up doing four days worth of language work. It's pretty cool. You read the lesson and then you answer questions on it. You get as many chances as you want with the work until you get to the quizzes, which are just like a normal quiz. (I haven't gotten there yet though). Honestly, I can get a whole unit of language done in a few days. So that's pretty darn cool!
So, at church on the weekends, I usually help out with either Sunday School or the little Nursury thing. I like the Nursury better. But anyways, I didn't end up going this weekend...I don't really know why though. So I was sitting up at the front with Travis and Preston and other family members when Alexa, this girl that's a year younger than me, sneeks to the front and asked to to go up to the nursury. So i went and it turns out that this little girl, Sarah, who's only like, eighteen months old, had been whining because she wanted me...so that was cool. Apparently, I was wanted up there. So I guess I'll help out with that weekly now......
Well...that's all I've got to say today...but yeah...Hope everyone had a good summer! I guess school starts in a week. Good luck with that, my fellow grade niners and other such school-ers! All for now!
-Kristen

Al's done, and the return of Billy Miner

OK... so band names:
Sonnovabuns
Purty
Shame on Fred
Lights Out
Trampoline Scene
Spores Galore
Fodder
Hiccup
Chocolate Monkeys
Spasm
Infomercial
As Seen on TV

Some good some bad... At least I am trying. Anyone else?

Got an interview on Tuesday! I will tell more to you through email, K, but it is perfect (photographer and graphics guy). So that was nice.

We went to the Zoo TWICE this weekend. Arden is in love with the baby orangatuan, Budi. She calls me big Budi and picks grubs out of my beard and pretend-eats them. Oi.

I made a big ice cream cake based on the Keg's Billy Miner pie. Those who know me, know I LOVE ice cream... and this is a suprememely tasty ice cream cake. Wish I could share a piece with you Bub..

This weekend we go to Sudbury for a grand celebration for Al... he has graduated at of near the top o' his class with a 4.0 GPA. Not too freakin' bad. Gram is already up there with the girls, hangin' out with Daniel and Rebecca. So I will take lots of pics and post some here.

I know as school comes around and poeple return to their computers the blog will flow more... please feel free to post here, folks.


All for now...

Shopping, Parades and Yeilding to Bubble-Frogs

Yeah...so, today was pretty busy. First, we went shopping with my grandma and Auntie Sue. It was fun. We got groceries and I got a Chicken Soup book and some much needed sticky tak. Then we went to a cool little cafe called the Java Cabana. They have AMAZING Italian Sodas there! Then we went home and hung out for a while and watched The Princess Bride and stuff and I practiced guitar. Then, Auntie Sue and Travis and Darby came to pick me up for Build-A-Band. It went REALLY well tonight. We played each song at least three times and Hold My Hand and Happily Troubling are PERFECT now. The Relient K song still needs a bit of work and we have to get used to playing with the keyboard again when Preston comes back. What else? Uh...yeah...so we're going to be playing in a parade!!!! WHOO HOO!!! Ryan told us today. He said that Blue Water Music got a float in the Fall Fair Parade (or whatever it's called) and that the two groups that are doing build a band can play on it! We'll also be playing at the fall fair (and I might enter some watercolour paintings in the fair as well). One problem...we still don't have a band name. Tonight, we were coming up with a bunch: That Was Random, Yield to the Bubble-Frogs (DON"T ASK), Eleven, Not Really, Brain Crieg............ And many more! It's weird going without Preston though because he comes up with lots of good ones....and says them in odd ways (especially Mold Spors and Spleen).
Well...I think that's about all I've got to say today. I'll write some more soon. Tell me about you folks too! I want to hear from you!
All for now!
-Kristen

outdoor sleeping

Okay, so here's what's been going on lately..............

WE GOT A NEW COMPUTER!!! It's really cool. It's got a flat-screen-ish monitor and this nice, new keyboard and our webcam and mic are hooked up on it. It's really nice.

Last weekend, we went to this awesome place! It's in this provincial park. You take all these pathways over bridges and stuff through this canyon-thing and it's so cool! You have to walk under a bunch of fallen trees and there's all these awesome plants that are super healthy from the little stream that runs through the middle. Then, when you get to the end of the path, there's this really big waterfall! It's so cool! It's called Margaret Falls. And there's this hole in the rock behind the waterfall when you can climb up and go in and sit behind the waterfall. We didn't get to go this time but it's only about half an hour away so I think we're going to go again soon.

Last night, I stayed over at Darby's house again. It was so cool! It was kind of cold that night but it wasn't too bad so we slept on their trampoline! We bundled up and got sleeping bags and blankets and stuff and went outside and slept there and just watched the sky. There was a meteor shower so that was awesome! And the moon was INCREDIBLE. We literally watched it rise. It was pretty fast and it was so bright! I woke up at one point in the night and the clouds were all skidded across the sky and then the moon was glowing yellow and it was lighting up the whole sky. It was so cool! Oh! And there were these coyotes! They were calling to each other across the road and stuff and it was really wierd because at one point...they were like, yelling at each other and it sounded like they were laughing like hyenas. Then, one howled really loud and that was all we heard from them all night. At four thirty in the morning though. it started to get brighter and then the STUPID ROOSTER from next door crowed REALLY loud and Darby and I yelled SHUT UP at the same time. It was actually pretty funny. We all want to make that rooster into stew.

What else? Uh... Oh! Build-A-Band went pretty well this week. We didn't have Preston but we did okay without him. We got to practice all three songs and I think we've got them all pretty much down. We still need a bit of work but we're doing better. And there's still no band name.

So...I think that's all I've got to say today. I'll keep you posted and you keep me posted!

Rock on!

-Kristen

Greetings

Sooo...um...I slept over at my cousins' house the other day and that was fun. My aunt and uncle were off on a little getaway for their twentieth anniversary so Darby and I slept upstairs in their room which was cool. What else...um...we went to Salmon Arm yesterday and we stopped in at Blue Water Music and I got a little pick holder thing for my guitar. Kyle got some drumsticks (yay another drummer ;) ) . We also got some much needed groceries.

I used some more of that temporary hair dye stuff that I have used before. It's the same red...actually...it's the rest of the red that I used at the talent show. But we didn't have very much so right now, my hair is red on the top and then it fades into blond.

Ryan got my guitar fixed...for about seventy bucks. He ended up not being able to do it so he got one of the guys that works at Blue Water to fix it...He did it for fifty bucks and put a brand new pack of acoustic strings on it since I only had electric. But anyways...it works like new.

Build-A-Band was great this week...We changed one of our songs. It went from Poppa's song to "Happily Troubling" (the song Jenna and I did at the talent show). It was kind of a group decision. Travis and I were recording it in their basement, just for fun and somehow...we ended up changing our song. Probably because it's something different and new. We've all heard "So What's It Gonna Be" quite a bit...Plus, I know I can play this song really well live. We actually got Travis doing some back up vocals and it sounds AWESOME! (Until he does this weird falsetto thing when I go into that little guitar interlude thing).

So yeah...I've been doing pretty well lately. I haven't been able to go swimming for about a week becasue it's been getting quite cool outside. Today, the water was REALLY REALLY choppy...full-out white caps and everything.

JENNA! You looked good in those pictures at grad!

So...How is everyone doing this summer?

I must be off now!

-Kristen

Band Names and other things

OK... so anyone have any ideas for band names for Kirsten and cuz's?

Mushmouth?
Pablum?
Beat Relief?
Inner Ear?
Spare Oom?
Oomph?
Duck Itch?

C'mon gang. Let's hear some.

Well, Kristen, thanks for the pics. I can't wait to see more!! The lake seems perfecly awesome for swimming. The house looks big too!

We (Dad, Catherine and Arden) are going to the cottage with the Hernandez clan on Monday until Sunday. I will post some pics when we return for sure. It is a different place than before, but it is close to Sharbot Lake. It is actually close to a place called Arden, Ontario. How cool is that?!

It won't be the same without you, but hopefully the visit next summer can include the cottage time!!
Lots of Love from this end of things,
Dad

Life Now

Sooooo...uh...what's new here? Uh...OH! The other day when we were at the Sportmans Store (a cool little grocery-and-other-things shop), my mom and Kyle and I were waiting in the car while Bri ran in to get something. This car pulled up beside us and it's this old guy who's balding and wearing this fancy blue button up shirt with these black pants. We're like, yeah, whatever...but then he opens his door and there's this "Pussy Cat Dolls" tune BLASTING in his car. My mom looks at me and were trying really hard not to laugh because we didn't want to be rude. It was so hilarious!

Anyways...we still aren't sure what to call our band...I'm leaning towards Sides Of Pork (long story) or Ausage Sales (Another long story). Travis wants to call it The Richard Roberts Band...because then we can call it Dick Bob. No one else agrees with him...:D Varsol also sounds cool...Or Spleen...which only sounds good when Preston says it in this creepy British accent. See...when we drive to Build-A-Band which is a half-hour ride, we kind of just randomly name off things that we see. There are...A LOT of road signs so we've come up with a lot of things. We were acutally really leaning towards Anonomously Random but then decided against it. So Travis and Preston used to be Iron Pants Arens and then they joined a group and played fifties and sixties music (like the Beatles and stuff) and they were The Talonz. I met the band (except the singer) and they're all pretty nice. We've gone swimming with the bass player a few times. His name's Brendon. He's nice but he's really quiet.

Um...yeah...what else? Oh! Yesterday it was raining and sunny out at the same time...it was really weird. I tried to take some pictures but they're not on my computer yet and I can't tell if it worked or not. I'll have more pictures up later when I can download them to the computer. Uh...I guess that's all I have to say for now. I'll talk to you all later...keep posting!

-Kristen

Let's Try This Again

Picture #1: On the floating dock at the beach on the lake at the end of our street.

Picture #2: Coming out of the water while swimming a Riedman's Point, which is only about a ten minute drive around Blind Bay to Eagle Bay or something like that.

Picture #3: I'm trying something new with the guitar case that my dad bought me for my birthday last year. Note the 20+ year-old stickers from Catherine's old collection and the Bob and Georgina stickers.

Picture #4: Kyle is mesmerized by the television in our kitchen while my mom and Grandma commence cleaning in the master bedroom.

Picture #5: From the land of Spare Oom, I give you, the junk haven. This room will one day be the music/play room. For now, it is a storage room and room for jamming and other such practises.

More pictures to come!

Photographs From Chr's House 4

Well, there will be more pictures to come later. I have more now but for some reason, my compueter says that that part of the site is down right now. Anyways..enjoy what I've already got up and i'll post some more later. All for now!
-Kristen

Photographs From Chr's House 3

Picture#6: And the drum made it safely!
Picture #7: Our spacious backyard complete with jungle gym and picnic table.
Picture #8: Billy also made it safely...and my Daisy Rock is getting fixed as we speak.
Picture #9: The view out my bedroom window, which faces the street.
Picture #10: My back door and my book shelf, which is on the left of the front door.

Photographs From Chr's House 2

Hello! This is my new room! I'm going to have to do these pictures in several different posts to get you all the information needed to fully understand the shots. These are for the last five photos posted:
Picture #1: (A tad out of focus) My shelf and my award. That would be on the wall on the right when you walk into my room. Like the colours?
Picture #2: The left corner of my room when you walk in the door. Notice my swamp of boxes and the clutter in the closet!
Picture #3: I had to buy a new CD rack for all my CDs! That's beside my bed on the right wall again.
Picture #4: The wall to the left of my door when you walk in. That would be my dsk in a swamp of knick-knacks and my shelf of angels.
Picture #5: That's when you walk into my room through the back door. Yes...there are two doors to my room...but the back door stays locked most of the time. My bed still isn't totally put together...I don't have a headboard or anything yet. But that will happen sometime today or tomorrow.

Photographs From Chr's House 1

HELLOOOOO!!!

Hello! It is I, Kristen! I did it! I did it all by myself! I hooked up the computer and the internet without any help! Bri's at work and my mom was putting Kyle down for a nap. I did it! Go me! So...news in BC? Well...we heard this morning that last night, when my cousins and my aunt and uncle were at a barbeque, Darby broke her nose in three places. They were all swimming and another boy jumped off the dock just as she was coming up and didn't see her and well...that's how she ended up. It really sucks. They're probably setting her nose as we speak. Hopefully, she will feel well enough to come to Build-A-Band tonight! What else is new? Oh...to answer youur question, Jess...it's EXTREMELY hot here. And we don't have air conditioning. We sweat all day long and then go to bed feeling like crap. It kind of sucks...but that's partially why we do swimming every day. On Sunday night, we had a huge storm. Apparently, it was a major storm for the BC interior although we felt it wasn't very abnormal because it was fairly typical in Ontario. It was raining and thundering but the big deal was the lightning. There was a flash of sheet lightning every thirty seconds. It was crazy! There were helicopters circling non-stop on Monday checking every place that lightning hit so that they could check if there were any forest fires started. But now it's back to being dry and hot.

What else....hmmm... well...we went to Vernen yesterday which is about twenty minutes past Salmon Arm, which is about half an hour away from us. So yeah. We went to a few stores. It's got a few malls so we went to the Bay and to Claires and I got this cool Fender wristband. I also got three new CDs: Train, Default and Lifehouse. I have to add them to my iPod. What else...um.. Jess and Sam! My hotmail won't let me email you guys at your rogers addresses. I have no idea why. I emailed you at your hotmail addresses instead. Check it out if you can. I just sent you my address and phone number. Hm...I think that's all I have to say for now. I guess I'll talk to you all soon! Keep posting!

-Kristen

Greetings From British Columbia

Hello everyone! I am here in BC at my cousin's house. My internet will not be hooked up until the middle of this week. Perhaps Wednesday or Thursday. I've been swimming every day and it's fun! BOB GOT MARRIED AND IS NOW ON TOUR WITH BOB AND THE BOBETTES! WHOO HOO! If anyone has a name for our band...email it to us...for you see, we are in a bit of a predicament. We need a name for our band that we are currently "building" in BUILD A BAND!!! It's so much fun! Travis is on the drums, Preston is on the keyboards, Darby is on bass (which she just picked up and is quite good at already) and guess what I play? Oh... and I'm singing too. Anyways...there's this cool guy, Ryan that is teaching us how to play together (and he can fix my guitar) and we are playing a Relient K song (the pink tux song) and my song (#2) and a Hootie & The Blowfish song ("Hold My Hand"). I think we might be doing another couple of songs but I'm not sure yet. After we're all practised out, we can probably play at the Fall Fair.
Oh! And my room is bright blue and bright yellow. My cousin says it looks like blockbuster...whoo hoo. Now I can rent movies from my own room! (Not really...I wish.) But anyways... my stuff is here and somewhat unpacked although my room is a it of a swamp.
I SAW PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2! It's really good! You all know the obsession Agnieszka and I have with Johnny Depp. AGNIESZKA... when you get back from Poland...email me and we will discuss it...tell me if you saw it or not! la dee dah! mm...Johnny Depp.
I miss everyone out there. It's kind of weird to say that I might never see some of those people again. Some people...I don't think I'll miss...like Brandon S......(Jenna...I'm surprised at you). But others...I already miss quite a bit...like all those I don't completely hate. anyways... I have duck itch right now (little parasties that borrow into your skin thinking you're a duck and then they die and begin to rot and cause an extremely itchy red lump for about 24 hours). Duck itch sucks.
Well...I have to be off now. I'll talk to you more later this week. Good bye for now. I miss you all (and thank you father for the necklace and father and Catherine for the letters that I have read numerous times). Farewell my feathered friends (actually, that is a lie because Richard is the original feathered friend)....but nonetheless, you are all my friends. Goodbye.
-Kristen :D

Kristen's Computer is in a trailer somewhere in the Praries

Just a reminder that Kristen's computer won't even arrive in BC until the 13th of July. So, unless she can get online before that she won't be posting until sometime after that date.

Arrived safely...

Hi y'all.

I spoke to Kristen today. She called me by cel as their home phone is not in yet. She arrived safely. She was speaking at a pleasantly excited pace. The house seems to be nice and large with a cathedral ceiling in the living room, I believe. Her room is a little bigger than in Brampton. She has gone swimming and checked out the two beaches already. Andd then there is some cool band thing on Wednesday's she will have to explain to you all.
The image is from a tunnel of mirrors at The Ontario Science Centre.
-- Dad

Kristen has left the building...

Here is a picture we took in our backyard on Monday (Kristen, Arden, Catherine and myself). It is now Thursday. Kristen has left. Kristen's grandmother, Gram, and us saw her off at the airport. It was very tough to see her go. Looking forward to hearing from her and see her posts for sure, but their computer won't arrive for a few days and I believe she is staying at her cousins for a few days. She loves seeing them, so I imagine it will all seem like a vacation for a few days anyway.

So Kristen, we are thinking about you very much and hope you arrive with wide open eyes and have a great adventure.

We love you,
Dad and gang

Oh My Gosh

Wow...So it's Tuesday, July 4th....GAH! The truck arrived at our house this morning at 9 and left at 3ish. Everything is all packed up and on its way to BC as we speak. It's weird to have a totally empty house. All that's left are our suitcases, two cats and a dog. It's really bizarre. The men that were loading our truck were really nice and you could tell that they could be trusted to keep all of our stuff safe. Bri's dad came over around lunch time. Bri's brother and his wife also came. It was so weird to have our stuff being moved by other people. I wanted to help but everything was already in the garage ready to be put onto the truck and whatever wasn't there was toooo heavy for me to lift. So, tomorrow morning at around five, I'll be getting up. We have to leave for the airport at 6:30 and then the plane leaves at 9:05. It's going to be hectic, getting all the animals on the plane and whatnot. Anyways...I'm on Bri's parents' computer right now. I guess I have to go now...Bri and my mom went back to get the suitcases from our house. Anyways...I guess I'll write a bit more in a few weeks when our computer is set up and we have internet once again. All for now!
-Kristen

Farewell

So, Thursday was the last real day of school for me...ever. It was an extremely eventful day, starting with...graduating. Wow. I can't believe it's over. Everyone was all dressed up and then we walked in and got our diplomas and stuff and then they gave out the awards. After not getting any of the first five, I was a bit confused since Primi mentioned that I was getting one. But then, Primi stood up to give out the art award. And I got it! I'm still in shock, three days later. It's so surreal to have won the award that I wanted more than anything else. Anyways, after the last awards were handed out, Pugliese made his speech and then Primi's little "down-to-earth" talk. Both teachers got standing ovations from their classes! What else? Um...when the whole thing was over, I met up with Agnieszka and both of us just started crying uncontrolably. I don't even know if I know why! It was a weird feeling. We were happy and sad and nervous and scared and excited...all at the same time. Then, it was time for pictures. There are so many! And Agnieszka's brother just took some random pictures of us crying :P. It was fun. After a while, we left for the bus to go the restaurant. The food was pretty good. Then the dance came. It was uneventful until the end when the slow songs came on. But you can find out what happened with that for yourself. Then we realized that it wa the last song and the tears started coming. Honestly, I didn't stop crying for about two hours. It's one thing when you're going to see all these people again in highschool but it's another thing when you know your probably never going to see most of them EVER again because you're moving across the country. It's a scary feeling. I know I'll see my good friends again but I may never see Richard or Arin or Travis or any of my not-super-best-friends again. I miss those peope the most because I know I won't see them again. But people like Agnieszka and Michaela, I know I'll see them in November and talk to them all the time. It's tough.
Anyways...I guess I better go now. I have some more packing to do before tomorrow. I'm headed to the science centre. Bye for now!
-Kristen

Howdy!

Hello there. Welcome to my blog...
This will make it easier to communicate with all of you back in Ontario when I move. Check out this space regularily 'cause there will probably be a new post whenever you look! Enjoy!
-Kristen

So it begins

Welcome to the first post on Kristen's blog! This is a place for Kristen's family and friends to "meet" and share in what is happenning with each other on either side of this great country.