Mexico 2010

Everyone!

Me and Quinn riding in the back of the pickup!

Me and Pastor Joel

Me and my little buddy, Jacklyn :)

Eric and Puppy!

I am home.
I was able to go to Mexico again last week and it was, again, absolutely amazing.
21 youth and 8 adults from my church went to the HI Mission in San Quintin, Mexico. We spent two full days traveling down there, 5 days at the mission, and another 2 days traveling back.
I don't even know where to start telling you about it...so much happened. SO much.
We got to know the youth at the mission really well and we were able to go out and play with the kids a lot more than we had been able to at the last mission I was at.
We rode around in a pickup truck everywhere, and swam in the freezing cold ocean. We praised God in Spanish, and played tug-o-war with some beautiful Mexican kids. We played with an adorable puppy, bought huge marshmallows at a candy store, and ate amazing tacos. We stayed up til all hours laughing about stupid things, and cried as we had to say goodbye.
Every trip changes you... I feel a little empty now that I'm home. You leave a piece of yourself there.
I believe we're going to go back next year...I hope I can go too. I would love to.
Good to be home but I loved being there :)
-Kristen

A whole bunch o' stuff!

SO! It has been a while since my last blog post!
I've been working a lot lately... which is good but quite tiring.
I haven't been able to write any new songs lately. Not sure why. It's kind of annoying...I want to write but there's nothing there. Gr.
Anyways, so the big thing going on in my life right now is my trip to Mexico! I have been presented, once again, with the opportunity to go to Mexico on a mission trip! I leave on March 6th with a bunch of people from my youth group. I'm really looking forward to it. It's a different mission this time, and we're only allowed to bring a backpack with us, so it will be a brand new experience. I am excited!!!

Hope you're doing well!
-Kristen

Happy 2010!!!

Hey everyone!
Wow..I actually didn't post anything in December :P
Anyways, happy happy new year! Hope you have an excellent year and do lots of cool things! :)
My year will be pretty darn busy...we'll see where it takes me :)
Talk to you later!
-Kristen

And so it goes...

Hey there, folks!
So, I've been working a lot lately, and trying get math done...it's quite time-consuming.
I've also been trying to avoid getting H1N1 since so many people around here have it. Honestly, though, I don't feel all that worried about. I think it'll all be okay.
Anyways, so it's November already...the year went by really fast. I'm looking forward to going to Ontario in December. Fun things will happen!
Aaaand...that's about it! Not a whole lot of new stuff going on right now!
Talk to you soonly!
-Kristen

Ho hum diddly dum

Sooo! It's October! Both my brothers have become another year older in the past few weeks, so it's been a little crazy around here :P
Work is getting quite tiring, though I still don't hate it (yet). I work every second weekend, and since I'm working on Halloween, the two girls I work with that day and I are hoping to come up with some sort of awesome costume-theme...thing to wear.
Still working on math...ick.
That's all for now!
-Kristen

September September.

So! This is the first September that I don't have to go to school.

I've been working a lot lately. It's definitely not a bad job. TODAY though was soooo busy. The power in Sorrento was out, so we had people lined up out the door and people leaving because there was no where to sit and TONS of dirty dishes and MILLIONS of food orders and our regular cook called in sick so there were only 3 of us working. It was insane, to put it lightly. I didn't get my lunch until 3 o'clock. Blah.

Anyways, so, the evacuation for Notch Hill might be lifted this weekend, so that's good. Everyone will get to go home. I, however, am sort of enjoying the company. It's kind fun!

I sold a few more CDs since the release party, so that's good.

ANYWAYS...so that's about all I have to say right now.
-Kristen

End of the summer

So...summer's just about over. Everyone's getting ready to head back to school. Ick.

I still have math to finish! D:

Work is crazy, but it's not bad. I enjoy it, most of the time.

My CD release party went really well. Apparently there were about 75 people and I sold a bunch of CDs, which was cool.

So...the fires aren't really getting any better. My cousins and grandparents have been evacuated and we now have many pets and several new people staying at our house. Smoke is blotting out the sun, though, so it looks like sunset all day.

So...yeah! That's about all I have to say right now!
Have a lovely last day of August!
-Kristen

Right.

Okay, so I am busy.
I got a job at a coffee shop near my house, and I've been working A LOT. And then I'm still teaching swimming lessons. So, yeah. That's busy. But, I got my first paycheck today, which was awesome :)
Also, CD release party will be on August 28th. I've been crazy busy planning that.
THEN there's math to do (which I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on).
My goodness...this is crazy! I'm hoping things will get a little less hectic after the summer's over.
Some rather sad news: my cat, Max got his by a car yesterday. Now we only have one cat. I miss Max... :S
Anyways, I'm tired, so I think I'm gonna go get ready for bed.
Hope you've been having a great summer so far!
-Kristen

The summer...she is here.

Hey hey hey!
So it's July, folks. Canada Day has come and gone, and I have graduated, although I still need to finish math this summer :P
This week, I've been reading large amounts of new books...yay! And buying new CDs and such...because music is amazing.
YOU need to check out Dallas Green (also known as City & Colour). He's this amazing Canadian guy who write awesome songs and wears large glasses :P I got hooked on him and you will too! Woot! :P
Aaaand...yeah. There's not a whole lot of new stuff here. I'm teaching swimming lessons again this summer, and I'm gonna play my tunes wherever I can! :D
So yeah...have a lovely Tuesday!
-Kristen

GAH!

Alright so the album is done! Thanks to my dad and Rick :D
You can hear it here: www.kristenmcneilly.com
Yay!

Still working like crazy on schoolwork. Ick.
My laptop has Internet now, so I can send emails at all hours or play games 'til I'm too tired to move... :D Or I can sit outside and watch math videos.... :S
Have a lovely day!
-Kristen

Swamp-ed

Yeeeah...so things are pretty hectic for me right now. I have about 3 weeks to completely finish English 11/12, Socials 11 (+ exam) and math 11 (which I just started). GAH!
I applied for a small scholarship but I don't know who got it yet...
Grad is fast approaching...I have my dress already (and it's not super fancy! HA!). It sounds like there's not very many of us graduating now, though, so I don't know how that's going to work.
Anyways...yeah. Just a quick update to say that I'm pretty freakin' busy!!
God bless,
-Kristen

17!

So I am officially 17 today (my favourite number!). That's insane. That feels so old :P
I am spending my birthday eating my favourite foods and doing schoolwork, which is not very fun.
I bought a laptop online and it arrived yesterday, so my mom and Bri gave me money towards that as my gift. Kyle and Scotty got me a chocolate bar and a comic book though, so I still had something to open :)
Tonight we shall cake and tasty foods, and on Sunday, we're having a family birthday/mothers' day party, so that will be fun. :)
Anyways...I've got to go learn about WWII now, so yeah.
-Kristen

Post #115 :O

HOLA!
Hey there, how's it goin'?
Sooooo! It is April now! Golly, this year is going fast. I have soooo much schoolwork to do...ick.
We had our grad meeting, though, and got some details down about the weirdness that is a homeschool graduation ceremony/party. I only know 2 other people that are graduating :P
So, March, I went to Ontario and spent like, 4 and a half days recording some cool new tunes, which are turning out quite coolly :P They're not done yet, but I will post on several sites when they are :)
Now I'm super busy with school, church, youth group, and everything else in the entire universe. Oh golly. There's so much to do. Stress isn't fun. Ick.
Anyways, that's about all I have time for right now, but I'll post more when exciting things happen... :P
-Kristen

Rush n' such

Soooo...Welcome to March!

I've been pretty busy lately. But now that February's over, I don't have anything major to do until March Break, when I go to Ontario.

So, Rush (big youth conference in Kelowna) was this past weekend. It was pretty awesome! There were about 1500 people all together, or so, and we had our group of a little over 30. We drove to Kelowna on Friday evening, and got dinner on the way. Then we parked and got bussed to the Rush "Dome" (which is really just a giant barn-thing), where we met up with Bart (haven't seen him in a while!) and then Starfield came out! They were great! Shane Claiborne came out too, which was awesome. They also had this glass box that they lit fireworks in. :P Quinn and I walked around for a while at the back looking at all the t-shirts and stuff, and I ended up buying a Rush t-shirt, a Starfield t-shirt, a Starfield CD, a couple buttons, and a Starfield poster. :D We got back to our van at like 1 in the morning, and didn't end up getting to sleep until like, 2AM! So we were really tired. :)

Breakfast was at 9, so we had to get up at around 7 to get to the buses and then to the dome. We stopped at Starbucks on the way! :D Then this singer guy, Riley Armstrong (who's super funny), came out and serenaded us while the host, Joel, sent us off in groups to our different activities for the day. All the girls in our group ended up picking this "spa day" thing, which ended up including a catered lunch, free coffees, dance lessons (which I skipped, getting a coffee instead), hair and makeup tips (which included a free mascara!), nails, and a craft (I decorated a journal). So that was cool. Darby came at the end of the spa day because she was in Salmon Arm at a speech competition.

THEN! We went back to the dome and Starfield played again, and we had a snack and stuff, and Shane Claiborne spoke again, and then I got a Riley Armstrong t-shirt (AWESOME!) and a button. Aaaand...then Jon Buller/Corey Doak Band...thing...came out and played and then Fresh I.E. (this rapper guy) joined them. I'm not into rap, but they played a song at the end tha was awesome! :P

So, we went back to the church that we were staying at and hung out until like, 2 in the morning, and then Darb helped me wash my hair in the sink (haha!) and we finally got to sleep at around 3. Sandi woke us all up at around 6:30 in the morning with loud, annoying ring tones on her phone, and we had to pack everything up and clean the church, and load the vans and stuff.

Then we went to the dome and Starfield played again and Riley Armstrong played again (he did an awesome slow-mo guitar solo, which involved a drill...) and then the weekend was over... So, we got back onto the buses to get to our vans and then we went to Vernon and ate lunch at the mall and I got another Starbucks (:D), and then we drove back to the ministry centre, and went home.

So, the weekend ended up being amazing...God is so cool! It was almost as good as History Maker last year :) (I have pics on Facebook of RUSH if you haven't seen them and you're my friend on there)

And that's that! So, now it March and I have a LOT of school work to do if I want to graduate this year...ugh. And...that's all for now!
-Kristen

As the end of February nears...

So...
February is nearing its end. It was very busy, between Alpha, youth group, worship team, singing Oh Canada, writing tunes, hanging with friends, parties, church, PI Night, and birthdays, I'm pretty tired of doing stuff. So I get a few days off before our youth group heads down to Kelowna for the weekend. We've got a youth conference there (RUSH), which will have lots of cool stuffs.
So yeah, today is about schoolwork, which sucks, but must be done.
And that's about all the update I can give you at this point :)
-Kristen

February = Busy

SOOOOO! February is the shortest month of the year, but, ironically, it's also my busiest this year.
Friday I'm singing Oh Canada at the Canadian Juniors Curling Championship in Salmon Arm. Saturday I'm leading the worship at Mountain Top Experience church again.
Then there's Pi Night at church, where we eat pie and listen to tunes, which I might be doing some singing in.
THEN there are like, 3 fundraisers that our youth group is doing so that we can go to more youth conferences and stuff.
THEN we have an actual youth conference on the last weekend of February.

So yes...it's rather busy.

Aaaand...on the music front: I recorded a song with my cousin, Travis, this weekend, which is turning out pretty good. It's by no means done, but Travis is going to edit it and then add some drums! :) Also, planning to record (and re-record) in March when I go to Ontario. New album will hopefully be done by the spring! :D

And yeah...that's about it right now...
I actually sat down and watched the superbowl yesterday. Except Grandpa's sattelite cut out during most of the half-time show... :S The ads were great though...that's the best part! :D

I'll post more soon!
-Kristen

Hello hEllo heLlo helLo hellO

Hey there...so did you have a good 2008? I'm liking being able to write 2009 at the top of my papers now.
New Years was great...I was with Darb and Preston, and we watched tons of movies and went sledding at 4 in the morning, and played lots of games, and I stayed up for 24 hours straight. I didn't go to bed until 9 in the morning. :P
So...lots of stuff going on right now. School is back in session, because even though I said I would do school work during the holidays, who was I kidding? They're holidays...I took them off.
I've been sorta teaching myself how to play piano, because those lessons several years ago did nothing for me... and yeah...so that's cool. I wrote a song on the piano and everything! :)
I'm playing at the Mountain Top Experience church on February 7th, so that should be cool.
I've also been asked to sing the national anthem at a curling game or something, which I haven't made a decision about or anything yet.
Other than that, I've been watching lots of music and listening to lots of music and reading lots of comic books lately. Fun fun.
Sooooo...Have a nice day!
-Kristen

Merry Christmas and all that jazz

Hey hey! Soooo...Christmas has already come and gone! Can you believe that? Ugh. but ti was a good year, for me at least. I got a bunch of CDs and DVDs for my new portable DVD player (which I use EVERY DAY), and Mariokart for Wii. I also got some money to put towards my guitar fund. Woot! And um...yeah! So now I'm onto making plans for New Years. Sounds like it's gonna be a Darb/Preston/me thing at their house, which will be fun. Woot...2009! Hopefully I can graduate in the new year...that would be nice.
Anyways, I'm gonna go now...make some music, watch some movies...all that awesome stuff.
So...MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR (or HAPPY HOLIDAYS if you want to be all politically correct). :D
-Kristen

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... :D

Sooooooo...It is Sinterklass day! We pigged out on tasty Dutch treats this afternoon with Grandma and the fam, which was pretty awesome. Nothing beats chocolate letters, pepernoten and those little chocolate things with sprinkles on them! :D
So my trip to Ontario went well. I ate more fast food than humanly possible to ingest but it was good :P I had to get my fill! :) And oooooh the Pizza Hut! Still my favourite pizza.
Anyways, so I went to work with my dad on the set of The Listener, which was pretty cool at first and then once we hit twelve hours I was rather far beyond bordom...
Gram was having some health problems, so that kind of sucked...a lot. But she's doing a lot better now, so that's good.
My dad and I recorded two new songs, which are definitely some of my best recordings yet, so that's awesome! When they're totally done I'll post them somewhere for you to hear.
I had my first of many Christmases to come, which went well. I got a portable DVD player and lots o' cash to buy DVDs with. And Gram was able to make it to that so that was awesome. Uncle Al and Dan also surprised me by coming too, so that was great! :D
I also met my dad's girlfriend, Vanessa, who is very very cool. :)
Aaaaaaaaaaand...yeah! So I'm home now, and still a bit tired. But I've watched many movies in the past few days, and I have lots of new tunes for my iPod.
OH! So, I finished my psych 12 project, which means I'm done the course, and I got 100% on it, so my final mark is 96%! :D YAY!
Anyways...that's about it for now, so I'll write more soooooonly!
-Kristen

November

Sooo...'tis November. Blind Bay is getting gray and cold. Ick. I hate winter.
But I will be headed to Ontario soon (even though the winters there are much worse)! We shall have an early Christmas and feast upon Pizza Hut and Swiss Chalet! Woot!
Also! We are going to record two acoustic songs to put with my new single when it's finished! Whoohoo! :) Shall be good!
Um...yeah...so there's not a whole lot else to report. I've been busy. School is dull...but what else would you expect?
So yeah!
-Kristen