*~.~*18*~.~*

Well... I'm a little late to blogging this... but...

I'M OFFICIALLY AN ADULT!!!!!!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!! =D

Well, I've actually been on Facebook quite a lot and if you do not have an account, I recommend you get one, it's safe and so many people in my church have an account, lol! Anyway, what I was getting at was that I posted all my birthday pictures there which is why I forgot to make a montage for my blog... so sorry!

Anyways! We celebrated my birthday for an entire weekend it seemed! Thursday my mom took my brother and I to Hibachi Japan (favorite restaurant ever) ~ Saturday we celebrated both mine and my brother's birthdays with cake and ice cream (his birthday is the same day as Valentines Day, lol) also I had a surprise visit from my cousin Josh =D ~ Sunday was my birthday so I got a bunch of birthday wishes at church all day but in the afternoon my mom took me to Aurora Farms and let me go on a shopping spree, hehehe, she even let me drive ALL day!!!

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Oh! And I have to comment on how beautiful Sunday was! Of course it was snowing ALL day but at the same time it was nice and sunny out! I would admit to say that it was the most pleasant snowing day I had ALL winter! Some of the pictures might make it look gloomy out but that was just the quality of the camera on my cell... lol. But seriously! It was like... bright out! And it was like the snow was just slowly falling in big fluffy flakes! So nice!!!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!!!

Hi peoples! So I thought it was about time to give an update! My 18th birthday is coming up soon and I am sooo excited, this is the first birthday that I'm actually dragging out for a few days, lol! For instance:

Thursday - reservations at Hibachi Japan (for three)
Saturday - cake and ice cream (also my onii-sama's birthday)
Sunday - shopping spree at Aurora Farms Outlet Mall with my family >.<

So as you can see... I'm sooo excited! And even more I get to hear preaching all day for my birthday! Oh wait... I'm scheduled for nursery work that evening service... well at least I get to hear preaching ALL MORNING! LOL!

Also, I wanna give a shout-out to my online friend - Rebekah!!! She had her 18th birthday as well on (I believe) Feb. 7th. She's like... 8 days older than me! Hehehe! So happy birthday to you too, ADULT! February is such a birthday packed month, my (previous) youth leaders birthday is tomorrow too!!! Even one of my cousins has a birthday this month and a bunch of my friends do too!!! So great. LOL. Well, I'm in the midst of a work out, sooo... TT4N!!!!!!

I found a blogger in Kyoto!

Hi there! I don't know what's been up lately but I've been on a Japanese-frenzy! LOL. Well I'm not sure how, but I found this guy's blog online and he currently lives in Kyoto, Japan =D and he uploads some pretty AMAZING photos! Check them out at this blog ~~> http://regex.info/blog/

Also, I had fun this evening drawing my name (and others') in Japanese manga style. Look look lol ~~>

'Bout Time... Ain't It?!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to give out a shout-out that I FINALLY got my TEMPORARY LICENSE!!! Cool, ain't it?!?!?! LOL! For the past three years I seriously never had a desire to drive but my daddy was taking me to take my temps test whether I studied or not last Saturday, so I studied, and well... I PASSED! PRAISE GOD!!!

So, my first time driving was at night and during some snowfall, both on main roads and back roads, but my parents both told me I did pretty good! So I figure, if I can manage that sort of weather... I can manage driving anywhere, anytime. :] But of course... I'm not saying I shouldn't be cautious even still... I'm still praying God will give me wisdom and understanding behind the wheel, so if you don't mind, please keep me in prayer for a while too. ;]

Thx a ton y'all!!!

Tou Blogou

Hey everyone! He's finally ready to show the world his blog! Who you ask? Mr. Knopp - my youth leader!!! I am so excited to be reading what posts he may have to write, I'm sure they'll be GREAT! To access Tou Blogou, click here! Enjoy!!! XD

Come View...

...some really cute photographs I took of Makayla & I outside on top of a snow-mountain the kids made (it's nearly as tall as me) lol!

The Photography of ME

Zachary - Saku

Alright all my Facebook friends, as much as I like anything Japanese, I was quite disappointed with this Facebook quiz you can take to figure out your Japanese name (mine was Aya which basically means color or design). I was disappointed because 1) the quiz was so short 2) Japanese names LIKE American names have specific meanings and 3) my name means "listener of God" not color or design (which I will admit was cute). Anyway, I decided to go online and I found this site that tells you the meanings of practically ALL names, so I was looking through it and I found my all-time favorite name - Zachary. Zachary means "remembrance of God" so I was looking through Japanese names with that same meaning, and can you guess what it was??? SAKU! Therefore, shouldn't the name Zachary in Japan be Saku? I thought so, mmmhm. :) Also I couldn't find a Japanese name with the same meaning as mine so in Japan... I suppose they would call me... Sami-chan! CHA!!! ;)

Sorry for all this "randomness" lol.

Photo Tag

My friend ~Amy~ tagged me for this photo tag and it looked like fun ;)

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store pictures on your computer.

2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag four people to do the same.

5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)


Honestly I did not take this photo. My mom did. But it's on my computer in the fourth folder. So HA!!! Anyway, this picture was taken last year at the Fourth of July parade, which Brendan participated in for some program he was a part of.

I TAG the following~

~Kelly

~Rebekah

~Jennifer

~Cari

GT Xpress 101

Okay... here's the thing... I personally never cared for anything advertised on TV, however... as much as I thought this gizmo would be ridiculous, I am completely impressed! My mom and I love making desserts, and using leftovers to create something new with the GT Xpress 101. Here are a few things made ~

So these first two pics are of this chicken 'n potato pancake creation with a touch of broccoli and cheese that my mom made today! So good! She preferred it with this sweet vinegar dressing whereas I stuck to good ol' ketchup. Don't they look fancy-ish? jk :)



These tasty things where nothing more than apple cinnamon muffin batter on the bottom, some home-made applesauce on top of that, with some more batter on top of that. And may I say it was an apple-filled treat! Yum-Yum!!


And these here were my very first creations I made with the GT... Chocolate (moon-shaped) cakes!!! I did add frosting and sprinkles to the tops but I didn't manage to upload the picture of my finished work of art, lol! However, I will say that white cake mix tasted sooo much better, especially with sprinkles mix in and on top! :))

Sweet Home Ohio

Hey guess what!!! I'm home!!! LOL!!!!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well, as you can see, I posted my montage like first thing! But I mean c'mon, I finished it at 12:30 AM this morning so I'm excited to share it! However, it may not be very well put this time around, I scurried through it, lol...?

Anyways! Snow Camp... was... AMAZING!!! For two and a half days of New York, before we left I did not truly believe a lot would happen (I mean... it would only be two days), but in just two days my heart was convicted with God's power so greatly. By the second night I was at the altar praying with my youth leader's wife; crying my heart out, feeling so ashamed for not praying with my whole heart for God's Will in my life the past couple years but for my own desires... and then feeling a passion burning deep inside me... immensely wanting (...desiring!) to personally and spiritually know God far greater than I do now. I don't know exactly know how he wants me to do this, whether it's going to a college after I graduate or not. I don't know who he wants me to spend my life with, and to grow with, or even when that might happen. But I CAN say this much, I know God loves me! Even now... sitting here crying while writing this, I know He loves me! And just a moment ago, one of the younger teen girls called me and asked me to read our Bible completely through together this year, 2009. I feel like God is really shining down on me right now, and is already helping me understand and know Him better, even if all I am doing (for right now) is reading His Word both alone and with another. I praise God for that! Because I honestly... more than anything... without a doubt... desire Him, and Him alone! I know I've made mistakes with decisions I've made in the past as a child and as a teenager, but I want to make up that time if possible and use all my time for Christ now. I am a child of God, and I want Him pleased with me.

I apologized if I seemed like I rambled on a bit or anything, but this testimony of mine has been on my heart consistently since I came home, and I felt a need to share. I hope you enjoy my video, and I hope God blesses you this very day!!!

4:00 AM

Hola mis amigos!!!

Well, I'm downloading pictures off my camera right now so I can charge the battery before we teens head out for NY. YAY!!! So, I thought I'd share a quick prayer request for our travel, may it be safe (both to and from). Also, it's currently 10:44 PM and I personally will be up at 4:00 AM to start calling and waking people up cuz we'll need to be at church at 5:00 AM so we can all leave ASAP on the church bus! YAY again!!! Well... talk to y'all when I get back!!!


GOD BLESS ~ Sammie

Mother to Daughter

Hi! I just wanted to post a picture of this awesome LTD to-go mug that my mom got me for Christmas! xoxoxo Momma! Thx!

Christmas cheer & a new year!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone had an absolutely splendid and God blessed Christmas this year, I know we sure did! I also hope everyone remembered to keep CHRIST in CHRISTMAS! I wish I could have posted something on the actual day and all... but y'all know how busy it can get over here, and just imagine how busier it can be when all the children open a bunch of new presents!!! Yikes! But it was fun, as usual we waited for everyone to wake up, get their coffee, and then on to the presents (however this year I managed to get a shower first thing, lol)! I had a lot of fun seeing loved ones open the gifts that I personally bought for them, and I was so thankful for the gifts I received. A couple of gifts I got were: a Sally Hansen manicure set, BBW products, gift cards, cookie sheets, new clothes, etc. Everything was veeerrry nice! I did manage to take pictures but truthfully, a lot of them didn't come out well and personally, I haven't had the time to upload them so everyone's gonna miss out on pictures for the holiday. Sorry!!!!!! Also, I can NOT forget this, but my class's Christmas Eve party was so much fun! The lesson and surprise for the children at the end of class; they each received a candy cane and present!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

Also, I wanted to let everyone know, I've decided to go to New York from the 29th-31st (New Year's Eve) with my youth group at church for The Baptist Snow Camp. I actually struggled a lot with this decision in going for specific reasons I'm not too comfortable talking about right now, but anyways, I will be going! However, I've been doing schoolwork straight for the past two days to get caught up before I go, and luckily I've only a few several assignments in two classes left! YAY!!!!!! And trust me, it thrills me to say that, lol! Anyway, please keep all us teenagers in prayer as we're away, this is my first time going to NY so I'm a little freaked out but way more excited (hope that makes sense...lol). Well, back to school now, have a God blessed Sunday tomorrow! Smile ~ XD

Merry Christmas *Eve*

It's a countdown of one day until Christmas now, isn't everyone excited! I know I am, and I'm excited for my class tonight! Sadly... we won't have a Christmas tree put up, but I've prepared presents for each child with candy canes and we're making bell ornaments, and they get to take home their Christmas tree name tags, yay!

Anywho, I've had my shopping done for several days now, but I wish I could still do more ~ shopping is fun, especially when it's for others!!!

Well, the Christmas party I mentioned awhile ago was fun too, two girls had a whacky skit (and I mean that in a good way), we had a pleasant gift exchange (I recieved 4 Bath & Body Works products) and a friend recieved my gift which was an Avon perfume bottle of Imari! All in all it was really fun!

Also, I have my very first playlist up (or actually down...) on my blog now. I'm sure you've noticed the first song is "FELIZ NAVIDAD" since well, it's actually a joke going back to caroling this past Friday, lol! But if it's get annoying after while just skip the song for some actualy carols. So... yeah!

Well...... have a merry Christmas one and all!!! XD

UPDATE!!!

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!! Well, actual I never left... lol, the whole family has just been sick for the past 2-3 weeks so there hasn't been much to write about. But I do have some pictures!!!
For instance, last weekend my family and I were invited to a CSB Christmas Party (hip-hip-hooray... not... lol). I think the highlights of that night were that I got a $15 gift card to Target and I got my face painted (which I haven't done in f-o-r-e-v-e-r). Oh yeah, after the party, my daddy took the older kids while my mom and I took the babies and we went shopping for hours after that and even made our way over to Starbucks! Speaking of which Miss Amy, never mind, I won't say anymore lol.
Anyway, I am going to another Christmas/slumber party tonight that one of the teen girls is hosting for the all the teenage girls of our church. YAY!!! Only... I need a gift for the gift exchange but... well, have you looked outside?! It's all ice! :'-(
Oh yeah, so in my 4 and 5's class I've been surprising the kiddos each Wed. night with something special for Christmas. This week I made Christmas Sugar Cut-Out Cookies while Miss Amy made the icing, and at church with two very special helpers, the kids each got a bunch of cookies, and then we wrapped some up so that they could give some to their parents. It was sooo much fun!
Hopefully this upcoming Wed. (Christmas Eve) I can get some sort of Christmas tree to put in the room for them to decorate, but if not, I still have a couple presents planned out for each child to go home with or open in class. But of course, there MUST be a Christmas lesson as well.
Well, I didn't take any pictures of my class icing cookies to post, but here are some pics of cookies that I've baking and icing a lot lately: PB Choco. Chip cookies, Iced Pumpkin Cookies, Christmas Cut-Out cookies, etc.


Well, maybe I can stay caught up for awhile. Especially with pictures! I mean c'mon, tis the season to be jolly and ya know me, I have to have pictures for the holidays! LOL! Be back soon!!!