July and... Summer?

I've decided that I'm going to make July "get better at photography" month. It's also going to be "finish sophomore year" month and "run your heart out" month, but I'm pretty sure taking pictures will be the most fun out of the three.

I have seen some pretty neat "picture-a-day" lists, but I thought it would be fun to make my own for the month of July. Note, I'm totally making this list up as I type. 

July

One: Plant life

Two: Something blue

Three: Colorful things

Four: Fireworks

Five: Sunshine

Six: Music

Seven: Flowers

Eight: Baked goods

Nine: Art

Ten: Abstract 

Eleven: Soccer

Twelve: Beauty

Thirteen: Unnoticed

Fourteen: Ocean

Fifteen: City life

Sixteen: In progress

Seventeen: Friends

Eighteen: Shoes

Nineteen: Black and white

Twenty: Water

Twenty One: Orange

Twenty Two: Frisbee

Twenty Three: Hair

Twenty Four: Words

Twenty Five: Animals 

Twenty Six: Lunch

Twenty Seven: Old

Twenty Eight: Bible

Twenty Nine: Handmade

Thirty: Summer

Thirty One: Myself

As you can tell the topics of the photos are pretty open to interpretation, which I'm sure I will appreciate later! The rules are I can do the list in any order; but can only do each thing once, and at least once.  I'll make it a goal to post a weeks worth of pictures every... week. 

On a different note; it just slammed me in the face today that summer is zooming right past me. Summer is my all time favorite season, and last summer pretty much rocked. Well, I think it rocked... I actually don't have many memories from last year; but when I think of summer '11, good thoughts come... So yeah.

As much as I would like to spend the whole summer chillin' at the beach or camping with my friends, there is still normal school year type stuff to do. 

#1 being actually doing school (btw I finished Chemistry today... :D). 

#2 being making some cash; there are so many things I could be doing... If I could just find some summer work. I'm also aware that if I had a job I wouldn't have so much time... It's a win/lose situation. 

I guess the only thing to do is enjoy every single moment, beach or no beach. 

^that was deep.

GO!

May 20th-26th  I attended TeenPact National Convention in Dayton, TN. It was a week full of long car rides, praising God, fellowship with friends, and growing in Christ. By now that was a while ago, I wrote most of this post a few weeks ago and then I just got distracted.

I have had quite a few people ask me how it was, and every time I have answered with "awesome". Because to really tell somebody how the convention was it would take a whole lot longer then the couple minutes they have to listen to me.  

With the help of my mom and Mrs. Field I organized a group of Mainers to take a road trip to NC, in the end there were 11 of us packed into a 12 passenger van. There was peoples purses, sleeping bags, duffle bags, pillows, and food piled on top of us, leg room was a foreign concept, and personal space unheard of. 

After 3 days of driving (8 hours a day) we arrived in Dayton at Fort Bluff Campground. I'm pretty sure we were all relieved to not have to drive one more minute :P.

The 6-7 days we spent in TN were packed to the max. Starting with Breakfast at 8 and ending with lights out at 11, it was exhausting and strangely relaxing at the same time. 

Every morning and evening there was worship led by various people. This was definitely one of my favourite parts of each day, singing with 400 other TeenPacters is not something you easily forget. 

After every meal was a session; the speakers included a lot of former TeenPacters that have gone on to do amazing things. My favorite speaker was a man named Matt Chambers, he spoke on the day when the theme was "Go Somewhere". It was very fitting since he is a missionary. One of the things he said really stuck out to me, and I'm sure to everybody that was there. He was speaking on Ephesians 2:8-10, specifically the line that says "For we are His workmanship...".
"But in the end, your whole life is a magnificent, beautiful, piece of poetry. 
Written by the same hand that formed every star, every planet, that traced every river, 
that formed every mountain. And it's read throughout the universe 
by the voice that created everything."

Throughout the week there were elections being held for 1 presidential ticket, 4 senators, and 9 representatives. I ran for rep with the perseverance party, but didn't make it very far. I had fun though, and am glad I did it! 

A Mainer ran for vice president with his running mate Danny Sullivan, and they pulled off a victory! It was pretty much fantastic. 

Of course a major part of NC is laughter. Below is a picture of the Harry and Larry Show; pretty much the most hilarious part of each day. The picture below that is No Directions singing there #1, Elect Me Maybe. Enough said :D.

All 500ish of us organized in what fields we want to pursue. 

There is so much more I could say about the experience; so if you care, ask me about it sometime!

Most photos credit http://www.teenpactnc2012.marvelousthingsphotography.com/

Travel

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Texas with some wonderful folks! I went as a surprise to my good friend Maggie, who had been in Southern Texas for the last 4 months. Suffice to say it was my first time being a surprise present, but Maggie is home in Maine where she belongs now ;).

We saw a lot of sights and had many a laugh; here are just a few pictures from the trip that a love.

A sculpture that I think France gave America at a World's Fair. 

 Me and a lovely little lady :)

 Me with Mr. and Mrs. Wright outside of the Alamo Cafe, where we ate on the first night there. 

 The river walk. It was beautiful at night! 

 Mr. Wright and Sheldon in the Alamo :)

We saw these Flamingos at Sea World, along with the killers whales, penguins, dolphins, puffins, pelicans, and sharks.

Maggie reluctantly getting her picture taken :D <3.

In two days me and 9 others will be in a van driving down to Tennessee! We are attending the TeenPact National Convention held at the Fort Bluff camp ground. So I'm basically going to be gone for the rest of May.
In other news, My tomato and jalapeño plants are getting very big! I need to transplant them pretty soon, but there is still no soil in the garden boxes...

Meeting Goals

It is that sort of a day, so much time + so many things to do + rain = nothing done at all.

BUT, there have been some highlights; first, this morning I woke up to tomato and jalapeño plant sprouts!!

This is the first year I am trying to plant a garden, and it is a little nerve racking. My dad is building me two raised beds, about 8x8 feet, to plant in, and I'm super excited for the point when I can actual plant some stuff :). 

 See! It's a tomato plant! 

 I know this picture is super fuzzy and a little painful to look at, but it is most definitely a little jalapeño plant.

 Second highlight; I successfully made hamburger buns! I tried it once before and it ended up as dense dinner rolls, but these were perfect-- if I do say so myself. I made them from the King Arthur Flour cookbook. Of course.

Right before my birthday I made this list, 15 things to do before I turn 16.

And guess what? After 4 months.... 2 things are crossed off. But I'm working on a bunch more! 

Friday night was our church talent show, and I sang and played guitar, by myself. #1, check.

As I mentioned earlier, I have started planting my garden! Just got to wait till the end of May so I can actual plant it. I'm also running with my brother a few times a week to get ready for the July 4th L.L. Bean 10k! It's not 9 miles, but it's very close...

Also, in May me and a bunch of other TeenPacters are taking a road trip to Tennessee to attend TeenPact National Convention, which is on the list!

That ^ all was a little meaningless, but point being: this is going to be a great year. 

Taste the Rainbow

That's right; I finally made rainbow cupcakes. Or sort of rainbow, I went for more of a pastel rainbow look, and some of them are tie die. It was something I had been meaning to do for a while, and the 16th birthday of one of my best friends, Emily, was the perfect occasion!
I used the Elegant White Cake recipe from the King Arthur Flour cookbook; which, by the way, is an amazing cookbook. Every recipe I have tried so far as been a delicious success.  I tried to find the recipe online, but I suppose you will just have to buy the book. Or just find any white cake recipe... That one is just really moist and delicious, don't settle for less ;).
First, I just divided up the batter and made whatever colours I wanted, then layered them in a rainbow-like way. I ran out of some colours sooner than others, so I swirled those ones together.

 Voilà! Rainbow cupcakes. So simple :).

I frosted them with butter-cream frosting from a recipe in, you guess, King Arthur Flour.
I was going to swirl the green and pink together, but that was turning out to be more complicated then I had time for...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!