Whew! It's been awhile (weird... one month exactly) since I posted, for sure! I think I will enlist the help of my daily planner to remind me of all I've done in the past month:

Let's see... Red Robin Smokey Point opened on the 12th of February. I cannot say how much of a blessing that job has been! Sure, I did spend many-a-day at school completely exhausted, but I also quickly made the last bit of money I owed for the Europe trip and am now saving whatever tip money I make this month for spending. No, I am not going to spend it all (I hope!) but when our money is only 1/2 of one Euro... Better safe than sorry, right? I mean last time Es and I went on a trip, we ended up eating weight loss bars and eating other people's scraps so we could spend lunch money on more souvenirs! :D But, back to RR. God gave me a couple of days off school for various reasons that allowed me to catch up on sleep. We had a half day on the 13th and 16th (Europe trip Tea Party).

On the 17th, I hung out with Sarah, Kramer, Becs, and Steph. We went to the bowling alley... but didn't go bowling. :) Then, we went to McDonalds for food and Fred Meyer to buy Milo & Otis which we watched at the Giordanos only to fall asleep. Good times.

I wrote a couple of papers (Calvinism for English and Pilgrim's Progress for Bible).

Worked on several scholarships. I also won the Comcast one I applied for in February. Hooray! $1,000 less for my parents to pay!

February 23rd, we had a very fun senior surprise! We met in the gym with a veritable banquet of food and played several games with our parents to earn points for prizes. Volleyball, relay, ping-pong, b-ball, Yahtzee, and karaoke! Whew! Many of us went to the Weinberg's after to watch Just Like Heaven. Cute. Ian even gave Levi and I a ride in his sweet car! ;)

On the 24th, Katie's friend Jake had 4 extra tickets to the Aaron Schust, Audio A, MercyMe concert at Overlake. Ironically, it was in the deaf section, so we were literally in the front row a bit to the right. First, though, my parents and I ate at Red Robin with Sarah and Becca. When we finally found our seats at the concert I took a bunch of pictures and video. Talk about feeling the bass! Sarah, Becs, Steph, and I had quite a memorable time there! We also discovered 3 streets to not take when leaving the church to get back home. :)

On the 26th, track began and the b-ball banquet was at Eagle's Nest. I was awarded second team all-league. Andrea, Stuart, and I are the captains. Unfortunately, I can only go to 1-2 practices a week. I'm doing my best to keep up! Today, there was a Health Fair at Arlington High School, so I invited the team over to do that and then watch Flushed Away (HILARIOUS!). Josh, Danners, and Brian were the only ones who showed up... ha! We got free stuff at the fair, learned our BMI's, and hung out at my house. Tasty food, playing cards, watching a movie, seeing a 90s b-ball tournament, Flash Gordon, walking down the street... fun, fun.

Back to February, though! My favorite day had to be the 28th. After school, it began to snow like crazy. Esther and I went up to the office to wait for her aunt Heidi to drive us to the Martin's (parents were at elder's retreat). There were free goodies and Esther had some soup that we warmed up to eat for a snack. Within hours, there were 5 inches of snow! We bundled up to walk to Albertsons (Sun Chips, hot cocoa, and movies). We watched Open Season and Just My Luck and ate the pizza and brownies Mrs. Jason had made. Delicious! Most of the evening was also spent discussing how people would get to school if we had it the next morning (Jesse, Heidi, us). At 5:30, Jesse came in Esther's room to say... SCHOOL'S CANCELLED! Hooray! Esther and I slept in for a few more hours. She made me coffee to try, but, it didn't convert me... yuck! We drove Jesse to the "bus stop" (I was captain of the stratus! :D) and stopped at Puma for the 50% off sale. Es got 1 pair of shoes and I found 2! One is a lovely many-shaded green and the other is white and grey with black and gold Chinese flower fabric. I enjoy both very much! We finshed the morning by watching Flyboys. LOVE IT! So, anyway, who'd've imagined a snow day on March 1st?

On to March. On the 3rd, I went to the Future of Flight and got my grandpa some fun presents. Then, I met my family at Red Robin (My Grandpa's 81st was on the 1st). My manager was very nice and gave us a great discount and we really enjoyed having Pedro as our server.

Yearbook is coming to a close, but I certainly can't say it's winding down. We've had plenty of submitting issues to work out the last couple of weeks. One day I spent 3 hrs in the room staring at the computer screen fixing up the proofs. I hope it looks as beautiful as we think it can... HOPE, baby!

I also turned in my housing request for Embry-Riddle. I want to be in the Doolittle dorm with a Christian roommate. Keep that in your prayers, please! I would think at least one of those would be God's will, but I certainly don't know the mind of my Lord.

And now, between RR, track, SLC, scholarships, and assignments, here I am! I look forward to Friday for a St.Patrick's day celebration, MaKenzie's Tea House with Mrs. Frisk, and anberlin concert on Saturday, VIP style! May I come to the end of March closer to God than when I began! Thanks for listening to this wonderful update. Time to go sit with da fam!

Although I will have missed both of testimony times due to RR training, here is what I would've liked to have said:

As would be expected, each SR is very different from the last. The 07SR was no exception. I came in, expecting to cry after every session and feel trapped in my sin. Joyfully enough, this year was a time of calm and deep reflection. I still found glaring errors in my heart, to be sure, but I felt spiritually mature enough to quickly deal with them. I felt nearer to my Savior and more and more willing and eager to give up my fleshly struggles to Him and Him alone. As for "Spurgonial" wisdom, I was very struck by the similarities of his struggle with Modernism and ours with Post Modernism. He was not willing to let false teaching grow as a tare craftily hiding within the wheat. He pointedly saw the sin of many churches and so-called-believers of accepting the teaching of wrong authority and a disbelief in the supernatural. He fought violently against its claims even when others refused to listen. I'm reminded of how he said being called a bigot is nothing compared to allowing heresy to thrive. He never allowed his church to adapt to the times and the world. His church was only based on preaching clear, plain truth from the Word of God. Nothing else matters. Snow Retreat taught me the importance of stepping up for the truth, not just believing it and sitting quietly. As amazing as Charles Spurgeon was, he was only something because of Christ's work in his life. He looked only to Christ. As I shared with my cabin group one night, his dedication for looking was illustrated by a devotion in his book. I apologize if it's a bit long, but it has become the cry of my heart and I wish to share it with you:

Well, as you might be able to guess, I am officially an employee of Red Robin now! I'm very excited because I barely squeezed through to become a server (they usually only make you a server if you have previous restaurant experience), although I have much to memorize. I will definetely be in prayer that I can get it done, yet also focus on the important things during 07SR. There's probably gonna be a quiz at the POS training on Friday (I get to leave early and ride with Mrs. Bone!). So please think of me when you pray. I have a lot to learn about this job and I want to excell! One of the more interesting things was getting a liquor card so I can bring drinks to the table. I'm ok with it because of the strict house rules that RR has and because I can refuse anyone service the second they begin to look drunk. I don't mind people enjoying a fun drink, but I do not want to be involved in allowing people to sin! Thankfully, our wonderful state has very strict guidelines, so I'm comfortable with having the responsibility.

Lately, the basketball-playing seniors have been hanging out. That's been really quite fun! At school, all of the seniors have been getting tasty treats during finals. Last week was our favorite candy bar with a Proverb on the front and a couple days ago we got doughnuts and juice. Yum! But, back to b-ball! First, Kim made posters and her and Andrea got goodie bags for the guys' last home game. All of us went out to Olive Garden and the mall one evening to start our good times off. We've also gone to Andrea's house for lasagna and bread and cookies before playing Lopez (We won by the way! If we beat Tulalip next Tues., we'll be in the play-offs). Then, we went to Andy's house and played catch phrase (all seniors also went to his house after a previous game and played catch phrase). Just yesterday, we all met at Bob's by Wal-Mart and had lunch, celebrating Andrea's 18th. Then, we jumped in vehicles (I got a ride with Stu and we "raced" Andy and Andrea to the Conklin's by going a different way. They got stuck in traffic and we won!) and headed to Andy's yet again. The guys had us girls play a round of Halo to mock. But, hey, I got 27 kills and the others only had 1 or 2. Hehe. After a couple of guys-only rounds, we played catch phrase yet again. Love it! Girls won this time, yeah baby! Anyway, that's a lot of crazy stuff, but I'm loving making closer friends with other fellow seniors!

Only 2 days until 07SR! I'm sure I'll have alot to say when I get back from that! Whew! Well, I gotta go pack and get ready for helping Sarah out (DG's housewarming party).

Ooh! The first post of 2007! Amazing! :) 22 days left until 07SR and 5 months until I graduate! Yesterday at FOF, the Lord graciously allowed me to be very productive in my creative writing and I produced two scripts. One, a very fun skit for a SR video, and the other, a gospel-presenting, 007-including skit for a video at graduation. Of course, I must gain school approval for the second, but I'm thinking it would be just perfect to begin the whole night before the graduates walk in to the tune of that infamous song.

Speaking of infamous, how 'bout the wedding march? It was such a wonderful time of fellowship yesterday at the wedding of Mark and Laurieanne. I loved how everything was so beautifully simple, yet creative, and each aspect of the ceremony and reception gave a clear glimpse into the passions of each. Mark- soccer, Laurieanne- horses, and more importantly, both- GOD. You can't beat eatin' cheesecake and seeing old friends. My daddy and I even were able to go to Old Spaghetti Factory with the Zimmers, Martins, and Barnts. Fun, fun!

Fun... that reminds me: I really enjoyed our b-ball game against Lummi. I was SO PROUD of the girls and our attitudes. We kept smiles on our faces in spite of swearing and anger from the other team. We worked hard to hustle and our only downfall was pretty much missing shots. We would've won otherwise, no doubt. I know that sounds like a big, fat "duh", but we actually did get about 70 shots off (way more than usual), but only made around 18. Ouch.

As for having a possibility of being an "ouch", please pray for me as I seek to find a new job (Gap is old news, baby! I haven't quit yet or anything, but I feel it's time to find a new place). I'm applying at the new Costco and Red Robin in Smokey Point. Red Robin is having open interviews, so I'm-a-goin' tomorrow I do believe. I'll let you know how it goes!

Thinking about letting you know reminds me I need to let you go. It's a full, full week, full of life under the sun, yet full of opportunity to delight in His Glory! :D