Brynejenta i Uniten

Going home

2006-06-05T15:20:00.000+02:00

At Lambert
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

So I'm back in Norway.
I left the US last Wednesday. I left home at 11am, Keith and Lauren took me to Lambert Intrl. Airport, St. Louis. My first flight was from St. Louis to Detroit, Michigan. I didn't really cry or anything, because I'm not really a crying person, but it was sad to leave all of the things that I have learned to love and appreciate behind. I know that I will be going back there sometime, preferably sometime soon.

When checking in at Lambert, we ran into another Norwegian exchange student, Ingrid, so we joined up for the flight home to Norway.

When we got to Detroit, we discovered that we only had about 20 minutes to get to the gate, because of the time difference. We thought we had plenty of time, till we found out that Detroit is an hour ahead of St. Louis... So we ran, through this really cool tunnel, and made it to the gate just on time.

The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, some Dutch lady didn't want to trade me her seat, so Ingrid got stuck next to her, five rows behind me. I got stuck next to two Christian Missionaries from Texas, who were going on a mission-trip to Africa. They were nice though.
I watched The Lion King and Big (good old times), listened to an Indian baby crying in front of me, and a drunk Jewish-American who was going to Poland who figured it was okay to smoke on the plane. Till the crew came and told him he had to pay about $6000 in a fine, that is. AND, I do believe that they had Dutch cops waiting for him at Schiphol.

When we finally got to Amsterdam, we had trouble finding the gate, because it was D82, which is like, far away. But we found it, with some good old Nowegian team-work. Ingrid was really anxious, because her last stop was Gardermoen, so she would be home after the flight from Amsterdam. We got a little delayed, but got there on time. Almost. Ingrid was really excited to see her family again, but I had to run upstairs to check, so I just waved goodbye to her.

I ended up paying NOK1040 because I had 26 kg. over-weight (which would not have been an issue if only EF had bothered to send me straight to Stavanger from Amsterdam. But no.), and so there goes all my savings.

When I got to Stavanger, I was met by my family, my sisters running up and hugging me. My mom was crying, and so I had to cry a little bit too. I got flowers, and hugs, and flags. it was all good. And my friends, the twins, were there too.

Later that night, grandma & grandpa, and my other grandma came over, and so did my aunt and my cousins. It was really nice. But I had to go to bed, because I could barely keep my eyes open, I'd been up for about 30 hours.
It's good being back home again, but I miss it, I miss America.

Good times

2006-05-11T15:11:00.000+02:00

Sunny afternoon
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Dad's here! He came to the USA on Saturday, and we picked him up in St. Louis. Then we went and got a rental car (after much trouble trying to get in to the rental car place), it's a red-ish Chevy Trailvlazer, and it's pretty neat.
After picking dad up, we all went to Applebee's and had a good meal.

On Sunday we went to church, and then to the school concert. I forgot my music in my locker, so I missed half the first song, but then I was back, playing.
After the concert, they handed out all the awards, and I got three patches (band, conference band, 1st chair conference band) and I also got the Outstanding Brass award. Yay! They didn't have the state/districts medals yet, so I'll have to wait for those.

Gotta go now, the bell rung. I'll write more later.

2006 State Music Festival

2006-05-02T19:23:00.000+02:00

This weekend was the big State Music Festival, aka State competition. That's where all the people who got a 1 at District Competition go. I got a 1, so I went.

I've been practicing just about every day for over a month, sometimes even twice a day; once alone and later with the accompanist (Mrs. Brock).So this Friday, at 2pm, Mr. Schaffer and I left school (I had changed into my "pretty outfit") and we went to the elementary school to pick up Mrs. Brock. Then we went to Columbia, where the competition was held (UMC aka Mizzou).

I was playing at 4:31, and I was super nervous. The people in front of me were all nicely dressed, and they were all smiling and stuff. How can you be that happy when you're about to play in front of a college professor of music?

Anyway, I went in, I played, and I waited. About 30 minutes later (after getting my picture taken, and buying a t-shirt), Mr. Schaffer came over with the results. He said "Let's go", and I'm like "well? What did I get". He stops, and he goes "You got a 1". I scream. And I scream some more. Yay! It felt really good, and I'm proud of myself (yes, I really am) for doing good. Yes Kaja, you can watch it, Mr. Scaffer videotaped it.

New week

2006-04-05T19:13:00.000+02:00

Cheerleader!
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

So, today was a half day. We have MAP testing this week. Well, the juniors and sophomores do, we dont. So all we do is to hang around in the gym or the library. Bah, its really boring!

Prom was flippin awesome! I danced a whole bunch, and my dress was really neat, and we got lots of pictures taken (will be coming later). After the dance, Shanon told me that I could keep the dress! Yay!! She is SO nice!

This week we've got cheerleading tryouts for next season, and I'm helping the new girls figure it out. Yesterday, Michelle fell down from a lib and had to be picked up in an ambulance and brought to the hospital. Poor girl! I hope she's gonna be okay!

Later today, I'll be going to school to help out more with the cheerleading, but right now I'm just about to leave. I have to ride the bus today because we have a half day, so Keith can't come pick me up. Oh well, I kind of like the bus, especially when we've got nice weather like today!

Anne the Birthday Girl

2006-03-30T16:46:00.000+02:00

Anne the Candy Model
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Today is Anne's birthday! Yay! Happy birthday, Anne! She's 17 today, so I better hurry up and turn 18, because I want Anne to be my lil' sis' again!

I moved out, for those of you who don't know, and I now live with the Thompson family. They live in Wright City, so I'm only about 5 minutes from school, which is awesome. the family is really really nice, and I love staying with them. I have a host sister (Lauren) and a hostbrother (Allyn), and three kitties (Pinky, Rascal and Kiki).

Tomorrow I'm going on a field trip to the St. Louis art museum, so, no school for me. Then, on Saturday, I'm getting my hair done at 3pm, and then prom starts at 8pm. Its going to be so cool!

Last weekend, I got a 1 (the highest score) on my solo in districts competition, which means that I will be going to State on April 28. I really hope I can get another 1!

Everything's good here, and graduation is getting closer and closer! I got my announcements this week, so I will be mailing those once I get my new address labels. All you people in Norway are gonna get one! Yay! Well, some of you anyway... I only have 25 of them...

See ya'll later!

This weekend

2006-03-13T06:20:00.000+01:00

Ine and Anne
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

On Friday, Grandma Dolores passed away. We've known about it for a while now, that she might pass away any day, because she's been in and out of the hospital since right around Christmas last year.
I will always remember my American Grandma Dolores, she was really nice and saw me as one of her own grandchildren.

I also went shopping this weekend, to get my mind of things. Ms. Lucero took Anne, Megan, Suzie, Falguni and me to the mall to look for prom dresses and shoes. I found a pair of some really hot, really cheap shoes as Sears, which was great. And Ms. Lucero and Falguni bought dresses.
Shanon is lending me her prom dress from last year, and it is really pretty. I can't wait to wear it!

Today we went to Grandma Dolores' visitation at the funeral home in Warrenton. I've never seen a dead person before, but it wasn't bad or anything. She just looked like she was sleeping. We sat in there with her for about an hour, and then we let people come in and say goodbye with her.

All of us kids stayed in the lounge in the basement and watched movies, played cards, read magazines and had snacks. The visitation was from 3pm - 8pm, but we passed the time down there. Megan and Emily was there, and so was Charles, Ashley, Ryan, Alex, Samantha, Nicole and Thomas. Sometimes Scott came down too.

Tomorrow's school again, and no practice for the first time since October. Weird.

District Champs, again!

2006-03-06T02:54:00.000+01:00

Timeout
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Friday was the big game at Bowling Green, and the girls played an exciting match against Orchard Farm, and won! I think the final score was 57-40, which I think is pretty good. So now the girls will go on to competing for the State title. The first game is this Wednesday in St. Charles, and since the girls preferred us to the Varsity squad, we will be going with them to cheer.

The boys played Bowling Green, and to begin with they had them, but then things got out of hand, and we ended up losing. But at least we got second place, which is good too!

After the game, I went home with Shanon and spend the night there. The morning after I helped them clean their house because someone was going to come look at it because they're selling it. Then we went to Imo's Pizza in Warrenton and had a wonderful lunch. Jesse (Shanon's younger sister) and I shared a medium cheese pizza, and Shanon and I shared a Ceasar's salad, which was also pretty good. Then we went to Wal Mart to develop some pictures, and meet Franci.

I went home with my hostfamily, and we also brought my "cousin" Ashley with us. She wanted to come over and see the lambs. We played with the lambs for a while, and took some pictures, and then went home. Ashley and I played some games on my computer, and then watched Nightmare Before Christmas. Then we went to bed (she slept in my room).

Today I've just been chillin' out. I watched a Robin Williams/Kurt Russel movie that I can't remember the title of, and Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit, which was a great movie. Yay!

This week's over

2006-03-03T22:05:00.000+01:00

Art 3
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

This week's been pretty good. We had a game that we won on Wednesday, at Bowling Green VS Louisiana HS. And then we won again, yesterday, when we played Bowling Green @ Bowling Green (it's the Bowling Green tournament). There's also a game tonight, and if the girls win, they will be district champions, just like the football boys and the softball girls. And the boys are playing too, tonight. We're going with the Varsity squad to cheer.

After the game, Shanon and I are going over to Shawn's to watch some movies, and then I'm spending the night at Shanon's place. We might go to the Outlet Mall in Warrenton on Saturday, so that'll be fun.

My solo for the district competition is going great, I've got it all memorized now so that's relieving! I was kind of worried there for a moment...
My parents are in Amsterdam, and I hope they're having loads of fun. I also hope that Guro is having fun with Grandma (and that Guro will comment this time) and Pia's having fun with Renate!

My spring (called winter in Norway) break is not till March 20th, but it'll still be fun.

I found out today that our spring concert with the band will be on May 7th, which means that dad can come and hear us play! Awesome! He might have some major jet-lag, but still, it'll be fun!!!

Mardi Gras 2006

2006-02-27T03:18:00.000+01:00

Beady-girls
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Denne helgen var Mardi Gras. Det er en Fransk tradisjon som Amerikanerne har tatt helt over. Den går for det meste ut på at de har en stor parade som går gjennom byen, der folk kler seg ut med masker og rare klær (nesten som karnevalet i Brasil), og så kaster de perlekjeder til de som står å ser på.

Vi reiste til paraden, og fikk med oss ca. en halv time av den, men det var jo kjekt fordeom. "Vi" er meg, Air og Rain (fra Thailand) og Sergio (fra Venezuela). IEC'en vår, LaVerne kjørte oss til St. Louis, der paraden var. Vi fikk en del perler, som du kan se på bildet. Det var en hel masse fulle folk der, for en del folk ser på Mardi Gras som en unnskyldning for å være full kl. 10 om morgenen...

Etter paraden så reiste vi til RC'en vår, Toni, sitt hus i utkanten av St. Louis. Der fikk vi New Orleans-aktig mat (Gumbo & Jambalaya), og det var veldig godt. Etter maten fikk vi kake. Alle oss studentene var nede i kjelleren og snakket, spillte billjard, hørte på musikk og bare koste oss. Det var to norske der, ett par tyske jenter, og noen andre folk. Det var også en ny gutt der som heter Marchello og er fra Ecuador. Han er med Rotary, men kjente Toni, så han var også med.

Etter festen reiste vi hjem. Vi slapp Sergio av først for han hadde en fotball (som i Norsk fotball, ikke Amerikansk) kamp som han måtte rekke. Så slapp vi av Air og Rain, og til slutt meg.

I dag har jeg ikke gjort særlig mye. Har sett på filmen Joseph med Nathan, litt av Charlie og Sjokoladefabrikken også. Jeg støvsugde hele huset, for Wendy, som pleier å gjøre det, skal snart ha babyen sin, så hun kan ikke gjøre det lengre. Snakkte med de hjemme, og Kaja på telefonen. Alltid koselige det. Skulle ønske jeg også fikk vinterferie neste uke! God tur til alle som reiser bort!

Senior Night 2006

2006-02-25T06:06:00.000+01:00

Prep
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Yes, I know this picture is really bad, but it's a screenshot from the camcorder, and right now, it's all I've got (I'm gonna ask Ms. Ruecker on Monday if she took pictures).

So yeah, senior night was awesome! My prep went good, as you might be able to tell from this picture (yes, that's me on top of it), and the anthem was good too. Except for when my valve got stuck, but it was only for a measure or so...

After walking in and being introduced (congrats to Shanon for pronouncing my parents' names right!!), Lindsey and Jill came up to me with gifts (all the seniors get gifts from their team mates), and I got a vase with blue & gold roses, and all the names of the girls on the squad on it, and then Lindsey told me that they had bought my uniform for me, so I could keep it! YAYAYAYAY!!! Thanks you SOOOO much, girls!! WOW!

As you can tell, the night was awesome! Yay!
And tomorrow I'm going to St. Louis for the Mardi Gras parade, and I'll probably get a whole lot of beads. Yay!

Greg 18!

2006-02-23T04:14:00.000+01:00

Gregory Steven Penrod
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Today's Greg's 18th birthday! Happy Birthday, Greg! Yeah, and he got a new nickname today, from Shawn: Greg, The (Pronounced "Greg, comma, space, the")

The game tonight was great, we won, for once. We beat Whitfield by 30 or something like that, I think. And I played the anthem before the Varsity game, together with Shawn and Greg, because Mr. Dreyfus had to go somewhere, so he couldn't do it. So I pulled out Mr. Schaffer's flugelhorn, memorized the anthem an hour before the game, and played it. It went pretty smooth, I think.

Tomorrow I might learn how to cradle (cradle = being thrown up in the air, and then caught), so that'll be fun. And then there's the Cheerleading senior night on Friday. Yay!!

Flying girl!

2006-02-16T04:17:00.000+01:00

Kelsey prep
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

OH MY GOD!!! Guess what I did today!! I flew my very first prep! A prep is what Kelsey is doing in the picture above here, and yes, it doesn't look too scary, but wait till you get up there, and try to stay in balance! It's hard man, I'm telling you! Plus, you REALLY have to trust the bases that are holding you! Man! It was AWESOME!

And guess what (again)! I'm performing the prep in a cheer dedicated to me, that we are doing on senior night next Friday! Since I'm the only senior on the JV squad, they made a cheer with my name in it, and it's tradition for all the seniors to fly a prep on senior night. Staci's a flier already, so it won't be any trouble for her, but I'm a backbase! I've never flown anything before (except for airplanes...). It's gonna be SO cool, I can't wait!

Random Panorama

2006-02-14T22:04:00.000+01:00

Random Panorama
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Today is Valentine's Day. It's been pretty nice, I've gotten a couple of cards (from Shanon, Whitney, Greg and Jill), and I've given a couple, too.

Nothing much happened today, I felt kind of sick when I left home, but I figured I had to go, because if not, I won't get my Perfect Attendance pin, and I won't get to cheer at the next game (if you skip a game, you can't cheer at the next one). Tonight's game is VS Timberland (Boy's game), and we're GONNA beat them!!

I witnessed my first fight today. Two boys got into it in the cafeteria during lunch, and had to be separated by several teachers. Oh well.

Tomorrow is halfday, so that'll be good, even though we have an American History test. And then there's just Thursday, and then the week's over (PTC on Friday). Yay!!

Courtwarming's over

2006-02-09T04:43:00.000+01:00

Seniors
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Sist vega hadde me Courtwarming på skulen. Dæ æ en dans, som æ oppvarming te Prom i mars (trur eg). Me hadde au Courtwarming Spirit Week, som betyr at me kledde oss ud kver dag, dekorerte skulen, å hadde lega (seniorane vant sammenlagt i alle desse tri), å på sist fredag så hadde me då Courtwarming Game. Me vant jo kampen, så det va jo kjempe jilt!

På lørdag så va, så va eg fusste på Conference Band, som æ noge lignande kretskorpset heima i Norge. Det æ di beste i frå alle korpså i distriktet så får bli me. Me hadde fusste auditiona på lørdag, for å finna ud kem så sko spela koffor nogen stemma, å eg fekk fusste stemme på euphonium!! Æ litt stolte øve det, eg æ liksom "the foreign chick"... Greg sa at han trur eg komme te å få Outstanding Brass Player of the Year prisen, men eg ska kje sei noge, for det æ ulykke å snakka om det, vettu! By the way, thanks Greg!

Seinare på lørdag så va eg jo på Courtwarming dansen i den fancy kjolen min (bilde komme seinare, når eg får det), å det va koselikt.

Ellars så he dar skjedd ganske lide denne vegå. I går hadde me kamp, å me gjore kje den beste jobben med å heia, for me hadde to jente på benken, å ei på sjugehuset (den eine kapteinen), pluss at to andre jente blei skada. Så me fekk kje stunta i det heila. Jaja...

I dag he eg sitt på Grammy showet, såd oppe heile kvelden for å få sjå Bruce. Det va definitivt verdt det, en bra fammførelse av "Devils and Dust". Go Bruce!!!

I mårå æ det andre, å siste dagen av Conference Band. Me he øvelse heile dagen (å siden min skule æ verten, så trenge kje me reisa nogen plass, pluss at me sleppe å ha tima i mårå!), å konsert kl. 7 i mårå kveld. Det blir nok jilt, ja!

På fredag ska eg bårt te Shanon en tur, det blir koselikt som alltid. Eg trur at sustarå hennas å Pia konne blitt goe venninne, di æ jo liga gamle au!

Ellars så æ dette bildet i frå den lille paraden så me seniora hadde itte at me vant The Spirit Trophy. (Eg æ te høyre, i lettermans jakken, men en blåe krans rundt halsen)

Snakkes godtfolk!

Hicktown

2006-01-29T01:37:00.000+01:00

Cowgirl
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Eg visste det kom te å skje før eller seinare: Ine he budd i Missouri i snart sju måneda, å nå he countryen endele tatt tag i na!

Don't get me wrong, eg lige kje sånn gammale låve country, bare nye, "popcountry". Jess jess. I går gjekk eg, elle, teknisk sett va det Brian, te annskaffelse av denne fabelaktige hatten, te bare $9 på Wal Mart. Yay. Brian hadde enn hatt i frå før av, å siden me he Western Day på skulen neste vega, så suns han eg au burde ha enn.

I går itte skulen reiste meg å Shanon te Mid Rivers for å finna Courtwarming kjole te meg. Me gjekk te Dillards, å der fant eg en fine liden kjole-sag te en goe pris. Så nå æ eg jaffal klare te neste helg!

Så reiste me heim te Shanon, for hu måtte bare henta taskå si å noge, så reiste me te familien Minzes sitt hus (der kjærasten te Shanon, Shawn bur). Der henta me Shawn å broren hans Brian, for me sko på kino. Egentlig sko me bowla, men me ombestemte oss. Så me klarde øvetala Brian te å kjøra oss i den store trucken hans (yay!), me vinduå nere, å countryen på høgaste volum. Me gav ordet "hick" ei nye meining!
Me gjekk te Mid Rivers Mall å såg Underworld Revolution. Ikkje så veldig gale, mindre kjedelige enn den fusste jaffal.

Itte på så tog me oss en tur te Wal Mart i Wentzville, å det va der eg fekk den nye hatten min, å min aller fusst country CD. Wow...

Så reiste me heim te Shawn å Brian igjen, hang litt der, å så reiste me tebage te Shanon, der eg såv øve.

I dag tilikt så måtte me opp tilikt, for eg sko på clinicen på skulen, å Shanon sko arbeida i kjørkå. Clinicen va jille, masse koselige unga (nogen litt rare...). Det jillaste di gjore va å jaga osse rundt å klemma oss, å "Peel the banana"...
Jess. I mårå ska eg te The Fox i St. Louis for å se Blast. Snakkes!

Getting there

2006-01-21T21:34:00.000+01:00

Overwiev III
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Yesterday I went to the movies with Heather, Reed (her bf), Cherie, Mike and Tim (Reed's friends). We went to the Mid-Rivers theatre, and since none of us could agree on the same movie, we agreed to go see "Fun with Dick and Jane". I really didn't feel like seeing it, but it turns out that it's not that bad. It was funny, not as funny as Jim Carrey movies usually are, but still funny.

Afterwards, we went to Denny's at Lake St. Louis, where Ryan joined us later on. I asked him if he was coming home for the weekend (he goes to CMSU), and he said yes, so he came over.

I spent the night at Heather's, and woke up pretty late, when her dad turned on the TV to watch "Dora the Explorer" on Nickelodeon. Hehe...

Next weekend we have a Cheerleading Clinic for the Middle-school, which means that all the kids who want to become cheerleaders come over for two days, and we teach them jumps, cheers, dances, chants and stunts. Girls and boys. It's gonna be so much fun teaching those little kids how to stunt!

And court-warming is coming up. Now you might ask, what is court-warming? Well, it's kind of a warm-up to prom (which is in April, I think). It's basically just a dance, where we dress up in nice clothes (I have to get hold of a dress), dance and have fun. Yay! It's on February 4th, which is also the first day of Conference band, but I'll make both, because the dance isn't till 9pm, I think.

By the way, I now know my departure date (if I don't get the returnee job): May 30th or June 1st. (Wave 1)

Oh YEAH!

2006-01-19T21:44:00.000+01:00

Princess Ine II
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

So guess what! Mr. Schaffer put up the chair list (meaning which part you play in the band. You know, '1. stemme, 2. stemme', osv.). Of course, I knew that I wouldn't be changing chair, because I am the only one playing the euphonium (and the alto horn when conference band is over), so that was not what I was waiting to see. I was waiting to see my score.

And when Mr. Schaffer put up the list of the top ten (out of about 90 band students), I was really excited when I saw that my name was number 2 on that list! The one that beat me, Kyle Pohlman, is a drummer, so I am officially the best wind player (meaning the people who blow through a mouthpiece) in the entire WCHS Wildcat Pride Concert band! YAY! That makes me so happy!

And also, all the people who made the top ten list are automatically in Conference band, so I'm going! That's one more patch for my lettermans jacket! (We get an EMO Conference Band patch) I am SO excited!!!

Jack is back

2006-01-18T19:49:00.000+01:00

Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer on 24
Originally uploaded by long.

So the new season of 24 is on here, on Fox. So I figured I'd write a couple of words on that, since my family in Norway loves it, and so do I.

Here's the main theme of the previous seasons:
Season 1: Terrorists trying to assassinate the Presidential candidate
Season 2: Nuclear bomb
Season 3: Deadly virus
Season 4: Nuclear plant melt-down
Season 5: Nerve gas

The season that's on now is, yes you guessed right, season 5. Jack is back (sorry to spoil it for those of you who did not know that), and his name is no longer Jack, but Frank. Well, in the first couple of episodes anyway.
The first two episodes pretty much tell everything, so I won't say too much about it, because that would ruin it for those of you who are planning on watching it when it comes to Norway.

Anyway, 24 is a great show, and I used to be one of those who thought that one season is enough, but when it's this good, why stop at one?

Hanging out

2006-01-18T15:06:00.000+01:00

Heather and 70's Jack In A Box
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

This weekend, I went with Heather to go see Brokeback Mountai (finally). Since the stupid Mid Rivers people are scared to show movies with gay people in them, we had to go to the St. Charles theatre. Not that we minded, because the super cool arcade is in there.
So we went, and played games before the movie. We played the one where you hit little Chinese guys running with windows (you're supposed to break the windows), and apparently, something was wrong with the game, so everytime we hit the screen, even if we weren't playing, we got tickets! And the clerk said she didn't care, so we got all the tickets! Yay! Which ment a LOT of prizes! I got a stuffed raccoon, and Heather got a squirrel. Yay!

Then we went over to Heather's house, and hung out with her brothers. Went to be pretty late, but that's okay, we were having a sleep over, and you're supposed to go to bed late at those.

Monday I had off, because of MLK day, so Heather took me home at around noon. Watched the season premiere of 24, which was great, because everybody loves Jack, right? JACK IS BACK! It was great, you Norwegian people who do not have a place to download it, you can look forward to seeing it!
Later!

If I only had a horse...

2006-01-14T22:05:00.000+01:00

Jumping hurdles 4
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Yesterday we played the Winfield Warriors @ Winfield, and we lost the JV game (41-19), but we won the Varsity game (51-32). We cheered, and did a really good jo during 3rd quarter, because we did two liberties, for the very first time (and no one fell!).

Today I got up at 7am to go see Sarah (Mechlin, from school) ride her horse Neeta at the horseshow at Lake Saint Louis. So we went (Franci, Nathan and I), we watched, and we left.
Sarah got second all together, which was really cool.

Not much going on right now, just hanging out here at home. Heather might go see a movie with me tonight or tomorrow.
Monday is Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day, so we're off from school, which is pretty cool. And Tuesday I'll find out if I made Conference Band or not.

By the way, Greg and I have started working on our finals for Districts, and mine is called Andante and Allegro. But what Mr. Schaffer forgot to tell me was that apparently, the entire thing has to be memorized... Bah. He also said that if he heard me whine about it (because he said he knew I could do it if I wanted to), he would hurt me, and if he did that, he would go to jail, so he doesn't want to. Hehe. Jeh, he's really funny. And really nice for helping Greg and I out with or solos.

Waymond quit the cheerleading squad this week, because his mom told him to (he got an F in Am. Government), and Greg is quitting next week because he has knee-surgery (he injured his knee during football season). Oh well, it happens...

2005

2006-01-08T20:39:00.000+01:00

Birth and destruction
Originally uploaded by Paul Watson.

(Forsinket) Årskavalkade 2005

Noen av høydepunktene i 2005
• Tsunami pengeinnsamlinger
• Undergrunnsbombene i London
• Live Aid
• Pave Johannes Paul II døde
• Stortingsvalg
• Ine reiste til USA
• Wildcat Pride Marching band ble State Champions
• Hurricane Katrina
• Michael Jackson rettsaken
Andre ting som skjedde:
• Vinmonopol saken
• Tine og Synnøve saken
• Ny Oslo-biskop
• Charles og Camilla gifter seg
• Norge 100 årsdag
• Gaza saken
• Jordskjelv i Pakistan
• Opptøyer i Frankrike
• Ny prins blir fødte

Selvsagt er noen av disse tingene mer lokale enn andre, men de har likevell betydning for mitt (og familien min, tror jeg) sitt 2005.

Året startet jo med katastrofen i Aisa, tsunamien. Men den skjedde egentlig i 2004, selv om vi merket mye til den i begynnelsen av 2005. Vi samlet inn penger, noen av oss kjøpte også de berømte plastikk armbåndene som Lance Armstrong startet året før (Live Strong het hans, mens tsunami armbåndene sa Asia on my mind).
Så skjedde enda en katastrofe; terrorbombene på Londons undergrund, der flere ble drept og skadet. Vi hørte om det på TV i flere uker etterpå, og så tragiske bilder fra inne i tunellene.
Så kom gleden tilbake i England da Live Aid ble holdt. Musikere fra hele verden holdt konserter rundt på hele kloden, til inntekt for de fattige i Afrika, i håp om å slette gjelden deres. Jeg så ikke hele konserten, men mitt høydepunkt var definitivt da Green Day spillte i Berlin. Jeg hadde jo håpet at Bruce Springsteen skulle spille, siden han spillte på den konserten de hadde i 1985, men han var desverre opptatt.
Så døde jo paven da. Han var jo gammel, og hadde slitt med helsa i flere år, men det var trist da han døde. Selv om jeg ikke er spesielt kristen eller katolsk, så har jo også jeg lagt merke til hans innvirkning på verden. Han var en av de mer liberalske pavene, og tok godt vare på sine medfølgere. Jeg ble skuffet da den nye paven ble valgt, og en av de første uttalelsene jeg hørte fra ham var da han påstod at the Beatles var djeveldyrkere, og at AC/DC betydde Anti Christ, Death of Christ. Jeg fant også ut at han var medlem av Hitler Jugend. Men jaja, han er jo ikke min leder.
Stortingsvalget hadde jeg jo ikke så mye med å gjøre, siden jeg ikke var hjemme, og ikke er gammel nok til å stemme.
Så reiste jeg jo til Amerika den 15. jui (tror jeg). Først reiste jeg til Boston på leir, så reiste jeg til vertsfamilien i slutten av juli. Det har vært en lærerik opplevelse så langt, men en masse nye erfaringer. Blant annet da korpset jeg for øyeblikket spiller i ble State Champions, noe jeg er stolt av å være en del av.
Så, ikke så veldig langt fra der jeg bor for øyeblikket, skjedde den store Katrina katastrofen. Vi hørte om det på TV, og så forferdelige bilder av vann, og forlatte folk. Elever fra skolen min reiste til New Orleans og hjelpe ofrene, og vi hørte skrekkhistorier fra dem. Vi samlet inn penger, og alle snakket om det på skolen. Heldigvis så kjenner jeg ingen i New Orleans, og vi ble ikke rammet.
Oktober kom, og minnene om Jan Arves død kom tilbake. Jeg husker det som om det var i går, alle detaljene om den dagen Heidi kom inn i tysken og sa til meg at Jan Arve hadde skutt seg selv. Det gjør enda vondt, men vi må bare leve videre, med Jan Arve i minnene våre, for han vil aldri bli glemt.
Michael Jackson rettsaken kunne jeg egentlig ikke brydd meg mindre om, men jeg fikk med meg at han er ”uskyldig”. Yeah right.
Ellers så gikk året ganske greit for seg, syns jeg. Det skjedde ikke så masse. Men allerede denne uken, første uken i det nye året, skjer en tragedie på Bryne, der jeg hører hjemme. Tjemsland, eller Tjemsi som vi alle kaller det, brannt ned i natt. Helt siden min første syttende mai (tror jeg) har jeg kjøpt softis, snop og leker på Tjemsi. Jeg husker mange gode iser derifra, ja. Det kommer ikke til å bli helt det samme uten Tjemsi, men forhåpentligvis så bygger de det opp igjen.

Jess, da var mitt 2005 over. Er det noe jeg har glemt (ganske sikkert), så si ifra.

Tjemsland æ vekke

2006-01-08T20:07:00.000+01:00

Tjemsland is gone
Originally uploaded by Leif (Bryne, Norway).

Jaja, så va Tjemsi vekke. Brennt heilt ner. Eg he jo selvfølgelikt ikkje våre å sitt, men eg he jo sitt bilde, læst Jærbladet, å snakkt me dei heima. Tragiske greie, altså! Kor ska me nå kjøba softis på 17. mai?

Eg huske når farmor tog meg me der når eg fullde åre. Eg trur eg blei elleve når eg fekk Hawaii Hula-hula Barbie dåkkå. Goe tie det derane, ja! Eg håbe bare di får byggt det opp igjen, å at di ikkje må riva Libris au, for då æ jo di to beste butikkane i Bryne vekke!

Clopton Tournament

2006-01-07T21:35:00.000+01:00

Clopton Gym
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

This week the basketball teams have been playing a game everyday at the Clopton Tournament. Monday was a Varsity girl's game, so we had to go with them and cheer. They won, of course, because we cheered so good!

Tuesday was a Varsity boy's game, so we didn't go, but the varsity squad did. The boys won.

Wednesday we were supposed to go, but because of the fact that we had 4 cheerleaders on the bench (they'd either missed a game, or missed a practice, and that means that you can't cheer the next game), we decided not to go, because the Clopton Tournament is also a cheerleading competition, where they judge our cheering.
The girl lost that game, by the way.

Thursday the Varsity squad went with the boys again, and they lost.

Friday (yesterday) we went with the girls. They played Elsberry High, and beat them by ten points or so. We also cheered really good (we got to perform during 3rd and 4th quarter), we did two cheers and a shoulder stand. We were supposed to do a ground up where I back-based, and Beth Anne was the flyer, but when we practiced, she fell down both times (and hit my nose, so it's all swollen right now). Anyway, the girls won, and got 3rd place in the tournament, which is pretty cool. There's a boys game tonight, so the Varsity squad will be going, and we'll probably find out Monday if we won anything.

Godt Nytt År!

2005-12-31T02:28:00.000+01:00

Hard Rock Cafe
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

På onsdag reiste vi fra Truxton til St. Louis, der vi skulle til the Arch og Hard Rock Cafe med EF. Når vi hadde kommt til Warrenton, der vi stopped for å sende PC'en min, ringte Toni (min RC) og sa at turen var avlyst. Hun ringte til Stuart, og han ringte å sa det til oss. Jeg hadde gledet meg veldig masse til turen, siden det var siste gangen jeg skulle få se Jacquie, og jeg veldig gjerne ville si hadet. Så jeg ringte Toni og skjekket om turen var utsatt. Hun sa at vi fortsatt skulle til Hard Rock, men det hadde visst ikkje Stuart fått med seg. Så da gikk turen til St. Louis alikevell.

Vi kjørte til North Hanley stasjon, der vi tok metroen inn til Union Station. Vi skulle møtes kl. 11:30, men vi kom frem allerede kl. 10, så vi gikk inn på Union Station og shoppet litt først.

Da vi kom inn på Hard Rock, fant vi Toni, Jac (Jacquie), Svenja og Chris i gave butikken. Vi fikk oss ett bord, tok bilde, og bestillte. Jeg spiste en 8oz hamburger med fries (noe som er litt rart, siden jeg egentlig hater alle burgere utenom barneburgeren på Mac'ern). Maten var god, og etter vi hadde betalt og kjøpt t-skjorter, gikk vi inn på Union Station alle sammen.

Jeg og Jacquie gikk rundt alene, og kikket i alle butikkene. Vi fant en veldig kul butikk som heter "Beatles for Sale", som du kanskje gjettet så selger de Beatles ting (og andre oldies-band-ting). Vi spurte eieren om vi ikke kunne få kjøpe hele butikken, og han sa ja, så når jeg og Jacquie er voksne skal vi kjøpe den :P

Da det var på tide å reise hjem sa vi hadet, jeg gav Jac ett brev med begger adressene mine, og ett bilde jeg tok på flåteturen, vi gav hverandre klemmer, og gikk hver vår veg. Hun reiser tilbake til Australia på tirsdag (hun skulle bare være her ett semester), og jeg håper jeg hører fra henne.

Resten av uken har vært ganske stille. Nathan skal i sleep-over selskap til Cody i dag, og i morgen er det visst nyttårsaften. Jeg ble invitert i Cherie's nyttårsselskap, men fikk ikke lov til å gå, selv om alle vennene mine skulle, og jeg hadde skyss. Men det gjør vell ikke så mye. Det blir sikkert koselige her også sammen med naboene og de to jentene deres; Anna (2 år) og Madelyn (4 år).

Håper alle dere der hjemme har det bra, savner dere masse nå i nyttårstiden, det er alltid koselig å feire sammen med familiene Høyland og Raunholm. Hils til dem i morgen, viss dere leser dette før dere reiser!

Godt nytt år 2006!

Edit 31.12.2005: Gjett hva! Pakken min kom idag! Og det var SÅ my gøy i den! MASSE sjokolade og marsipan, pekkerkakehus, grøtris, Nemi, sokkert, pyjamas, julekalender, etc. Og, den nye iPod Videoen min! Jippi! Tusen takk mor, far, Guro, Pia, Farmor og Farfar (vi fikk alle kjempefine sølvskeier av farmor og farfar!) Og mor, vottene passet til Franci og Stuart :)

Julen 2005

2005-12-26T04:22:00.000+01:00

Ine, Ashley and Samantha
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Jepp, då va julafeiringå øve her i USA au! (tenkte foresten eg sko skifta frå bogmål te Jærsk denne gongå)

Me sto opp kl. 7 i dag tilikt å reiste i kjørkå. Der sang me litt (elle, dei andre sang, eg he fortsatt lide stemme, så d blei lide me sang au), så reiste me heim å skifta klær (te noge litt meir komfortabelt enn "kjørkeklær"). Så reiste me (æg kjørte, slapp av, holdt fartsgrenså) me te Tante Karen sitt hus (fem etasja!). Me fekk julalunsj, som bestod av koldbord me kalkun å skinka, å masse aent løye som eg ikkje forbinne me jul i det heila, men som fortsatt æ godt (mac & cheese, potetstappa, etc.). Så fekk me ungane beskjed om å laga "piles of gifts". Me sorterte ud dei så va våre, å når alle va klare begynte me å pakka opp, på rundtgang. Eg fekk masse fint, blant anna en Aladdin DVD som me såg seinare (hadde ønskt meg den siden me kun he an på VHS heima i Norge, å siden videospælaren ikkje funke lengre). Itte me hadde åpna våre pakka, gjekk me ner i kjellaren å åd julakage å spælte Ryan sitt nya Monopol å såg min film, mens di voksne pakkte opp sine pakka.

Me reiste heim i 5 tiå, å når me kom heim så såg Nathan å æg den nye filmen hans, Madagaskar. Den va kjempe løyen! Æ det løye pingvina æ ett av favoritt dyrå mine?

I mårå ska me på shopping på Mid Rivers Mall, for både meg å Nathan fekk gavekort, så nå ska det handlas for dei (nei, det va ikkje mitt forslag, men Franci sitt). Eg trur eg ska kjøba den nye Born to Run boksen te The Boss. Yay!

På onsdag ska alle EF "ungane" på tur te Union Station, St. Louis, der me ska gå på Hard Rock Cafe. Blir goe greie det ja!

GOD JUL og GODT NYTT ÅR!

Christmas

2005-12-24T20:43:00.000+01:00

Christmas Tree
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Hva har skjedd siden sist gang? Ikke så masse, utenom at julen er her, posten har rotet bort julepresangen min fra de hjemme, skolen er slutt og jeg er nå med i GBB!

Jess, du hørte rett, jeg sendte en e-mail til styrelederen i Gjesdal Brass Band og spurte om de hadde plass til enda ett horn, og de sa ja! Så når jeg kommer hjem til neste år, skal jeg begynne i GBB! Yay!

Skolen sluttet på onsdag, vi hadde halv dag, og etter det reiste Franci og jeg bort til Nathan's skole, der jeg snakket med barna om julen i norge. De var helt imponerte, og det var kjempe gøy. En av jentene trodde jeg var en skikkelig prinsesse!

I går ble vi ferdige med den siste julehandele, og nå ligger alle gavene våre under treet på kjøkkenet. I kveld skal vi til Grandma Ruth (som foresten hadde bursdag på mandag), der vi skal spise middag. Så kommer vi hjem og opner alle pakkene.
I morgen tidlig går vi i kirken, og så reiser vi til tante Karen der vi skal spise kalkun og sånnt, og opne enda flere pakker. Yay.
Men jeg får jo (takk til Posten Norge) ha jul helt ut til februar, omtrent, så jeg stopper ikke julefeiringen etter søndag jeg, nei!

Savner Askepott og julekalender, og farmor's julemiddag, og jul med familien, men jeg får alt det neste år, så akkurat nå prøver jeg noe nytt, og det er alltid spennede.

Snakkes alle sammen! Håper dere likte presangene!

EF Christmas Party 2005

2005-12-18T02:56:00.000+01:00

Ine and Jac
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Here's Jac and I at the EF Christmas Party at Toni's house. We took a lot of photos, so go check those out!

Yesterday, Heather took me to Mid Rivers, where we were going to go see Brokeback Mounatin, but apparently, they weren't showing it yet (which I found a bit peculiar), so we went to Cine 18 instead. And guess what, they weren't showing it there, either! So we watched Just Friends instead. A funny movie, great if you just want to watch and not think. And it's got Ryan 'Berg' Reynolds in it :P

The Christmas Party today was great, we had lots of fun, and I got to hang out with all my friends from camp!! It's really sad that Jac will be leaving in just two weeks, but fortunately, I get to see her on the 28th (Grandma's birthday), when we're going to Hard Rock with EF.

Van Far (is that far away?)

2005-12-16T15:40:00.000+01:00

Beth Anne
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Yesterday we played Van Far again, but this time it was the girl's team. We lost the JV game, unfortunately (but we did a great job cheering) and we won the Varsity game. Sounds like fun, eh?

Our finals are coming up. We start reviewing today, and the first ones are on Monday (4th and 6th hour, which is Yearbook and Band for me). We're done on Wednesday (half-day), so then we get to go on our Christmas break. Can't wait!

Also, I'm going to the EF Christmas party at Toni's in St. Louis tomorrow! Yay! I'm gonna see all my camp friends again! And Jacquie! (Possibly for the last time, because she is a one-semester student).
Today I am going to Mid-Rivers with Heather to see Brokeback Mountain (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger).

Like the picture? I love it! It captures the spirit in the moment! It's taken by Monica Eads, by the way (she's on the newspaper staff).

CSI:Miami "Blood in the water"

2005-12-13T05:18:00.000+01:00

CSI:Miami "Blood in the water"
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

This is a screencap from today's CSI:Miami rerun on CBS. See, this guy was killed, and as they ran his prints, they couldn't find him, so they ran them in the immigration database, and came up with this little snazzy picture. He's Norwegian! (Not really though)

And apparently he's from somewhere around Trondhjem, which is kind of cool. Yay! He was dead though, so I guess it's not that cool... I guess that's what happens to Norwegian Exchange Students in Florida on TV. And yes, he did have an accent. Of course.

Another game is played

2005-12-10T22:26:00.000+01:00

Cheerleading picture II
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

So guess what! We lost BOTH games yesterday... BUT, the squad did really really good, so we don't really mind the loss.

I also got my permit in the mail today, AND a present from the Lye family. Yay! And we went to Pumpkins and Pines to get our Christmas tree. We got a really swell one. Yay again.

Tomorrow there's a Christmas thingie in church, in the afternoon, so we're going there.

This picture was taken on Thursday, in the Sears Portrait Studio. I also got my senior picture taken, because the one I got from Wagner didn't turn out too good... And also, Sears is a lot cheaper.

Okay then, see you around!

Snowy-times

2005-12-08T04:18:00.000+01:00

Spacing off
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

We got our first snow this week, which was great. It came Monday (I think) and it wasn't too much, but there was some. And also, the weather people keep saying that there is a snowstorm on the way, so we might get out early tomorrow :)

Tuesday game was good, the JV team knocked the Van Far Indians FAR away... (hehe), but unfortunately the Varsity team lost... Oh well, better luck next time.

Today was a half-day, so school was out at noon. In Music Appreciation we are working on "The dark side of the Rainbow", which is basically a theory that Pink Floyd made their album "Dark side of the moon" match the 1939 movie "Wizard of Oz" (lyrics and music matching the movie). So tomorrow we are watching the movie while reading lyrics and listening to the album. It's gonna be awesome :)

After school I went with Nikki, Shawn and Shanon to Shop & Save in Waynzville where we got some canned food for this week's Canned Food Drive (we collect food for the poor).

After that I went to Troy to take my permit test (yes, I failed it last time I tried...), and I passed it! Yay! So we went to the license bureau and I got my permit. And then I drove all the way from Troy and back to Truxton. I've gotta say, it was pretty cool.

When I got home, I watched the second part of the Pope movie, and it was really good. John Voight really looked like the pope in his last days.

Merry Christmas

2005-12-05T01:53:00.000+01:00

Basket toss
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

So Christmas is creeping up on us, and the school's already been decorated! We had our Christmas concert today with the band and the chorus. We started with the chorus, and we sung "Merry Christmas with love" and "Have a merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas". It didn't go quite as well as we planned it, but I guess it was okay.

Then we watched the 6th, 7th and 8th grade bands (yes, there is one band for every grade), and the we played (the high-school band). We played "A Christmas Festival" and "Jingle Bells Forever". We did really good, and I think Mr. Schaffer was pleased with us. Also, we handed him the plaque we had gotten for him. It was actually Mr. Dreyfus' idea: All the seniors wrote down 'Schafferisms', things that Mr. Schaffer says all the time, and we got it engraved on a plaque for him, from all the seniors. I think he liked it! We're also going to get t-shirts with all his sayings on 'em!

Tonight is the showing of the CBS movie about the former pope (Paul Johannes, is it? Sorry, I can't seem to remeber their names. Anyway, it's the one who died a couple of months ago), and I think I'm gonna watch it, and tape Crossing Jordan.

Also, about the game on Friday: We lost the JV game (but it was pretty close) and we won the Varsity game. We cheered good, and actually, Varsity screwed up more than we did (they dropped two girls during half-time). Anyway, check out this awesome picture of Jessica in the air during the Varisty squad's pre-game basket toss. Don't you just love it?

Game day

2005-12-02T21:26:00.000+01:00

Jacket
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

We won both games this Tuesday (JV and varsity) against the Silex Owls, and today we are playing our arch rivals, the Warrenton Warriors (our neighbor school, where Nathan goes). I really hope we win, and that we do a really good job cheering.

Ms. Lucero is videotaping it for me, both the halftimes, and the second half of the JV game, so you people at home can see it when I've got it over on a DVD :) Yay!

BEAT THOSE WARRIORS!!!

Novus Ordo Seclorum

2005-11-28T03:19:00.000+01:00

The Great Seal
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

I wrote this today, after reading a little bit more of Angels & Demons (not done yet). Dad, in case you haven't read the book yet, I think this might make you want to read it. It's got stuff about the Free Masons in it, and it's really interesting! (We have the book, right? I think we have it in Norwegian)

Okay, so you're probably wondering why I have a picture of a part of the US one-dollar bill here. No, it is not because I am in love with money, or the US (although I am quite fascinated by both), but it is because of my newly found fascination with Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons, and it's connection to the Illuminati. For those of you who have read the book, you know what I am talking about, but if not, you should go read the book, because it is both educational and fascinating. Really.

Okay, so, over to the symbol again. The pyramid represents the emerge towards the ultimate source of illumination, and it is an ancient occult symbol. As you might know, a pyramid has got nothing to do with Americans or American history, so it is kind of peculiar that they chose to put this on the bill. Also, the triangle with the eye inside it represents the Illuminati's ability to infiltrate and watch all things. The triangle, representing the Greek letter 'delta', means 'change' or 'transition'.

Now, underneath the pyramid, it says in Latin 'Novus Ordo Seclorum', which means New Order of the Ages. It can also be translated into New Secular Order. In case your English your English is a bit rusty, the definition of 'secular' is (taken from Dictionary.com) "Worldly rather than spiritual. Not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body: secular music. Relating to or advocating secularism.
Not bound by monastic restrictions, especially not belonging to a religious order. Used of the clergy". So, in simple terms, it means non religious. So New Secular Order means New Nonreligious Order. Now, why would this be put on a bill, where 'In God We Trusts' is put right next to it? The reason for this, is because the one-dollar bill was designed by Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who was a Mason. So was his President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and when he asked Wallace what Novus Ordo Seclorum ment, Wallace simply told him it meant New Deal, because the dollar bill was new, and so was the design, so the President believed him.

Now that people have realized that this means, there has been quite a few debates about whether or not the seal should remain on the bill.

About The New Secular Order: The Illuminati (which means 'the enlightened ones') was an ancient brotherhood of scientists, who got together in secrecy because of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church felt threatened by science, because science questioned God's superiority, and they didn't want that. So they hunted down and arrested or executed all scientists claiming that God did not create mankind and the university, and also, that the sun was the center of the universe, rater than earth. Therefore, these scientists gathered in secrecy. One of the most famous Illuminaties, is Galileo Galilei.

The New Secular Order, aka New World Order, was the Illuminati’s plan of getting rid of Catholicism, and making science the main thing. Now, they never killed, or destroyed anything, like the Catholics did, they infiltrated instead. They infiltrated banks, universities, politics, etc. One of the most known infiltrations they did was when they joined the Free Masons. They had to hide from the Catholic Church, so they aligned with the Masons, in hope of hiding. But as the years went by, they started their own little secret society, inside the secret society of the Masons. They grew, and elevated in grades, and had great power inside the Masons' society. This is the way the Illuminati ran things.

Now people believe that the Illuminati are dead, that they don’t exist anymore. But one can never know, right?
Go read Angels and Demons, it will open your eyes to a new world. Also, if you like riddles, you should also check out Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code.

Thanksgiving

2005-11-24T16:35:00.000+01:00

Americana
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

This is Ashley and I in front of the flag in Ms. Manning's room (our coach). We cheered at the game on Monday (Lady WildcatsVS Silex Owls), and unfortunately, the girls lost 20-36, but we still had loads of fun cheering.

Today is Thanksgiving, so I am going to Aunt Patty's house for dinner at 10:30am, and I think it's gonna be quite fun. Sam and Charles and everyone's gonna be there.

Anyway, got to go, Franci needs the computer. Leave some comments, people! :)

Hei og hopp din sopp!

2005-11-20T00:00:00.000+01:00

Ine in Cheerleading Uniform
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Because of my good friend Mr. Sivertsen’s lacking ability to post in Norwegian like he had (allegedly) promised to do, I thought I’d do it instead. So, here we go!

Først må jeg vende meg til det norske tastaturet igjen. Du ser, det er ikke så mange som vet det, men det amerikanske tastaturet er annerledes. Der ikke nok med å ta bort bokstav nummer 27, 28 og 29, men de må jo selvfølgelig også stokke om på alle tegnene... Uansett, nok om det.
GRATULERER SÅ MASSE MED DAGEN til min kjære tenåringssøster, Guro!! Håper du hadde en fin dag. Også: Gratulerer til RSK med tredje plass på Stavanger Open! Kjempe bra!

Har hatt en ganske travel, men bra uke. Hadde min første cheerleading trening på mandag, og fra første stund har vi øvd på alle ”chants”’a som skulle fremførest på ”the chant test” på fredag. Vi hadde ca. 45 chants i alt. For dere som lurer på hva chants er, så er det omtrent det samme som cheers. Det er noen man sier imens kampene foregår. Nesten som en liten monoton sang, med koreografi. Nei, det er ikke dans, for alle bevegelsene skal være stive og bestemte. Cheerleading er hardere enn en skulle tro!
Uansett, alle 45 chantene ble innøvd (ihvertfall nesten. Hallo, 45? Litt vell mange!). Jeg hadde prøven sammen med Amber Adams, som allerede har vært cheerleader ett år. Men heldigvis så gikk alt bra, og jeg bestod, noe som betyr at jeg får cheere på mandagens kamp (girl’s basketball mot Silex Owls). Det blir gøy!

Har også fått lånt en crop top (det vi har under uniforms toppen) og ett par med spankies (shorts under skjørtet, siden det er så kort så er de litt fine å ha når man hopper...). Vi har på oss uniformen hele dagen på skolen, med jeans under skjørtet, og så tar vi på spankiesene rett før kampen.

I dag har jeg snakket med familien, fått en koselig voice-mail melding fra far, og vært i Winfield med koret. Vi sang i Conference Choir, sammen med alle de andre korene i distriktet. Ble kjent med en jente fra Clopton som het Katie. Hun var faktisk født i Irland, noe som var ganske kult.
Her er sangene vi sang:
• With a voice of singing
• Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
• The storm is passing over
• You raise me up (yippee! Den liker jeg!)
• Bethlehem (på Swahili)
• Neighbour’s Chorus (opera)

Konserten var bra, å alt gikk som smurt! Nå er jeg bare hjemme og slapper av, og gleder meg til å høre hjemmefra i morgen, og til kampen på mandag.
Foresten, har forandret innstillingene på bloggen, så de som vil kan kommentere nå, selv om de ikke er registrerte på Blogger! Knock yourselves out!

Bruce Springsteen on the Big Screen

2005-11-16T04:17:00.000+01:00

Bruce Springsteen on the Big Screen
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

So I went to the screening @ the Mills yesterday, and I've got to say; it was great! First, there was a movie/documentary called Wings for Wheels (as in the lyrics to Born to Run "trade these wings for some wheels"), which included interviews with all the original members of E Street, Patti, AND of course, the Boss himself. There was also a lot of never-before-seen footage from the making of Born to Run, which was really cool.

Then there was a remastered video recording of Bruce, the first time he played in Europe, at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, 1975. Great performance, I've gotta say. Go buy the DVD!

End of tryouts

2005-11-12T17:55:00.000+01:00

Cheerleading practice
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Yesterday was the last day of tryouts, which ment that we had to show our newly learned skills to both coaches and both captains. I was a little bit nervous, and when I found out that I was trying out with Heather (she's been a cheerleader all through middle school) I got kind of worried. But I thought, 'do your best, and it'll be okay'. So I went in there, and did my best. Mrs. Manning (the JV coach) said that she would only call the ones who made it, and she would call before 6pm.

So I left school, and Franci and I went to Wal Mart to pick up some pictures and do some grocery shopping. On the way home, we stopped at Sonic for some food, and I remembered the call. It was around 5pm, so I figured that it might be worth a try. So I asked Franci if she could call the answering machine at home an check. So she did, and when she was done listening to the messages, she handed me the phone, and went "hear this". When I heard "Hi Schwartzes, this is Ms. Manning from WCHS" I went "YEAAAHHH!! I MADE IT!". Woo-hoo! So out of 12 girls, they decided to pick me, Heather (I called her) and one other girl. I'm guessing it's Natalie. Oh well, I made it and I am SO happy!! (And a little bit proud of myself). All I have to do now is learn the split, so that I can do the Scorpion.

Practice starts on Monday, and uniform fitting is on Tuesday. I'm not sure when the first game is, though... By the way, in case I didn't mention it, I am on the JV (Junior Varsity, because I haven't done it before, I couldn't be on Varsity) Basketball Cheerleading Squad. Yessss...

Tryouts

2005-11-11T06:05:00.000+01:00

Go Wildcats!
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

My cheerleading tryouts started yesterday (Wednesday), and cheerleading is actually a lot harder than one would think! First of all, there's all the stretching, then there's learning the cheers and chants, and then you have to scream loud AND remember to keep every single body part in the right position... Wow... But I'm getting the hang of it.

The first thing we did was to stretch out in a circle. Staci (my homegirl) was the leader, and everyone was about to give up when she pulled her leg up behind her back and around her neck... Then she proceeded to stretch her legs out and put her head down on the ground... Flippin' acrobate! She's good though.

Then we learned the chant and the cheer, and about cheerios and donuts and buckets and birds (don't ask). The chant goes like this:

Take it away
DEFENSE
Take it away
(2 claps)

And it's gotta be really loud. And then there's the cheer:

Wright City!
We're #1
The cats are here, let's hear you cheer
Yell blue and gold (come on!) blue and gold
YEAH!

Yay! I love it! And today, we learned stunting. First we did a simple lift up, and then we cradled. I was kind of nervous about the cradle, because I was backing up the girl who was being cradled, and I was the one responsible for catching her... Anyway, it went fine, and I caught her.

We also had to show our cheers and chants and toe-touches (arg...) to the tutors (in my case, Waymond and Greg), and that was pretty embarrassing... But guess what! Greg, Lauren, Staci and Waymond said I was doing really good! I really hope I get one of the three spots on the squad... Oh well, I'll do my best on the tryouts tomorrow, and we'll see what happens!

Wish me luck!

The Boss and I

2005-11-08T04:31:00.000+01:00

The Dark Side of the Street
Originally uploaded by KBlood.

Guess what! I am So excited! I got a newsletter from Brucespringsteen.net today, saying that they are putting up a screening of his new DVD (released on November 15th), and it's a one night only kind of thing. So I went to the ticket site (http://www.bigscreenconcerts.com/subpage/index.asp?eventID=558) and looked up my city, to see if they were showing it somewhere nearby. And guess what, they're showing it at the Mills in St. Louis!

So, who got online and got a ticket after school today? ME! I'm gonna go see Bruce on screen! yay! I am so happy!!

We are the champions

2005-11-07T02:25:00.000+01:00

Parking lot fun
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

We won the game. In case you didn't know. We flippin' beat Windfield 28-14! And that makes us DISTRICT CHAMPIONS for the first time, EVER (we've only had a varsity team for 4 years...). It felt GOOD!

My performance of the anthem went good. Everyone was cheering for me, which was really cool. And Senior Night was cool too.

We went to UMC (University of Missouri, Columbia) aka Mizzou yesterday, and we won the priliminaries, which makes us the best 3A band in the state of Missouri. We also went on to finals, but they were cancelled, because of a Tornado Watch. So after doing some shopping at Columbia Mall, we went back to Wright City.

We were planning on going to watch a movie (all the seniors) but the lightning never stopped, so we went home instead. I watched Saved (with Jena Malone) and then went to bed.

Today we went to grandma Dolores to celebrate Stuart's birthday, and then we went on the Katie Trail for 4 miles. By the way, I got to ride in Rick's tailgate! Hillbilly!

The Game

2005-11-04T16:45:00.000+01:00

The Gang
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Today we're playing for District Champions, and I really hope we win. We got 10 minutes off from 3rd period American History, to listen to coach Weir being interviewed on the radio. It was pretty neat.
If we win tonight, we go on to State!

We're having a pep-rally in 5th period, so the band's going to play in front of the entire school. Yay! And also, mr. Dreyfus asked me if I wanted to play the anthem tonight, at the game. Mr. Dreyfus, Mr. Schaffer and Billy always plays it, but he wanted me to play it tonight. Ahh... in front of all those people!

Tomorrow's the last competition of this season. We're going to UMC (aka Mizzou) and playing in a 3A class. I really hope we make finals!

Halloween 2005

2005-11-01T19:07:00.000+01:00

Shanon's Halloween Party
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

In case I didn't tell you: We won everything at Potosi last weekend! We won parade (all captions too), field (and captions), grand champion parade, 3rd in finals and grand champions of the entire thing. It was SO cool! We celebrated all the way home!!

Sunday I went to Shawn and Shanon's Halloween party, which was kick-butt. We watched House of Wax, which was really cool, and then we just hung out, talking and munching candy. Franci came and picked me up at 10pm, but most of the guests were already gone by then.

Yesterday was Halloween, so we went trick & treating. I went with Kayla, Madelyn, Mattie, Anna and Nathan. Wendy, Anna and Madelyn's mom was driving us around. We got tons of candy, and we had fun. Madelyn and I were Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Anna was a clown, Mattie was a prom queen, Nathan was the Tinman from Wizard of Oz, and Kayla was The Corpse Bride.

Spirit Friday!

2005-10-28T22:18:00.000+02:00

Ine and Heather
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

We got our senior stuff today, and I got lots of cool stuff! I got tassels, a hoodie, a t-shirt, bag, and stuff. I'm getting the rest later, when they've ordered it.

We have a game tonight, so we're playing with the band. We're almost done with the forth song (When you believe), so that's gonna be great, that we're gonna be able to try it out tonight. Yay!

I love this picture! It's Heather and I, both dressed in school colors. Heather is so nice, and she's really good at the flag stuff. (Yeah... I don't really know all of that stuff.)

Going to Potosi with the band tomorrow morning at 5:45am... Bah... I hope we win!

Broken Arrow

2005-10-23T22:06:00.000+02:00

Broken Arrow
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

This is one of the best marching bands in the Mid-West, Broken Arrow. They played at yesterday's Regional Bands of America Championship in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
I got up at 5:15am and Stuart and I left home at 5:45am. He took me to school, where I met up with Becky, Krystal, Susan, Doug, Kelly and Mr. Schaffer. We rode a school bus to St. Louis.
First we watched the preliminaries, which lasted till around 4pm. After the awardshow, we had to leave so that they could make the Dome ready for the finals. We went to Subway and got something (cheap) to eat, and then went back to the Dome. We stopped by the Arch on the way back and got a few photos.
During the finals, we sat on the second row, so we could see all the formations, etc. It was really cool! Especially Broken Arrow's show. Unfortunately, everyone's least favorite band, Lawrence Central from Kansas, won... Broken Arrow made third, and I think it was Carmel that made second.
We left the Dome after the award show, which was at around 11:15pm, and were back at school at 00:20am.

Vivid

2005-10-21T18:18:00.000+02:00

Vivid
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

I've got the day off today, and I had the day off yesterday too. Yesterday I was at home, watching Good Morning Vietnam, going for a walk, etc. Today I decided to go to school with Franci, and maybe see if anyone wanted to go do something. Drew said he might go somewhere with me after football practice (there's no way Coach Weir is gonna let his players sleep in, is there?), but he had a bad Parents/Teacher conference yesterday, so he had to go home and do chores. So I'm stuck here all day, I guess. Unless Anne decides to come over, which would be great.

I couldn't go to BoA today, because no one could take me, so I have to wait till tomorrow. We leave at 6:30 am by the way... Bah... And we're only 7 people going, including Mr. Schaffer and Mr. Dreyfus. So I guess we're going to be a 'close gang of band geeks'...

Other than that, we had a thunderstorm yesterday, which was pretty cool. And it also caused our field practice to be canelled, so we spent two hours practicing music inside. I think I've got all 4 songs completely memorized now. Yay for me!

Randomness

2005-10-19T04:30:00.000+02:00

scoop on the soup on my head on the bed
Originally uploaded by calvo.

Not really a lot going on these days, so I thought I'd just post a random picture. This one's by one of my Flickr Friends, Jeff (from D.C.). It's the head-soup!

Anyway, I got my English binder turned in today, all work done. We also finished reading part two of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll House". I'm reading it in Norwegian for the entire class later this year.

Franci checked the computer for my grades, and I've got A's in all classes, except for English, because Ms. Lucero has not done her grades yet... But I'm hoping for an A there as well..

Tomorrow's half-day, so that's pretty cool. Mr. Brown is inspecting our music appreciation class, so Mr. Dreyfus told us all to "behave good", whatever that means... :P

Cardinals won yesterday by the way. It was pretty obvious at school today, because most Cards fans were wearing jerseys...

Well, better get skiddadelin'!

Me and my pumpkin

2005-10-17T21:49:00.000+02:00

Me and my pumpkin
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Looking pretty dang hot with my very own pumpkin! This photo was taken at the Pumpkins and Pine pumpkin patch in somewhere that I don't remember, Missouri. Nathan, Franci and I went there after we left the Deutsche Country Days. A pumpkin patch is a place where you go and get pumpkins for Halloween. At this place, you can also get Christmas trees. They've got mazes, and bunnies, and farm animals, and we also got ice-cream and kettle corn (popcorn with caramel on 'em. Yum...)

Today's been pretty weird, because we had an entire lock-down day today. We've had lockdowns before, but only for an hour at a time. Apparently, someone had sent in a bomb threat or something. We had like, 4 cops patrolling the hallways between classes, and there were also a couple of drug dogs hanging around. Don't worry mom and dad, it's just a precaution thingie, we're not really in any danger. Lockdown means that we're not allowed in the hallways between classes, even if we've got a hall-pass, AND, it means that the police has got the right to search all the lockers. Yay. Anyway, nothing happened...

Also, Waymond's birthday is today, and he's suspended. He tried to choke a freshman last week, but he had a pretty good reason: The freshman called him the n-word (the one that describes African Americans), so he kind of went off on him. They're both suspended, but we thought they'd be back by today. And this morning, they called Waymond's birthday on the speaker, but he's not here... Poor kid.

1st place!

2005-10-17T03:57:00.000+02:00

1st place!
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Shawn, Andy, Maddie, Kyle (in the back), Susan, Eliel, Tasha, Shanon, Cara and Jessica celebrating our victory at Park Hills. 3 awards. 1st place and 2 visual effects awards. It feels good!!

We started Saturday morning at 8am, practicing indoors, and then on the field. Genius quote from mr. Schaffer by the way: "Shawn, don't ever put a coffee cup in your pocked". And yes, for your information, Shawn acually tried to do that. I guess it was a bit too early for him...

We left for Park Hills at around 10:30, and the ride was two hours.
The show went well, and we had to wait all the way to 7pm for the award show. The school spirit over here is amazing, and I loved being a part of the victory team! We were all happy, singing all the way home. We also stopped at a gas-station on the way, and I think we overwhelmed the entire staff (probably because we had a 2 mile bathroom queue...). It's all good, baby!

Today we went to Deutsche Country days. I'll be posting pictures from that tomorrow, I think. Getting ready to watch Crossing Jordan now. See ya!

Wildcat Pride!

2005-10-14T23:41:00.000+02:00

Greg Penrod
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

This is Greg Penrod, he was selected Athlete of the Month by the Marthasville Record (or maybe it was the Warrenton Journal?). Good for him! And also, he's Staci's boyfriend, and Staci is the sweetest!

Tonight we're playing the T-birds from North Callaway. I really hope we beat them, because then we can finally play the Wildcat Victory song with the band!!

By the way, I've been preaching to the American world today: I taught Anne how to say 'jeg elsker deg', and Kayla how to say 'Kom igjen villkattene!'. Yay. And they both did pretty good!

Tomorrow we have to be here at 8am, but that's okay compared to last weekend. We're going to Park Hills (like I've mentioned before) which is about 2 hours from here. We're only doing field, so that's cool. And we'll probably be back at around 9pm tomorrow night.

LET'S GO WILDCATS!

It's all good

2005-10-13T19:26:00.000+02:00

Drew
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

I just uploaded some pictures from last weekend, so if you feel like checking them out, that would be great!

This weekend is Park Hills, but we don't have to leave till 11:30 am from school, so I can sleep in for once!

I think I'm getting my physichal today, because I have to have one to get onto the cheerleading squad. Yay. So, hopefully we'll get the time to do that.

Gotta go now, band practice!

Good times

2005-10-10T17:33:00.000+02:00

ine 6
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

We left for Oklahoma Saturday morning, 3:30 am. We were way off schedule when we finally got there, and guess what, the heater was broken!! So, basically, we did a pritty poo-ish job on the field, amd everyone was sleepy and tired...
After the show, we watched the other bands. We left at 5pm, and headed for a place to eat. When we found somewhere to stop, I went into this weird Taco place with mr. Schaffer, Jake, Drew, Susan, Susan's mom, Kelly and some other people. Mr. Schaffer let us know how we did: 2nd place out of two, with 45 points... Can I say SLAUGHTER? One of the judges gave us 30 points out of 200, and another judge just wrote 'HALF THE BAND NOT PLAYING' on his comment sheet...

We got back home at around 4am, and the Ashley took Steven, Jesse and I back home. I was home, in my bed, at 5:04 am. Pretty darn tired...

Thanks to dad by the way, for sending me this, and 5 other, cute baby pictures (yes, I AM cute!) of me for the senior baby pictures pages in the yearbook. Ain't I adorable?

What is this poo I hear about Dr. King being fired? What is happening to the world?

Bunny!

2005-10-07T00:35:00.000+02:00

Ashley Amrein
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.
(This is Ashley's photo for the baby photo section in the yearbook)

Nothing much going this week...

We had halfday Wednesday, which was cool, because we get off from school at 11:30. Yay!
So, I went to Drew's place and we watched a movie and hung out. Yay again.

This weekend is Oklahoma, so we're doing a little bit of extra practicing at the moment. We have a 6pm sectional practice tonight, and then a 7-9pm practice afterwards. Ashley is picking me up at 2am on Saturday... BAH! So I guess I'll just stay up all night. I think I'll watch my new Nip/Tuck set.

Not much going on besides that. I've fallen in love with Metallica all over again, not really sure. And I've got 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' stuck on my mind. And the weird thing is that I don't even like Kelly Clarkson!

My new favorite movie: Varsity Blues. It is a lot like life in Wright City :P

Blue and Gold day

2005-10-02T22:41:00.000+02:00

Blue and Gold day
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Guess what! We lost the Homecoming game! Bah... The Wildcats were playing the Du Pont Tigers, and we went into over time with 13-13, and then the tigers got a homerun, so it ended up being 13-19... Anyway, it was a really good game, and the Wildcats got a great homerun halfway through. Go Penrod!!

After the game, I went with Drew over to Anthony's place, where he took a shower. Then we went back to school for the dance. It was pretty cool, but we did more of the sitting-around than any actual dancing. Mind you, there was dancing, but not that much, because of the major lack of great music. Hmpf.

At midnight, when the dance ended, we had to take loads of people to parties, but we couldn't and wouldn't go ourselves (because of EF rules), so we figured we'd get something to eat. We tried Sonic, but they were closed, so we went to Wal Mart (yes, THE place), and got donuts and Milkyway. Yee-hey! Drew wanted to play Wal Mart tag, but I declined. So we just drove around, and did some more party-dropping-off and stuff. Got home pretty late (around 3:30), but not too late.

At 5am Saturday morning, I had to get up for the Washington competition. Stuart took me to school, and when I got there, Drew was asleep on the floor, because apparently, he'd only been home for 15 minutes last night. Poor thing.

We left the school at around 7am, and since half the band had gone to Homecoming, we were all kind of asleep and knocked out, so the bs ride was pretty dull. Well, we had Megan Meyers on our bus, so we got our share of last-night-gossip. Not that we needed it, though...

We did the parade, and the field show, and then we watched the Parade Award Show. We got 2nd place, which is better than last time. Then we had to watch class B and A of the field show, but all the people around me, and I, slept through all of that. In the bleachers. And then we watched te Field Show Awards. We got 4th place, so, 2 trophies this weekend! Yay!

Slept till noon today, and then we went to Elizabeth and Scott's place for lunch.

Captain America

2005-09-29T19:26:00.000+02:00

Captain America
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

Yep, today was character day, and it was really cool! There were loads of kids in really good costumes, and almost everyone knew who I was supposed to be. But, gotta tell you, that costume was NOT comfy... Bah

So tomorrow is the big day: Homecoming! First, I am going to play with the band during half-time, and then they are going to crown the Homecoming Queen and King. After the game, which our team hopefully wins, we are all going to the Homecoming Dance. And in the American trditional way, I found myself a Homecoming date, called Drew. He's a Junior, and plays trumpet in the band, and he's also on the varsity football team. So if he doesn't win, the dance is gonna be a drag.

I went to order my Leatherman's Jacket yesterday (Thanks mom and dad!!), and it's gonna be SO cool! It's blue and yellow, and it's got a giant wildcat on the back, plus my last name above the wildcat. It's also got 06 on the arm, because that's the year I graduate. Yay!

Senior nerds

2005-09-28T04:28:00.000+02:00

Senior nerds
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

As you might be able to tell from this picture (or yesterdays post), today was nerd day. I dressed up, unfortunately no one was lucky enough to get a picture of me, so you'll have to settle for these three excellent examples.
Anyway, I also got my progress report for the 1st quarter, and here's what it looks like:
1. ART III: A+ (ROECKER)
2. ENGLISH IV: A (LUCERO)
3. AMERICAN HISTORY: A (WEIR)
4. NEWSPAPER/YEARBOOK: A (SCHWARTZ)
5. MUSIC APPRECIATION: A (DREYFUS)
6. BAND: A (SCHAFFER)
7. CHORUS: A (DREYFUS)

Ahh... Sigh...

Also, I thought I'd give you guys a list of TV-shows to watch out for over there in the Motherland:
House M.D., Prison Break, Bones, E.R. (New season), The OC Season 3, Crossing Jordan season 3, Ghost Whisperer, Criminal Minds, CSI season 6 (I think).

The rest of Rita

2005-09-26T16:31:00.000+02:00

The weekend is over, and it was pretty darn exhausting.

On Saturday, I got up at 5, and went to school. We put on our uniforms and left school at 7am. When we arrived in Sullivan, MO, we got ready for the competition. We marched first (got 4th place) and then did the field show (which we had never done in its complete form before. We got 5th place by the way). It was a pretty cool day, all though 35C with uniforms is pretty bad...

Yesterday, Sophia, Franci and I went to the Mid-Rivers Mall to do some shopping, and then see a movie. We walked around for about an hour, and then Sophia and I went to see The Brothers Grimm while Franci went to Borders (a bookstore). The movie was pretty cool, both a little scary and funny (it had Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in it by the way). Afterwards, we went to get some pizza.

This week is Spirit Week at school, because Homecoming is this Friday, so we need to raise the school spirit :P
Today is Pajama Day, so we all wear pajamas. And tomorrow is Nerd Day, Wednesday is Cartoon Character Day, Thursday is Opposite Day and Friday is Blue and Gold (school colors) Day. Yay!

Frapp-oh girl

2005-09-22T02:55:00.000+02:00

Frapp-oh girl
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

As you can see, I have replaced the Pepsi with Frappuccinos. I guess it's not really healthier, but it's good!

So, not really a lot of things happening today. We had a half-day, and I was supposed to go to Mid-Rivers Mall with Ashley, but she couldn't go after all, because her mom said she had to stay home and write some essays... So I ended up going to the WalMart in Wayntzville with Sophia, Nick and Lauren. Yay.

I think Franci's taking Sophia and I to Mid-Rivers on Sunday, to shop, and then Sophia and I are going to watch a movie. I think we're gonna watch Elizabethtown, if it's still on.

I got a letter from Kaja today. Letters are always nice, and I really appreciate them (*hint hint*).

Oh, and by the way, Coach Weir, my American History teacher, gave me a Wright City High School Football team t-shirt! For free! Now, isn't that nice?

From behind

2005-09-20T15:47:00.000+02:00

From behind
Originally uploaded by Pål Berge.

Utrolig bra bilde, tatt av Paal.

Jepp, som dere ser saa bestemte jeg meg for aa skrive denne posten paa Norsk. Er litt usikker paa hvorfor, egentlig, men det faar bare vaer.
I dag skjer det egentlig ingenting, men i gaar hadde vi en Thunderstorm, med vind paa over 60 mph, og det var ganske kult, helt til stroemmen gikk, midt i CSI: Miami sesong premieren!
Da jeg vaaknet i dag tidlig var stroemmen fortsatt borte, saa det ble lite med dusjing og lys. Franci var lite blid.

I morgen har vi early release, saa vi er ferdige kl. 12:30. Nick, som er Sohpias nabo, skal ta oss til enten Mid Rivers eller Chesterfield Mall, hvor jeg har tenkt aa kjoepe meg ett eller annet slags antrekk til Homecoming neste fredag. Jippee.

Ellers gaar alt fint, lite som skjer egentlig. Haaper ikke Hurricane Rita gjoer store skader paa Florida, men vi faar bare vente aa se.

John and Franci

2005-09-18T20:39:00.000+02:00

John and Franci
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

This weekend was the Strassenbash festival. I went over there with Kayla and Franci after school on Friday, and we sold ice cream for the Publications Staff. Kayla came home with me, and slept over.
On Saturday morning, at 9:45 am, we arrived at school, and got changed into our (hideous) band uniforms. We played in the parade that ended in the Strassenbash park, and then we played all three concert pieces. It was pretty cool.
Afterwards, we just hung around and checked out all the stuff that was there.

Pål & Luke Skywalker

2005-09-16T01:23:00.000+02:00

Pål & Luke Skywalker
Originally uploaded by Rose Renard.

The oh-so-cool Paal. Picture by Kaja. I thought I'd post a picture from home today, because I've been checking up on current events in the homecountry lately.
What's happening in the US? I'll tell you: First of all, The president (bah) is holding a 'I am so sorry I didn't bother to rescue all the black people from Hurrican Katrina'-speech, Britney Spears had her baby (she had a c-section, so that no one would have to see her push), and she also released her new fragrance 'Fantasy' today. AND, we're having the annual Strassenbash (which no one seems to be able to pronounce) festival this weekend, so I have to sell Blue Bunny ice-cream for the newspaper.
Other things happening in the nearest future: Conference Choir on November 19th, BoA Regionals in St. Louis (can't remember the date), Homecoming on Sept. 30th, Sullivan Parade next weekend, Going to Oklahoma with the band on october 8th, and we're probably having some kind of EF gathering this month...

Anyway, that's it for today. I'll be back.

And oh, got my nails done yesterday. There might be some visuals (pictures, for those of you who did not know) later!

Snopå

2005-09-14T21:45:00.000+02:00

Snopå
Originally uploaded by Leif H.

This isn't really my picture, I borrowed it from Leif Harboe. I think it's a grwat picture, and it reminds me of good ole Bryne. I miss Bryne, not in the "oh-my-god-i-wanna-go-home" sort of way, more like, I just miss the simpleness of it, and how easy it is to get there, and the way you always run into someone you know there... Anyway, my new Tjemsi is Wal Mart... :P

Kissie-face

2005-09-14T05:11:00.000+02:00

Kissie-face
Originally uploaded by lee holloway.

This is a really fancy picture that Nick took on the way home from Six Flags on Sunday. As you might've guessed already, we had a terriffic time, and we all rode most of the rides. Unfortunately, after the Xcalibur, it was enough for me... Anyway, we went to Applebee's afterwards, where we met Krystal's boyfriend Nathan, and had dinner. Good times!

Go Wildcats!

2005-09-11T02:39:00.000+02:00

I found an article about the WCHS Wildcats (our football team). Go here to read it:
"Wildcats see more competitive lineup, winning attitude"

Katrina left the building

2005-09-09T00:32:00.000+02:00

Long time, no see, eh?

Since last time I have:

Got my laptop back from Scott, all fixed and good
Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area
I met my hostcousins Megan and Emily for the first time
Gone to Kansas, and Kansas City for Labor Day Weekend
Been to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival
Got another A in History
Got an A in Music Appreciation
Tried to get my permit, but couldn'd because I was missing a form... (BUSHISM)
Rode a car down the trail to the house (AND put in the garage!)
Got my first newspaper article published (it'll be out on Monday)

Moments of the day: Watching the first episode of The OC Season 3, and seeing A-ha (Take on me) in the new American tv-show Reunion!

So yeah, there you go, a short summary. And sorry about the last post being so short, but I was in a hurry at school, and had to leave... Until next time then!

Row, row, row your boat

2005-09-01T17:14:00.000+02:00

We had the EF Float Trip last Saturday, and I've gotta say, it was brilliant! I met all the people from camp (Magnus, Joe, Ingrid, Jac), and it was SO much fun! I missed them a lot, so it was great seing them again, AND, I got to speak a little Norwegian too. Also met Audun, Mette, Siri and Nick (All Norwegians except Nick, who's Swedish), and we all hung out together. The float trip itself was seriously cool. We had about 5 or 6 rafts, and we spalshed each other with waterguns and stuff. Some people pulled others into the river, which was sort of fun. Let's put it this way: There was supposed to be a "dry raft", but that never happened...

Back on track!

2005-08-22T22:40:00.000+02:00

I am SO sorry for the lack of updates lately, but for those of you who don't already know: Both Franci and I are computerless at the moment, they are both down, so we have to use the computers at school. And since school was really busy last week, seing that it was the first week, I wasn't able to do very much on the net. Anyway, I'v uploaded some new photos, so feel free to go take a look at them!

There hasn't really been that much going on lately. School started last Wednesday, which was pretty cool. I've got TONS of friends, and my best one is Krystal. Here's my schedule:
Art III
English IV
American History
Yearbook/Newspaper
Music Appreciation
Band
Chorus

I might be on the scholar quiz team, and on the basketball cheerleading squad, but I have to wait a while for that.

I had a great weekend, because on Saturday, Krystal and I went to the mall to go see a movie. First we went to Sam Goodies, and then we watched The Dukes of Hazzard, which was hilarious. Afterwards, on the way home, we stopped at Sonic and had tator-tots and cheese sticks. Then Krystal dropped me off at home.

That's it for now! I'll try to take some band photos soon!

The Sounds of Music!

2005-08-14T22:49:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went to the Muny in St. Louis, with nathan's 4H group. Franci, Nathan and I left home at around 4pm (Stuart was sick, so he decided to stay at home), and we went to the Wright City Elementary School, where we were picked up by a bus. Unfortunately, it was one of the famous yellow school buses, so the ride wasn't exactly comfortable.. Anyway, an hour later, we arrived in St. Louis, and the rain was pouring down.

Once inside the Muny (an outside theatre), we got a tour from April (the guide), and we got to see the backstage and all the props and stuff. when the tour was over, we stayed underneath a roof for about two hours, waiting for the staff to let us in. The reason why we had to wait for such a long time, was because they weren't sure if they could let the paly go on, with all the rain. But the rain stopped eventually, and we got in. The musicl was great (The Sounds of Music), and the cast was genius! I know my mom would've loved it, because she loves the movie.

At around 1am, we were back home, and we all went straight to bed.

Fancy Bransey

2005-08-12T18:52:00.000+02:00

In case you didn't know, I went to Branson this week. We left last Sunday, and got back home yesterday. I had a slammin' good time, and did lots of fun stuff. On Monday, we went to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, which is like a western dinner show, kind of like Medieval Times. Anyway, that was really great, with all the beautiful horses, bisons, etc. And the food was good too.

I also did a lot of shopping, which you all know that I love, so that was great. On Wednesday night, we went to see Shepherd of the Hills, which is an outdoor play. It was really cool, and the cast was good.

On Tuesday, we went to Silver Dollar City, which is like a Western themed amusement parks, with lots of crafts and stuff. Franci and I rode the WildFire, which is a MEAN roller coaster! It was SO neat! And I had my eyes closed the entire ride, so I had NO idea where I was! We also got our photo taken in the Old Fashioned Photo Place, and they printed them on tin, like they did back in the old days. It's so cool!

Right now I'm at school, because Franci is cleaning her class room before school starts. We're going out for Chinese later, and I love the Chinese place here! And also, I love Zelmo's, which is the local coffee place. They've got the best frappuccino, EVER! Mr. Scaeffer and Mr. Dreyfus are here, and I've been hanging around them for a little while. Doug's here too, for football camp. By the way, it started raining, so they all got soaked! HAH! *evil grin*

Just one more time (not!)

2005-08-06T04:40:00.000+02:00

Band camp ended today. What a shame! It has been a great week, a lot of marching though. The marching is SO different from the Norwegian one, I can't stop thinking about it!

I've made a couple of good friends this week, and met lots of new and exciting people! I've lost $50 to someone who doesn't know what "privacy, and property" means (can you believe that? Someone just took it right out of my purse!), and I've been to Wal Mart almost every single day.

The three people that I've been hanging with the most this week are: Whitney (fun girl from the yearbook staff), Doug (freshman, son of the band conductor. Plays the sousophone) and Crystal (drum major, junior, all-around-funny girl).

On Wednesday, we went to Six Flags, which is a huge amusement park in St. Louis. It was really cool, and I went on loads of rides! The people that I hung out with, are Samantha 9my 9-year-old hostcousin), Charles (my 15-year-old hostcousin) and of course, Nathan!

Tomorrow's the big Ice Cream Supper in church, so I will be going there, and then we're leaving for Branson on Sunday.

Like this one time...

2005-08-02T04:40:00.000+02:00

So guess what I did today! I got up at 7:45, and at 8:30, we (Franci, Nathan and I) were on our way to Wright City High, where I'm attending one week of Band Camp!

When I got there, I was greeted by Mr. Dreyfus, the assistand director, and he was really nice. he told me that I had to play the barytone during marching season, and even though I really didn't want to, I still wanted to be in a band, so I said yes. It went pretty well, actually, and the music wasn't really that hard, so I guess I'll be fine.

At 2:45, we went out to the game field, and started marching. And man, it's like 40C out there! It's crazy! And we had to learn all these weird commandoes (WAY more advanced than the Norwegian ones, believe me!), but it was cool. AND, we got to drink lots of water, so yeah, I guess I sort of liked it. Can't wait to get my (not so) stylish uniform!! :P

After band camp, we went to Wal Mart, where I got my new cellphone, a straightening iron, and a new CD-player (only $19,66!). Also, a bad of Laffy Taffies (which is a type of candy, with one joke on each wrapper).

See ya around people!

PS: Mor, kan du senda en link te bloggen min te Arne?

On track!

2005-08-01T04:37:00.000+02:00

Oh wow, lots of things have happened since that last post! First of all, I left camp! The last day?night at camp was great. We stayed up all night, because the first busses were leaving at 2am... I hung out with Martin, Mike, Hannah and Steffi most of the time. We watched movies, went to the yearbook presentation, to the dance, and just hung out. I also finished my packing pretty early. In class, we got this little book that everyone signed, and it was really cool.

After I'd said all my goodbyes, I got on the 3:30am bus to Boston (Mike and Martin were on the same bus to Provindence), and I sat with Jacquie, the Austrlian girl. She's really nice, and she knows just as much about movies that I do! And she's really into Napoleon Dynamite, so we had quite a few good laughs on the road.

After another unhealthy breakfast (fries), we got on the plane at about 5:30, and landed in St. Louis at 9:45 local time. I hugged all the EF people (Magnus, Joran, Jacquie), and then we went to the luggage pick up area, where our new families were waiting. The Schwartz family were there, and Nathan was holding this really neat poster that said "Ine, Welcome to Misoouri".

Before we went to their house, we stopped at Wal Mart for some food for my host grandma, which was great, cuz I love Wal Mart!

Later, we went for lunch at my host grandma's house, where I met some relatives of Franci, who were really nice. The first thing they said to me was "You don't look like Pippi Longstockings at all!"

When we got back, I put all my stuff into my new room, decorated it a little, and just tidyed it up. It looks really nice by the way.

Today we've been to Stuart's sister's place (Vicky), and it was really cool! We got lots of good food (hush puppies, fish, home made fries, mac&cheese, etc.), and I hung out with the kids: Charles, Alex, Ryan, Ashlee, Samantha, Nicole and Nathan. Thomas was there too, but he's just 2 years (I think) old. We watched TV (Mythbusters on Discovery, and then a Disney Channel movie), played with the frisbee, and just had loads of fun.

Oh well, I better get going, I wanna read some more Harry Potter before I go to bed! See ya!

Old School Skating

2005-07-26T16:50:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went skating, and it was SO cool! We went to the United Skates of America, which is a skating rink over in Providence, and we all rented a pair of old school skates, you know the ones with two wheels in the front, and two in the back? I haven't tried those since I was about 7 years old, I think, so it was a little weird in the beginning, but after a while, I really got the hang of it. I skated with Hannah and Steffi, and then with Martin, a friend of Mike's (we HAD to go girl + boy, because they had these theme thingies that we had to do). They also turned of the lights for about half an hour, so that we had to skate in the dark. It was really neat!

Some of the students went to Laser Tag, which is a type of game that you play with lasers. I didn't really want to go there, because I wanted to hang with all the other kids, and skate, cuz it was loads of fun!

Today we're gonna have a volleyball tournament, and it's gonna be so cool! I'm gonna be on the B3 team (my class), and we're gonna play everyone in our pod. Yay! We're gonna be in the big gym (which is HUGE after Norwegian standards), and there's gonna be three courts. Wow!

I might be able to upload some pictures from the skating later today, but I'm not sure if there will be time for it. We're all very busy here! :)

Excursion Mania

2005-07-25T01:16:00.000+02:00

I'm back! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, can't really do anything about, becasue I've been on excursions everyday. On Friday, we went to Boston, which was really cool. Ingrid, Pernille, Elianne and I ran into two American guys (about 25 years old), who started asking us where we were from, what our names were, and how to pronounce them. Then they taught us about the American coins and bills, they were really funny. I think their names were David and Johnny. I also ran into some Norwegian and German kids from the Norwich camp.

Yesterday, we went to Newport, which is a city by the sea, much like the famous Newport Beach, CA. Wenche and I went shopping, and found some really great stuff. I got myself an Irish claddagh ring from an Irish specialty shop. Real cute.

Today we went to the Pawtucket Red Sox game in Providence. It lasted for about 3 hours, which is a bit much for me, so I think I dozed off a coupld of times... Anyway, the Sox won, so all's good. Yawn.

Check out more pictures at Flickr

What's up?

2005-07-20T22:40:00.000+02:00

Not much going on today. I got a call from home, which was nice. I hung out with Hannah, Steffi and Mike between classes. We got a visit from our RM, which was cool, cuz she told us what to expect, how to behave, etc.
Check out Flickr for new photos!

Providence PALACE!

2005-07-20T02:32:00.000+02:00

I got up really early today, to go meet the Taiwanese kids in teh Dining Hall. I met them yesterday, during the karaoke. They just came over, and asked for my anme, and stuff. Really cute! And they're only 12 years old, and speak perfect English! So they met me at breakfast, and they brought me lots of gifts (don't really know why), and took lots of pictures with me in them, and them doing the V-sign, of course. Typical Asian thing, I think. Cute though...

We had classes from 9am till 3pm, and then we rode yellow school busses (how cool!!!) to Providence Place, a huge shopping mall in Providence, the Rhode Island state capitol. Yay. I went with Hannah, and we went to a major bookstore, where I got Frou Frou and Death Cab for Cutie, and a magazine called Giant, and then we just walked around, checking out the shops. I found a Hot Topic shop, where I bought a "Vote for Pedro" sticker, a Star Wars t-shirt, and a Sin City t-shirt (both baby-dolls).

At around 6:30, there was a major strike of lightning, and the electricity was out for a few seconds, and every American in the building freaked! So funny! They freak all the time, over the smallest of things... Weird....

Anyway, I better get going, I really need a shower, and then I have to go meet the Taiwanese kids at 9pm, cuz I got them some small gifts at Claire. See ya!

Too Humid For Humans

2005-07-19T00:47:00.000+02:00

Today's been a great day as well. We got up early, had breakfast, and then went to an info meeting in the Janikies Auditorium, in the Admistration Hall. We got to know all the staff and faculty members, the returnees, and the campus. We also got to know who would be our homeroom teacher, and mine was Kelly Peterson, from Texas. She's really nice, and she teaches Current Issues. She was really fascinated by the Norwegian school system, and her favorite word is 'neat'...

After about two hours of Homeroom, we got to go for lunch, and I had the usual: Pasta, pizza, and a little M&M's cookie. Afterwards, Hannah and I went to the Bryant University Bookstore and had a look around. I found this really cool giant version of the Rolling Stone cover with Greenday that was taken last year, so I just HAD to buy it! I also got a Bryant Uni. t-shirt, and a little flag with the Bryant University Bulldogs on it!

Later this week, I think it was Saturday, we're going to a Paw Socks game (Pawtucket Red Sox), and I'm really looking forward to that. I will also be going to the mall for four hours tomorrow, so I hope that I can get another adaptor there...

I taught Hannah how to say "haa-haaisann" today, just like my grandma! And I also taught Kelly how to pronounce my last name, which was really cool. There's a Norwegian guy in my class called Joakim, and she just could NOT pronounce the JO sound in his name. It was SO funny!

I've taken loads of pictures today, and I might try to upload them to Flickr later, so, stay tuned!

I`m back!

2005-07-17T22:51:00.000+02:00

Finally, after tons of travelling, I`ve finally arrived in the US. We started out at Sola, then went to Gardermoen and then Heathrow. From Heathrow, we transferred to Boston after 4 hours of waiting, and arrived in Boston at 7pm, local time. We had to wait for a while when we got there, for everyone to get thorugh Immigration, and then we had to wait for the bus to come and pick us up.

The drive from the airport to the camp was about 50 minutes long, and most people fell asleep... When we got to Bryant, we were met by happy shiny people with bags of chrisp and sandiwches, and then we got our room keys. My room is pretty simple, with two beds and some storage units. I still haven`t gotten a room-mate, but I guess I`ll be getting one today, when the rest of the campers arrive. I`ll probably get a German girl, because 70% of the campers are from Germany.

Today`s been a great day! I got up at around 7am, ate breakfast, and had a walk around campus with my friend Wenche. Later, I met German girl Hannah, and we watched/played volleyball, and basketball till lunch. Lunch was great, but the food here is seriously unhealthy (cakes, eggs & ham, pancakes, coke, pizza, etc.)

Alumni gate

Right now, I`m sitting in Computer Lab, next to Hannah. We`re gonna be here till about 6pm, and then go watch "The Perfect Score" in the campus theatre.

The swimming pool at campus

Tomorrow we start school, and I can`t wait! We have to be in our homerooms at 9am, and then we got classes for the rest of the day, and then I think there`s a trip to a local mall in Provindence later.

The University I`m staying at

I got another hour on the computer, so I just thought that I’d drop in and edit my first post. I just got back form the movie theatre, and we watched a movie called The Perfect Score. And little did I know that Scarlett Johansson would be in that movie! I mean, I thought I knew her entire filmography, but obviously not…

It was a pretty decent movie, very teeny-ish, but I wasn’t really up for anything heavy, so I enjoyed it. It was really funny too; there was this druggie guy who was sort of funny, if like that sort of stuff…

Feel free to comment all you want! And e-mails are always appreciated!!!