The Dark Stranger...................

Last year I was having alot of trouble with the boy thing. My sister Amber was always dating guys, where I never had a boyfriend. And this Really bothered me alot because I wanted a boyfriend to. SO one night I had an interesting dream and i thought I would share it with everyone This is how it went:

I was in our church. I was actully in the bright green sunday school room. I heard voices out side in the hall way so I poked my head out to see. Pastor Dave, and PB were talking with my mom and dad. And every one was dressed really nicly! SO I shut the door and looked around. And there was a beautiful white wedding dress in the corner. So In my head I was like ok whos getting married and why am I wearing sweats?? My mom and Amber came in. Amber was wearing a nice bridesmaid dress and mom mom was wearing a beautiful dress too. So I asked them what they were doing. Amber replied " we are helping you get dressed" I asked her for what. She then told me" For your wedding..Duh." I just sort of stared at her for a minute while took my shoes off. It was finally time to put the dress on. Amber fixed my vail and my mom handed me flowers. I walked out of the room, And my dad was standing there. He told me I looked beautiful and off we went to the sectuary. The doors opened and The theme was apperantly a toyland theamed one. (OK to be completly honest with you some day I want to have a winter wonderland wedding, So this was a toyland winter wonderland wedding) So I walked down the isle, and everyone I knew was there. I finally looked up to see the man I was about to marry and spend the rest of my life with. He turned around and his face was blackend out. But I continued to walk up to the isle and I smiled at him and got married. The girl that got married in the dream knew who she was marrying.

To me It felt like God saying to me, "Don't worry Samantha, I have the perfect guy for you to marry and I will bring him to you, just wait." That is a dream that happend a year ago and still I can remember it. I am excited to see who the faceless stranger is. And I will wait for him..........

Soap???.............

So two weeks ago at work I started to face like I was told to. So I'm facing in the soap isle. I'm in the laundry soaps now And I'm facing tide. So As I was pulling up the third thing of Tide My arm hit another thing of soap. I didn't bother to look down because I always bump in to things and they tend to fall. So when I got done with the Tide I looked down and Blue laundry soap was EVERYWHERE! I was like "OH No!" Not only did I have to clean that up but I got of in like 3 minutes and this was going to take forever to clean. So I go in the back and I asked Andy the produce guy what I should do! I was about to grab a mop and a bucket because honestly I wasn't thinking right! lol! Next thing I know Andy was like NO! And me not thinking that if I clean up soap with a mop and water..I'm going to have a bigger mess! So Andy explained this to me. So here was my next obvious question. " What do I use?' So what does Andy do? He hands me a roll of paper towels and says have fun. SO I grab the "caution wet" sign and head out towards the My soapy mess. And while I'm walking I'm thinking " Omygoodness...My coworkers aren't going to let this one go for a while!" Sure enough Aaron Black walks past then steps back to look. He looks at me and the floor. Starts to laugh while im explaining this. SO he walks off. Then some more kids walk by. Yea it wasnt so bad. I finally got it cleaned up then off home i went.

Last Thursday I went clothes shopping with my grandma. When we got back in town we stopped by Kmart, and went to look for stuff for my secret pal. On our way out of the store I got a phone call from Jordan. " Sam, I loaded the dishwasher, how do I run it?" I started to explain to her how to but she just wasn't getting it so I told her I was on my way home, I'll do it when i get there. Just don't touch anything. So I got home set the bags down and went to the dishwasher. I said wheres the soap tablet. She told me it was in the thing already. I said OK good. So I showed her how to run it. My cousin Mo and his wife and son came upstairs and we were talking when Jordan says " Sam! I think something is wrong with the dishwasher!' I turn around and soap is coming out everywhere! So I'm thinking OK what did i do wrong. Then I looked at Jordan.." Jordan what did u do?" She proceeded to tell me she put DAWN Dish soap in the thingy and the electoral tablet. I was like WHAT! She thought I had told her to do that. When in reality I told her to just wait till I got home. So I stop the dishwasher, and its filled with water! So I grab a cup, and start taking water out. Now its like 4:30 p.m. and in my head I was thinking moms going to freak. She gets home at 5. So I was like " this is going to take forever!" So I thought for a minute and a Idea hit my head. I called PB and asked him if he had a mop I could borrow. So Of course I had to tell him! So he started laughing, and sent Kaleb over with a mop. So Kaleb comes over with the mop. Starts laughing. ( by the way Mo and Jen left)So I tell Kaleb to help He takes towles and soaks the water up and then I take the mop and suck it up. So we got all the water cleared out at 4:56 p.m. YES! So Kaleb went home and took his mop and Jordan and I sat at the dinning room table pretending to be busy. 5:00 hits. Mom comes home and says. " wow the floor looks really clean did u mop it?" we tell her no. she talks with us for a minute then says "wow it does really look clean." OK so at this point I can't hold it in any longer. So I let the whole story spill out and she starts laughing. And tells me PB he called her and told her the story. She knew the whole time!!!!!!!!!!! So anyway I thought I would share about my soapy time with you guys...........

A.C.O.R.N.

So A.C.O.R.N Finally preformed last month. We started on Wednesday night for youth group and then we were able to do so on that Sunday! It was AMAZING!!!!! Julie Showalter actually wants us to lead worship every 5th sunday after the adult worship team! I am so excited! We are learning new songs alot and its all coming together well. And of course like all bands we have our days were we just want to rip each others heads off! Take for instance Saturday night. We all decided to have practice Saturday at 4:00 p.m. We then changed it because Caleb had to work so we moved it to 5:00p.m. Well then Brandon our bass guitarist decided that he may not be able to go because he wanted to go golfing! He finally decided that this was just a little more important since we were learning 3 new songs and really need him there since he has the guitars! Well that day Brandon, Miles, Travis, Caleb, and Josh ( basically the band except Victoria and I) Had marching band in Clarinda. It was a All day event, they got up at 5:00 a.m. and went to the school then went to Clarinda,then they got back, relaxed a little except for Caleb who had to go to work, then at 5:00 they came to the church. So they are all a little grumpy. And not to mention Victoria couldn't come because she lives about 45 minutes away! Oh and just to put the icing on the cake Caleb couldn't play the jimbae because it was locked in the office and no one had keys! So we decided to get started. Have I mentioned how much I love Travis and Josh?? I do! But on Saturday I was ready to smack both of them, I understand they were both tired but trying to get them to play was like pulling teeth! Then I started to get really irritated because They had time to relax, Unlike Caleb who had to be at work at 2:00 p.m. so he went straight from Clarinda, to work, to Band practice. No breaks. And believe it or not Caleb was fine with it. he didn't complain he just did his thing.by 6:00 everyone was getting on each others nerves. so my mom decided to feed us. especially the boys. At this time I really missed Victoria because being around a bunch of tired, hungry boys isn't fun! So my mom ordered pizza. so we went and got that came back and fed everyone. then it was time for practice. Then you could feel everything going wrong. I was getting irritated because Miles wasn't using his manners very well in fact if thought he was being bossy. I was also irritated because Travis and Josh were being irritating. Miles was irritated because Josh was playing his guitar when Miles was trying to give out instructions. And because Caleb and Josh wouldn't stop talking and Caleb wouldn't stop playing piano. Brandon was irritated because he wanted to Just get everything done so he could go home. Caleb was irritated because Miles was getting mad at him. Josh was getting mad because everyone else was yelling at him to stop the guitar playing. Miles and I were both irritated because we were trying how to figure out how to sing one of the songs and it wasn't going well. And Travis was just sitting at the drums watching us all lol. At the end of practice and I was driving home I started to think , I had to reason to be irritated at Miles. He is the leader of our band, and he was tired, and he was getting sick of trying to talk and having people play there instruments or talk over him so he couldn't give out proper instructions. Now could he use his please and thank yous? yes! And I will tell him that next time in a calm tone. Because snapping at each other isn't helping us out at all. Now Josh and Travis..I had a reason to be irritated with. Because it was getting annoying with all the complaining. And Josh needs to learn that when one of us is talking NO INSTRUMENTS NEED TO BE PLAYING! Yea we tell him this every time we practice. I hope next practice will go way better. One way I can contribute is by no getting snappy, and try to work things out in a calm matter.... other then that our band rocks! :)

Here is a song called "Hosanna" Its by Hillsong United. We want to play this song soon! If you get a chance to listen to it I recommend it!


~Hosanna~


I see the king of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

Yeeeah

I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

[Chorus]
Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest [x2]

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

[Chorus]

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

[Chorus x2]

Hosanna in the highest

ELEVENTYSEVEN!

So last night around 5:50 I got a call from my mom saying "Brandon is looking for you, I think they want to have band practice tonight." My first thought was like NO! I really don't want to tonight! So I called Brandon and was like " I heard your looking for me!" Brandon was like Are you coming to the concert? I said Yes! so they came and Picked me up. A couple of days ago Brandon asked us if we wanted to go the the EleventySeven Concert. We saw these guys at LIFE 2007, and we were hooked. I said I wanted to go, but I never heard anything about it or what time we were going or anything. So I got in to Connie's van and looked around. I was the only girl! That seems to be happening alot lately lol. It was Brandon,Aaron,Mark,and Miles. So we were pumped up! We have been waiting for these guys to come somewhere FOREVER! So we got the the place called The Foundry. And its a little church out reach! Its really neat. So we watched this one band, Then EleventySeven came on, and we were pretty much front row! The concert was amazing! so they finally got done with the last song, and then the Switch kids came on. We all decided to go shop at The EleventySeven booth where the drummer was selling things. I got a CD which he signed. Then I went outside. And sitting on the step was Matt the singer! HE signed it to. We told him we saw them at LIFE 2007, he was shocked because that was far away from home! Then he asked us a question about Omaha, and we told him we don't live here, we live in Iowa. His mouth dropped and his eyes got big! and he sat there for like 5 minutes like that. Then he asked us how long it took us to get here, we told him an hour. He was like Oh Good! lol. But we sat there talking to him and just having fun. Then the Bass Guitarist Caleb came over. He like Matt asked us something about Omaha, We again told him we were from Iowa. He looked at us and gave us each a hug! ha ha it truly was an amazing night. we got autographs, and hugs and hand shakes from ElventySeven! one of our favorite bands! Yes this truly is a night I will never forget!.......

My 17th Birthday.........

So Aug. 12th I turned 17! YAY! Closer to 18! lol. This year we were camping at Lake Iceria. We rented a cabin thats right by the water. I woke up to boats, going by to find the perfect fishing spot. And the smell of fresh air. I mean it was absoulutly beautiful. Im sorry we had to come back! So the day of my birthday finally arrives ( YES) My mom and Grandma went back to Red Oak to check on the animals, and to change the cat box and so on and so forth. I got up at 8:30a.m. and my grandpa had already been up due to the fact that there was a lake with fish calling his name. :) I got dressed in a tank top and capri. Now normally I wont wear tanktops, but the day before my shoulders got really sunburnt! I walked out side with my new Twilight book that Josh got me for my birthday, I sat in a chair and started to read. I then realized it was chilly so I grabbed my sweater. My grandpa came back we talked at and watched boats, and people fishing. It was nice. around 9:20 I was wondering where my mom and gma were. my grandpa and I started joking, saying that mom and gma were eating eggs and bacon, while watching HGTV. They finally arrived with Donuts, That got Josh out of bed pretty fast! :) Mom then asked me if I wanted to eat donuts or open my presents. Well because they decided to take so long I had already ate. My grandpa and I ate Cheeseits! lol. So I said presents. So My mom took out a little jewlry box. I opened it and that was a note. I read it and it lead me to another note..It kept doing this till I found one that said go up top and look in the boat. So on we marched to the boat. I got in there and looked in the glove box to my amazement...................another note. At the end of this note it said something like look for something that i lack and look for something black. I was like omgsh! you know how many black things are on this boat. So I got out of the boat, and started looking...Possibly It could have been a new laptop that I wanted! So I was looking and looking til I came across a 2000 Black Olds Alero. Now that car hasnt been there all week. So I looked at it, and I decided well I will just ask, the worse they can do is laugh at me and I will be wrong. So I pointed to the car. And My mom was like I dont know is it? So I walked over there and on the winshild there was a big bow. I just looked at it. You know how most people scream! No not me I CRIED! I kid you not! I just Cried and said at the same time " You bought me a car???" I was so happy!!!!! So my 17th birthday goes up there with my 16th. It was one of the best birthdays ever!..........

Soda Sucks!

So most of you know I work at one of the local grocery stores in Red Oak. The store I work at is Fareway. I love my job, because I get to see many people, and My boss is really good at letting me take time off when I need it. The down side to my job is when people have had a bad day, and they go grocery shopping, they can really let out their anger on the cashier. I always seem to get the people that like to buy cigarettes. Well guess what! I don't smoke, so I have no Idea what they are talking about most of the time. Another thing I hate, is the cleaning and Facing! That's what this post is about tonight.

Tonight we seemed to be really busy. So Facing was pretty much out of the question. We started but we never got finished in the time we needed to be. at 7:00 two girls left. So I was 2ND checker. So that meant I was pretty much up front the WHOLE Night and I still needed to face. at 8:45 p.m. I was like OK I need to help Whitney clean, because she left at 9 which meant I would then be first checker, and I would have to clean the front then go face! So Whitney and I cleaned like crazy! 9:00 comes, Becca leaves. So guess what! I'm the only girl at that moment that can face because the boys we stocking! great! I had pretty much a whole store to face! How lucky am I? So Whitney asks tonight's manager if she can stay and help he tells her NO! So I start facing. Then Jill comes out from the office and helps me. 10:05 we are finally done! ya. Well Ben ( to nights manager) tells us we need to face the soda that's in the front. Ahhh I just wanted to go home! 10:10 Jill and I are facing soda. Well guess what! I drop a 12 pack of Dr.Pepper. And guess what happens when you drop soda! It EXPLODES! So now I need to go get the mop. So I go to the back and get the mop and the mop bucket. Well guess what! I'm rolling the bucket and it tips over! So mop water is every where and even better the mop is stuck in the medal thingy! so Wyatt comes over and helps me clean that mess then I go over and clean up the Soda mess. I didn't leave the store till about 10:20.....So I thought I would share my awesome night at the store!...........

My Birthday............

So my Birthday is in exactly 10 ( Aug. 12Th) It's funny, because I was just telling my mom it feels like I just had my 16Th birthday not that long ago! So I'm going to tell you the story of my FABULOUS 16TH birthday party! Here it goes!

Last summer I went to LIFE 2007, LIFE is a big youth conference, that lasts about a week and it every 3 years! So I'm lucky because I went my 9th grade year and I get to go my senior year! Ok I will write about LIFE later. But anyway we left July 3rd. went for a week then I flew to California to see my dad. Now pretty much the whole time I was at my dad's house I was talking to Amber about my Sweet 16! Cause hello its my 16TH birthday! I told Amber and my mom who I wanted to come, and so on so forth. I also told Amber I wanted a big happy birthday banner in the ally way. That connects to our house and to the pole across. She said she would see what she could do. So I left California Aug. 11th and I was supposed to arrive to Iowa at 12:00 Midnight so pretty much my birthday! which I was pumped up for! So my mom and grandma came to the airport to pick me up, and my mom had flowers for me for my birthday, yes I felt special! :) So anyway we are just about home and my mom calls Amber to tell her to unlock the door. So we get to the allyway and that is something Big and Black in the ally. I was like what the heck, so I go out and investigate. I lifted it up and it was my happy birthday sign. It had black ducktape on it so it could connect to the house and pole but it didn't hold. And seeing the ducktape, I automaticly knew that Miles had helped Amber with it lol. ( Miles is a Ducktape Fanatic!) So I get my bags and get to the door. And the door is locked. I got just a little irritated because my bags were really heavy and my mom had just called and told her to unlock the door! So Amber unlocks the door, and its dark in the kitchen, and I noticed she was holding the camera. And I was like ok, because Amber likes to take pictures of herself so I thought nothing of it. We said hi. I put one foot in the door and all of my friends jump out and start screaming surpirse! And I screamed because I was scared to death! But then I got really excited because I missed them so much! I found out that Miles and Michael had helped decorate my house my dinning room was full of streamers. It was so RADICAL! Most of my friends stayed the night that night. Then the next day we went to church then it was party time! PB grilled, my friend came and we talked and hung out. We had SO MUCH FUN! My mom got me an awesome cake! And the whole party was just amazing! Then that night us teens went to the church and played Gargoyles. Which is a REALLY fun Game! So to me I had the best Sweet 16 In the whole world! I wouldn't ever change it!