High School?...been there, done that.

The past weeks have been crazy as I finished up my High Schooling and start to pack up my life here in PNG.
I've hit milestones and made memories. I laugh, I cry. I pinch myself and pray that I won't miss one moment of this.


Here is a recap of how my last moments of High School went down.

Senior Prank:

Kristin caught in action -covering youth pastor's floor with cups full of water.

We put banana tree's everywhere (including Vice Prin. office) to "protest" against all the trees they cut down this year. ;)

Frank! We put fish in all the sinks and beakers.

We did so much more, like writing random things with chalk everywhere, putting tree huger signs everywhere, taping, hanging boxers in the quad etc. :)

Grad Dessert Night:

A special evening for Graduates & their parents.

We <3 PNG.

A special evening filled with appetizers, funny stories, a slide show, Graduate Trivia, delicious desserts, pictures, devotional, letter sharing with our parents, and just down right good fellowship.

The last day of school:

The last day of High School. Ever. :D

Passing over my powers to Seong Eun!

Graduation!!
And finally...we made it. Graduation: June 12, 2012.

Class of 2012.

It's legit.

Super excited!

Praying.

Reception.

I feel like this is just kind of the cliff notes because there is so much more I could say or post, but didn't want to bore you tooo much.

Q.O.D.

(Question of the Day)

(I'm starting to wonder...)

Pinch me.

This can't be real life. I'm like...graduating!

I can't believe that this weekend is already here! New Years was hard enough to believe- how did we get to 2012 so fast?! Weren't we just in the 90's? But now...it's June?! Already.
June 2012 was a month that has been a big milestone mark we've had in front of us for like...ever. And it seemed so far away, but here I sit in it!
Yes, this time of year feels familiar, cause I've done it several times before- but what I can't wrap my mind around is that this time...it's me. I still go through out my day, hanging with my friends, feeling like it's just another day in the life of an MK until I stop and realize...this time next week, she won't be here any more- yikes!
Yesterday I went to the river...no, it can't be my last time out there.
Tonight is Grad dessert night...that dress hanging there can't possibly be for ME.
Tomorrow is Tissue Sunday at Soul Purpose...it can't actually be my last one ever.
Tuesday is Graduation...I'm just confused thinking that I'll be the one on that stage.
Wednesday the goodbye's begin...nope. This must all be a dream. Wednesday morning as that plane takes off, someone will pinch me and I'll wake up before the nightmares begin...right? Please?

In all seriousness, the reality of all this really isn't sinking in. I know it in my head, but right now my heart won't accept what this all means.
I did go through a grieving stage a couple weeks ago, so I don't know if I'm at peace now because I've already been through this, or I'm just still in denial.
I havn't really packed up my room yet, like most of my friends, cause I'm staying here longer after grad, so this all feels normal to me. I pulled out a suitcase and put it in my room, just so I could start getting the idea.

But I know there are still lots of fun things going on the next couple weeks...and great things waiting in the States. I'm just not ready to have to face all these goodbyes.
 I'm trying to live as much as I can in this very moment. Drinking in every ounce I can. Capturing memories and living all 60 seconds of each minute.
We're in a race against the clock and we just can't run fast enough.

I don't know when it will hit, but I know when it does...it'll hit hard.
Prayers appreciated :)

Count your blessings.

On the very first day of the this last term, waaay back in April, I came home to find a letter and calendar from my dear mom on my bed.
Here's what she said..."I wanted to give you this calendar, not to count-down-the-days, but to encourage you to write in the square one little something to be thankful for each day...one little (or big) gift that God gave you that day...I think it can be a very precious memento of this this last term and be a reminder that it was filled with extraordinary and ordinary gifts. They are there every day if we just look for them and unwrap them."

I loved the idea and enjoyed reaching the end of my day so I could write down all that I was thankful for or achieved. Some days were easy, with just simple blessings. Others were filled full with fun adventures and memories. And yet some, where rather hard to find things to write down...but those were the days that I really dug and realized that we can find blessings in everything. I didn't just write one thing each day, like my mom suggested, but packed the boxes full sometimes. I can't believe that I'm already standing here at the end of the term, all these weeks later...yet whenever I feel like I'm dreaming this- I can just look back at the calendar and see how full it is.

I know you can't really read them, but you can see that it's like solid text.
oh yeah...and today's says "Finished High School" umm yeah...no biggie. ;)

This is the weirdest, most exciting, scariest, confusing, sad, emotional, happy time of my life...ever. I appreciate having this calendar to be able to look back, and not have to remember all the times of tears and fears, but look back and remember all the great things I was able to do and how God blessed me.

You might consider having one yourself, or a thankful journal you write in each night. It's a great way to end the day positively and have record of God's great faithfulness. :)

Steals or Deals?

Yesterday afternoon I skipped studying and went into town with some girlfriends for a quick shopping trip.
Yes, we often talk about missing the mall and how excited we are to go shopping in the States, but yesterday I was reminded of the beauty of second hand shopping.
Well yes, you have to look real close because half the lights are burnt out, you have to sift through aisles of the randomest stuff, like fat people's pre-used leotards, and ignore all the people watching you. Most clothes are wrinkled and dirty, but a little washing and a fixing of a button is not to hard. So why is this so great? Because you can get great clothes for cheaper then anywhere else.

Here's what I got yesterday:
(I was mostly looking for summer clothes, so I don't look like a bum burning up in Texas when I land in mid-July). 
2 tank tops. Cute swim shorts. Sun-dress. A couple cute tops. Aztec skirt. Sleeveless cardigan. A nice formal dress for sometime in the future.
They look a bit frumpy now, because they need washed and are just strewn on the couch- but I have some great I'm-attempting-to-somewhat-fit-in-and-be-somewhat-trendy-non-MK-outfits planned. Exciting stuff. :)

Guess how much I paid for all of this?

$10. Yep. I'll give you a chance to collect yourself...

That's more then the average person spends on sunglasses. Or on a lunch. Or on a t-shirt for sale...ok I could be totally wrong here...it's been a while since I've seen "real prices".

Oh second hand shops, how I'll miss you...but don't worry- I'll visit you again before I go to the land of expensive clothing...:)

So...

...you wanna know what actually has been keeping this girl from blogging?
It can pretty much be summed up in the fact that these are my last couple weeks with my class. For like ever.
Well yes, I'll see some of these people again...but not all of them, and not all like this. *tear*

So here's a quick glimpse into all that has been going on in my life lately to make these past couple weeks...what they were. Fun. Bittersweet. Memorable. Adventurous. 

"President Snow" cake Kaela and I made for our Hunger Game viewing party!

Taking like 20 people to JG cliff.

Spontaneous class BBQ's

Nerd day.

Saying good-bye to Daphne. The first of many...

Special Bible Study times with my girls.

Class of 2012 Senior Pranking. :) (more later)

We also :
-randomly went fishing in Tim's river. We started with hooks and string, and left the rest up to nature.
-ran around center getting flowers to deliver to Adrienne for her anniversary
-drove out to the fish hatchery to buy fish for our senior prank.
-invaded friends houses to talk and hang out
-made random food at those invaded friends house

-had "study parties" where there is 0% progress made on actual school work
-girls sleepovers.
-class movie nights.
-girls "picture walk".

...and we still have 2 weeks. :)
It's amazing how much people are willing to do when they realize that time is ticking. Wish they noticed the clock a little sooner, but better late then never, right?

The other big thing is...I have a new pet. Now I'm usually not really a pet person, but I always have said that someday I'd get a fish because they are easy (ier then a cat, dog, hamster etc) so after our snr prank (which included putting fish in all the different sinks/toilets/science beakers) I brought one home.
Mario. He's "cute", I care for him and we're soul mates.haha
The plan is to keep him until grad, and then let him go free in the wild. Kinda like me...

THE after party.

So here's that post I promised about what happened after 2:00 am.
Our totally awesome Bible Study leader, along with some other ladies and alumni planned us a great afterparty!
At 2 they blindfolded us and ushered us into the middle of the empty meeting house where they completely splattered us all in glow stick-ness so we all glowed. We ripped off our blind-folds the beats started and they party began. We just played with glowsticks and danced. The stage was filled with couches and food. The back of the meeting house had a nice little cafe complete with a whole plethora of drinks (all named after seniors!). There was also ping pong, glowstick bowling, karaoke and sumo!! Just dance later, and lots of people just played random games. In one corner there was a photo booth thingy that I had fun in.
It was a fun fun night. And they had tons of food!! :)

At 6:00am I loaded up a truck-full of girls and we drove to the top of a hill to watch the sun rise. It didn't really rise, it just was. But we had fun talking and reflecting back on the fun filled night. It was a great end to a long night. Just quietly sitting with these dear girls watching the fog roll through the trees on the mountain and see our amazing community slowly wake up.

The awesome master minds of the party.

We're Princesses :)

no lie.

the Senior drinks.

Sun"rise"

The lovely ladies.