One Year

Well, almost a month ago we'd been living over here for a year.
So I thought I'd do a one-year-where-we-are post...

When we moved, I never thought I'd...

- Play hockey in 100+ degree weather... and add humidity to that, too.
- Drop ballet and start fencing.
- Want to learn Arabic
- Like playing volleyball
- Meet people from so many different countries.
- Attend a MASSIVE church.
- Deepen my relationship with God as much as I have.

There are tons more, too, but those are the big ones...
The hockey one was just today, I was so surprised when a knock on the door was Al and Aaron wondering if we wanted to play hockey. We went out, though, and it was pretty fun. I was even more surprised, though, when Jack left the game because "it was just a game." I've been praying for him, though. I'd like it if you would pray for him... he's quite strongly for evolution, and swears a lot, etc.

I've also finished my first week of school... I'm still deciding whether or not I like chemistry, it kinda goes up and down. But Logic today was fun (and easy), geometry so far has been a blast (went ahead a bit, took the first test yesterday, only missed two from really stupid mistakes from the guy's wording), Bible and history are great, and my two languages are going okay... we still don't have an Arabic program, so this week was just reviewing the alphabet.

Fencing has been going well... but that leads us to another prayer request. As a family, we're trying to re-do our schedule for this year, and I may have to drop an activity - whether Oasis, WellGroup (which would also mean dropping WaterWorks), WaterWorks, Music, or Fencing... and I really can't decide. Music might be dropped, though, if we can't find a teacher for the instrument I want - Oboe or viola.

Anyway.

The blog may look weird for a little while, I figured out how to put up part of the custom layout, and I think I'll leave it like that cuz I like it. But it may appear a little strangely at first.

Also thought I'd post something I made on the GIMP today...

Click it and it gets bigger. ;)


Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee from her fresh new layout.

Don't Go Where I Can't Follow?

A post I made on the Rebelution Forum... thought I'd re-post it here:

We have a dog.
His name is Eeyore.
Now Eeyore loves to go on walks. But more often than not, he wants to go where he wants to go, not where I want him to go. It makes me wonder – how often do we do this to God? Do we ever say “Sure, God, I’ll go wherever – as long as I want to go there. As long as I can follow. Just please, don’t go where I can't follow.” God created us, He knows what’s best for us, right?
We moved across the ocean a little over a year ago. At first, I really didn't want to go. But now that we're here, I like life better. God knew what He was doing when my dad got a job over here.

Food for thought:

- Why do we believe we can't follow where God is taking us?
- Why do we pull the leash in another direction?
- And what should we do when God wants us to go somewhere we don’t want to go?

Over'n'out

Kilo-yankee

Back to School!

Well, today was/is the first day back to school.
*sigh* I love 10th grade so far. I think I'll survive everything I was worried about. At least for a little while.

Anyway, I got up at my normal school-week time, 6:30 (I try to get it down to 6, but it doesn't always work), and was out of bed by 6:40. After 20 minutes on the computer, I started my history lecture.

I love Dr. Grant's Orientations. Last year's was funnier, but this one was good, too. And, like last year, he stressed the "culture is religion externalized."

Then I got dressed and did Bible, which for the first semester is reading a book called "The Story of Christianity." I like Bible. Never any tests, quizzes, etc, but I seem to learn the most in it.

I thought it was breakfast time, so I went downstairs, but still had fifteen minutes, so I did literature. I get poetry for the first two weeks again. Yech. At least this year I don't have to do meter and all that tricky hard boring stuff.

After breakfast I started on Chemistry, which won't actually be so bad, I don't think. Today was all about mass and matter and the metric system. So not actually chemistry yet, only an introduction, but that's okay with me.

Geometry was a blast. All it was was 20 questions where basically all I did was come to a simple conclusion. Like "Linda pulled 3 tennis balls out of the basket. All three were yellow. Therefore..." and I had to come up with a conclusion. :P I think I'm going to like geometry, especially if it stays a lot like logic (which, sadly, I don't do logic until Thursday, and it's only once a week).

I just reviewed for French. Used a picture of our old cat as a person to talk to so I could practice asking questions... then I answered them for her. I know, I'm weird.

Critical thinking was easy today, too. I can't believe that book is for 7-12th grade. So far it seems like 4th grade.

Corrected a few old Algebra tests (yeah, I leave Algebra, and suddenly it all clicks and I fixed them easily and [I think] correctly). And now it's 11 o'Clock and I'm done with school.

Tonight we're celebrating my birthday as a family. Mommy and I are going to make Spatzle for dinner. Yum.

Yesterday Cait and some of her friends went to see a movie, and since Hannah's older sister was going, she came, too, and we watched Candace in Magic Planet while my mom visited with some local friends. It was fun, we got to go on rides for free with Candace because she was under 10, so we took turns with her. Then we walked around some, got dinner at Subway, ice cream from MacDonalds, then went into Magrudys for a while. The movie finished and Hannah and everyone else got picked up, then we drove home. Fun day.

Guess I should go do music practice.

Well... it's nice to be back in school.


Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee

Superhero Progressive Dinner

Thursday night was our Oasis Progressive Dinner. This year's theme was to dress up as a superhero, but not a known one, you had to make it up.
So at first we got there, said hi to everyone, all that stuff. Then Pastor W. said to line up to get our appetizers (consisting of chips, M&Ms, Skittles, and crackers), and once everyone had something we all had to stand up and say our real name, superhero name, and our superpower.
Then we loaded up into 3 different bus-vans, we were in the Whale, with Pastor W. driving. Most people were singing, but I was catching up with Hannah, who arrived back here the 29th.
Dinner (taco salad) was at the W's house, and a lot of us decided humidity didn't matter and so ate outside.
Dessert was at the T's house, 37th floor of a 47-story building. Most elevators here are super-slow and get REALLY annoying... not this one - it was so fast, and went so high up my ears popped. It felt like I'd always imagined a rocket... except slower and without the 3g impact. :P
On the way back to the Church, the Whale wouldn't start (about the whale - it's our big, blue bus-van, and it's really old, no air conditioning, smells of the guys, and doesn't always start...), but Pastor W. revved the engine (I think that's what he did, anyway), and it finally started. We sang Veggietales and Disney songs, then were singing "Undignified" really loudly as we pulled back into the Church.
On the way back home with the Rs, we sang rounds with daddy and Rachel... and Dan was sitting there bored half to death.



Laziboy... he sits around while his teddy bops people with his "pillow of death."



Inside the whale. I'm the one on the left.


Dan, Me, Rachel, and Cait. Daniel was the Shade/Shadow, who could disappear into shadow.
I was the Unidentified Superhero, and could shoot hot glue out of my fingers.
Rachel had an endless supply of junk in her pockets,
And Cait was Super Cordelia Time Traveler.


Eating outside at the W.'s.


Elisabeth's "dry ice cream," aka an ice cream sundae without the ice cream.


Utensil Man, coming to the rescue of something, can't remember what it was... since 1975.


And, Pastor W., aka Bathroom Boy... with the ability to smell like a toilet... that's Pastor W. for you...


Me, Rachel, and Cait.


A bunch of people, including the SuperMaids, Cereal Girl and Milk Girl (bringing milk and cereal to hungry people).


Hannah (Pink - spreading the pink!), and Elisabeth.

Other supers..

Supermom - had the ability to cook better than two guys in the youth group who cook really well, ground you if you diss her cooking, and hit you over the head with a cookbook if you diss her cooking.

SuperMary and SuperLamb... from Mary Had a Little Lamb...


Those were just the good ones. There were about 40 youth there... and we didn't get home until midnight, so I'm really tired.

Over'n'out
The Unidentified Superhero.

About meself... the super-long version:

I tend to be awful at writing about myself, it’s not something I do a lot, and I greatly dislike doing it. One warning before I start: I often get side tracked or start to ramble. So be forewarned. As you’ve already seen, my name is Kyleigh, though most places online I go by Ky or Kyleian. I’m fourteen, and my dad is a pilot with an airline in the Middle-East. So I live out in a tent in the middle of the desert. Well, not really. We do have desert campouts in the winter when it’s cool enough, but normally I live in a house with painfully hard marble floors. I have three siblings, and I’ve always wished for more. I’m the second oldest and the second tallest. For now. We’re a rather short family, I’m 5’ 1 ½” (if even)… All four of us kids are homeschooled, and have been basically our whole lives – my parents were in language school for 2 years, in which my older sister (4) and I (2) went to pre-school, Kindergarten, and first grade at schools in Jordan. I love school, God has blessed with a love for learning none of my other siblings seem to have. This coming school year I will be taking both French and Arabic, geometry, Chemistry, Logic, Medieval-Early Renaissance History and Literature, art, and PE… well, kinda for the art and PE. It’s more of a draw-something-once-a-week and be-sure-to-go-swimming-or-run-around every day. I do have fencing two-three times a week, though, and love playing with swords. Besides swords (and other old-fashioned weapons such as bow-and-arrows), I love dance, music, writing, and books. I don’t dance as much as I did previously, we moved to the Middle-East about a year ago, and none of the dance schools here met our standards (actually now there is one that does, but it’s not technically a school, and I kept up with ballet for so long in the states because of the atmosphere at the school we were at). I do dance around the house still, it’s kind of hard to marché down the stairs without getting hurt. I’m constantly listening to music, and when I’m not I’m making it – I play guitar, piano, and violin (piano and violin just picked up from my siblings), and this school year I’m (Lord willing) taking viola or oboe. I love to sing as well, however I’m not very good and my voice isn’t very high so it’s a bit tricky to sing a lot of songs I like. My favorite genres are classical, Contemporary Christian, country, and soft rock. The artists I listen to most are Third Day, ApologetiX, Jars of Clay, Blesk, Eisley, Sara Groves, Michael Card, Bethany Dillon, Newsboys, Delirious?, and Nichole Nordeman. I love to write, but some days I don’t feel like it or am stuck in one of my stories, so instead I’ll read or draw. I’ll draw anything if I have a good idea, but the outcome isn’t always the best. :) Usually I’ll go on reading streaks, when I’ll read almost non-stop for a few days to two weeks. I read mostly historical fiction and fantasy, but I love sci-fi and biography as well. I loathe romance. Usually. My favorite authors: J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Jacques, C.S. Lewis, Lois Walfrid Johnson, and Douglas Bond. My favorite books, er, well, the top few other than my Bible, would be (in no particular order) Viking Quest series, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Last Sin Eater, Quo Vadis, The Bronze Ladder, They Loved to Laugh, and The Princess Bride.

We don’t watch many movies in our house, but I seem to go on movie-watching streaks as well, where I just feel like watching movies. My favorites would be Ladyhawke, National Treasure, Les Miserables, Facing the Giants, Princess Bride, and MirrorMask. A few random facts: I love hot glue guns, techno music, duct tape, cookies, masks, song parodies, and grapefruits. Well, this is getting rather long, so cookies to all who are still reading, and goodbye.

I just felt like posting. :)
And this is my new bio for www.apricotpie.com So I thought I'd share it here... so I'm not quite 14 yet, but by the time I'm completely finished writing it and everything, I will be. It's only three days.

Fencing tonight! I'm gonna get killed... unless it's only me and Mr. Seraj. That would be nice, a one-on-one fencing session my first night back.

*shoots a hot glue gun at a beetle walking by* *Kapow*

Ky

Phantom of the Opera... in Techno.

Something you probably didn't know about me is that I like techno music.

Quite a lot.

Anyway, while I was in Yemen, we got on the topic of music when we were in the car with some friends. And one guy told me about the Phantom of the Opera... in techno.
Sadly, I can't seem to find it anywhere, but I did find this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHmtSCnVLjU
(don't pay any attention to the video, it's just the music)

And I've listened to it about 10 times already today. I love it.


Well, what else... the youth group progressive dinner is coming up on Thursday. You have to make up a super hero, and go as that. I know what I'm doing, but it's a secret.

I have a follow-up doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Pray for that.

School starts next Sunday, but I may start some tomorrow. This year, I have:
- Medieval/Early Rennaissance Literature
- Medieval/Early Rennaissance History
- French
- Arabic
- Logic
- Geometry
- Chemistry
- PE
- Bible
- Art

Cait and I may be doing a debate book with daddy as well, but we're not exactly sure. And of those, only 6 are daily. So I don't have too much every day. I'm actually looking forward to it a lot.
If I like Chemistry and Geometry, my sophmore year will be a blast.


Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee

Well, that was an eventful day.

Okaaay... so, I was gone most of the afternoon and evening.
Why?

Because we thought I had appendicitis. Yeah, I went to the bathroom and ended up on the floor, doubled over in pain. I spent half an hour lying on mom and dad's bed while they figured out what to do, finally we made an appointment with the doctor.

He diagnosed me with appendicitis.

At this point I started getting really scared, thinking I would have to have an operation. Which in my mind means lotsa needles. Which scares me. A lot.

I went to the ER in American Hospital. By now the pain was almost gone except for when I moved around.

I saw a nurse, questions, answers, etc. Got sent to a room. Waited for a while. The pain subsided a little bit more.

Finally, a doctor came, by then it was basically gone. He said, no it's not appendicitis, the only symptom I had was the pain, nothing more. So, we could either leave (by the way, by now it's like, 6 PM) or get some more tests done.

I ended up getting my blood drawn. And I hate needles... well, more like I'll sometimes almost faint if I have to get my blood drawn, shots aren't quite as bad, though. And then she left the thing in so I could be hooked up to a drip/IV if needed. So basically, for like, 3 hours, I have this needle stuck in my wrist and it's really uncomfortable.

Anyways. Then I had 3 ultrasounds. Yuck.

And it turns out I may have a cyst on a couple organs. What that means, we're not exactly sure yet. Just pray - for me, and for wisdom for the doctors. And that maybe, maybe, whatever is there will be gone by my next doctor's appointment.

So yeah... that's mostly what happened today.

Pretty scary.

Ky