The Three Stooges

My mother calls them "Who", "What", and "I Don't Know", but I call them the Three Stooges.

Gamaliel, Jesse, and Conrad have been in my life for a lonnnng time. They're staples. They will always be there. They will always be in my mind as "Those Holy Terrors" or "The Ravenous Hoards" or "THOSE DARN BOYS!"

I can recall a couple incidents in which both I was to blame and they were to blame..

• THE TREE HOUSE INCIDENT

So I'm four years old. And the boys are in their tree house. What am I gonna do? I have no friends at that point, since Jesse's sister Sarah was only like, two.. So I stood just below their tree house, whining and complaining and hurtling insults up at them when they wouldn't let me up. Finally, it got to a point where nothing that came out of my mouth was comprehendable, and in my four-year-old wrath, I picked up a rock half as big as my head and proceeded to chunk it through the air: up. Of course, you know the saying: What goes up, must come down.
And down it came! Right on my head. (It's most likely that the reason I was offended was I'd done it to myself.)
There was hell to pay. I screamed; I yelled; I danced around the yard holding my hands over my head and hollering accusations like a typical little girl would at her brothers. I then took it a step further and went inside, still crying and holding the growing red knot on my head.
The result?
Groundage for Jesse (one week) and a spanking for Gamaliel.
They've never let me forget it.

• THE LEMONADE STAND INCIDENT

Anyone who knows me very well has heard or read this story. Basically, my friend Katie and I went through a lot for a seven and ten year old to go through to make a lemonade stand. We tediously prepared the lemonade, stored it in the fridge in glass jars, and then went outside to make the actual stand. After digging around in the bodega (shed) and the back yard for an hour or so, we came up with an ugly yellow metal table and two falling-apart chairs that would just barely support our weight.
When we got back inside? All the lemonade had been drunk by Gamaliel and Conrad.
All of it.
We've never let them forget it.

December 2008 Update

Well, here I am again. It's December, and I haven't written in about two months.

Life has been very good, excepting the weather. Lots of snow and lots of clouds. I hate clouds.

Let's see.. For my birthday in October, we went bowling! That was fun. It was me, Jess, Lydia, Randi, Eric, Brenden, and Jeff. The other Jeff may have been there, too, but I don't remember. We had a lot of fun. It's quite amusing to watch Smithers (Jeff) bowl, because he never does it like a normal person.. He's always putting a twist on it. And by twist, I don't mean a spin-ball. I mean, he gets on the floor and pushes it with his feet, which generally results in one of us having to go fetch it out of the gutter because it didn't have enough oomph to get all the way to the pins. Or he'll bowl backwards, through his legs. Or, this one was amazing: He'll run, throw it, and end up on his face on the floor.. We got a video of THAT one. =D Haha.

We kids have been going out to lunch and supper quite frequently, though not so much in December as we normally do. I leave tomorrow for Texas for almost a month.
I almost don't want to go, but at the same time, I want to see Mama and Katie and all those people I never see in Alaska.. So.. Yeah. =) I'm just not looking forward to the plane ride. (You may have read my former posts about plane rides..)

Hopefully, I sit next to someone friendly again. But..
I GOT A WINDOW SEAT! WOOT!

Everything is packed. My violin, my clothes, except for the ones in the washer.. my laptop, my art stuff, my notebooks for writing, my stationary, etc.

Today I go ice skating with Brenden! Then Annie will pick us up, and I don't know what Brenden wants to do, if he wants to stay or not, but we plan on opening my presents before I leave. =) I LOVE presents.
Yay Christmas!
Of course, that's not the only reason I like Christmas. Duh.

I'm spending Christmas with my Mama! Yay! The..second? Christmas I've spent with her that I remember.

Well, the post is long enough now. Sufficient update?

Love, Bug

God is On My Side

I am not afraid
to live this life before me
to look into the future
and tell you what I see

I am not afraid
to be all by myself
but at least I can admit
that I may need someone's help

And I am not afraid
whether I get things wrong or right
I know I'll be just fine
God is on my side

It's Never Enough

Daddy said that she said
I will always hate you

She said that he said
we will never make it through

and everything is destitute
everything is falling out
everything is never enough
and when things are goin’ rough
we

Give up and give out
and end what we just began
and it’s never enough...
it’s never enough
to just be loved.

She said that he said
drama is so pitiful

But he said that she said
drama is so beautiful

And all we do is follow suit
all we do is go around
being tough
ignoring love and when things are goin’ rough
we

Give up and give out
and end what we just began
and it’s never enough...
it’s never enough
to just be loved.

Eheh.

"We love you RJ!"

Randi, Beth, and Jeff were ready...

Inga surprised Eric (for his birthday) by spraying them all with silly string. Jeff, Eric, and Brenden.

Me and Randi!

~Allie

Oops.

Yes, yes. I know I said I would post pictures. However, the second I got off, I realized that I didn't actually have the camera here with me. *eheh* It's in the back of Randi's car... along with my sleeping bag.

Ah, how absent minded we females can be. (I can just envision a hearty "AMEN" from the opposite gender...)

I'm going to TRY to post them Thursday. But no promises. I'm nabbing the camera tomorrow night at church.

Oh, the Good Times

Hullo.

I mentioned in my previous post that I'd be gone for the weekend. Well, I'm back, and I had an amazing, phenomenal, wonderful, terrific time. It was a perfect weekend, pretty much. Not even a low point in my mood. Not once. (That's sayin' something.)

Let's start this post out with some funny quotes from the youth retreat. We all like to laugh, right? (Nod.)

--

I asked Amanda which guy was her dad, and she said, "The guy with the hat? And the beard?"
And Kim, a counselor, jumps up off her matress and says, "Santa Clause!"

--

"Hello!" -Brenden (You had to be there.)

--

"But didn't Rene'e go off to college?" -Logan
"I thought she was at school, yeah.." -Jeff
"She is.. She already left you guys.." -Allie
"Um." -Brenden
"We were joking." -Randi (insert "duuuuuh" look from everyone)

--

I yelled to my Capture the Flag team that we needed someone not active in our group to go capture the opposing team's flag. I told them that it wouldn't work for me to go because I was team leader and they knew what team I was on. Little Halle raises her hand, jumps up and down, and yells, "I'm not active! I'm chubby!"

--

"Hey girl, heyyy!" -Halle (Another one of those 'ya had to be there' quotes.)

--

"What are you doing!!!" -Eric
"Looking for my Bible, okay?!" -Allie
"Well, do it in the morning." -Eric
"I won't be conscious in the morning." -Allie
"You won't be conscious anyway if you stay down here another five minutes." -Eric

--

"John 3:16-" "WHAT?!" -Brenden

--

"Sorry we didn't get ice cream, guys." -Kim
"Sorry doesn't cut it." -Brenden

--

"I don't like things that crawl." -Amanda B
"You don't like BABIES?!" -Randi

--

"Bees, I can handle. Beetles, I can handle. Pretty much anything I can handle, but there was a spider in the canoe and I nearly flipped us." -Lindsey

--

"Let's row to the neighbors cuz it ticks him off." -Brenden

--

"I ain't violent, and if you say I am again I'll take you down." -Allie

--

"Ending a fiddle contest tune on a chord is kinda like ending an article with a closer." -Allie
"Ohhhh so... like, ending a movie with the credits?" -Jeff
(*closes eyes with pain*)

--

Now, I'm going to go download pictures so I can post them tomorrow.

Good night.
~Allie

Of Orchestra Practice and Camp

Last night was the first night of orchestra rehearsal at UAA.

I managed to find the room on the first try, something of which I am very proud. And apparently I pulled off the "I know exactly what I'm doing" look because nobody pointed at me and said, "Look at that poor girl going around in circles."

The room was small, could probably seat... Oh, 50 or so people. Maybe 70. I don't know. I am the girl, after all, who says "twenty thousand" and means three.

There were two other people occupying seats when I entered. They were seated at opposite ends of the room. The typical "I don't know this person so I'm going to be socially awkward and sit as far away from them as I can" outlook.

Of course, I can't complain because I did it too.

The room quickly filled, what with people crowding around the stage where we practice and the cello cases and bass cases takes up three feet in every direction. And by three feet I mean like, a foot.

Mr. Oliveras, the conductor and concertmaster, entered and The Great Chair Hunt began. And since I have absolutely no idea where anything is in the building, I exited the room with great confidence and began walking down the hall. One of the guys followed me and asked me if I knew where any chairs were. I stopped and shrugged and said, "Um, I'm heading to the bathroom." Thinking, now if you keep following me I'm going to be highly creeped out. He said "oh" and turned around and walked off. (Yay.)

Once we had all gathered back on stage, finally in chairs, with stands all properly placed, we realized that I was the only second chair violinist. As the music was passed out, everyone started to tune up and get comfortable. Mr. Oliveras sat down, took a deep breath, dipped the scroll, and we began. It didn't sound half bad, actually. I was impressed.

When we got to the last piece, by Tchaikovsky, I nearly had a heartattack. I was still the only second violinist to show up, but as we began to play, someone pushed open the door and another girl with a violin walked through. I nearly lept up to give her a hug.
And I'm not a huggy person.

Well, that's about all; we did well, and the next practice is Tuesday. I'm sure I'll have more to write.

This weekend I'll be gone for two days to camp, where no phones, ipods, or other distracting entertainment methods are allowed. It'll be a weekend of relaxation by the lake on the dock and games with friends and quiet hours. Probably a lot of rain, too. (Insert frown.)

Anywho.
Have a beautiful weekend.
Cheers.
~Allie

Some Things are Learned the Hard Way

As a Texan in Alaska, one of the things you cannot mention is how big Texas is. How long it takes to cross Texas in a car. How everything is bigger in Texas.

You will be chewed up and spit out.

And nobody will ever let you forget that you said anything in the first place.

I learned this the hard way.

The Promised Pictures...

...Which are way late, I know, I know. I apologize. Not that anyone reads this anyway. :)

I need one of those shirts that says, "More people have read this shirt than have read your blog. 000000002." :)

Alaska State Fair

As of the 30th of August, I have become acquainted with the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska.

I went,
I saw,
I competed,
and I did not leave empty handed.

Pictures will follow this post tomorrow, but meantime, let me tell you about my adventures at the Alaska State Fair Fiddle Contest.

I arrived at the fair at precisely 3pm. We had taken the train out. At 2:30 I guess we were a little ahead of schedule and, Heavin forbid we get there early, we proceeded to crawl at a snail's pace for the entire last half hour and I came to the conclusion that it would've been faster to get out and walk. My friend Jess had come with, as well as my aunt Annie and uncle Dave. We jumped off that train like horses when the gate's pulled on race-day.. and promptly stopped and said, "What now?"
Oh.
Who said following the crowd was bad? We did, and it led us to the front gate. We aren't sheep; we just follow when it floats our boats to do so.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate crowds? On the train, I had not been the least bit nervous about the fiddle contest.
In the crowds, I was the most irritable and on-edge person ever. I hate being in constant physical contact with sweaty, smelly, weird-looking people who decided getting a shirt tatooed on is cooler than actually wearing one. Oh, and the hair?
Outrageous.
Fair-hair. Need I say more?
[I didn't think so...]

After much walking around pointlessly and tripping in circles for what seemed hours, Jess and I stumbled into the woman accepting the fiddle contestant entry forms. I paid the fee, signed a paper, consulted with the judges on what would go down, and left to warm up. Jess flew the coop when she saw how many fiddlers were back of the stage, all playing something different. She went and found a seat at the front of the stage and sat with a rather terrified look. She was probably thinking something along the lines of, "This? For an entire two hours? How did Allie talk me into this?"

Well, to cut a long story short, [because I'm tired and sleepy at it's 11:44pm, the day after the fiddle contest] I got 3rd in my teen division, 1st in the open division, and grand champion for over-all performance.

I was quite excited when they handed me that trophy, but somehow the visions of it on my shelf in my room went kaput when they handed me $500 cash. In fact, I believe my eyes turned a peculiar shade of green.

Good day.
~Allie