My New Invention Idea!

Hello everyone! Lately I've asked myself the question "If I could invent any one thing, what would I invent?" I found my answer today!! I took my glasses off for a little while because I was going to try to take a nap. After I decided I couldn't fall asleep I got up for a little bit, realized I couldn't see, so I was going to put my glasses on. Oh no! I couldn't find them or remember where in the world I set them.
So this is where my brilliant invention idea comes in:
I thought.... there should be a little beeper/tracker on glasses that you could press so your glasses would make some kind of noise so you could find them. Think about it: People who aren't wearing their glasses can't see anything to try to find them!!!
Well, I personally can't see very well when I don't have my glasses on, so it would come in handy if I can just press a "finder" button like on cordless phones, and wallah! Your glasses are found.
So that's my brilliant invention idea. Please don't steal it. If you do, at least give me some of the credit and maybe some of the profit? hahaha. Now........Question of the Day.

If you could invent anything ....what would it be??

2 more pics

I meant to put these on the last post...wups!
Christian and I canning the SPAM :P


Future Hormel Factory employee!

Fun Filled Weekend

Good afternoon everyone! And Happy Monday afternoon to ya! haha. That is what my Psychology teacher says every afternoon... just thought I'd quote her. Ever have one of those weekends where you're busy almost every minute of the day and you don't have time to be bored? Well that's how this weekend was for me. I'll share some of it and some pictures! Click on the underlined words to view pictures.

Friday: I went to my ONE class at 10. It was over by 10:50..and I was done for the day. Have I mentioned how much I love the college life? haha. After class I went to the SPAM Museum with my aunt Bonnie and the 2 kids--Christian and Sarah--she nannies. When first entering into the SPAM museum we were greeted with "Hello! Would you like to try a SPAMLE? (very creative!) I tried a piece of the fried turkey-tasting SPAM. 'Twas delicious! Then again, I thought SPAM was good before I went to the Museum. The Museum's filled with history of SPAM, and foods you can buy, and other information like that. It was interesting. Then comes the fun part! There's a little spot where you can see how long it takes you to "make" a can of SPAM. (not a real one..just for fun). So, Christian and I thought we'd try it out. You can even put a Hormel uniform on while your pretending to make the SPAM. I thought I would to get a good picture out of it! Click here to see me in my cool uniform. What do you think....future employee of the Hormel Factory? hahaha! I finally found my calling in life..J/K! Anyway, that was really fun. We then went to A & W to have an ice cream cone, then later that night Bonnie and I went for a walk. That concluded Friday.

Saturday: Bonnie was nice enough to let me sleep in! After I was ready for the day we packed up our bags and headed to Lakeville to stay with my cousin Shannon, her husband Jon, and their dog Murphy for the day. Jon's family is originally from Alaska, now living in Ohio. His parents were also at their house to visit this weekend. They just got back from a trip to Alaska and brought fish straight from the ocean for us to grill! It was delicious!! After we got to Lakeville we went to Shakopee to watch horse races. That's the first time I've been to a horse race. It was fun! After the horse races we ate the fish and then Bonnie and I thought we'd give Shannon, Jon and his parents some time to visit, so we went to the State Fair! This picture was taken from the "Skyline" ride--which is where you go across on a cable above most of the State Fair..mostly for viewing. That's also the first time I've been there. It was also a lot of fun! We left back for Shannon's at 11:30, took a half hour to get there, then went to bed.

Sunday: We went to Celebration Church in Burnsville. The pastor there is hilarious and he always says the funniest things! That's the second time I've been to that church. My first time going there was Easter Sunday. I like that church a lot. It averages more than 1,000 people each Sunday! The rest of the day consisted of SHOPPING! We went to the outlet mall in Albertville. The one I went to last weekend with the youth group. Let's just say I spent more money than a college student without a job should have spent. haha. It was definetely a good shopping day for me. Most of the stores had really good deals, and the clothes I tried on were extremely comfortable. We came home. I unpacked. I showed Bonnie how to use the computer. I went to bed. End of weekend.

Happy Birthday to Jobbie WoAh!

Once again we have another important day! Today is Bobbie's 19th birthday!! Just think, Bobbie, only one more year of being a teenager! Weird, eh? Hope your day(s) is filled with happiness and enjoy every minute!!!
Also, just wanted you to know that you will be in my prayers today and every day after as you make your way to Dallas. I know everything is going to go well for you and God's going to do a lot in your life at Master's! Here I am sad that i moved 5.5 hours away....can't imagine what you're feeling right now. Just know we all love you and will miss you greatly. Please keep in touch whenever possible!!
***Love and Prayers***
God Bless You!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday :)

Ice Cream Anyone??

I'm pretty sure I've told you all about the ice cream truck that drives by every other (or every 2) days. I heard the music coming down the street today and I jumped up and quickly got my camera before it passed by. I think this is so hilarious because you see it in the movies, but I didn't actually think that they really did this!! Actually, they did this in Mexico when I went on a missions trip there--they sold snow cones, but I thought maybe that was a Mexico thing.



I can't tell if he's waving or if that's a "Please don't take a picture of me" gesture.

Also--So I don't have too many new posts at once, I am just going to put the one I would like for tomorrow on tonight. Craig's 21st birthday is tomorrow!!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRAIG!! Always remember: You booze, you lose! Haha I'm sorry. I know you would never do that...I just had to put it. Have a great day!
Since you are a race fan, I thought this would be an appropriate picture for you.

Crazy for Purple

Hey everyone! I said that I would have pictures of my room on soon...so here ya go. My mother is curious to know what it looks like. :) Enjoy.


Outside view of room


View point from standing on bed


Can anyone guess what this is? The blankets don't quite cover the whole bed, but, Don't you just love the purple blankets and pillows? Ahh...so comfy!


My dresser piled mostly with stuff my aunt is allergic to. (Sorry Bonnie). And there I am in the mirror!


My going away present from Chris .
I am a Proud Spam-towner!


I guesss you could sssay thisss isss a poster of my favorite Napoleon Dynamite character--Thank you Bobbie Jo :)

Shout out to the Flynn Twins

Happy to Molly and Travis Flynn!!
I hope you guys had a fun time at your party & also hope you have a wonderful birthday today!
Molly--make sure to put your digital camera in use and update your blog with pictures ASAP!
Love you both!



Later on today I will post pictures of my purple room!

Pictures!

Today was my first day of college :) Let's just say "so far, so good!" It was wonderful sleeping in until almost 9 and not having to start class until 10. It's a nice feeling going to class later in the morning, then being able to come home after it and relaxing until your next one. Ahh...I think I am going to love this college life! I took some pictures of my new house and of some other things symbolizing Austin. I didn't take a picture of my room yet because it is currently a pig pen. Once it is clean, I will post a picture or two :) Enjoy!


Yay for Spam!

Here's a close up of Riverland Community College. This is the building that all of my classes are in.

A farther back view of the college. It has more buildings to it, I just couldn't fit it all in the picture.

Cornerstone Assembly of God-- the church I will be going to. It is a pretty small building, that is why they are actually building their new church in the old movie theater here. For now, they hold services in the school gym right across the street.

Another view of the church. I didn't want to get out of my car to take the pictures because their were construction workers there and I didn't want them to think I was taking a picture of them!

My new home for now. My aunt surprised me by painting the house purple also. Just kidding. The house has always been purple.

Inside view of living room and part of the kitchen.

Back to School (Retreat)

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend--I know I did :) I just got home from the Back to School Retreat. I was dying to get on the computer right away to check my email and blogs to see how my wonderful Hib-Town buddies are doing :)

Anywho, Friday morning we left for Brainerd which is about 4 hours away from here (excluding all the stops on the way). On the way there we stopped at an outlet mall in Albertville. Pastor Corey is very similar yet very different to Pastor Aaron in a lot of ways. For example: I don't think PA would stop at an outlet mall for an hour and a half just to shop for the heck of it :P I also noticed some other similarities and differences between the two of them throughout this weekend. Corey has a rule where every minute your late back to the van you have to give a dollar for Speed the Light. I thought that was an excellent idea! I never thought I'd have to actually pitch in though...haha. So I went shopping with two girls named Darcy and Hailey. Little did I know that they are kind of the "rebels" (not in a bad way...maybe a better word would be brave hearts) of the youth group. So we were in Aeropostale and Darcy's alarm went off to go back to the van. She was still waiting in line to pay for her clothes. Time went on. Eventually it was 2 o'clock. OH NO! We were a million (lot literally) miles from the van, so, about 4 minutes later (which, remember, already we owed $4) we booked it to the van. We came to a dead-end, so, we had to turn around and we ended up getting to the van at 2:09. Corey was kind of upset with the girls that they made the "new girl" owe money her very first time, but, rules are rules! (Yesterday Corey gave me my $9 back because he felt bad...but don't let the other girls know that:P)
Anyway, we arrived at Camp Jim. 2 other youth groups were there besides us. Coldspring (Pastor Kirby's youth group) and of course, Brainerd's youth group. Hey girls...guess who came with Kirby's youth group?!!?! I'll give you a hint. It starts with a "K" and ends with a "YLE" (chuckle) I thought of all of you the instant I saw him. Anyway, he was not the highlight of the weekend.
The speaker was Mike Donahue. He is from Nebraska. HE WAS AN EXCELLENT SPEAKER!!! I guess he spoke at camp a few years ago, but, I do not remember that. Last night's service was the best sermon I have ever heard (no offense to any Pastors that may be reading this). He spoke about how we don't need to be traditional about leading people to Christ. For example, handing out tracts, etc. Although, that's okay to do. He says there's so many people out there that just need to be shown God's love and to know that people care for them, etc.
The whole weekend was a blast. I got put in a cabin with a bunch of crazy (nothing different from Hibbing :P) Sr. High girls. We stayed up late in the night laughing and we had a blast. I got to know Darcy really well and also I met a few other people who are going to Riverland college also :) Hailey has 2 classes with me! So at least I will know people there. I am so excited. Their youth group is extremely nice and accepting. They are all really close to each other, so, I appreciate them taking the time to let a newcomer invade.

Tomorrow is my first day of college! AHHHH!!! It's going to be wonderful not having to start class until 10 on M, W, & F, and 9:30 on T & Th :) YAHOO! I will update you guys tomorrow to tell you how first day of college was. I'm really anxious--kind of nervous in a way, but, that's a natural feeling I guess.

Let me know if anything exciting went on this weekend for anyone. Congrats to Jill an Aaron Reini!!!!!

I love you all!

(stay tuned for pictures coming soon to a blog near you!)

The Transition

Greetings from Spam-Town! Yes, I made it here safe and sound :) And for those of you wondering if the actual town smelled like Spam, no, it doesn't. Although my aunt said sometimes when you drive past the factory the smell is horendous! FYI.
So yesterday after my eye apt. I headed for Austin. I got to Wyoming (not the actual state, but the city) where I met my cousin and her husband. Then we had McDonald's for dinner before we hit the road again. We then drove to their house in Lakeville to wait for my aunt to arrive to bring me the rest of the way. I ended up getting to my new home around 10 somethingish. My aunt surprised me and bought me a lot of cool stuff for my room!! Since my favorite color is purple, she bought me purple pillows, blankets, sheets, a garbage can, dresser, and lamp. Everything purple! (I will take pictures of the house and of my room and post them Sunday night. We're getting the internet tomorrow, but, I'll be on the "Back to School Retreat." until Sunday. Also, I'll update you on how that goes!) I started to unpack my things, then I got bored so I decided to get some rest.

This morning my aunt and the 2 kids she nannies (Christian--who just turned 4 today and Sarah who's 10 months) went to get my new cell phone. (Email me if you'd like the #--or ask Brooke or Craig). After that I unpacked more and then received a call from Angie--Corey's wife. She invited me to go to lunch with her and another youth leader named Amanda (who recently tried out for American Idol!!--soon she competes in Rochester against 15 other ppl to see who moves on to Hollywood! So that's pretty exciting). Anyway, I was so glad to have her call me because I didn't want to have to sit alone all day in the house, since I don't really have any friends yet, bored. We went to a fantastic Mexican restaurant!! If any of you come here to visit, that's definetely where we'll go! We had a nice conversation then after lunch Angie dropped me back off at my aunts. From there I unpacked the rest of my stuff. Now, I am at the library. I drove here all by myself! That was exciting since my aunt just told me where to go and I was hoping I'd find it okay. There are a lot of 1-ways so I'm scared I'll accidently turn down one sometime. Hopefully not.

I really like the town so far. It's a little bigger than Hibbing. The population is 23,000. Except, it has more places and restaurants than Hib-town does (as of right now).

Tomorrow I'm headed to Brainerd with their youth group for the "Back to School Retreat" as I mentioned in the beginning. I am super excited to meet more people! Also, i found out that 2 other youth leader girls the same age as me are going to Riverland Community College, so, I will know people :) Yay!

This is a super long post. I'll stop now. I want everyone to keep in touch! If you'd like my address or new cell number, email me at amber.shain@acad.riverland.edu

Much love~
Amber

More August Birthdays!

I would like to make one last Hibbing post for 3 more of my friends who have b-days this week.



Happy 20th birthday to Jac Devine TODAY!!
Happy 19th birthday to Brianna tomorrow!!
Steph Guentzel's birthday is on the 19!!
3 in a row! Wow. August is a pretty famous month for birthdays! That's for sure.

I wish you gals very Happy Birthdays! I wish I could be here to celebrate them with you :) But, I hope the post will do! Love you so much**

The Time has Come

Today is my last day in Hibbing. Tomorrow I'll be headed to Spam Town (Austin) to start college life. This is my first time ever moving, so, I guess a bunch of feelings have been overwhelming me.
Fear. Fear of the unknown- fear of being "the new kid" and stepping out of my everyday life and comfort zone that I've been used to living for 18 years. Anxiety-Anxious for moving one step closer to God's plan for my life-Anxious to be a youth leader and to meet new friends- Anxious to start a fresh journey in life. Sadness- Sad to leave people who mean so much to me- Sad that it will more than likely be a month and a half before I see most of my friends- Sad to leave my family. Through the encouragement of many friends, I've learned to give my worries and fears to Lord and allow He (yes, that is the correct usage, even though it sounds weird) to give me Hope and comfort.
Just wanted to let each and everyone of you know how much you mean to me. Without the friends and spiritual leaders I've had in my life, my walk with Christ probably wouldn't be as strong as it is today. A big thank you! I don't think I've ever realized how much certain people mean to me until now- knowing that I have to leave them. This summer has been full of wonderful memories! It's going to be sad leaving tomorrow. Trust me, the tears have already started to flow :(
I do not want to lose contact with anyone!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE email me or update your blogs often so I can see what's going on with each and everyone of you! Although I won't physically be in Hibbing, I'll only be a phone call away! Plus, I'll try to visit some weekends :P Feel free to call, email, text, or visit me anytime :) My new email address is amber.shain@acad.riverland.edu -- I will still check my old one, however, I ask if you are going to send forwards, please send them to my old one.

I love you all!!!

--See ya later-- Never goodbye!

Memories:

**Happy Birthday Kranny**

Hey everyone! Today is Kranny's 22nd birthday. So if you haven't already told him Happy Birthday, make sure to get around to it!
Kranny, you probably don't enjoy me posting about it, but, I think birthday's are a big/fun deal so too bad! :P In your honor, I put the font in Miami colors :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Times Flies

Well, my friends, I hate to say it. My time in Hibbing is quickly coming to an end. The past few days I've been going through my room and getting rid of some junk and I have started to pack. It was fun packing at first, but the more I pack, the more bare my room becomes, the more I realize how quickly I am moving. It's going to be sad leaving each and every one of you, because you all mean so much to me. I hope I don't lose contact with anyone! You can call, text, email, or send letters anytime you'd like :) Or even better: VISIT! And I will visit Hib-Town as much as possible. We can still talk like we normally would. The only different thing is we can't hang out whenever we'd like :S.

Anyways, back to the junk part. Yesterday and today I helped Brianna with her garage sale. Click here to see a picture of all the $$$ we made! I ended up making $30.00 (which is pretty good for the small amount of stuff I put in). Brianna made over $200- which is going towards her college fund. We had a great turn-out and ended up selling a lot of items :) Her family is going to have another garage sale next weekend so if you're a garagle sale lover- make sure to go and help support! There are tons of things such as clothes, beds, cds, books, picture frames, and many other miscellaneous things. Luckily (even though it was windy and cold--but I'm not complaining!!) the weather turned out pretty nice.

****Yesterday Brianna's sister Megan and her husband Jim left to do missionary work in China. Please remember to pray for them to do great things there and also for their safety and comfort. They will be there until next July, so, it's hard on them and Brianna's family. Please keep Megan, Jim, Brianna, and the rest of her family in your prayers!!****

New Subject
Great news!! I found out that Corey & Angie (Austin's Youth Pastor & his wife) want me to be a youth leader as soon as I get there! So, on Friday the 19th I am going on a "Back to School Retreat" in Brainerd with them. I am so excited because I want to be involved in the church as much as possible while I am there. This is a great opportunity! Although I'm sad to be leaving, I'm extremely anxious and excited to see what the Lord has in store in Austin :)

more *iCamp* pics

Brittany and Chelsea enjoying the 1st day of Camp.

Andy, Andrew, & Jason hanging out after Monday night's service

Smile, Jason! You're on Candid Camera

Ashley and I hanging out after Monday night's service

*iCamp 2005*

One of the main summer highlights for most everyone in youth group is Lake Geneva Bible Camp. The camp is held in Alexandria, MN, and for me, is probably the best 5 days of the summer. Not only is it a time to meet new people and have fun with friends, but it is also a great time to grow deeper in your relationship with Christ. This years Sr. Teen Camp was the record for the most people attending a summer camp. We had over 600 campers!! I shared a dorm with Robin, Angel, Thronson, Bobbie and Allison H. Unfortunately Molly, Chelsea, and Brit had their own cute little house dorm thing, so that caused them to have a different counselor than we did, and, they were on a different team. I spent every minute I could with them though, so it wasn't that horrible. During the week the campers are split up into 8 different teams. This years motto was "The Best Just Got Better" and the theme focused around "iPods" (hence the name iCamp). Someone from the winning team actually got to take home an iPod! The team names included: iSmell, iBeam(the team my cabin was on), iBalls, iCarrumba (the winning team which our guys were on, but none of them took home the iPod), iChiuaua, iPass (Chelsea, Brit, and Molly's team), and iBunny. The Rec. Directors stated that we would have thought the names were funny too if we were thinking of them at 2 in the morning :P Throughout the days we had various competitions including water polo, slip-in-slide dodgeball, mud pit, etc. At night we would have our evening service. Our speaker this year was Nate Ruch, who is a professor at North Central University. I personally thought he was a great speaker and he had interesting ways of doing his altar calls. (You'll have to ask me about them in person or else I'll be writing forever). My favorite was definetely Thursday night's service which was on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. People who have never received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit went up to the altar and then people who already have, stood behind and prayed for them. It was such an exciting night as everyone was pumped up jumping up and down praising the LORD!! God did some awesome things in peoples lives this week..and I hope it continues forever! I'm sure I will have many more stories to tell in person. For now, I'll save the space and the time. Enjoy the pics. Stay tuned for more throughout the week! :)

Andy, Travis, and Andrew expressing their excitement on the way to camp

Silly Steph. I wonder if she cares that I post this on my blog? She doesn't get embarrassed very easily though.

Amos (who went to Costa Rica with us last year) and Bobbie singing tunes

The girls in my cabin shared a counselor with girls from Red Wing. This was taken during our small group discussion. Tanya, the lady right of the door, was our counselor. She was super nice! Her husband Luke is the Youth Pastor in Red Wing. She showed us pictures of her super cute daughter Morgan who recently turned 1.

A Change in Plans

Hey everyone! I know I told most of you that I am moving on the 19th, however, there has been a change in plans. This week at camp I met the Youth Pastor (Corey) from Austin and his wife Angie. While talking with Angie she was telling me about a "Back to School Retreat" that they are going on August 19th-21st. She encouraged me to move a couple days sooner so I can go with them. So, I will be moving Wednesday the 17th instead of Friday the 19th. I know it's only a 2 day difference, but, I thought I'd let you all know that because now my last day of youth group will be this coming Wednesday. I'm sad that the count down is earlier, but the retreat will be a great opportunity to meet new people! I met a few of the girls from Austin's youth group at camp already, so I'm hoping to meet a few more people and future friends. That's all for now folks.
~Love you all & God Bless~