Home --> New Years Eve

Home --> New Years Eve

With about a half an hour left in the car ride, we listened to Daughtry’s Home. Probably one of my favorite songs right now. :) Hahaha, of course it would be. Buut, quotes from the song: ‘The miles are getting longer, it seems, the closer I get to you.’ ‘I’m going home, to the place where I belong, where you love has always been enough for me.’ Uhhmm, there are probably more quotes, but the song was definitely a favorite of mine. :)

Then Trenton and I decided to do our Blue’s Clues impressions…and he won. Haha, he was like, “Ana, you’re the guy in the stripped shirt!” “Okayy…?” “Bar Parowwww” (Or…haha, whatever he sounds like) I just kind of stared at him…and finally he was like, “Say something!” “Uhh…what do I say?” “You say something like ‘good job Blue!’” “Good job Blue…” “No, you need more enthusiasm, you be Blue.” “Bar Par Ohh” “You can’t do it right…” Soo…yeeah, that’s what we did…it, was pretty crazy, and, then we reached Fountain Hills, and everyone was really hyper! Haha!

From there, we saw more and more landmarks of Scottsdale that were just really cool…likee…

Camelback Mountain

Canals

The sun! haa

Cotton Fields

32347634 other mountains

INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD!

The smell!! It’s weird, buut, it smells a certain way, :) I lovee it :D

The 101!! Hahaa…it wasn’t very busy…

ARIZONA LICENSE PLATES!! (haha…that’s gonna be really weird to get used to)

Soo, yeeah, we reached our house about 4:00ish. As we drove up, we had been ‘heart attacked’ and there were hearts all over our front yard, it was awesome! We walked into the house and it was cleann!!! As my brothers and I explored the house, we saw my grandparents in the living room. They totally surprised us, but we didn’t say anything so they could surprise my parents! Haha, it was really awesome. :)

About 4:15, a workforce arrived at our house…I was in my room talking with the girl who stayed here, Lolo, and we looked out he window. There were like 245384 people in my front yard unloading the Uhaul and the Van! Haha, I didn’t do anything, and it was all taken inside! I lovee it! Soo, they were all gone about 5:30, and then we just hung out.

We went bike riding with the little neighbor boys, and then we went over to their house for awhile to play their Wii (!!) and, just talk and hang out. Ooh, and then (!) we had FIREWORKS that we had gotten in WI (where they’re legal) and we set them all off when it was dark. It was soo much fun!!

After that it was like 10:00, and we all went our own ways. I took a shower, and barely made it to midnight, everyone else made it to like 12:01ish…or maybe not…I went to bed at like 20 past 12…and, that was my night, the end of the longg trip. :)

**Buut, don’t think that this blog is over, I don’t think it is yet…we’ll see what comes along. (: **

Into the Valley of the Sun --> December 31st (Monday)

I am home! Yay! It’s pretty must really exciting. :) More info in the next blog probably :)

Sooo, we woke up really early this morning, like 6:30 or 7:00 cause of the time change. We wanted to wake up at 8:00, leave at nine, and instead we woke up at 7:00 and left at 8:45. Which, leaving early was better than leaving late. The sun kind of trailed us all morning because of (again) the time change which has the sun come up an hour later. Soo, the sun followed us.

One of the things that my mom told us from the beginning of December was that we needed to know all of our states an capitals before we entered the state of AZ…I didn’t really study or anything, anndd…so we tallied how many we all needed to learn. I…had about 18 to learn, Christian had 10, and Trenton had…I’m not sure…he had a good number, probably the same as me. :) Then we just stupidly studied them…over and over and over and over and over again, for a really long time… blahh…

Driving through the mountains of Northern New Mexico was amazing. It was soo pretty, seeing the sun reflect off the mountains, looking up at a cloudless blue sky that sunk into the horizon…I lovedd it. :) There were also tons of little adobe houses that just sat on the hillsides. It was amazing. :)

Annd, we stopped at the border around 11:00, like literally at the New Mexico/Arizona State-Line, for like 20 minutes so we could say all our state capitals to my parents…which was really a drag…but if you ever want to know the state capitals, ask me… :/

Then, (FINALLY) we crossed the NM/AZ border at 11:26, exactly. Soo, that was a very happy thing, and, at the moment, that meant that we would have only 2 hours till Flagstaff, and then 2 hours home from Flagstaff. That was a very happy thing. :)

It was about 12:15 we realized that from Flagstaff, the I-17 was closed. Apparently they had tons of snow, and a fatality, which caused them to close it all down. Soo, we took a detour of our own and decided to go through Holbrook to Snowflake, and then on to Payson and from there, Scottsdale.

We stopped in Snowflake for a little bit to get lunch at Arby’s…yummy food. :) From there we got back on the road and drove to Holbrook…we sung High School Musical the whole way.

As we were driving down from Holbrook to Payson, we saw a CAMP SHADOW PINES!! Haha…apparently it didn’t burn down. Soo, Trenton saw it, but I missed it, and he was like, ‘look, Camp Shadow Pines!’ He was really excited about it :)

We also saw snow everywhere…but it wasn’t enough to do anything with…

Around 2:45 we stopped at a gas station to get gas…annd, we took pictures on the Uhual. The weather outside was like 55 and it was soo nicee!! I lovedd it! I absolutely LOVE wearing T-shirts, and…this was the perfect opportunity to! We got back in the car then, and we had about an hour till we arrived home. :)

Into the Sun -- Lifehouse

Closer to You --> December 30 (Sunday)

Hello from Albuquerque!!! Well, yeeah, that’s where I am. I’m wearing a T-SHIRT! It’s exciting! Hahaa…wow.

Today has been…ok I guess. It’s just been a lot of driving. Buut, that’s really no different than any other day out of the past few, soo, it didn’t really need to be stated. Whatever I guess…

We woke up before the sun this morning, around 7:30am. The breakfast the hotel offered was continental, the same as any other, only they had really really good pastry thingies…and I had a few. :) We left the hotel around 8:30, and drove for awhile. I didn’t sleep this morning, which I think I’m gonna regret…buut, it’s ok cause we have our own room tonight as kids, so we kind of can do whatever we want. :)

At like 10:00 we crossed the border from Oklahoma into the nothing-ness land of the Texas Panhandle…all cows, no people. Haha, it’s not completely true, but pretty darn close. About 10:45 we stopped in Groom, TX. That was the exact same place that we stopped on the way in, only we got DQ on the way in, and gas on the way out. This place, Groom, literally has three buildings, and one exit…it was soo small. :D

We had a nearly 3 hour break in Amarillo, Texas. Lunch at Chili’s --> :-P <-- and, then we went to Target cause Trenton wanted to buy an iPod, which he got. =) He literally didn’t stop talking about it from the time we left IL until the point where he got it… So, he was really happy, and the technology in this little thing is amazingg…Apple keeps getting better and better. =) We also stopped in at Borders to see if we could get a book on tape, but they didn’t have it. Instead, we go this book called ‘Little- Known Facts about Well-Known Things.’ It has random facts like this one: “At the state’s widest point, the distance across Texas is greater than the distance between New York City and Chicago.” Which randomly relates…here’s another one: “Marvin Gardens is the only property on the Monopoly game board that is not named after a street. In actuality, it is an upscale area in Atlantic City, NJ, which, had it been spelled correctly, should have been Marven Gardens.” Haha, the book is really cool; I liked it a lot :)

We left Amarillo about 2:00; all we saw were more cows, old barns, and vast land. Around 2:40 we entered New Mexico!! It was basically the same as Texas…flat lands, buut, there was a sense of accomplishment of reaching yet another state. We are now only one state away from Arizona…that word nearly seems foreign now…buut, it won’t be for long. :)

Soo, yeeah, we drove for awhile. Annd, we reached Tucumcari, which didn’t really mean anything, except that that’s where we stayed on our first night on the way here. We drove past it, though, cause we were headed for Albuquerque.

We beat the sun to Albuquerque (once again) and won the race. At about 6:00 we checked into the hotel, and then we went to my mom’s friend’s house. This was the part of the day that I looked forward the most too. Why? Because I got to meet a girl named Eliana! Hahaa, I was sooo excited to meet her…but she wasn’t really excited to meet me. She was only 9…but still, it’s pretty exciting. Whatever, we hung out in their Jacuzzi, and ate pizza, so that was fun. :D

We came back home about 8:30 and I took a shower. Now it’s like 10ish and we are all asleep….we’re sooo tired. Well, goodnight…I’m leaving Albuquerque and coming to AZ tomorrow! <3!!


Closer to You -- Brandi Carlille

Chasing Cars --> December 29 (Saturday

Saturday. That's today. We (the kids) were (apparently) supposed to wake up on our own this morning while my parents were at breakfast, but it didn't happen, so we were really rushed out of the hotel room, and somehow that was our (the kids) fault. Soo, we didn't really get to do anything in the hotel but get ready, and that was a bummer, because yesterday we were able to watch TV and stuff. We got on the road about 9:30 from Rolla, MO. I slept for the first two hours of the trip. We stopped at a rest stop at 11:30ish and ran around a little bit. Then about 12:30 we stopped for lunch at Schlotzky's…I think it was the first time I've been there since August. I lovee Schlotzky's! Around 2:00ish we stopped at a 'snack stop,' which was really a few extra lanes to the right of the freeway with a terrible bathroom. There we found an insurance postcard sent to a guy named Dawn Kunkel…I think he was from Venita, OK…buut, no matter what, we had fun trying to say his name. Then we tried to get back on the road, which was really hard cause there was not an 'entrance lane,' and the semis were going 2534983mph. Buut, we made it. J When we left the 'snack shop' we were about two and a half hours away from Weatherford, OK, where our hotel is for the night. Trenton and I got really bored about 3:00ish and decided to start singing to Christian…only we were stinging two completely different songs, and C didn't really like it all that much… About 4:00, we stopped for gas, and I got food from McDonalds – A McFlurry, and fries. The best food ever. Annd, I got a Oklahoma shot glass…cause my other one broke. Now I think I have like 30 total. (The only problem is that about half of them are from California :) Now it's about 5:00 and we are at the hotel. It isn't dark yet…which is probably a record; we've never reached any hotel before dark on this trip. The hotel doesn't have a Jacuzzi thing…just a pool. Soo, I'm kind of bummed, but I'll probably end up swimming anyway. This day hasn't been that long, just a lot of driving. We've been chasing cars and racing semi's all day, but we've made it, and we are halfway through our journey home…and that's a happy thought. :D Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol

All In All -- December 27-28 (Thurs & Fri)

All In All --> It’s Just Another Day Gone

Soo, I’m writing about yesterday today, because yesterday I was entirely too tired to write. But, in order for yesterday to make entire sense, I must start with the day before yesterday; Thursday.

On Thursday morning I woke up at 6:30, which was too early to wake up…ever. Soo, I woke up, took a shower, ate breakfast. We all got to work by 7:30. I packed up my room the rest of the way…which pretty much meant ‘get everything out of the room.’ Things like boxes, computer parts and pieces, pillows, blankets, bags…ohhh and the bed that had to go across the hall. After that I went downstairs and cleaned out the van. It was a mess. There were still needles from the Christmas tree, jelly beans from our Minnesota trip back in October, and packaging from the normal commute from Naperville to Geneva. It took me a short time to get all of the trash out and a long time to vacuum the van, but it happened, and it was perfectly clean. I liked it a lot.

Then, around 3:00ish we left the house and went to the first hotel; Geneva, IL. We all rested and watched TV, and we just really had a good rest. Hmm…that was an interesting description. Anywayy, then we went to my grandparent’s house and had a pot roast and a corn and fruit salad…the food was amazing. After that we went back to the hotel where we met our cousins and went swimming! It was a lot of fun, and we just got to hang out. They also brought us a wonderful gift. J First, they gave us a bunch of road snacks…and then they also gave us a bunch of cards. We open a card every 100 miles we go, and in each one is a favorite memory that they had with us. It was a really good idea, and it’s soo fun!! I think that we all fell asleep about midnight that night.

On Friday morning, we woke up at 7:00am and packed up our room. We then got on the road. I literally slept the first 3 hours of the trip, when we reached Springfield, IL. In Springfield we went and saw Abraham Lincoln’s house. It was really interesting…buut that’s not where we wanted to be. We (apparently) wanted to be at the Presidential Library…so, that’s where we went. It was really interesting too, and the exhibit was really well done…it was actually quite amazing.

Soo…after that we got back on the road and drove for the remaining three hours of the trip and arrived at the hotel in Rolla, MO about 8. We order Dominoes pizza (sooo amazingly yummy!!!) annd, then we went swimming…it was…exciting. Kind of, ohh, yeeah, it was! We played Marco Polo, and hung out in the not-so-exciting Jacuzzi.

Hmm, we all fell asleep about midnight again.

All in All – Lifehouse

Christmas :)

On Christmas Eve...day, Christmas Eve day, we did soo much work and so much packing and cooking and cleaning and rearranging. It was hectic. We got TONS done, and nearly the entire downstairs is almost ready to be stuck into a Uhaul...buut not quite.

Then all of my cousins and my grandparents came to Naperville and we went the St Peter & Paul 4:00 mass. That was hectic. There were 40 bazillion people there, and we ended up standing in the overflow room. Haha, it was good though.

Thenn, after that, everyone came over to our house and we had about 3 hours of a Christmas party! It was totally tons of fun. We all got to hang out and talk with each other. We also had a massive wrapping-paper-ball-war. That was fun. :) Annd, we had really amazing bean & corn burritos. Mmmm!!

Finally, they all left about ten-to-eight, which let us go to GracePointe's Christmas Eve service! That was fun cause I got to see a bunch of people...again, and it made things not so sad.


Early this morning Trenton woke us all up and we went downstairs and opened presents and stuff. I got a wallet (!) which was all I really wanted, and made me happy. :D

Then, this afternoon we went to my cousins house and met their (other) cousins, and pretty much just had a HUGE party. It was tons of fun, we got to play a lot of football, and we watched the Suns game....and we had a lot of really good food. It was tons of fun to meet everyone else, and get to know them a little bit better. I loved it. :)

That's all for the 'Christmas' part...in terms of moving, we are close to being ready. Tomorrow at like 8ish my dad is picking up the Uhaul, and we are working all day to pack it up. Wow...crazyness :D

Week of December 17th

Thiss week...it's been crazy!! Like there has been soo much going on, and yeeah.

On Monday~ I got to sleep in!! It was wonderful!! Haha, I didn't change into my real clothes until like 7pm when I had to go grocery shopping with my dad. It had just snowed and the sun was reflecting off of the snow, I loved it.

On Tuesday~ We went to see my great-grandmother's grave. It was cold outside, and there was snow covering all off the grave stones. We searched around for like 20 minutes looking for it, and then I realized that there was a row number for the grave...from there it took us like 10 minutes to find it. Soo, we remembered my great-grandmother, and we prayed and stuff. It was very good to do that, but it was soo cold! Haha, I didn't wear the right shoes or anything (Cause I didn't think we'd be walking around in 6in deep snow) After we were there, we tried to eat at the IHOP down the street, but it was closed. Soo, we drove back home and I had a few classes to be at (online) so I was, and that was a lot of fun. :)

On Wednesday~ We got our water heater fixed and went to the Holocaust Museum. Our water heater had been broken for quite a while, so the 'guys' were here all day fixing it. While they were here, we went to the Holocaust Museum. It was ok, it was smallish, and I didn't love it, buut, it was really interesting, and informative. When we got back, the 'guys' were still here, and the house smelled soo bad!! So, my mom and I went Christmas shopping, and got out of the house. I got double-stuffed Oreos...my favorite. :)

On Thursday~ We...uhmm, ohh, we put school stuff in boxes and I had my last 180 (church) of the night. Soo, yeeah, I also did laundry all day, and got all of the clothes in the house washed. We packed up 2 1/2 boxes of school stuff and books, and those are now sitting in the living room off to the side. I had my last Thursday night church thing also. A few of us met at a Mexican place for dinner and talked. At church, we hung out and kind of played basketball and dodgeball, and stuff, but more just hung out and talked. :) It was tons of fun.

On Friday~ Packing clothes and surprise parties. We packed up our clothes...lots of them. Soo,yeeah, we did that, and otherwise just cleaned the house. Then, at like 6:15ish I went to go help set up a surprise party for a friend of mine who was turning 18! It was soo much fun, and I was able to hang out with a bunch of friends from church. We all had a really good time, and Nate was really surprised. It was awesome.

On Saturday~ More packing, MSI, & Greek Town. Soo, we had to wake up early. It was like 8:30, but it was early for a Saturday. We kept packing up the house, most of the upstairs, and all of our clothes are now packed...and most of the rooms are packed too. All of the boxes are stacked up in my parents room --> [they'll be moved into a Uhaul truck on...Wednesday] Then, around 10:30 we left for downtown Chicago. As a big (my dad's parents, sister -- all her kids, in all like 13 people) we went to the Museum of Science and Industry to the Star Wars exhibit. It was really cool to see, and it was awesome to hang out with all of my cousins and stuff. From there, we went to the Parthenon (lots and lots of Greek food) and ate dinner. The food was pretty good, I'm not all that into Greek food, soo, yeeah. When we left the restaurant, it was blowing and snowing, and crazy cold. Haha, yeeah.

Saturday night~ Was crazy enough to get its own spot. Ha! Soo, I went to bed about 11ish...at that point, the wind was picking up, and it was pouring rain. It was about 35-40 degrees outside probably. Then, throughout the night, it kept getting colder, and the wind was literally making noise. (k, that kind of sounds stupid, but like the house felt like it was being blown around, and the tree was shaking)

Sunday~ Sad day...with lots of wind and snow. So, yeeah, I woke up this morning and the wind was still crazy. It was also snowing...but really lightly. We got in the car to what would be the last day of church in IL. It was sad to think about. We [Nicole, Lindsay & I] spent awhile after church talking, and crying, and planning on how I was gonna come out. It was good to have that time. Buut, it was also really sad. :[ Now my parents are going to get my grandmother from the train station and she is gonna come over and help make everything for tomorrow night. (Cause for some crazy reason we are having Christmas Eve here...) Annd, the wind is really crazy (still) and there is soo much snow too! Soo, it looks like a little mini blizzard outside. It's crazy!! Buut, I love it. :)