Multi-Purpose Blog

Okay so this blog is going to cover a whole range of topics, so I couldn't pick one for the title. Here we go:


Sooo I just got back from Student Leadership Retreat. It was a ton of fun =) We have a mass amount of Student Leaders this year, there are 16 of us. This weekend really gave us a chance to get to know each other even better than we already do (I didn't think it was possible, haha), and really unite as a team. We all focused on what ministries we're doing, and how we're going to get them started or re-vamp them. Let me just say, get pumped for an awesome year at VI. There's some awesome stuff planned, and I really believe that this current team of Student Leaders can do amazing things, and I'm so excited!

I don't really want to go in to all we did at SLR, because that'd take too long. Basically, lots of fun was had (Nikko's insane dancing and Audrey's impressive afro, Vanessa, and The Yarn just to name a few incidents), and I really felt that I got to know a lot of people who I hadn't had much of a relationship with in the past. I had such a fantastic time and can't wait for next year.

This year is at VI is going to be good. Yes, it's going to be very different without people like Chris, Dave, LFD, Paley, Katy, Elliot, and all of the other graduates there, and I'm still currently in denial and don't want to deal with the fact that they're all actually leaving/gone already, but I know it's going to hit me eventually. But as someone told me, it's not "goodbye", its just "see you soon". Just because you won't see them as much, they're not gone forever, and they're still alive and everything, haha. Maybe that optimism method doesn't work well for you, but I have to be optimistic or else I don't know what to do. I'd just like to say that I love and am going to miss all of you guys so much, but I'm so happy for you because you're going to have the best time at college and do so much with your lives, and I'm so proud of you all =)

So I currently feel like I'm living in a whirlwind. My life is absolutely insane, with school starting in 3 days, band and cheerleading starting up, Student Leadership beginning, and not to mention the fact that lots of people are leaving. SLR gave me a real chance to breathe, it was nice. On our last night at the lake house (which I guess was just last night, haha), I was out on the dock by myself just listening to my iPod/sleeping/thinking. It was like, oh, 1:00 in the morning, lol. And the lake was totally and completely calm, there wasn't one ripple in it. You could see the trees and the sky reflected in the water, and it was so pretty. So I'm just looking at the water when this Lake-Patrol boat (probably the same one that kicked us off the buoy when we all swam out to it, hahaa) came up and totally killed the tranquility in the water. There were all these ripples, and you couldn't see the light shining across the water, or the trees' reflection in it. It kind of bugged me. But it made me think. You all are probably going to think I'm retarded for using this metaphor, but it's kind of like what my life (and I know lots of other people's lives) are like right now. Like, it was all peaceful and fine for a long time, with no "ripples". Then all of a sudden, this "Lake-Patrol boat" comes in and makes the "water" all choppy. And there are so many ripples that you don't ever think the water can be peaceful again. It was sort of depressing. But then I decided to see if the lake would actually go back to being quiet once the Lake-Patrol boat left. And you know what? It did. Sure there were still a couple of ripples and bumps in the water, which is expected, but for the most part it was calm again. It was a simple, maybe even stupid, situation, but it definitely gave me hope, which sounds kind of pathetic, but it's true. Just know that even if you feel like life is just insane and changing way to quickly for you to handle, and you think that there are way too many "ripples in the water" for it to ever go back to being peaceful, just know that, with time, it'll get better...the ripples will go away, trust me. Allright, that's all for Annie's Stupid-Optimistic-metaphor of the day =)


I'd also like to thank all of you who surprised me this last Thursday for my 16th birthday. I had such a great time, and have probably never been more shocked in my whole life. Trust me, when you see all of your friends from EVERYWHERE (cheerleading, band, VI, school) collaborated in your best friend's living room screaming "SURPRISE!", it's pretty hard to not flip out, which I definitely did. I saw a picture of my face when I saw everybody, it's pretty hysterical. I had such a fantastic night, thank you all so much for coming and for all my pretty gifts/cards, I really appreciate all of them! It really made me realize how many amazing people I have in my life who care about me, and vice versa, and I left the party feeling pretty darn lucky. A special thank-you to Katie and her whole family, who had apparently been scheming behind my back with my mom for weeks to plan the whole thing, it was so incredibly sweet of you all to do that for me =) Thanks so much, I love you guys.

Okay I think that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get an update once school starts, but don't be expecting much. Have a fantastic week, and good luck at school!

I love you!
<3 Gaburrayy

The Katie and Annie Update

SUP Y'ALL?

This is Katie and Annie updating. We just got home from our colorguard practice ((GET LOW COGO)). Basically, we rock.

So band camp ended last week. It was surprisingly enjoyable, although it was 200 bajillion degrees outside. But we both got sweet sports bra tans! =)

We're both pretty pumped for VI this week because it's the RETREAT REUNION! But it's kind of bittersweet because it's Chris's last VI...but not forever.

We're pretty bored, in case you hadn't noticed. We just burned Dustin a sweet CD, so yay for us.

So that's pretty much it. Annie will update later when she's not all spacey like this.

WE LOOOOOOOOOVEEEEE YOUUUUUUUU!

<3 Steph and Gaburrayy

Ouch

Okay.

So basically.

I hurt.

EVERYWHERE.


It's rather pathetic, really. I just finished my two day long UCA cheer camp/clinic that consisted of hardcore cheerleading for 8 hours straight each day. I hadn't done much intense cheerleading all summer, and neither had any of the other girls on my squad. So I come to camp Thursday morning at around 8:20 in the morning after getting barely 5 hours the night before on Sloneker's trampoline (We went to bed at a reasonable hour, but then the sun woke us up at 6 a.m., and we got hungry, got pudding...and I imagine that you can fill in the blanks for yourself. Just say that Katie and Slon got a wee bit hyper, and that meant no more sleeping for the rest of us). I am, as you all know, completely NOT a morning person, especially after getting literally no sleep. My squad comes stumbling in a few minutes later, all of them barely awake. Then the two UCA (Universal Cheerleading Association) cheerleaders/counselors come in...or should I say come skipping in. I'm serious, these girls were probably the perkiest people I've ever met in my entire life. You think I'm a happy person? I basically looked morose compared to them. They liked to talk more than Angie Bell, Hannah Mauk, and Laura Gardner all combined (actually, one of them actually looked freakishly like Laura Gardner, and I think I freaked her out by staring at her, because both their physical appearances and their personalities were extremely alike. Ok, I'm deviating. Back to my story).

So long story short, we learned an insane amount of cheers/chants, two band dances, and this thing they called an "Xtreme routine" which consisted of dancing. There was this one funny/sort of risqué move that was in the dance, and I'll have to show you guys, hahaha. We also did a lot of jumps/conditioning, but it wasn't too much, which was always good. I know it doesn't even begin to compare to Alex's Two-A-Days. The whole clinic was actually really fun, I learned a lot, and I'm glad I did it, despite the fact that I'm currently hobbling around like an old lady because I'm so sore, and my family finds it quite comical. But I swear, if being elderly hurts this bad, I don't know what I'm going to do. Props to all the older people in this world for even getting out of bed.

By the way, I know this is random, but I'm in a rather spacey mood right now, so deal with it. I think my picture got changed. Not the one that's actually on my blog, but the one that's on the little gray box that says "Annie Gaburo" that you click to get to my blog. It looks like I have purple lipstick on, and I just look weird in general. So if you've never met me before, that's really not what I look like...I promise I'm not that frightening in real life. Ok glad I got that out there.

Also, welcome to Alex who just recently joined the Blogging Family! We're all pretty pumped that you have a blog now, be sure to update a lot =)

Ok I think that's all I got for now. Tomorrow I doubt I'll be able to do anything but read my summer reading books (Pride and Prejudice and All Quiet on the Western Front) due to massive soreness that I'm anticipating. Then Sunday I have church and such, then the infamous Band Camp starts on Monday, going Mon-Fri 8-4. Katie, Laura G and I are all doing color guard. It beats the heck out of marching while playing our flutes, and it's really quite fun! Our outfits are...interesting. If you don't come to the football games to see us, come to see our uniforms. That's all I'm going to say there.


VI-wise, the Retreat Reunion is on the 15th. I know Phil is going to blow us all away with his mad DVD-making skills, and I'm so excited, as I'm sure this movie will show X-Rated's amazing-ness. But now that I think about it, we don't need a DVD to show that! You know it already =) Oh, and Student Leadership Retreat is on the 17th. I didn't get to go last year, and I'm pretty pumped to go!

I think I'm done. No wait! I almost forgot.

MY BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEDNESDAY! YAY.

Ok now I'm done.

I love you!
<3 Annieeee