Senior 09!

So random school stuff that makes me happy:
1. You need 25 credits to graduate high school...guess who already has 25? Yup. Me. :)
2. Therefore, I'm taking a total of THREE real classes next year. All of which I enjoy {AP World Lit., AP Western History, Church History&Apologetics.}
3. So my other classes will be: Choir, Phys. Ed., Yearbook, Chapel Planning, and Senior Project.
4. Which brings me to the next happy thing...Mrs. Boelcke is teaching Sr. Proj. next year. 'Nuff said.
5. I'm also going to continue to work on my Music Theory next year, as well as {hopefully} helping Mrs. Struble with some of her elementary music classes.
6. Senior Project will probably take up a lot of time for me as well. Lots of photog-ing to be done! :)
7. I'm also going to be Student Council President next year {no one is running against me, so I'm pretty sure I've got the job.}

So it's lookin like it's gonna be a fun & easy senior year. Woo-hoo! What an answer to prayer! I don't think I could handle another bad year, especially my last year at good ol' RTCS. :'(

Coming Soon...

A complete list of things I've learned this year. And believe me, there are many. I'm putting the finishing touches on it and when it's done, you'll be the first to see!

ps. I gave up on wordpress for now.

Changing Times

I just created an account on wordpress and am realizing that I am terrible with technology and changes. haha. I don't have the patience to figure it out at the moment. haha.

Here's the address:
jmestuart.wordpress.com

I've Got Chills They're Multiplying!

I've been working on a playlist composed of songs that give me chills (not including the title song)

Here's what I've got so far (in no particular order):
ps. This list does not include any Broadway songs full of awesomeness...it would be too long if it did. :)

"What Sarah Said"- Death Cab for Cutie
"Ten Thousand Angels"- Caedmon's Call (Derek Webb)
"The Lighthouse's Tale"- Nickel Creek
"Oh My God"- Jars of Clay
"John Wayne Gacy, Jr."- Sufjan Stevens
"El Tango de Roxanne"- Moulin Rouge
"He"- Jars of Clay
"Falling Slowly"- Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (also my most played song)
"Mother India"- Caedmon's Call
"Give Me Jesus"- Jeremy Camp
"Lover"- Derek Webb
"Untitled Hymn"- Chris Rice
"Black Balloon"- The Goo Goo Dolls (this one's slightly random--but it does!)
"How Deep the Father's Love For Us"- pretty much anyone singing it
"Come What May"- Ewan Mcgregor <3 & Nicole Kidman
"What You Want"- Caedmon's Call (Derek again!)
"The Sun and Moon"- Mae
"100 Years"- Five for Fighting (funny hs memories...)
"Eileen"- The Hush Sound
"Set the Fire to the Third Bar"- Snow Patrol
"My Heart Will Sing"- Silers Bald
"Come and Listen"- David Crowder Band
"Firefly"- Over the Rhine
"Your Love Is Strong"- Jon Foreman
"Worlds Apart"- Jars of Clay
"Jesus I Come (Out of My Bondage)"- Indelible Grace
"Hear You Me"- Jimmy Eat World
"Welcome To Our World"- Chris Rice

This is only the first draft of my list. I'm sure I'll probably cut and add stuff, but anything on this list is definitely worth listening to. I'd love your suggestions/comments! :)

Your Love Is Strong

I thought I'd share some lyrics from one of my {current} favorite songs. It's called "Your Love is Strong" by Jon Foreman (lead singer of Switchfoot). Jon Foreman has released 3 EPs this year--"Fall", "Winter", and "Spring". I'm a big fan of all of them and am very excited for the final "Summer" EP. This song is from the "Spring" album and is based on the Lord's prayer.

Your Love Is Strong
Heavenly Father, you always amaze me
Let your kingdom come in my world and in my life
Give me the food I need to live through today
And forgive me as I forgive the people that wrong me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window the birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
Invade my heart, invade this broken town
The kingdom of the Heavens is buried treasure
Would you sell yourself to buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

Our God in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Even If You Saw It Yourself, You Wouldn't Believe It

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I haven't blogged since November!! Wow. Time is going sooo fast. After the show is over (1 week from now is opening night!! Ah!!), I'm going to attempt to keep up with my blogging again. *cross fingers* For now, here are some random thoughts...

*Here's what I've been keeping busy with:
- AP Lit: reading 1984, W.B. Yeats poem explication
- Anne of Green Gables rehearsal til 8 pm or so every night
- Learning how to act drunk for AGG
- Listening to new music, now that my hard drive is working again (I'm especially enjoying Copeland at the moment.)
- Yearbook
- Other misc. homework
- Taxes (not cool)
- Barista-ing (although I'm off for 2 weeks b/c of the show)
-Dyeing my hair (I'm pretty sure it's becoming a hobby.): At the moment it's really dark brown for the show. I'm dyeing it red again as soon as it's over though.
- Eating lots of chocolate

*I thought I'd share a few of the haikus (is that right? as in haiku as a plural?) I wrote for Mr. Stark's AP Lit. class. They're inspired by Japanese death poetry. Exotic, huh? Basically that means they are short, slightly ambiguous, metaphors for death.

Here are some of mine:

An empty swing rocks gently
in the cool autumn wind.

A crash of thunder and
all goes dark.

A polished stone skips across
the water's surface. Sinking.

A soft crunch of fallen leaves.
Man continues on his way.

If you're interested at all, I'm happy to share the meanings behind them. Just ask!

*Someone needs to help me swankify my blog...

*Well I'm off to read more of 1984 and get some rest for a 6 hour rehearsal tomorrow (and breakfast with the cast at 10 am--no school tomorrow!)

You and I Collide

So I realized that while blogging was a great idea in theory, I have absolutely no time to do it consistently. Well anyway, here's an overview of what life is like right now...

Sunday: I have choir rehearsal before church&Sunday school. I love our choir. It's sooo much fun. And we're pretty good if I do say so myself. :) I've been going to the Boelcke's house after church for the past few weeks. I love spending time there. I feel very at home there. After spending the afternoon with them, we head to evening church {either at Grace or Providence.} Then I watch a movie or finish homework before heading to bed!
Monday-Tuesday: School! I love all of my classes this year. AP Lit&Theatre are my favorites though. I feel so much more comfortable at school now, thanks to chapel. Chapel is soooo amazing this year. The planning team is so awesome and committed this year. We've started what we're calling "The Prayer Revival." Everyone is praying all the time! It's completely lifted the whole spirit of the school. It's such a blessing to see groups of 2 or 3 students praying together in the halls or just to know that you can ask anybody to pray with you and that they're willing to drop what they're doing and pray right there and then. Our God is so faithful. Anyway, after school RGar and I usually go out and get something to eat before we both have to work at 4. We typically just end up sitting in the cafe, drinking coffee and looking at random books. It's pretty fun. :) Then I usually work till 10:30. I really love working there. The people are pretty cool and making drinks is really fun. Even though I hate the new automatic espresso machine. :( I feel like a fake barista. All I have to do now is push a button. I come home and finish what homework I have left then go to bed.
Wednesday: School as normal, then I come home and teach 2 piano lessons. I've had some trouble with my 1st student, Lena. They're not consistent at all. I can tell she doesn't practice, they always forget to pay me and half the time they're late or don't even show up. It's been really frustrating. My mom talked to her mom about it though and hopefully things will get better soon. On the other hand, I loooove teaching Courtney Jakiel. I can tell that she practices and she's catching on really quickly. Teaching her is a lot of fun. It feels very right. :) After my lessons, I relax for awhile then head to youth group. Things are going quite splendidly with Danny and Laura. They're really funny together. Oh, and they're expecting a baby! Yay! They've been going through the game of life during their lessons and talking about biblical perspectives on all the different stages of the game {getting a job, dating, marriage, finances, ...}. It's a really neat idea. Again, the Lord has provided for his children...even though I still miss Jon. :(
Thursday: See Mon-Tue.
Friday-Saturday: The weekend usually consists of sleeping, working, choir practice, homework/studying, more sleeping, movies, hanging out with the Sweden fam, and random trips to Grove City or Geneva.

Well, that's life right now. Not too exciting, which is good. I'm sure things will get crazier with the Holidays coming up. Concert time! I'm excited for Messiah and I think our school concert will be good as well. I'm going to see the Genevans concert this Saturday night...it'll be fun to see Adam in it this time! I'm especially excited for the Holidays because Mrs. S and Jon will be home!! Woooo hooooo!

I'm gonna go finish watching Zepherelli's Romeo& Juliet {which is amazing} and then go to bed and sleep in tomorrow! Night!