Hey all!  I just wanted to say how my trip to the Bahamas went!  So last Sunday (June 14th) I hopped on a plane and flew to Miami.  We got on the cruiseship and hung out around the boat all day.  Our first stop on the trip was Nassau, an island in the Bahamas.  That day, my family went to the largest waterpark in the world!  I also got to have some dolphin encounters (they made me kiss one >.<)  but overall it was a blast!  The next day we went to Royal Caribbean’s own private island.  I ended up sleeping in until noon then my mom made me get up and go to the beach  -.-  where I took a nap.  😀               

  that night I played basketball on the back of the ship until about…2 a.m.  and let me tell you, playing on a wooden deck with no shoes on is painful…I have the blisters and cuts to prove it.  Anyways, the third and final stop on the trip was Key West, Florida. We got off the boat at around 9 a.m. and went out parasailing for an hour or so!  

After going parasailing, there was not much for an adult under 18 to do on the island, so I went back to the boat and just hung out with people I met!  I tried to stay up all night that night, but ended up getting tired and going to bed at about 6 a.m. (so I could sleep on the plane of course) and for some odd reason, our flight home ended up being flying to New York for our connection to Los Angeles…which makes completely no sense to me!

Just a quick update on what’s happening with my life.  Firstly, it’s several weeks into June and I haven’t been to the beach once, which is sad since I live less than 10 miles from the beach.  Our JROTC unit took two field trips this year: one to Hawaii and one to Pensacola.  The whole time we were at each of those places we were dying to go to the beach but in San Diego it seems like nothing special.  I guess I just have to wait for Arizona where the beach is slightly less accessible.  Well, right now I’m working at a flight school, which I believe I said earlier.  I go in from 8am to anywhere between 2 and 5pm working on their website, marketing presentations/brochures, and graphic design.  It’s a pretty fun job, but can be sort of confusing at times.  The previous webmaster seemed to have locked all the templates and not labeled them very well so sometimes I’m working in the dark.

It may seem random, but I figured I’d show you all a picture of my dog…he’s a 5 year old long hair german shepherd:

My dog Jetson...our last dog was named Astro

One last item.  Several weeks ago I was talking about the shipment I got from RHL (Residence Hall Linens).  I thought they seemed pretty good at first, but in the end decided to return them.  My biggest issue was the thread count of the sheets (180) compared to what I would normally buy (at least 250 or 300).  I think when target and walmart start having dorm sales we’ll go in and buy all of my sheets, towels, etc.  Anyway, I don’t think the product was horrible or anything, it was just that I think I can do better with the same amount of money.  For anyone who just wants to buy everything quickly and in one place, I think RHL is a great solution.

This week has been crazy!  It seems that since the summer started, I eat, sleep, and breathe volleyball, and I’m loving every minute of it.  This past week, I was able to be one of the coaches at a volleyball camp for little girls with my high school coach Tami Ellsworth.  My little sister was in my group, and I have  to say that it was an eye opener for me.  She is just like me when I was little, right down to the hands.  I had more than one of my teammates who were also helping tell me that she sets just like me!  Soon she’ll be playing seventh grade volleyball, and I’ll be watching her, remembering how thrilling and exciting and nervewracking junior high ball is.  The circle of life is an interesting thing!  The camp itself was a success.  Not only did the girls learn a lot, coaching really helped ME remember some things that I had forgotten.  Soon I’ll be going to ERAU to help with a little girl’s volleyball camp there as well, and I am so excited!

At the end of the week, (Thursday), Anna and I drove down to Thatcher for the Allstar volleyball game.  All of the seniors who got nominated played in the game, the North Allstars against the South Allstars.  Well, Blue Ridge is in the North, so Anna and I walked into the  hotel’s conference room where everyone met and started to embrace our North teammates.  That’s when the North coach notified us that we were being transferred to the South due to lack of players.  So that’s how the North girls got transferred to the “Dirty South” (I didn’t make up the name…our coaches did :-)).  It was kind of ironic, actually.  1.  Coach Ellsworth was one of the people in charge and she was the assistant coach for the North team.  2. We knew someone was going to be transferred and Anna and I were positive that we weren’t going to be the ones.  That proves how karma works its course, I guess.  After about five minutes with our team though we were STOKED that we were playing with the South!  The girls were so much fun and the coaches were AMAZING at volleyball!  These two big guys from florence are the hardest hitters I’ve ever seen in my life!  They were pretty rockin’.

We stayed at the Mariott Springhill Suites in Thatcher, and it was really nice.  The pool was a little on the small side (think glorified jacuzzi without the jets) but everything else was great.  We practiced as a team at Thatcher High School and got to know how the team played as a whole.  Even at dinner we played get-to-know-you games.  After shoving our faces with pizza, we were split up into groups and were given six items.   The girls had to create some kind of commercial for the items.  Our team (the short kids) got second place for creating a commercial for the BUSTOMATIC.  Don’t ask.  There were so many outgoing girls who weren’t afraid to wear, say, fake teeth and a witch’s nose, and it was so hilarious.  We, the short kids, got waterbottles and towels as prizes for our amazing commercial (ha).  Man, if I wasn’t going to Embry Riddle to get my degree in GSIS, I would probably be right up there with Audrey Hepburn, Mickey Rooney and Will Ferrell.  Well, you never know.

Pictured top to bottom left to right: Jessica Queen (JQ), Daniella Serrano (Dani), Ashley McCracken, Anna Martin, Ahsaki LaFrance (Sakie), Stephanie Johnson, and me!  Not pictured: Sabrina Blanco.  We think she was talking on the phone somewhere.

Overall, the entire experience was a BLAST!  A group of girls from all around the southern state became friends and teammates somewhere between practices, accidentally locking our middle hitter out of our room for three hours (oops), and walking to Denny’s where our other middle HAD to get hot wings because it was her tradition to eat them the night before the game.  She also carried around a mini volleyball in her bag for good luck and had to take a shower the night before, that morning, and right before the game, so she would keep to her traditions.  Well, those crazy traditions definitely didn’t fail her!  The South ended up beating the North in three games (we play three out of five) and the bonding during the game was incredible.  Everyone had the same passion for volleyball as I did, and we played like a team that had been together for years.  The feeling was absolutely incredible.  Eight teammates became eight friends.  Go Dirty South!

“Life is partly what we make it and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose.”

-Tehyi Hsieh

First off, I would like to apologize for taking a while to write. I have been extremely busy this last week. Not only did I have graduation, but my boyfriend came out from Arizona to see me and all my family from across California came to see me this past week. I have a lot to cover!!! 😀 

So graduation was June 10th, 2009! Last Wednesday! It was a great  night, unfortunately it was extremely windy, but for the first time it was not hot!! That was the plus 😉  I was one of the first to walk and graduate since I was a distinguished scholar and top 2% of class. It felt good to be one of the first, but then again I had to wait for all the other four hundred graduates to walk across that same stage. lol. It was a LONG wait. But I’m so proud of my friends and of myself for making it this far and accomplishing such an amazing task! And congrats go out to all the graduating seniors of 2009! WE DID IT!!! 😀

Next news, Last week I also had two scholarship award banquets to go to. I got to meet the Mayor at one and our Congresswoman at the other. They were both for $1,000 each. One was from “The Gas Company” and the other was from “Mission Lakes Women’s Luncheon Club”. Both scholarships were community. The Mission Lakes Women’s Luncheon Club was a group of women who devote their time to hold luncheons to receive donation money in order to give them to their chosen scholarship recipients. I was one of four to receive such award. I was also very fortunate to get the Gas Company scholarship since only 9 of us got this award (5 for $500 and 4 for $1,000), out of the many applications that were submitted. And I already told you about the $10,000 scholarship that I won. $5,000 for the first year and $5,000 for the second. This award insured my full payment for my freshman year, it is a huge relief now! Trust me when I say work your booty off for as many scholarships, because I promise it will pay off, and you will be thanking yourself in the future when your debt is at the minimum!

And the last bit of info…Last days of high school were exciting, stressful, and fun. I just could not believe I was getting ready to leave all my friends that I have known for years. But I was so excited to know that all my hard work payed off and now I was able to be the adult in the real world. I now get to live my dream of becoming a pilot! On the last day of school we had a senior party, it was so much fun. We had bouncers, rock wall, hula dance, hula hoop, face painting, sooooo much food!!! And of course, a DJ!!! There was also contests and prizes, but it was all fun. It was a great way to celebrate the end of our high school year.

So I guess this wraps up the last two weeks, at least the important stuff. Like I said the week of graduation just consisted of scholarships, family, friends, and boyfriend. I also got to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain all day the Thursday after Graduation! That was AMAZING! Wish I had more pictures up, but all my pictures are on my cell and I’m just in the middle of switching companies. So maybe I can fit them into my blog next time 😉

Take care. 😀

Man things have been busy around here! I guess I might as well go in order. I think I left off right before graduation day, which was last Thursday. It was the first time in the history of the school where graduation wasn’t scorching hot. Our school wears all black gowns and caps, so needless to say it can get very warm with little effort from the weather. This year we had a nice cloud cover and breeze (although that didn’t help us keep our cords on). I was happy that my cousin and good friend who I’ve known for 7 years (he’s also a teacher at another school) were able to make it to my graduation along with my parents. Right after graduation, I went and got my diploma and then proceeded straight to a friend’s graduation party.

After the party, I headed over to grad nite, which has always been hosted at our school. They use the gym, lunch area, and surrounding walkway. Of course, to make sure no one “escaped’ they put up fences around the whole area and posted security guards. I can honestly say that was probably the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. The moment I walked in, I saw the gym had been split into three sections by 10 foot high walls. There was a massive dance area, followed by an arcade/video game section with pool and ping pong tables, and lastly a casino. They even had a barred dealer area where you cashed out chips. Outside were caricaturists, unlimited coffee and smoothies provided by Maui Wowi, a ton of food including a chocolate fountain, a massive 20′ highx80′ long obstacle course, an inflatable laser tag arena, and a massive palm tree climbing tower. They also had a tattoo and hair styling center outside next some other carnival games where you could win candy. Below is a photo of my “shamu underwater” hairdo. Some friends I was with told the person to make it like Elvis, but also a mohawk. I didn’t quite understand it, but you can see for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments.

Oh, I forgot to mention something else; in case anyone got tired, they had a room set up playing movies with a ton of pillows to sleep. I’ll admit I spent 20 minutes in there relaxing around 2am. I think my favorite part was the inflatable obstacle course, but I didn’t like getting burned by the synthetic material every time I went down the 20′ slide. I must have raced people at least 15 times, about the same number of pina colada’s (non-alcoholic) that I had. I got home around 5:30am and proceeded to sleep for approximately 3 hours; my friends tell me they slept until 4pm that day. I got up Friday morning and spent the entire day cleaning for my graduation party the next day.

On Saturday, I had my graduation party, where we hired taqueros (authentic taco makers who grill in your back yard) who made some awesome carne asada tacos. There must have been about 30 people at the party, all from San Diego or Temecula. I take that back, there was one person who I was very happy was able to make it. My ROTC Instructor from Freshman through Junior year came from LA because he lost his job here due to budget cuts. Being an former Navy SEAL, he always has plenty of stories to tell me and my friends; this visit was no exception. The following day we went on a hike on a mountain called Mt. Woodson in the area and caught up on what had happened in ROTC and life in general. Unexpectedly, I received quite a bit of money at the party which will be stored in my starving student fund for next year.

Moving on to Sunday…I believe most of you are now aware of the fact that I work at church every Sunday, and Saturdays when I can, as an A/V Tech. On Sunday, I started at church at 8:30am, went on the hike with my ROTC Instructor at 12:00 and was back at church again at 3:00pm for a special event. A very talented singer who is in our normal group of weekend singers, Kenny Turner, has a band but had never produced a CD. As a gospel singer, in the past 20 years he has performed on stage with artists including Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, and Michael Bolton.  The church staff offered to put on a live concert to produce a soundtrack and DVD for him to sell. It was a hit! We had a full house and after recording the clap track, he and his band blew us all away, literally. We were flying new speakers to test them out and it was a good thing we did because our normal ones would have been killed right away. My job that night was putting lyrics on the screen for both the band and audience. Because we were recording for sale, we had 5 cameras rolling at all times and put extra mics on the instruments to mix later. It was a great success and I’ll be sure to let you know when the CD is ready.

I’m almost done now, so just sit tight for a minute. Last summer I started as a webmaster for a local flight school who puts out some great pilots. After scrambling to put in job applications, I was pleased to find out that they would be taking me on full time again this summer. There’s always something to be done, so I should stay plenty busy throughout the summer and even doing updates during the school year at ERAU. Even though I have this job, I’m still hoping the Apple Store will call me in for an interview 🙂  Lastly, I received my course list this week which includes 17 credits: Military Forces, Leadership Lab (AFROTC), Intro to Engineering, Intro to Computing for Engineers, Honors Seminar, Calculus, Physics, and College Success.  Mondays seem like a pretty heavy day, but luckily Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are light enough for me to catch up on work.

For me, I am going to the Bahamas and then pretty much hanging out with friends until I have to get all packed up for school (which is gonna be AWESOME!)  It kinda stinks for me though because I don’t have a car so meeting up with people gets difficult 

 But anyways, I will keep trying to hang out with my friends  😀 

So like I asked earlier, what are you guys doing for fun this summer??

Growing up is definitely not on my list of things that I enjoy.

I have, over the years, acquired the disease I quite often refer to as the “Peter Pan Syndrome”.  The “Peter Pan Syndrome”, in accordance to its name,  means that one does not ever want to grow up, or  seldom acts their age.  This illness is not good for the health of just graduated seniors, now freshmen in college, who barely started to work to get money for college, or for freshman who have to go buy towels and sheets and such for their dorm rooms, or for freshman who now have to learn how to make her – er, THEIR, beds.   Of course, it is not good for the health of anyone going to live out by themselves who just barely learned how to separate the whites and colors while doing laundry either.  Gulp.  THIS freshman’s next year is going to be very…interesting.

In my last blog, I posted about going down to the softball state tournament.  Well, here’s a confession… I FORGOT CLOTHES.  Uniform: check.  Toothbrush: check.  Pajamas, workout clothes, sweats and/or clothes to go the restaurant in: uh… not check?  At first I thought I only forgot sweats, so I got some workout clothes from the week before out of my locker and wore those down to Phoenix.  Only to realize that night that I had no pajamas.  Well, being the happy-go-lucky person I am, I wore those sweats to bed.  Only to wake up and realize I had no practice clothes either.  So, I wore those to practice.  And when everyone else changed into fresh clothes to go to eat, I wore those nasty T-shirt and shorts.  I don’t know what I’m going to do without my mom who will drive two hundred miles to bring me fresh, clean smelling clothes.  Shrivel up and die, probably.  Or I might just stink for a while.

These are the infamous pajamas/sweats/practice clothes.

I’m tellin’ ya, this Peter Pan Syndrome is serious stuff.  If you or a loved one is affected by this disease, call 1-800-STY-LTTL.  (Just kidding.  Please don’t call that number.  I have no idea who that poor hapless person is who has to pick up the phone.)

In searching for words of wisdom, I found this very profound, very deep quote by Dave Schroeder that fits this situation:  “I’m not as dumb as I am.”  Nice.  All in all, it seems to be a perfect fit.

Hey anyone and everyone! I’m Tanner C and I just got here  >.<  I know I’m late, but better late than never, right?  I have been pretty busy for about….3 weeks now, what with finishing projects and studying for my one and only dreaded physics final *gasp* but I survived and that’s what matters! Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of summer….

Me saluting you, graduated(ing) senior!

On Saturday, we took our senior trip to Disneyland. I hadn’t been since around 1999 at Disneyland Paris, and many more since I had been to the San Diego location. I realized that I failed to mention I lived in Belgium for two and a half years when I was in first grade. My dad works for Solar Turbines and his company offered him a temporary position there. It really gave me a different perspective of the world. We traveled to about ten different countries in Europe during vacations and I was able to see their different cultures, and at such a young age, I think it was very beneficial to how I see the world now. Anyway, back to Disneyland, it was a load of fun because I didn’t remember any of it. Probably one of the biggest things was that I hadn’t been on a rollercoaster in probably over a decade. It was exciting to be able to go on all the rides and an added bonus was that lines weren’t long at all. The picture below shows me on Splash Mountain, a ride I went on five times, which caused my right foot and leg to be wet all day.

I'm the second one back

So after we got back from Disneyland at around midnight to a neighborhood in a blackout, I went to bed and woke up early for the next day’s big event. We had our ROTC Awards Night Sunday night which turned out really nice. I’ve posted a link on my website to the newsletter that I made. I started the very first newsletter in our unit three years ago and have been creating/editing/publishing it ever since. You can view the most recent one here: Awards Night Newsletter.pdf (You need Adobe Reader to view the file). This was the first time I used Adobe InDesign to create a publication, which was a huge step up from Microsoft Publisher. The night went well and there were many freshman who were very excited to win some of our special awards.

I just want to mention one more thing; if you haven’t seen the movie Up, please do. If you did see it, but not in 3D, go back and watch it again in 3D. I went yesterday and it was a really neat movie. I love graphics and technology anyway, and the credits at the end told me exactly how much work it took to produce that movie. It’s perfect for parents and kids alike 🙂 Graduation is in two days, so I expect I’ll be writing again in a few days.

Summer.  The word floats through the halls of the high school with a sacred fervor.  Every year, I do the exact same thing.  Towards the end of the semester, I get so stoked thinking about summer, and how I’ll be able to relax and chill, with no homework or school or drama.  And every year, at the beginning of summer, I remember how stupid I was thinking that I’d have ANY free time whatsoever!  What time I gained by not doing homework is time I lost with coaching little girl softball teams, EFY (Especially For Youth), working at my dad’s office as a receptionist, attempting to organize my room that without a doubt looks like a tornado blew through the area, and training for volleyball at ERAU this fall.  So, my plans to scrapbook the past two years, watch a few good movies with my little sibs, and read my favorite books are put on hold for a while.  That’s okay with me.  I love being active, so I can’t complain.  Well, except the activities that involve cleaning.  I can complain about those!

I’ve had an absolutely action packed senior year!  What started with a great volleyball season ended with a great, state-winning softball season, and everything in between makes the year all the better.  I’m still on a high from softball.  We’d never had an especially good  season before this year, but having eight seniors who’d had enough and a new coach with high expectations, we made a goal to win state.  I’ll admit it was a high goal, seeing as Blue Ridge softball didn’t have a banner for winning CONFERENCE let alone STATE, but it was a goal that we worked hard for and we knew we could accomplish.  We’d done it before in Little League, and it was our turn again.  It was a Cinderella story for our team.  We ended up winning conference, the FIRST time in the history of our school, and then went on a couple weeks ago to defeat Winslow in the championship game, 7-3, for the first ever state banner in Blue Ridge softball history.  Go Jackets!  (See?  I told you I was still on a high!)  😉

Even my dad, who in February had a massive stroke in his brain, was healthy enough to go and cheer me on.  Many people die from the kind of stroke my dad went through.  I now see where I get my stubborn, I-will-never-quit nature.  It was from my wonderful dad, who never gave up, who would not accept that he was weakened at all, who refused to actually lean on his walker like he was supposed to.  HE CARRIED IT.  Even on the pavement.  This was very much to the disapproval of my mom, who scolded him like he was one of her kids.  Right away, he’d put it down like a child who’d gotten caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.  (Well, at least until she turned around.  Then he’d carry it again!)  Through the dirt and gravel, to my softball tournaments he would go without failure, even though he was weak to the point of collapsing.  Sometimes he would have to sit in the car because his nausea was so miserable, but he still went.  He’s a trooper!  I’m so happy that he was healthy enough to watch his former team, who he’d coached since we were nine, win the state championship for him.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the whole stadium.  He is such an inspiration to me, as well as the rest of my team.  He is doing well, and he even goes to work part time.  What a champ.

So here I am, anxious for the new action-packed chapter of my life to begin, thankfully with my dad right beside me to watch and teach life lessons along the way.

“He didn’t tell me how to live;  he lived, and let me watch him do it.”‘

-Clarence Budington Kelland