Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Spotlight 2020: Whitney

Whitney Amelia

Tell us some of your favorite memories from 2019:

*Being in A Christmas Carol. That was super fun.

*Having more of my church friends go to Penn Griffin, riding the bus together and carpooling.

*Driving has been fun.

Something you're good at: sight reading music

Something you're proud of: Going to Honors Chorus



Something you learned this past year: Always signal before you brake.

Favorite recent reads: The Uglies series

What did you earn, win, or accomplish this year? I kept a 4.0 GPA at school. Getting roles in Shrek and A Christmas Carol.



Any other changes or events from 2019?  Going on a spring break cruise.


What do you like about being 15 years old?  I can drive. I can go to dances.

Who are your closest friends? Joya, Skylar, Ember, Ivy, Mallory

How would your friends describe you? Hard working. Kindly blunt. Happy. Perfectionist. Calm. A nice, loving and intelligent young lady with a caring and funny personality but knows when to tolerate different things and is someone with a soul that shows that God is in your life.

Something in 2020 that...

*you wish you were better at: sports

*you wish you could buy: some really good markers

*you hope you can learn: US History

*you are looking forward to: YASE

*Goals for 2020: Keep up my good grades. Get a job. Keep being awesome.

Hobbies: Playing piano, reading, drawing, Minecraft

Something you like about school: Chorus

Something you don't like about school: Mean people

A job you might want when you're older: Dental hygienist

A pet you wish your mom would let you have: Chinchilla

Some important things you do: Homework

Things you collect: Key chains and glass bottles





What do you like to spend your money on? Peppermint stuff and presents for my friends

What are your favorite ways to spend your free time? Making music and sleeping


FAVORITES:

Restaurant: Subway

Sport: I hate all sports

Book: Pretties

Candy or other treat: Peppermints

Color: Teal

Movie: National Treasure

App: Idle Super Market Tycoon

Animal: Pheasant

Snack: Almonds

Show: Avatar, the Last Airbender

Place: My bedroom

Season: Spring

Meal: Haystacks

Song: You've Got a Friend by Carole King, People from Funny Girl

Game: Werewolf

RANDOM FACT: As of right now, I have a 50 day streak on Duolingo

Anything else? This year, I got to see My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, Anastasia, Aladdin, and Cinderella.


Sunday, February 23, 2020

Spotlight 2020: Caroline


Caroline Rose

Tell us some of your favorite memories from 2019:

*Holding a sloth

*Holding a sea turtle

*Yosemite

Something you're good at: rock climbing

Something you're proud of: A honor roll for the whole year

Something you learned this past year: How to hold a sloth

Favorite recent reads: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

What did you earn, win, or accomplish this year?  A honor roll the entire year. I took fourth place in regionals and 9th place in divisionals for bouldering. I made All-County Chorus.



Any other changes or events from 2019? I finished elementary school and started middle school. Brandon moved out. No more rock climbing and more volleyball.

What do you like about being 11 years old? I have my own room.

Who are your closest friends? Sarah Geraldi, Alexis Gray, Ka'Loni Whitehead, and Shreya Acharya

How would your friends describe you? Smart and kind.

Something in 2020 that...

*you wish you were better at: Overhand serving in volleyball

*you wish you could buy: A cat

*you hope you can learn: Pre-algebra or algebra

*you are looking forward to: Volleyball season starting again.

*Goals for 2020: Learn how to type.

Hobbies: Minecraft, youtube

Something you like about school: Most of my friends are in my class

Something you don't like about school: The learning aspect of it

A job you might want when you're older: Lawyer or therapist

A pet you wish your mom would let you have: Cat or dog or hamster


Things you collect: Harry Potter merchandise

What do you like to spend your money on? Food, candy, and Harry Potter merchandise

What are your favorite ways to spend your free time? Playing and watching Minecraft


FAVORITES:

Restaurant: Chick-fil-a, McDonalds, and Panda Express

Sport: Volleyball

Book: Any in the Harry Potter series

Candy or other treat: Haribo gummies, ice cream (esp. mint, neopolitan, and anything chocolatey)

Color: Teal

Movie: Any in the Harry Potter series

App: Probably messages

Animal: Sloth, llama, or cat

Snack: Cheez-its, carrot chips, or popcorn

Show: Survivor, Lego Masters, America's Got Talent, Mineclash, One Life, Dogcraft

Place: Wherever the nearest cat it

Season: Fall

Meal: Japanese

Song: We've Gotta Go Save the Dogs Today by Stacyplays

Game: Minecraft

RANDOM FACT:  I pack my lunch every night before I go to sleep.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

What January Looked Like

Care Bear went to the trampoline park with Finley.


They had a great time.

Comfort food
aka Chicken pot pie

I got a sneak peek at Whitney's tap class.

She gets to do some partnering.

Quality time with my fave toddler twins

My friend, Julie, invited me to play in a member-guest
tournament with her. It was indoors at Piedmont. 
It was so much fun.

I love playing with Julie.
She is a super consistent teammate
and lets me go for everything at the net.
She's a member at The Cardinal,
where I have lots of friends,
so we had a great time visiting
in between matches.

AND we ended up winning our bracket!
I left with lots of great prizes!
Great way to spend a cold Sat night.

Caroline is having a great time in YW.
They got to do cake decorating for one of
her first activities. She nailed it. :)

PGSA winter concert


Caroline somehow ended up being her class representative
for the school spelling bee. After her experience in fourth grade,
she told me she never wanted to do another spelling bee.
She invited me to come watch.
It was a very casual affair around a table in the media center.

Even though she didn't spend any time studying,
she did well, taking fourth place.
She was the last girl standing.
She hated it, though.
Too much pressure.

Temple date night!
Love it!

In January, we always do a service project in 
honor of Wyatt. This would have been his 13th birthday.
We actually picked two this year.
Caroline's school is collecting items
for foster families.
They had a wish list. 

The four of us got to go shopping together and fill
our cart with items for the foster families.

Then on MLK day, the girls and I went to 
an elementary school in High Point to 
help assemble new classroom furniture.

There was a BIG turnout,
so the work went by fast.

Afterward we met friends at another trampoline park. 

Splits across america!

Piece of cake for this climber


Fun, fun, fun


The girls actually had a four day weekend,
also having the day AFTER MLK day off.
I wanted to go on a road trip,
but my homebody girls wanted to stay home.
We had a great time.

The US Figure Skating Championships were in town!
Lucky!

The early sessions have very affordable tickets.
We got to watch the Junior Pairs.

It was fantastic.





They had a Fanfest downstairs that was free.
We were some of the only people down there.
It was so cool!
Fun photo opps

We got to help color a giant mural.

 Bouncy slides.
They also had a little bounce house,
free popcorn and drinks, free video games,
and there you could watch the skaters at the
practice arena.
So happy we could be part of this event!

Young Women's basketball has started!
Whitney isn't playing this year,
but Caroline invited KK, so the two of them are playing. 
They are both so LITTLE compared to some of 
the YW. But they seem to be having fun out there!

Grateful to the Greenwoods for coaching.

Whitney got to cash in on her Christmas gift--
tickets to watch My Fair Lady down in Charlotte. 
We stopped for a yummy dinner at Panera.
Also had time to do some shopping before the show.

Overall, the show was REALLY good.
So many familiar songs.
And the sets were cool,
done in a vanishing perspective.
There was just one scene
(Eliza's Dad's bachelor party),
where they took some liberties and
made it skankier than the movie.
I could've done without that.
Great actors. Great voices.

Love going to shows with my girl!

Shelley's mom passed away this month.
It has been devastating.
My heart breaks for Shelley, Shannon, and their Dad.
I decided to go down to Orlando for the funeral. 
Stayed the night with Marianne on the way down.

Their home and the stake center are right across from
the Orlando Temple. Got to spend some time on those
beautiful temple grounds.

The first night we were there happened to be R's birthday. 
I'm glad it gave us a reason to celebrate.

During the viewing, Kelly (who ALSO came down from NC)
and I watched the kids. 
We did a photo shoot and walked around the temple.




It's easy to feel helpless when you're friends
are going through tragedies.
I was so happy we could help in this small way.



The funeral itself was really nice.
Their friends from Tucson flew out
to be the speakers.

Being with family during the hard times is helpful.

Friends forever.

After the funeral, I helped get things cleaned up,
but then felt like I should let the family be together. 
So I headed to Disney Springs and walked around.



Also decided to head to Universal CityWalk
 while I was in town.



The next day I hit Cafe Rio on my way out of town. 
Yummy, yummy, yummy.

It was a super quick trip, but I was so happy I could
be with Shelley. And I'm grateful that Andrew could
take care of the girls while I was gone. It was not an easy 
weekend to be away. Whitney had Wingate, an overnight
field trip. So he had to drive to Wingate, back home to get
Caroline after school, back to Wingate to stay the night.
Watched her perform on Sat afternoon, then drive BACK home.
What a great husband and dad!