Pine Top 2008

No time to play with all our Christmas toys, because they day after Christmas my family, the Dunn's family, and the Goebel's family headed up to the Dunn's cabin in Pine Top. This has become some what of a tradition for us. My family left first, so we had the lovely task of shoveling around 3 feet of snow, before we could even get into the drive way! Luckily, my dad is from Wisconsin and is used to this kind of weather and did most of the work (AMEN). To make the matters worse, the heat wouldn't turn on! Good thing December 26th is not a holiday, and Mr. Dunn called a person to come and fix it. 

The Dunn's have two snow mobiles, which everyone enjoys riding on. We were fortunate enough that no one got hurt, until Derick Goebel lost control and ran head on into a tree about 25 m.p.h. He went to the E.R., complaining about his leg, and was lucky to only have a sprained knee. Sometimes it takes one person's mistakes to warn everyone that we are not invincible (hey D, at least it wasn't the axe to the head this time, eh?). The next day, most of us stayed on the sledding hill and worked on making 5 person long chains, or snow boarding. I've come to realize that I have no future in snow boarding.

Thank you to the Dunn's who share their cabin with us. I had a great time, and many long lasting memories. Thanks again! :)

Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day!

As tradition, my family and Melissa's family go to Christmas Eve mass. I've come to realize that it never feels like Christmas is near until we go to mass. Afterwards, my family goes over to my aunt's house. This year, we had a delcious meal consisting of prime rib, mashed potatos, corn, and fruit salad. Everyone opened up their Christmas gifts from her, before we left her house around ten o'clock. My two younger brothers (Austin and Andrew--the believers) were thrilled to go to bed to see what Santa would bring them. I helped Andrew make the reindeer food, my specialty. Oatmeal, broccoli, and glitter (so they can see it).

This morning I was awoken by foot steps climbing up the stairs, and someone trying to open my door. Thanks to Cameron and Ryan though, my door handle it broken! Anyways, everyone was satisfied with what Santa brought them. I got my CHI straightner and IPOD speakers, so I am happy. I must keep reminding myself though, as we all should, that the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus' birthday. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Merry Christmas!

End of the first semester!

Woo hoo! Finally, the break is here. My first semester of my Freshman year wasn't too chaotic. I maintained all A's for my semester grade, and barely pulling it off with a 90.0% in honors geometry! I must say, I am very proud that I got an A in an honors tenth grade class.
Next semester will bring a new on set of challenges for me. I want to achieve all A's again. I am going to try out for the Red Mountain Tennis team. The coach is not going to cut anybody, so I am hoping that this will be a fun experience for me (and my Shepherd doubles partner Wilsynn). I am planning on restarting piano lessons with my same teacher who moved away a few months ago, but is now moving back. My audition for Regionals (orchestra) is at the end of January. This is my main focus right now, besides my grades. I am hoping the second half of my school year is just as awesome as the first.
Happy Holidays!

Holiday Recipe!

I have never written a recipe before, so bare with me as I try to make this sound "yumlicious."

Cinnamon and Sugar Crescent Rolls
Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury Crescent Roll Can (Original) [dinner rolls]
1/2 cup Butter or Margerine
1/2 cup Cinnamon Sugar

Prep:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Directions:
Place 8 dinner rolls (unrolled) on an ungreased cookie sheet or stone. Melt the 1/2 cup butter/margerine in the microwave till no solid butter/margerine is left. Using a spoon, spread a little bit of the melted butter on to all of the rolls. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the melted butter. Roll the rolls up (they will be messy). Place in oven and let cook for 11 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown. ***Use the extra butter and cinnamon to dunk your rolls in***



- - Please comment to tell me if you enjoyed the recipe. I did make it up on my own (even though it is simple), and did not get it from anyone. This is a great recipe for dessert (or breakfast). ENJOY!

Thanksgiving 2008

I am so grateful for Thanksgiving. It is an awesome time to spend with your family, and catch up on each other's lives. This Thanksgiving, my cousins, Brian and Mary, their two kids, Josh and Abby (my second cousins), and my Uncle Jim came over to the Hemauer house hold for a lovely Thanksgiving linner (lunch and dinner). We went none traditional this year and had BBQ Spare Ribs. Everything was exceptionally delicious. Later in the night we had pumpkin pie and an awesome Oreo Cream Pie made by my cousin Mary. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Now who is ready for Christmas? :)

FIRST BASKETBALL VICTORY!

WOO HOO! The Lady Stallions did it! We beat Kino (away) today 55-24! Our team is looking awesome! I got to start as strong forward, but played point guard and off guard through out the game. With this being our first game, no one knew quite what to expect, but we brought our "A" game and took home our first victory! I did pretty well with having two 3- pointers, one 2-pointer, and I was five for five on my free throws. That is a total of 13 points! I am so proud of these ladies, and I am looking forward to my next game on our home court against Powell (4 pm). It will be nice to have people cheering for us and not against us! We love when people come to support us! GREAT JOB LADIES!

Little "G" is 8!

Last Saturday was Andrew's 8 birthday party! He had 7 of his little friends over at our house for a two hour celebration. We had a bouncy blow up house that everyone enjoyed. The party started at 4 (for the little kids) and went to 6 pm. Melissa and Ryan tagged along for the first two hours to babysit with me. From 6 till about 11, all of our close family friends came over. I think the older kids probably enjoyed the bouncy house more than the younger kids, but in the end everyone had a blast! Andrew got a ton of gifts (mostly things that will annoy his sister like dart guns and balls). OH! And you cannot forget Melissa and I's lovely party hats and matching scarfs. Although the idea was for us to wear them, they got passed around to all the kids. HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY LITTLE "G"

ASU GAME!

This post is a little late, but on Friday the 21st, part of my old basketball team (the Lady Jets) and my brother Trax's current basketball team (the Net Rippers) went to the ASU girls and boys basketball game. The games were awesome, and everyone loved being surrounded by the rowdy ASU fanatics. Here are just a few pics from the game!

Breakfast with the LADIES :)

On Tuesday last week, we all had that wonderful little break in the middle of the week. I hope everyone had fun sleeping in, while the Shepherd girls got up at 7 am for their basketball practice. Afterwards, we all planned to walk to Village Inn for a lovely late breakfast. The breakfast was great and we all had some good laughs. Not all the girls could attend, but about half of our team did. We couldn't get enough out of Jen's humorous eating (yes, someone's eating can be quite hilarious [this hints the shake picture of her slurping it using only her tongue]). Everyone had a great time, except Marissa, who left early to go home (she was battling the stomach flu). I am hoping to make this a tradition for morning weekend practices! I LOVE YA LADIES! I hope none of you shoot me for putting you on here all sweaty and gross. :)

Updates :)

I am sorry I haven't been updating my blog very much lately. My life has been extremely hectic, but I finally have the time to sit down and create a post.

Basketball season has officially started. I made the team, along with eleven other talented young athletes. I hold the legendary number 24. Actually I don't know if it is legendary, but it makes the number 24 seem very special (just kidding). I am looking forward to our first game at Kino on November 25th. I would really appreciate anyone who can come out and cheer our team on. If you need a schedule or some game times, I can most certainly get those for you.  :) Currently, we are practicing 12 hours a week. Practices are very physical, and we do a lot of conditioning. It is a drag, but I know our team will only improve if we practice, practice, practice. Oh, and we can't forget to mention those lovely 6 AM practices twice a week! I know the whole team looks forward to those, and I am sure the parents do too!

Also, twice a week I practice with my orchestra director, Mrs. Chilton, in order to prepare for my Regionals Audition. I know that Regionals is extremely hard to make, especially as a freshman, but I think it will be a great learning experience for me, even if I don't make it. The audition consists of playing all 3 octave Major and Minor scales, and their arpeggios (memorized). I also have three etudes I have to play. During the audition, I will also have to sight read, but sight reading is my most favorite thing in the world to do (that involves music), so that shouldn't be a big hassle. The whole audition is out of 2,000 points. As you can see, I have my work cut out for me. The audition is the end of January, and Mrs. Chilton says that I am in great shape for it being November.  

School....what can I say? School is school. I am maintaining all "A's" as of right now as we approach the end of the semester. My teachers must all be on the same cycle, because this week I had three big projects due. I sometimes wonder if they do that on purpose just to stress us out? Overall, school is well, and not too stressful. :)

This was probably one of the more boring post to read, but I appreciate who ever took the time to read it. Please leave a comment if you can. I love reading comments on my posts, even if they are pointless! Thanks! :)

Halloween--with the whole army!

What a fun filled evening everyone had on Halloween! Cameron, Ryan, Melissa, Billy, Trax, Andrew, Austin, and Derrick all came over to go TRICK OR TREATING! We all put on face paint, and our army men shirts and hats. The younger boys trick or treated, while Melissa and I (and sometimes Ryan and Cameron) were the supervisors. Everyone had a blast going around the neighborhood and looking at everyone's neat decorations. I am so grateful everyone could come celebrate this evening with our family. Even Melissa's parents, and my grandpa came too! Luckily for us, too, the face paint came off with a little soap and water (or at least mine did). Happy HALLOWEEN!

I must say the picture with Cameron, Ryan, Melissa, and I is my new all time FAVE! I love how everyone is smiling, except Ryan. Maybe that is because we all jumped on top of him to take a picture. HAHA. GOOD TIMES!

Back Draw GOLD!

 

Wilsynn and I did it! Well...sort of. We got our gold medal, but no in the true Championship finals. Nerves really control you at the times that you wish they didn't. Our first match was against Taylor. Even though Wilsynn and I beat them during our season, our luck didn't pull through. The object is to be the first one to 6 games. It became 5 all (5 to 5), and deuce (40 all). The next point would win. Unfortunately, we did not get that point. Although I was disappointed that we did not beat them, I was kind of glad we lost. If we would have won, then we would have had to play Stapely (the other best doubles team), and if we lost to them, then we would be officially out and would not have a chance to win a medal. Instead, we got to play a tournament with all the losers. :) It was blast, because Wilsynn and I had a lot of support, and ended up having a lot more fun without so much pressure. We went all the way to the Back Draw Finals, and beat Fremont 8 to 3 to earn the GOLD! Even better, everyone at Shepherd won some sort of medal! :) 

The tennis season is officially over, so I will probably stop posting so much about tennis, tennis, tennis! I know everyone is probably getting sick of it. SORRY! Basketball tryouts start 6:15 AM on November 3rd. YA!

Pranks on Hernandez!

During first hour, all the tennis girls decided to hide in the TEAM ROOM until Mrs. Hernandez took her P.E. class out to play tennis. Don't worry, we all got permission from our teachers first. We all waited for about twenty minutes, until Mrs. Hernandez took her P.E. class outside. After she left, we were going to cover all the glass windows in the locker room with shaving cream, and then write "WORLD's Best Coach," and "Undefeated City Champs!" That was how the plan was supposed to work, but what is a plan without its faults? As we were snickering in the team room, and trying to be calm, we overheard Hernandez saying take out a pencil and paper. This was not a good sign, because we assumed her class was about to take notes, and Hernande usually takes notes in the team room. Luckily for us, her class was taking a test instead. This was still bad though, because that meant Hernandez would be in the locker room, and not outside! We quickly decided to send Jen and Carly (our two best liars) out to distract Hernandez. We obviously couldn't just send them out the team room, because then Hernandez would be suspicious. So, they quickly snuck out when she wasn't looking, and went around to the other locker room door. Carly and Jen told Mrs. Hernandez a whole bunch of lies about how none of our team wanted to participate in the City Match tomorrow, except for Jamie. She was so furious that she stormed into the locker room, but only to be found astonished at her glass windows covered in shaving cream. She loved it, and we then gave her a hug with our shaving cream hands. She wasn't too happy about that (she was wearing a black shirt), but she still kept laughing hysterically. I think overall the little 7th graders were mostly taken by surprise, when the scary ninth graders came out of no where. This brightened my day, but the day got even better! We all headed to Barro's Pizza during sixth hour for a team celebration...coach's treat. Everyone surprised her again with a $100.oo gift card (from all of us) to her favorite restaurant, Los Olivos, and a huge card. The tears couldn't hold back any longer, she automatically started to bawl, which made everyone else tear up. After a great pizza dinner, and many great past time stories, Mrs. Hernandez gave us the top three awards that we voted on last week. MVP (the most valuable), MIP (most improved player), and the Stallion Award (for the nicest, and the best person overall to just have on the team). MVP went to Jamie T, MIP went to Jen P, and the Stallion award went to ME!! I was very excited. Tomorrow is the City Match! GO GIRLS TENNIS!

Just a little notice. I have never been so proud of one of my brothers before, until today. Trax participated in the City Cross Country Meet for 7th grade boys. Out of 80 7th graders running the two mile race, he placed 13th with a time of 14 minutes, and 08 seconds! Only the top 15 runners got medals. I am very proud of him. I must say...I did give him some words of advice that I gave him, so maybe I should get some credit....:) Just kidding! GOOD JOB TRAX!

We are the CHAMPIONS!

Shepherd tennis girls truly are the best! Our last match was today against Smith. :( I am sad that our season has only two more days left. Tennis has become very special to me, and a big part of my life. I am glad that I got to learn this wonderful sport, and become very close to many people that I barely even knew before our tennis season. The Shepherd girl's team, Jamie T, Jen P, Wilsynn W, Carly M, Jackie G, Rachael R, Megan H, and Alicia R [and me] played eleven total matches, and finished our season undefeated. We are the City Champions, and the only team at Shepherd that went undefeated. I am so proud of these girls! We fought together, sweated together, and most importantly...stayed together throughout our whole season. I can remember back when over half of the team didn't even know how to play tennis. Luckily, our amazing coach, Hernandez, had faith in all of us (and probably said a few prayers), and brought us all the way to the top! A great team comes from a great coach. I am going to miss tennis, but am hoping to continue it at Red Mountain High School after basketball season. Thank you to all the people that have come to support me [my mom], Mrs. Hernandez for not giving up on us, and to all my teammates defining the word teamwork. GO SHEPHERD GIRLS TENNIS--# 1! :)

Friday, the 24th is the City Tennis Match. Only the top six players on each team get to participate. Wilsynn and I are undefeated as doubles partners, and are going for the GOLD MEDAL in doubles! The match is at Gene Autry's from 3:30pm to 8:30pm. Any support is highly appreciated. Food and drinks will be selling at the park. :)

Party Time!

My friend, Katie Hightland, had her birthday/halloween party on Saturday. There was a lot of people there, which made the party a lot of fun. We played pumpkin bowling, and ate donuts off a string. It was a hoot watching everyone try and catch the swinging donuts in their mouths. Of course it was a competition, and the winner, somehow, was Whitney Buchanan (another one of my friends). After game time, we all roasted marsh mellows (or burned them), while stuffing our mouths with as much marsh mellows as we possibly could shove in there. At 7:30 we crammed into Katie's living room and watched Disturbia. I have never really watched a scary movie before, but this movie was shockingly awesome. We all had our piercing screams, because some of the guys kept saying "Oh my gosh!" to try and scare us. Katie's brother also freaked us out at the scariest part of the move. He through himself against the window. The movie was so suspenseful and so entertaining, that everyone had to call their parents to pick them up later. We just HAD to finish the last bit of the movie. This was a perfect ending, to a perfect night....and a frightening

 one!

Cameron, Melissa, and I with the AFRO!

Dad's old afro+ Mom's high shoes+Pillow= One crazy girl! Cameron, Melissa, and I all hung out at my house for a little tonight. Little did we know how it was going to turn out. We were all just chit chatting with my parents, when all of a sudden we somehow got onto the topic of black afros! My dad remembered we had a huge afro, so I went to put it on. My mom sparked an idea to get her old black clogs, and brown pants suit and put it on me. I looked like a total diva! We took it another step farther and shoved a pillow down the back, to make me look like I had a "bubble butt." Yes, I know we are all very crazy, but it had us chuckling up a storm, and I just had to share the pictures with everyone! I hope you enjoy, I know I did. :)

Bowling!

What better thing to do, than to go play bowling at AMF on a Friday with your friends? I've got to admit, I am not the world's greatest bowler. So, for me, in order to make bowling fun, you have to make it into "more than just a game." The way I play, you have to come up with the most creative way to bowl. Whether it is throwing the bowling ball half way down the lane without it touching the ground, mimicking the so called "professional" bowlers around you, or seeing how many times you can hit the bumpers before the pins (yes, I still use the bumpers and I am almost fifteen) No matter how bad you end up doing, it is worth all the laughs and glaring stares. To start off, I forgot to put a pair of socks in my bag, so I had to buy socks at the bowling alley. Did you know if costs $3.75 for a pair of socks? It is a scam. My suggestion is don't forget your socks! You'll spend more money on socks than on the actual game itself. We only played two games, because half the time we were doubling over laughing at our stupidity, and ridiculous bowls. Most of the time we kicked back and took crazy pictures of one another. And what would a bowling game be without getting the ball stuck in the gutter, with the bumpers on? I know that sounds impossible, but trust me, it is possible! I think bowling can bring the best out of people. This was a great idea Melissa, thanks for inviting Jenny and I! :)