Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Haley!!





That's right, dears. She's back. With a vengeance. And INTERNET. Roar.





So I thought about making a big huge long post describing all my doings since Wednesday...but then it came to mind that you guys might die before I finish it all, so I'll try to make it real short and sweet. In bullet point style! Chya!



(Ok, it still turned out to be really long. You shouldn't feel obligated to read the whole thing. Seriously. So if you get bored and need a break, be my guest :) )

(Oh, and I edited it so that it's numbered and not bullet'd. This makes it easier to comment on. This way you're not like "Ok, so you know when you said that you were doing that one thing and then you thought about this? That was funny. Oh and you know that part when you mentioned..." ect. You can just comment by number :) )



Sooo, Wednesday.

1. Left the Branstetters at around...erm...11:30-ish?



2. Cried.



3. Missed everyone.



4. Went to Ponca house to see everything all empty and hollow-looking. It's really sad to see an empty house. Everything looks(ok, I know it sounds really weird to say this) smaller.(yep. really weird. You'd think it'd look bigger, but nope.)



5. Left Ponca around 1:00-ish.



6. Missed everyone some more.



7. Cried some more.



8. Tried keeping myself busy to keep my mind off things...didn't work.



9. Listened to sad music and started a new bracelet...helped a little bit.



10. Called Kaley. Helped a LOT.



11. Got KFC. Realized that their grilled chicken is surprisingly good.



12. Heard that the big truck carrying all our stuff broke down 2/3 of the way there...joy.



13. Got to Houston at about 11:00-ish. Hampton Inn is pretty schweet.



14. Woke up Thursday morning wishing that none of this were happening. Tried to drown my sadness in breakfast...didn't work.



15. Missed everyone.



16. Went to new house. It's pretty nice. Empty...but nice. (pictures to come soon!)



17. A little truck arrived with some of our stuff(big truck broke down, remember?) Started unpacking new house. Blargh. Why do we have so much stuff?



18. Met the movers...one of them had a grill. No, not the kind you put in your backyard and pile chicken on. The kind you put on your teeth and everyone marvels at it wondering what it's like to brush that thing.



19. Sat in my (empty. bah.) room for a while listening to more sad music.



20. Little truck came back with more stuff. Started unpacking room.



21. Got sick of the smell of cardboard...it's like death, sorta.



22. Realized the awesomeness of a walk-in closet. I can stand up! Yes! (not saying a whole lot there...I'm so short that I can stand up in a lot of places. But anyway.)



23. Realized that the kitchen was NOT made for short people. The cabinets above the counter are like...2 feet higher than the ones in our old house.(*cringe*)



24. Movers left and Andy and I swam for the first time in our POOL! Yay!



25. Tried to get the dog to get in with us. He didn't seem too enthusiastic.



26. Got out and dried off...and remembered how much I hate having water stuck in my ears.



27. Missed everyone.


28. Wondered wheeere in the world my shampoo ran off to. Probably in a box somewhere.


29. Met our nextdoor neighbors...really sweet old couple whose last name escapes me now. They have really thick Louisiana accents. It's kinda cute.



30. Went out to eat seafood with the family...extremely slow restaurant...garlic bread was more like a giant cruton...but the actual food was great. I kept the leftovers(this is a big deal for me. I NEVER keep the leftovers unless I really really like it.)



31. Ordered a Diet Dr. Pepper at said restaurant...they didn't have it. This made me depressed.



32. Went to Kroger's. It was pretty cool. It almost(note. ALMOST) put Food Pyramid to shame. It had good stuff. Did you know that strawberries can be in the same season as PEACHES here?! It's awesome!



33. First night in suburbia since I was 5. I woke with a shock to hear sprinkler systems come on at 3 AM. Gonna take some getting used to...



34. Slept in like...a lot Friday morning. Did you know that with your blinds closed, the morning sun doesn't come in hardly at all?! It's weeeeeird, man.



35. Watched the movers unpack the rest of the stuff and then drive away.



36. Got some Sonic for lunch. This made me happy. It reminded me of Ponca.



37. Ordered a Diet Dr. Pepper at said Sonic. They had it! I was even more happy.



38. Missed everyone.



39. Moved a bookshelf to my room...now I have more space for all my books and more! I'm excited.


40. Talked to Kaley on the phone. That made me happy.



41. Lamented about the color of my room...it's like this yucky yellow/creamy color. Must...paint it...I'm thinking green.



42. Listened to more sad songs.



43. Opened up my lovely oreos box Kaley gave me(got milk? MOO! ^-^) Ate a few.



44. Finished setting up my room...finally...


45. Went swimming with Andy. He showed off his major flipping skills while I just watched in awe, knowing I could never get myself to spin that many times before landing in the water.



46. Got my piano unpacked! Yay!


47. Read a lot in Count of Monte Cristo. That's a good book. Read it.


48. Went to our Walmart here. It's pretty much the biggest Walmart ever. You can get lost there!


49. Got to bed at a reasonable hour considering that the entire week before I was going to bed at 2-ish because of practices/performances for Fiddler. It was seriously like 9:00 I think...unpacking is exhausting.


50. Slept in not that much on Saturday, but still.


51. Ate this amaaaazing lunch that Bev, our good friend who housed basically my whole family while my mom had cancer last year, brought us. I love her :)


52. Started Stargirl, a book that Kaley gave me. Good book...sad ending...but I won't spoil it for you :)


53. Thought about Stargirl...I could connect with her a lot, actually.


54. Finished Stargirl and then missed you guys.


55. Went swimming...again...It's weeeeird having your own pool. It's like...accessible at any time! It's...weird! But awesome. I just need Ponca people to share it with :)


56. Missed everyone.


57. Vacuumed. Now I officially *live* here.


58. Ate more oreos. Those things are seriously ADDICTING. Thanks, Kaley :)


59. Watched my digital picture frame cycle through about 5 times. I smiled through the whole thing...and laughed occasionally. You guys are such thoughtful gift-givers. That was exactly what I needed.


60. Read in the paper about the Palm Pre from Sprint that just came out. 'Tis pretty sweet! Aaaand, I might get it! (Sad thing is, we need to find out whether or not Sprint covers Michigan so Bryan can be in our plan as well...so hopefully we'll get them. If we do, that'd be like the awesomest thing ever.)


61. Talked to my friend Maggie from my Latin class on the phone. She's moving too. But from HOUSTON to San Antonio. Weird coincidence, huh?


62. Talked to Andy about why I'd rather take Japanese than Spanish, even though the latter would be significantly more useful here. But I've taken Latin! I can sorta understand Spanish by listening, and I can read it. But I can't speak it. Nope.


63. Went to bed at another significantly early hour. Without communication(my phone ran out of minutes when I talked to Maggie), life was pretty boring. And I was sick of taking stuff out of boxes.


64. Lay in bed thinking how much like Christmas unpacking the house was. Except Christmas is more fun. This isn't fun.


65. Woke up 8:30 Sunday morning thinking about how I'd normally be getting ready for Church and leaving at 8:45 for orchestra practice. Oh, how life has changed...


66. Had a casual home-service with the family. We listened to a sermon by Tim Keller on the Lord's Prayer. It was really good.


67. Missed everyone.


68. Looked at the clock at 10, thinking how we'd be in Sunday school probably talking about whether or not we should go to college(was that this week's lesson? or was it something else...?)


69. Messed around on the piano for a bit. It sounds different in this house...


70. Wanted to make cookies...couldn't because we didn't have Crisco.


71. Turned on the radio and found a decent station. Kelly Clarkson's song "My Life Would Suck Without You" came on. Ha. How true is that?


72. Looked at the clock at 2:15 and prayed about the Legion service...wondered how everyone was.


73. Started a new bracelet with a new pattern. It's called "Totem Pole". It reminds me of butterflies...I'll post pictures soon.


74. Refilled my minutes on my phone to check on my facebook. Found out that Bryan drowned his phone in a cup of coffee. No wonder he hasn't talked to us in a few days...haha.


75. Found out that my mom has like, TONS of yarn. I even found some needles that are a size I've been searching for for ages. Score!


76. Started some hand/wrist warmers with my Noro yarn. I found wood chips inside. I laughed :) (inside joke...)


77. Looked at the clock at 6:00 wondering what kind of food the Providence crew was having this week.


78. Talked to Matt(and finished off my minutes, heh :P) and found out that no food was to be had this week. Sad day...you guys need food anyway. Someone needs to make brownies or something. You figure it out.


79. Missed everyone some more.


80. Watched my picture frame cycle through again.


81. Knitted some more and went to bed.


82. Woke up and realized it was Monday. Great.


83. Explained to my mom once again who Jerome was.


84. Wished my internet was up...it's no fun not being connected.


85. Found a phone book from Ponca in one of our game room boxes. Heh. Now we know who to call if we get in a car wreck and need a lawyer for our lawsuit for our serious injuries!


86. Read a bit. Count of Monte Cristo still awesome.


87. Found out that the cable guy who was supposed to come today and fix our internet is coming tomorrow. Somehow, I'm sure that this internet withdrawl is good for me.


88. Talked to Kaley again! :) :) :)


89. Went to Walmart again! I got to explore even more. It was bigger than I thought.


90. Went to Katy Mills Mall...I've decided that Marshall's is pretty awesome. I found some shirts there for 5 bucks. From Aeropostale. Yeah.


91. Missed everyone.


92. Had an awesome dinner with my awesome family.


93. Named our security system. His name is Walter and he never fails to tell us which door is open whenever we go out. Thanks Walter.


94. Finished one handwarmer! It looks like an arm cast...but still. It'll do. Now for the next one...


95. Watched The Devil Wears Prada...and was very thankful that not everybody cares if you're wearing designer clothes or not.


96. Found my shampoo! It was in my parents' bathroom...not mine...weird.


97. Yawned and went to bed.


98. Woke up to my mom talking to my dad on the phone about how the cable guy was coming today! Whoo!


99. Internet was up and running by noon. It was glorious to see 33 notifications glaring at me on facebook. :)


100. Went to audition for my hopefully future piano teacher...and got in! Yaaaay!


101. On the way home, we got a call from Andy saying he got in to an Engineering camp! Yay!


102. Celebrated with some cake from La Madeleine :)


103. Talked to friends on facebook on and off for a looong time. It was nice.


104. Wanted to smack my computer for being so evil and lagging and KILLING MY SMILIES.


105. Got a notification from facebook saying that I'd almost reached the limit for sending instant messages. Woooow.


106. Reluctantly said goodbye when my parents told me 'twas time to get off.


107. Missed everyone once again.


108. Read some more. Count of Monte Cristo. Still good. Almost done.


109. Sleepily went to bed at midnight after talking to Andy about the randomest of things.


110. Woke up this morning(Yes! I've reached the present! The end is near!) thinking about how much I craved waffles. Sadly, maple and brown sugar Life was as good as it was gonna get.


111. Vacuumed again. I like vacuuming. It's fun.


112. Cleaned bathrooms. I don't like cleaning bathrooms. It's not fun.


113. Cleaned out the pool with that awesome elongated net thingamajigger. I felt like Yuna doing the Sending ceremony in FFX.(If you're reading this and you're like "Whaaaaaat...?", then you're not a Final Fantasy Geek like me. This is ok. *pats your shoulder*)


114. Wondered WHY my parents were spending 4 hours at the Driver's Licence place. Katy must be busier than Ponca. In Ponca, you go in, there's no line, you take your picture, you're outa there.


115. Talked to Kaley on facebook and laughed harder than I have since I left Ponca.(Heh. Outdoorsy. :P)


116. Found out that I can legally get my permit before the 25th!(my half birthday) HA! Take THAT Ponca! Maybe the week after next...hmm....


117. Hung out with Melody and James for a while. It was awesome to see them again :)


118. Missed everyone.


119. Finished writing this post. DONE!

A hundred and nineteen? Wow. If you read this whole thing...wow. I'm amazed. I love you.

I miss you Ponca people horribly. Distance sucks. But I'm sure that God has rich things in store...for all of us.