u.n.b.e.l.i.e.v.a.b.l.e.

Guys, we did AMAZING.

So, before I get into how we placed and stuff, here's how it works:

There are 16 teams in JSL. The 16 teams are divided into 3 divisions. The 1st division has 5 teams; the 2nd has 5; and the 3rd has six.

For the past....VERY LONG TIME....FLST has been in the 2nd division. Usually we come up short of even winning that. Last year at Champs we placed 9th out of 15th. Not good. But this year?

Guys, we got 3rd out of 16 teams. This is INCREDIBLE. The fun part was, nobody expected it (not even us). So all of a sudden this teem that's supposed to be just OK pops up and places 3rd. SURPRISE! ;)

I don't know how many pictures we got. But I'll see and if we have a bunch I'll get a bunch posted soon...until then,

~Vivi~

P. S. It's my birthday! I'm 14!! ;)

Life comes at you fast...

...SO DOES FOREST LAKES.

That's what our sign said at JSL's today. Gab and I swam...and swam...and got wet...and swam some more. We're tired. Exhausted is a better word. But...summing up today in one word:

WORTHWHILE.

More later...

~Vivi~

Radiance ~ Week 3

Yes, Radiance is still going over at BTW. It's week three and here's 1 of the two questions...
Simply what you believe and what you base those beliefs on?
Gab was right. I believe exactly what she believes (in the matter of religion and stuff)...and what Trini believes...and what every other good, real Catholic should believe on the face of the earth. I could post the creed for y'all, but Gab already did that for you, so I think you get it. I believe in 7 sacraments; I believe that the Pope is biblical; I believe that Mary is without sin; and I believe that there's a God out there who created us and who loves us like no other. I know that a lot of y'all don't agree with me on all this stuff...so I won't go on and say everything I believe in. The things I listed above are just a couple of things that I think are true. But mostly, Nana, I believe in Jesus Christ. And I love Him, and adore Him, and want to go to Heaven to be with Him. I think you can relate. ;)
Ok. Second question:If you could tell every person in the world one thing what would it be?
Oh, wow. Umm...I couldn't tell you anything for sure. It might end up being something like...
"JESUS ROCKS!"
...or...
"Children are BLESSINGS"
...or...
"Abortion KILLS"
...or...
"There's a God out there that LOVES YOU"
As I said...I couldn't tell you for sure what I'd say, Nana. :P

life defined // 7.27.11

Joy is...being able to make it to daily mass all the days this week so far...
Perfect is...having coffee and blueberry scones for breakfast. I mean, seriously guys...blueberry scones are so undervalued...
Amazing is...the fact that JSL Champs is only 2 DAYS AWAY. The swimming season is almost over!! It went by so fast...:(
Excitement is...that my birthday is in...wait...4 DAYS! I'm turning 14! I'm so excited. ;)
Daunting is...the fact that July is almost over...which means summer is flying by...which means school is looming towards us. Sad. I'm not ready for summer to be done.

Saturday Afternoon Daybook

(something weird happened with the format...sorry!)

hosted by Jo March

Date...July 23, 2011

Starting time...12:40 PM

Mood...excited, peaceful...

Outside my window...it's HOT. like hotter then VA is supposed to be....

I'm thinking...about what we watched last night...

I'm currently reading...The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

I'm listening to...me humming, silence...

I'm wearing...brown shorts, blue shirt with hearts on it...

I'm looking forward to...CHAMPS, my birthday...

I'm hoping...that I'll do my best at Champs!!!

Yesterday, I...went to practice, ate at chick-fil-a, watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with Mom, Dad, and Gab. Really liked it...

I'm hungry for...frappuccino??

The song stuck inside my head is..."Baby"...don't ask...

I love...music, swim team, movies, my birthday...

I loathe...hotness that is so hot that the pool itself gets overheated...

This week, my goal is...to do my best at Champs, be glad for how I do whether it's good or bad, and praise God for helping me do it...

Did I meet last week's goal?...didn't do this last week...

Swim Team Story or Quote of the Week...One of our coaches is Catholic...like a Catholic that actually loves and practices his faith. So lately I've been sick with who-knows-what, but it's been pretty bad. So on Tuesday I wasn't feeling great. I was feeling awful. But we prayed hard and on Wednesday we got up, went to mass, had frappuccinos, went to practice, and I was feeling great. I told my head coach that. And Gab goes, "We prayed." And when we got back from that fifty our Catholic coach is going, "The Power of Prayer!! Yeah, Mama Mary!!" Love it. :)

Ending time...12:51 PM

FLST vs. GHG - pictures

I promised I'd give Gab credit for these...(I'll admit, she got some pretty awesome ones. :P)...so here you go, Gab. She took most of them. Dad took a few, but I'll just say that most of the ones I'm putting up here, Gab probably took.

So here they are. Starting with the cutest, because they deserve to be first.

Josie--gotta love her. :P

Bug climbing a pole. :P

closer up...

our head coach

Annette swimming freestyle...

Gab swimming butterfly (obviously she didn't take this one. :P)

me swimming breast stroke in our relay

one of those great pictures Gab took of me while I didn't notice her...:P

one where I did notice...;)

I think Gab's in the water here...

Annette by the block...

Gab swimming backstroke

again.

And one I just *had* to post again...it's my personal favorite...:)

Undefeatable!

Yes, we are! Guys, we we are the 2nd division champions!

Final score last night:

FLST - 565

GHG - 526

Yay!

Gab got a ton of great pictures last night. Don't really have time to get them all up right now, but I'll probably have them posted tomorrow. ;)

Wow. That was fun.

And no, I don't mean *just* fun...I mean fun as in "incredibly awesome, wonderfully exciting, and altogether fantastic". Guys, this conference was AMAZING.

Ok, so it looks kind of boring from the link I put up here, maybe...and, I'll admit, the only speaker/singer I had ever heard of before that was there was Audrey Assad...but still. The talks were meant for teens which means they were more fun, more relatable, and more interesting. For any of you Catholics--YOU. SHOULD. GO.

I really didn't take many pictures. In fact, I think I took 3 in all. And all of them were of the stage when no one was on it. I just didn't feel like getting out my iPod with people all around me, and music playing, and stuff like that. So I didn't.

But, for me, the weekend was WONDERFUL. Literally. Full of wonder. Guys, have you ever just really thought how our God is so big, so powerful, and so...modern? I mean, I guess to some people he seems like an old-fashioned god--you know, one that only grandmas and stuff worship. But he's not. And I think that's one of the things that really hit me this weekend. He's a God that loves any kind of worship. Not just hymns and stuff. So we can sing as loud as we can (even if we're horrible singers), we can dance to Christian rock music, and we can have fun while we're still praising Our Lord. I was thinking while the music was playing how God might be smiling down on us. You know, kind of just looking down and smiling and nodding. And how his love was just like radiating through our voices and the music. That's what it was. It was God. And it. Was. Awesome.

So just one more thing I don't want you to forget. And if you agree, feel free to comment and tell me so. ;)

~Vivi~

who won?

Last night's meet was exhausting. (not that meets are even *not* exhausting, but...) But it was fun. The points were added up and here's the ending score:

FLST - 468

FSBC - 419

So we won!

Another thing--Gab and I are headed to Atlanta to go to a Catholic conference there. We're super excited, but we won't be back till late Sunday night, probably. So I won't be posting till at least then. We're leaving...in an hour in a half. So, farewell till we get back! :)

What *not* to do on the Sunday before a meet...

...particularly a meet that you're super excited for...

So, don't do what? Don't. Sprain. Your. Ankle.

And me, being me, of course, had to go out and do just that. And I couldn't settle for the usual ankle sprain. No, I have a high ankle sprain, which also tends to take longer to heal.

But don't worry, you two, I'm still going to be swimming Wednesday; I'm almost positive. Even if it means I'm going against doctor's orders. :P So don't get your hopes up. ;)

Please pray I'll get well soon, guys!

Sunday Afternoon Daybook

hosted by Jo March

Date...July 10th, 2011

Starting time...2:17 PM

Mood...energetic and ready for the meet on Wednesday!! (watch out, guys! FLST is comin' for ya!)

Outside my window...It's sunny, blue, and probably hot...I don't know, haven't been out for a while...

I'm thinking...about my book.

I'm currently reading...well, actually, I *just finished* a couple minutes ago...Percy Jackson & and Olympians: The Lightening Theif by Rick Riordan. We watched the movie on Friday, and now (after we watched it) I'm reading the book.

I'm listening to...Annette and Josie talking about how to do their hair.

I'm wearing...my church clothes still. :P I've been reading all day (except through Mass, of course)...that's why I took me so long to get to this today...and that's why I still have my church clothes on.

I'm looking forward to...the meet on Wednesday, of course! But also my b'day, and this afternoon...

I'm hoping...that we'll win our swim meet this coming Wednesday (hear that, you two?) :P

Yesterday, I...painted 3 rooms in the townhouse with my sisters and ate Chinese for dinner. Yeah. That's pretty much it.

I'm hungry for...uhh...anything. Chocolate chip cooks, lemon squares sound excellent, a frappuccino, you name it!

The song stuck inside my head is...

I love...lemon squares...I think I've said that before, but it's true, so...

I loathe...when we're missing a ton of people for our swim meet...

This week, my goal is...to have a BIG butterfly kick on my breast stroke pullout in the meet and to SLAM my dolphin kick...

Did I meet last week's goal?...yes! I did. ;)

Swim Team Story or Quote of the Week...On Thursday morning our coach announced to the younger practice that we had won our meet. It was the 4th meet so far, but only the 2nd that was actually scored. So we had only officially won 1 meet...but when they announced that we had won, a cheer when up and a little girl says, "We're undefeatable!!". Undefeatable? Look it up in the dictionary...we all know what it means, but I don't think it's really a word...

Ending time...2:34 PM

Do you know what today is?

HAPPY COW APPRECIATION DAY!

Who's planning to go to Chick-fil-a dressed like a cow?

A bit of my life and all the cuteness surrounding me...

:)