These past few days have been very bittersweet for me. From Wednesday to Sunday I spent time with my closest friend, sir Hudson Jones. As I have mentioned in a few posts a little ways back, the Joneses are leaving JV, leaving Slovakia and leaving all of us behind. God has really blessed me, my family and many people with friends in the Jones family. But, now God has called them somewhere else, and there's no changing that. SO, since there's no point in getting angry about something you can't change, and I've accepted that God's plan is the best for all of us, even though we may not like it at the moment. And even though it's not fun, I am grateful that God is sending the Joneses to an accessible place - the States - instead of somewhere like Japan where none of us ever go! =) (I tend to look at the positive side of things, if you haven't noticed already!)














So, anyway, about these past few days! The reason Hudson got to come so early was because Miss Hannah Ellenwood was having a voice recital on Friday (practice on Wednesday) and had the great idea that me and Hudson could assist her and play with her! It was great and we all did a great job, especially Hannah! (Hudson messed up in the beginning...i'm gonna annoy him about that for a long time! =P Actually, you could hardly tell, it's all right, don't cry, Hudsy.)















So we had practice on Wednesday, and had nothing to do on Thursday, so the wonderful Becca McMartin suggested we go shoe shopping at Tesco! So we did! And the amazing Andrea Pitcher sponsored us, so that added to the funness! Thanks Andrea! I got the blue ones, and Hudson got the white ones. We then wore them everywhere and felt so cool! =)















Once we got back from Tesco, we thought it would be fun to dress up (in the clothes we were planning on wearing to the recital on Friday), bring a couch outside and get Claire to take pictures! It was lots of fun and we got some great ones. Don't we look so handsome?!?!








































Then Friday came, the concert went well, and me, Hudson and Hannah joined up with Mike Sullivan who drove us to see...ba dum dum... Pirates of the Caribbean 3 - At World's End!!! That was really awesome.















Come Saturday...me, Huds, Hannah and Caleb went down into town to our church and recorded some songs (about 8) and hung out together making music! We made a little EP under the name "The Aftermath", and it was really fun! It won't win any awards or score us a record deal...but it was fun! =) Every band's got to start somewhere!


































And then Sunday came...














So, when I look back on these past few days, God has really blessed me with incredible experiences with incredible friends. Goodbyes are always hard, but luckily, it's not goodbye forever. The future is not clear, but it is bright, even though the present feels gloomy.

And on a side note, what's up ahead for me in the next two weeks - On Thursday I leave with my school on a trip to Slovakia for five days. We'll play some games outside in the wilderness, river raft, and hopefully have some good conversations. My youth group leader, Boža, is also coming, so that'll be great. My second year of high school is also slowly coming to a close, only a little over a month till the summer. That means tests and other unpleasant things of the sort. But it'll soon be over!

Back to what I was writing about earlier. As many of you know, I look like my dad. And though so far I don't share much of his passion for gardening or physics, I do respond in similar ways that he does to things. I don't cry often, not unless something manages to catch me off guard (like when my dad told us the Joneses were leaving JV), I'm more of a brooding type. I think, I write. Writing my blog helps me to cope with what's happening. So, for those of you who managed to read this far, I commend you! =) I do start to get carried away and write a lot when I have a lot going on in my head. It's who I am!




















And it's not goodbye forever.

Just listening to The Fray, and i'd like to tell you all (and remind those who were here) about my weekend! Some of my favorite people in the whole world came over to our house for a little party and we had a great time!

Last year around this same time we had a similar party - a Journey + Zeteo party to be more precise. For those of you who don't know what Journey and Zeteo are, they are age groups that the wonderful Becca McMartin started quite some time ago in JV for us JV kids. I'm in Journey, and Caleb is in Zeteo, and we all have lots of fun together! Becca joined us this weekend for movies, fun and just being together.











Everyone came over on Friday afternoon and we hung out, popped a soccer ball and watched a movie.











Saturday we went on a little trip to a place called Stramberk and walked around, took pictures and some of us (not me!) went on this ride that made everyone (except for me and Becca!) sick...It was funny! (For me at least, I don't think it was funny for everyone else!)








































Saturday night we ate enchiladas, watched a movie, drank coffee and tea and told stories and remembered past experiences, and then watched another movie! It was a great time being with my friends (and brother!).




















On Sunday Caleb made french toast, Hudson led a little devotions thingy (thanks Huds!), sang a couple of songs and then we all said goodbye and went our separate ways... I had an amazing time and i'm sure everyone else agrees! The only bad part was that our dear friend Corrie couldn't be there...We sure missed you, Cor!




















Last week I was actually sick and stayed home from school from Tuesday to Friday, and God really protected me this weekend, I felt totally fine! Over the course of the week I got some reading done, rested and painted a couple of my Lord of the Rings figures. Overall it was quite a productive week! =)









Discovery of the week - I can sing pretty high in falsetto if i sing loudly!
Song of the week - Lollipop by Mika
Verse of the week - Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What a refreshing couple of days! Our Spring Josiah Venture Conference was really great full of fun and also some good learning experiences! Keep reading to find out more about it!










During the mornings us older kids (Zeteo and Journey) were part of a photography class taught to us by the very talented Joshua Longbrake (who's blog is now linked on the right!). He's also an avid blogger and i got to talk to him about what makes a good blog and how to make mine even better. You may have noticed that it's already looking a little different...hopefully even more changes will come along!










That was only one part of the morning...the other part was spent with Aubrey, a really talented artist with whom we did crazy projects! Our favorite by far was throwing water balloons filled with paint at a canvas!

























The afternoons were spent hanging around, playing soccer and entertaining the little kids! In the evening, Hudson, Hannah, Connor and I led worship for all of the kids. It was lots of fun and i think we all learned something about how exactly to lead and play better! Corrie and Corey (hehe) also helped a lot by getting the songs together, making the powerpoints and picking out verses to read! it was lots of fun!

On Friday night we had a murder mystery planned with Becca... Ben Williams, Anna Stepanian and Zac Shepperson joined us...it was lots of fun! I played an undercover police guy...and got killed in the end =)

Another awesome part was our big hoedown on Saturday! We had this big tent and a bluegrass band came and played and people danced, ate popcorn and had a fun time!






















It was a great time being with my favorite people in the world. Five families are leaving the field this year, four are leaving JV. We talked in our groups about what was ahead for all of us, cried and remembered fun experiences we had together. On Sunday morning all of the JV kids got together and said our goodbyes...it was a teary morning and lots of hugs were exchanged! So - Jonesies, Desnoyers, Morrs, McSheffrey's and Cupery's, we will miss you all!!!

Claire is also in England right now on a trip with her school! Nicholas and Zachary Pitcher are also with her. Mom let me and Caleb stay home from school today, and tomorrow we have a holiday, so I'm really glad about that!

And if you're wondering where the HP countdown went, just scroll all the way down to the bottom! =)