Has it really been a month already?

I can not believe that I have been at school for a month already! I have been crazy busy with classes, Ayden-Grifton young life, football games, switching dorm rooms, learning to drive stick shift, library parties, F.R.I.E.N.D.S marathons, signs/fish bowel/murder in the dark, late night runs to Sonic/Sheetz, yl girls bible study, Volleyball games, College Life, and Collide.
This month has been a lot of fun, school is hard but I'm trying to enjoy my college years with my awesome friends!
Young life has been amazing. Me and my four other teammates: Laura, Nathan, and Katie have started up young life at this high school called Ayden-Grifton. It is already growing like wild fire! We have seventeen sign ups for camp this fall and we're still getting more! God is so good. He has been working in this school long before we have come! The kids are great and I have already gotten pretty close with some of the girls! I have so much fun going out to the school and building relationships with these high schoolers. I am so excited about bringing them to camp! Young Life camp my sophomore year in high school is where I really learned about Christ and what he did for me, hopefully that will be the same for some of these kids!
I debating still on whether or not I want to change my major. It is not that I don't think I can do it.. I just feel like God is calling me to something else. I don't have the passion I once had for Nursing. I am still debating what I would like to major in and I still have to do a lot of research. So just pray for me with that!
I am sorry that it has taken me so long to write in my blog but I actually had some free time today so I thought I would update everyone :).

Camping!

Yesterday me and my five other friends went to Falls Lake to camp out! I've never been camping before so it was really fun to experience it for the first time!
We got there around 2:30 set up our tents and stuff then headed down to the Lake. We saw a huge rock from across the lake so we all swam over there and jumped off!! So fun :) We chilled in the lake for a little bit and then we got really hungry so we went back and go the fire started and put the hot dogs on :). The hot dogs were delicious!
After hot dogs we found a hiking trail and hiked a little bit and then sat by the beautiful lake and chatted a bit. The lake was beautiful and it was nice to enjoy to sit and enjoy God's beautiful nature :).
We came back to the campsite made s'mores and played some fun question games then headed to bed, we were all very exhausted!
This morning we all woke up kind of early ate our cinnamon toast crunch, packed up, got in our cars and headed home.


the girls awesome tent!


our fire!


roasting the hot dogs!

Sisterhood

So Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 comes out in theaters Wednesday and I am about to pee my pants.

Laney, Juliana, and I decided to get together and watch the first one.

After fighting over which ice cream place to go to we went to Coldstone, it was good but it wasn't no goodberries but thats okay. I enjoyed my chocolate cookie dough :). We stayed and chatted about marriage which has been the topic of all of our conversations lately haha.

After icecream we came back and watched the movie. I forgot how good that movie was and it just made me more excited about the second one! We are all going on Thursday night to see it YAYYY!



So I was watching Oprah the other day and the topic was "Sex in America" and she had this married couple on who have an open marriage, meaning they can have sex with other people outside their marriage. The wife has a boyfriend who is actually friends with the husband. It made me really disgusted watching this. People in the world have taken God's image of Marriage and completely twisted it up. Marriage is a very holy thing and it shouldn't just be a game. It made me mad so I wanted to share.

Carowinds and other Adventures!

My blogging has not been up to par as it usually has. Sorry I have not written in a week.

Well last weekend was the best ever! Me, Laura, Quinn, and Sandy all drove down to Concord, NC to Mikes house and met Ythol, Yaron, and Andy there. We all had plans to go to Carowinds Theme Park the following day!!

Carowinds was awesome!


Mike and I waiting in for Rip Roarin Rapids


Laura and I


we love our chacos!


Quinn and I!

That night Baird and Aaron came by to visit which was terrific!

girls being crazy in the bff circle!

The next day we all got up and went to church at Hickory Grove then had a big photo shoot in Michael's front yard!






the whole group!

Instead of going back to Raleigh with the gang I stayed in Concord til Tuesday! We went to dinner with Mike's awesome family to this barbecue place and I think I laughed more than I have laughed in awhile!!


eating my wings!


mr. napkin head


miss napkin head


Me, Mike, Mi Ma, Carolena, and Brad :)


Carolena (mike's sister) and I






Mike had to drive me back to Raleigh on Tuesday cause I had to work that night but He got to stay two more days!!

This week/weekend has been great got to hang out with a lot of awesome people!

Weekend with the goober :)

So Michael Stemler came to visit this weekend, which we really didn't plan but it happened and it was awesome :).
We did all sorts of fun things such as go to Crabtree mall, learn to drive stick shift (which he let me take it on Raleigh roads after learning for only 30 minutes :-\), get new nose rings, introduced him to my awesome high school friends, went to see the dark knight, took him to goodberry's for the first time, watched Beauty and the Beast (we decided to assume that we were Beauty and the Beast haha), had awesome Jesus time, went to the pool, watched 10 things I hate about you (and quoted every line), went to church with the parental units, went to Cracker Barrel and got meatloaf, went to visit Ashley, Whit, Bryan, and Kevin in Durham and took him to Brueggers Bagels for the first time.

It was an awesome weekend. I love spending time with my goober :) :)

This goes out to the Urkos!

I woke up today at 9:30am..probably the earliest I have been up in awhile. I am so proud of myself! I had work from 11 to 3. I really like working the early shifts cause I get out of there quicker and I have the rest of the day to do stuff!!
I came home ate some late lunch, read some of wild at heart, and just chilled.

The lovely Sandy Urko called me and asked if i would like to come over tonight and of course I accepted!! We had plans to cook dinner and then watch a movie..which we did neither haha!

Sandy, Laura and I went over to subway because we decided it was cheaper just to get food rather than go to the grocery store and cook! We sat at subway for over an hour and just chatted about life, Jesus, boys, next year, etc. We then decided to move our convo over to Starbucks (apparently those girls don't get enough of that place haha!) I got free coffee out of it so that was fabulous!! We stayed and chatted there for a while.

I love those girls so much I could sit and talk to them for hours about the most random stuff. We have a friendship rooted in Christ and it is great! I always know that both of them will be there for me!!

So this blog is dedicated to Sandy and Laura Urko thanks for good times, good chats, and good fun! I love ya'll :-D

Reunited

Today has been a day of reuniting. I got to see a lot of great friends that I have not seen in awhile!

Mike and Bryan arrived in Raleigh at 11! We decided to head down to the pool [according to Baird that is all I do..haha!].
Daddy Bryan laid in the shade while us kids [Mike and I] frolicked in the water. It was stupendous!
After pool time we proceeded to my house to take showers/get ready for lunch with Quinny and Laura!! We arrived at the Crabtree food court around 1:30. It was so great to see both of them! It has been soo long.. which is silly because we live in the same city. All I know is we are not going another month without hanging out! Mike and I got moes and the rest of the gang got chick-fil-a. I haven't had Moes in like 20 years so it was delicious. We chatted about things going on in our lives =). After lunch we decided to shop/walk around. Sandy joined us later. We went to all kinds of fun stores like the Disney Store [my favorite place ever], sharper image...I got to go sit on those vibrating chairs that is always fun [I just lost].
After the mall I had to take the boys home cause they needed to leave for Statesville :(. They departed and it was a very sad time for me..boohoo.
Well I heard this cool girl named Baird Blackley was coming into Raleigh and she was making a stop at the Urkos so I just had to go over there and say hello! Sandy, Quinn, Lacey, Baird, and I all hung out and chatted for a little bit. Yaron and Laura joined us later. We even took a BFF circle picture.. I wish I had it to put on here but it is on Sandy's camera..
We then had to part ways with Bairdy boo which was sad times. The rest of us though grabbed some dinner at Carolina Ale House. That place is really cool because it has a bunch of sports team stuff hanging up. I walked in and to my amazement there was a little section with two ECU flags and peedee the pirate on the wall.. I was really excited GO PIRATES!! [You really never see ECU stuff hanging up at places like that which is a shame!]
After dinner we all decided to go see the opening night showing of WALL-E. So cute! Laura about peed in her pants cause she loved it so much haha!
I then arrived home a little bit ago and spent sometime with Jesus just thanking him for all the amazing people that He has brought into my life.
I have been really stressed out this week for various reasons: school, the rooming situation, and other things going on at home...My time with Jesus today was great though. It was all about not being afraid and coming to Jesus to let Him rescue you..I really needed to hear that!!

"'Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you' declares the Lord." Jeremiah 39:18

Jesus just reminded me to be completely devoted to Him and everything will work out according to His purpose..

Fun Day With Friends :)

I got to hang out with my good friends in the last couple of days.

This morning little miss laney bolick called me at 11am telling me that she is coming to my pool at 12 ha. Her and her friend Ali arrived and we headed down to the pool. Juliana came a little later. We just chatted and laughed at stupid things haha!.

After the pool I came back to the house, showered, and spent some time with Jesus.
I got to talk to Lauren Sherrill on the phone today about maybe living with her next year! I really hope it does because she would be a great roommate :)

My mom decided to make oatmeal for dinner..interesting but good haha. It has been a kind of stressful day with my parents. A lot of talk about money and such..it is pretty much the only thing my parents talk about..sad but true...

After dinner I got ready and headed over to Laney's house.
We chatted for a bit then decided to head to Goodberrys. I got a chocolate peanut butter fudge concrete..DELICIOUS :)
We came back and watched Madagascar and chatted to scotty on the internet ha.

Now I'm sitting and eating a banana :)

relaxing and fun day :)

I actually did not do a whole lot today but it still was a great day.
I woke up in an INCREDIBLY good mood and I put some Jesus jams on and worshiped for awhile. One of the songs called "Everlasting God" had a kid saying a verse at the end from Isaiah 40:28-31: "The Lord is the everlasting God. The Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary, no one can measure the debths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired and young men will fall in exhaustion; but those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." I just had to share this cause I thought it was so great and SO true. God gives me strength to face everyday as long as I put complete trust in him.

After worshiping I spent some time with Jesus. It was all about letting Him take over EVERY aspect of our lives. It is so easy to let God control some things in our lives but for other things we think we can handle it.. I know I am guilty of this. I've definitely learned in the past couple of months to let God control all of it because He will bless us greatly!

I wrote some letters to a couple of people who are away at camps and such, that was fun :)

Then I literally sat on the internet/watched tv until around 5pm. haha

My mom did not make dinner tonight.. it was fend for yourself night so I made cereal.

Around 7:30 I went to good ole Scott Reintgen's house with Laney, Juliana, Andrew, Kate, and Scott's friend wes. It was a lot of fun. We just hung out and chatted, watched Serendipity for a little while, ate icecream, and played catchphrase. We had a little photo shoot too :)



My Beautiful friend Kate Odgers and I :)



Laney Bolick and I



Juliana Coughlin and I



The Girls :)

I finally have internet!!

YAY. I finally can use my computer inside my house and I don't have to go outside on my driveway to steal other peoples internet anymore haha!

Today has been an alright day. I woke up around 11am to a call from miss laney bolick.
Laney and I went over to Juliana's pool today around 12:30. It was fun to hang out with them. but there were like 243983498320 million kids in the pool today which gave me a little bit of a headache haha.

After the pool I came home. I found out that I am not accepted into Jarvis Leadership Hall next year. So I can't live with Tessa. Which means I will be living with someone completely random in a dorm that is completely random. At first I was really frustrated and upset but I am trying to think positive about it. Maybe God is opening up a new door for me? Maybe God wants me to become friends with my new roommate? I don't really know. After I found out this news I went and spent some time with Jesus. The verse that was in my devotional for today was "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28. It was so good to read this verse because I am stressing out about this rooming situation and I just need to come to Christ and He will give me rest..and that is EXACTLY what He did. I feel more at peace about it and I just need to trust that He has everything under control..because He does.

I then ate dinner with the rents and then dad and i hooked up our new internet yay!

I went on a jog/walk. It was starting to get dark outside so it was kind of a mistake that I went at this time haha. I ran for a long time but then I got sick to my stomach and I had to sit down..in the middle of nowhere :-\. I was trying to walk back home by going through these back roads and I just ended up getting myself lost.
I finally got home like 2 hrs later haha! Overall it was a nice and adventurous jog! ha.

now im jammin out to some "Give us Clean Hands"..so good :)
tootles for now :)

I love being spontaneous!

So Ashley and I decided monday night at midnight that we were going to drive down to wilmington to visit ali yesterday!!

I woke up at 9:30 to Ashley's call saying "GET UP WE'RE GOING TO WILMINGTON!" I realized that I didn't even ask my parents so I went downstairs and was like "Hey so I'm going to Wilmington today I hope that is okay!" haha and I left!

The trip was really quick! Ashley and chatted and caught up on life :) We stopped on the way at this gas station with a subway in it and ashley said "Hey it's just like the Pirate Market!" kinda made me miss school :(

We got to Wilmington and drove around for a good half hour waiting for the berry picker to get off of work! She then gave us directions to her house which by the way is the cuttest little house.. so shabby sheik!

We then drove over to the beach and laid out for a little bit! I love the ocean but after awhile I get bored and sandy haha!

me ali and ashley

we're silly :)

ashley and i laying out

ali and I on the beach :)

After the beach we all came back to ali's and showered to get ready for din din!
We went over to PT's grill! Delicious..best burgers ever!
We then went to Overflow.. a college based Christian organization from Port City church. It had great worship and then a speaker! He spoke on keeping our words truthful because our reputation is God's reputation and when we're false it makes God seem false. It was really great to hear that because there are so many times when I'm like "Yeah I'll call you" and I never call or "Yeah lets get dinner" and I don't really mean it! It helped me remember to always let me "Yes be Yes and my No be No"!
After overflow we came back to ali's and kara's and dyed my hair dark again!! yay!! :)

Ashley and Kara headed to bed and Ali and I decided to have a photo shoot hahaha!



we're silly :)

We finally went to bed haha. I woke up to Kara, Ali, and Ashley saying "TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY" i was like huh? They're all morning people except for me...haha
Ashley and I drove back and I passed out haha i was so tired.
I just cleaned and stuff today probably will do more cleaning tonight yay

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!! so excited :)

I am made for such a greater world than this one

So I didn't update yesterday which means that this blog will be extra long yay!!

Yesterday I got up and went to church. It was such a great service. We sang one of my favorite worship songs "How Great Is Our God". I love that song because it is so true.. God is so great and not one of us deserves it! Our main Pastor spoke and he has been doing Revelation since January. Revelation is such a difficult and sometimes scary book but it holds so many promises for us as believers! As he was talking about a chapter in Revelation I kept thinking about all the times that I worry about the littlest stuff. The things that I think matter in this world don't because as a believe I do not belong to this world! It was so great to be reminded of these promises.
After church moms, pops, and I went over to Brueggers Bagels for lunch which was yummy. We sat and talked about the sermon.. I love talking about God to my parents just because we don't do it enough.
It was a really hot day so I headed down to the pool and speant sometime with Jesus. I also read old entries in my journal. It was amazing to see how God answers prayers!
Later that evening I went to the $1.50 movies with Ythaul, Laura, Lacey, Stephen and Yaron. We saw "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" which could have been a lot better if it wasn't so vulgar! I had to cover my eyes several times in that movie!
We all were hungry after the movie so we took a trip over to Wendy's which was delicious!
Talked to Mike on the phone for a little bit then headed to bed!

Today I woke up at 12:00 (im such a bum). Talked to my good ole friend Ashley Hitchcock which was great! I miss that girl!
I then headed into work until 6.
Came home and decided to go on a cleaning spree since I am having a very special guest over in three days!
I organized/rearranged my room, cleaned the guest room, and vaccummed! I get in these weird moods where I just want to clean..and tonight was an example of that!

Well I'm going to hang out with the rents now!

Time with Jesus makes all frustrations better

Today I actually got to sleep in until about 12:30 which was nice :)
I then went over to DSW because I wanted to see what I was working next week. I went to look at the schedule and my name was removed from it. I talked to Adam (one of the managers) and asked him if he knew what was going on. He said I definitely was not fired and I should come in tomorrow to ask Mary (the head manager) what is going on...So basically I was a little stressed out about this situation. My dad thinks I should start applying to other places. I am just going to wait and see what Mary tells me tomorrow..
After all that I really needed to spend sometime with Jesus because He makes all things better! My devotional was all about trusting God enough to completely follow him. I really needed to trust God with this job situation and to know that He will provide for me.
I decided to take a jog around Johnson Lake. It was actually really relaxing and it allowed me sometime to get these job frustrations off of my mind.
My dad grilled some chicken and I made salad for dinner. We ate out on the Patio again which is always fun!
After dinner I met Laney, Juliana, Scott, Sarah, and Andrew at the $1.50 movie theater to watch 21. It was a really good movie. Laney, Juliana, and I graded it an A- haha. Andrew and Sarah graded it a B haha..
We all decided that Goodberry's sounded really good after the movie. I got a chocolate peanut butter concrete...soo good. Chocolate and peanut butter.. my two favorite things.
We then all went over to Juliana's and hung out for awhile.
On my way back home Mike called and I got to talk to Carleigh cause her and Matt are staying over at Mikes for the night cause they are driving down to sharptop for summer staff.
Now I'm sitting outside cause it feels good..
an earth worm just crawled by me..it said hello. :)

:-D

So I'm in a really good mood right now one because I just got off the phone with Mike and that is always great and two I'm eating some cantaloupe and cantaloupe is delish!

I just realize more and more everyday how God works out everything according to His purpose, and it always turns out great. God knows what He is doing!

Today was just dandy. Woke up a little earlier than I wanted to but thats all good. I went to lunch with Caroline at Moes today and that was great to chat with her. I saw ALOT of people I knew there so that was fun got to catch up with some high school friends yay :)

After Lunch my rents and I went to the Smithfield Outlets cause my mom wanted to go to this store that they only had there. I helped my mom pick out some outfits which was fun! Then I got to get some clothes. Driving home we went to McDonalds because my dad really wanted a Parfait so we all got one but I think it made me sick to my stomach cause I did not feel well the rest of the day :( stupid mickey d's! (they did have a sanitation score of 92.3 :-\)

Anywhoo I came home and relaxed for awhile. My mom and I Jammed out to Culture Club hahaha (no one probably knows who that is but whatever). My dad grilled some hamburgers outside and we ate dinner out on the Patio it was fun!

Later that evening I went over to Sarah's with Laney, Kate, Scott, Juliana, Andrew, Trent, and John. We all went over to this place called Pelicans and got these snow cone things SO GOOD!! Then we came back and watched National Treasure 2.
Then I cam home and chatted on the phone for awhile!!

Today was an okay day and realize why it was not the best. I did not spend time with Jesus like I normally do. It is so crazy how you're whole day will be different because of it! I just realize how important it is to set aside time for Him daily and that is one thing that I need to focus on!

Oh Rainy Days

First of all its rainy and cold outside and that stinks
Second of all DSW is wack.

I came into work today thinking that I was supposed to work from 1-7 because that is what the schedule said on Saturday night (the last time I worked). Well I looked at the schedule because I wanted to see what I was working next week and the new schedule was not posted. The schedule this week had me working on Sunday and Monday..which I didn't come in for. I talked to my boss and found out they revised my schedule and now I am going to be written up for not coming into work those two days and they took me off the schedule the rest of the week. yay! Well like my father would say "learn from it and move on" so that is what I'm going to do..brush my shoulders off.

On a lighter note. I woke up and spent some time with Jesus which was amazing..as always. My devotional today focused on completely surrender our lives to Jesus and trusting Him enough to not worry about what He is going to do. I definitely needed to focus on that. We as humans think that we should have complete control over our lives and that we have it all figured out...but we don't, I know I sure don't! We have a set plan for ourselves which may be completely different from what God has planned for us! My prayer is that I will continue to surrender everything to my Savior because He deserves it all.

Yesterday was a great day! I got to catch up with some pals that I haven't talked to in awhile. I called Alex in the morning and we updated each other on our lives, I love that girl and miss her so much! I also got to talk to Tessa, it was way to long since we last talked :(. Ashley Hovis, my young life leader from high school also called me, she does international Young Life in Portugal now and I won't see her for awhile and it makes me sad!
I went to the pool with Juliana and Laney which is always fun!
Then that night Laney and Rachel threw a going away party for Richa because she is leaving for India the rest of the summer. I got to see a lot of my old high school friends which was great!
So yesterday was a big catching up day for me. :)

Right now I am in Bruggers Bagels enjoying a delicious onion bagel with vegetable cream cheese yum yum! I don't really know what I am doing today probably just relaxing with the rents!

"My soul finds rest from God alone; my salvation comes from Him."
Psalm 62:1

I Love Days Off!

Today was yet another day that DSW did not schedule me to work. Which turned out to be a great thing cause it was a really fun day!
I went down to the pool with my dad and mom which was a lot of fun! I love my parents so much! Everyday I appreciate and respect more and more each day. They are great!
After the pool I went over to Kaplan St. and played frisbee golf with Yaron, Ythol, Laura, Lacey, Stephen, and Anna! By the way..I SUCK at frisbee golf ended up with a score of 32...HA! I did get a little better towards the end cause Ythol and Yaron showed me some techniques! Everyone was hungry after the game so we went over to Cookout/Bojangles I ended up just getting a peanut butter fudge shake.. yum yum! We stayed and chatted awhile and we came to the conclusion that we all need to go camping, hiking, and mountain biking!! so we are going to camp out soon and im soo excited cause I've never been camping before. CRAZY!
After talking for tons of hours we decided to go to the $1.50 movie theater which was down the road. We saw Vantage Point..such a phat movie! I didn't know anything about it but everyone wanted to see it so I was like thats cool I guess but it was soo good!
After the movie we all parted our separate ways and I came home and ate some watermelon with my dad in the backyard. Then my dad made a fire and my mom, dad, and I sat and chatted, so good!

Today was just another example of how good God is to me. He has given me an amazing family and friends and I just thank Him so much! I look back on my life at the beginning of this semester and I am just amazed at how much a different person I am and it is all because of Christ! :)

This is for Jen:
So my mom is trying to go on a diet this summer so im her "personal trainer" haha. But my dad was running to the grocery store and my mom tells him to get her some chocolate ice cream and I was upstairs and heard it all and yelled down "NO DAD DONT GET HER CHOCOLATE!" and my dad was like what did she say and my mom was like oh she said "Don't forget the chocolate!" I thought it was pretty funny and my sis did too so she wanted me to put it in my blog! yay!

Prince Caspian is Hot

Today has been a really good day! I actually did not just sit around. Yay me!

Went to church today and it was amazing! They honored all of the the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marinees, etc. for memorial day, it was great. We had a guest speaker from Scotland, he was really good and he had a cool accent ha!

After church I ate lunch with the fam and then headed over to Kate's pool with Caroline, and Laney. That was fun to see all of them!

We stayed for about three hours and then I went home because I wanted to go for a jog. I jogged/walked around Johnson Lake (a good three miles). It was such a beautiful day outside.. I'm glad it is finally getting warm!

Sandy, Laura, Ythol, Yaron, Stephen and I all decided to go see Prince Caspian! SO GOOD! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Plus Prince Caspian is hot (hence the title) hahaha.

There were a couple of lines that Aslan said that were great. One is where Lucy tells Aslan that he has grown and he says "As you grow so will I"..so good (Quinn i stole your quote haha). But overall it was a great movie plus I love hanging out with those folks!

<3

YAY TO BLOGS!

So I decided to create a blog for all you people who love to hear about my life! YAY Summer has been great.The first couple of weeks have been hectic. I came home from school and worked everyday over the weekend.

I went to Baird's lake house with other ECU Young Life Leaders on Monday. Here are a couple of pics





We stayed til Wednesday and then we headed to Weaverville, NC for workweek at Windy Gap. So amazing!! I really needed that week! The speaker and worship was amazing and even though we worked hard I enjoyed every minute of it! I was reminded how great God is!

While I was there I found out my Grandma passed away on Thursday at about 1am. She had been struggling with pnemonia and she had trouble breathing. After workweek we drove back on Monday morning and my sister met us in Statesville so I could go up to Ohio for the funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony and it was really good to see all of my family even though it was a sad occasion. Miss and love you Grandma!


heres a picture of my grandpa (who died in 1995) and my grandmas gravestone. He had a flag beside it cause he was a world war 2 veteran! Those are my grandma's flowers she loved purple :)
Now I'm back in good ole Raleigh. Working at DSW the shoe store..which is fun :). Today was kind of boring though but I got trained on the register which is cool better than walking around the store trying to help customers ha.

Well i will write later on when my life gets a little more interesting haha :)