Fotheringham

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

2012-01-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1.5 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts [or any nuts you like]

1/2 cup dried fruit (any you like – raisins, cranberries, apples)

1/4 cup seeds (any you like – sunflower, pumpkin, flax)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp kosher salt

1.25 cups skim milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Method:Preheat oven to 350*

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients.

Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.

Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Cut into 9 squares.

Makes 9 servings .

Each bar is appx. 170 calories, 3 grams fiber and 5 grams protein. [Cut into 12 squares reduces calories to about 125 calories per square]

While delicious, the only sweetness in these comes from the dried fruit. Add in 1/4 – 1/2 cup brown sugar if you like.

The variations are endless: cranberries, coconut, all kinds of dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Steak with Wild Mushroom Barley Risotto

2011-03-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today I tackled Risotto for the first time. The cooking process went on foreeeevvveeerrr. Sadly, I didn't really like the outcome. I'm pretty sure its because I am not a big fan of herbs. Dad liked it though, which is good. However, dad is a Fotheringham, and Fotheringhams like food in general. Anyway, if I made this dish again, I would changed it up quite a bit. The only part of the dish that I liked was the steak on top. But who doesn't like a good steak. Since I didn't like the meal, I'm not posting the recipe.

Quinoa Muffins

2011-03-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

Spring Break means I have time to explore the wonderful world of cooking and baking. Ever since I began running, I have been searching high and low for a recipe that would give me my protein for after workouts. Recently, I found a recipe for Whole Wheat- Honey Quinoa Muffins. I felt the recipe was lacking in some areas, so I added a few of my favorite healthy ingredients. The muffins turned out great. I recommend them for anyone needing a new way to get their source of protein. They would be a hearty addition to a nice breakfast too.

Quinoa Muffins

Preheat oven 350F

Makes 12 muffins

1c Quinoa

2c Flour

1 1/2tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Salt

1/2tsp Baking Soda

1/2c Dried Cranberries

4Tbsp Ground Flaxseed

1/3c Chopped Walnuts

1/2c Lowfat Milk

2/3c Honey

1/4c Light Olive Oil

1 Egg

1tsp Vanilla Extract

In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and two cups of water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover; and let cook for 15-20 mins, until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Let cool.

(This was the first time I'd cooked with quinoa. Note to self: one cup of uncooked quinoa makes about 3 cups after cooked.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cranberries, walnuts, flax seed, and the cooked quinoa.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, honey, oil, egg, and vanilla.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir until combined (do not over mix).

Divide the batter into muffin cups.

Bake 20-30 minutes. I used a convection oven, and baked the muffins on 350F for 20 mins.

These muffins freeze really well.

Enjoy!

For those of you who like to know the Nutrition Facts....

Quinoa: 1 cup 170g. 626cal, 93cal from fat. Daily Value: Total fat 10g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 9mg, Total Carbohydrate 109g, Dietary Fiber 12g, Protein 24g.

Quinoa Muffin (if I did the calculations right, which I doubt) : 1 muffin 87g. 233cal, 84cal from fat. Daily Value: Total fat 10g, Cholesterol 18mg, Sodium 261mg, Total Carbohydrate 33g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 6g.

We Love Our Missionaries #2

2011-02-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

The Elders were at our house again this past week for dinner. After teaching a discussion to a friend of ours, the missionaries vanished. Then we found them in the kitchen. No they weren't eating our food. They were doing the dishes. How awesome is that.

Winter Formal

2011-01-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

I think my favorite part of Winter Formal was the dinner. Kelly (girl) Burton hosted my group of friends for dinner.

2010-12-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

For a combined mutual activity, we went over to Cornell Estates to chill with the old folk.

2010-12-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

I woke up one morning with the image of eating breakfast as a small child in my head. I'm not sure if I dremt about it that night or if the smell of my own breakfast being made downstairs simply awakened it. The image wasnt quite clear, but by the end of that day, I managed to pull my "Four Year Old Lizzy" files out from the deepest corner of my mind. I remembered eating oatmeal with mini eggs inside that turned into Dinasaurs.

Over the course of several months, I willingly offered to go with my mom to buy the groceries. I would search the store shelves, determined to find my dinasure oatmeal. (I went on many grocery trips this past year.)

Have you ever heard the saying "You find what you're looking for when you stop looking for it"? Well, that's exactly what happened to me. I was picking up some milk form Albertson's and right as I turned around my eye caught a long lost friend. My Dino Eggs Oatmeal!!!

I baught a box for myself. ;)

2010-12-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

Dearest Friend,

You know what Oregon? I think we have a little love-hate-relationship thing goin' on here. We both know, I love walking out of PDX airport (coming home from smoggy Utah) and getting that first whiff of fresh-Oregon-air. I love your many hiking trails, always packed with pure nature. And of course, I love your extreme stereotypes; tree-huggers, dread-head lovers, Birkenstock-obsessors, etc... But you see, Oregon, there is one thing that causes me to glare at you in cold-bitterness. Year after year, do you provide me with snowy Christmases? I think not. I watch the weather channel and find myself wishing, for one moment, that I could live in Utah. The Christmas songs that sing of snowy nights and hotcoccoa, only mock me as I sit cocoa-less and snowman-less. I'm afraid to say this, but the truth is, your lack of snowfall on Christmas mornings is tearing us apart.

I do have to give you some props for your performance this November. Even if you dropped a lousy 1/16th of an inch, it was still fun to laugh at the many Oregonians who hunkered down, locked their doors, and planned for disaster. School was even cancelled!

Here's the thing, Oregon, my new Nephew is coming here for his first Christmas (from Utah), and I'd like him to see snow. You know I love taking out my camera out and snapping a few shots, so I'd also like it if I had a beautiful, white Christmas as a backdrop to some family photos. If you could manage to paint your landscape white this Christmas, I'd really appreciate it.

-Sincerely,

Most Legit Oregonian Ever to Live, Lizzy

Nevember's snow day:

We Love Our Missionaries!!!

2010-12-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

My lil Coop

2010-09-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Okay I feel terrible for not posting about my new Nephew, Cooper. However, with school being so busy and stressful, sadly I have no time for writing a lot about him. Well, here he is...

He had a few problems, so he had to be behind a window the whole time I was with him.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him.

I'm pretty lucky to have such a cute nephew.

If you want to see good pictures go to Melissa and Brett's blog.

A little goes a long way...

2010-08-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Imagine this... you're sitting at home watching TV with your brothers and sisters, then your parents walk into the room and ask to have a family meeting. The summer is drawing to a close and school is almost here, so you fully expect your parents to be calling a meeting to talk about the new school year. So, you turn off the TV, get comfortable on the couch, maybe stick your toung out at one of your siblings, and the next thing you know your parents are telling you something that changes your life forever... "Mom has Breast Cancer."

Along with many other people, I dont need to imagine this, because it actually happend to me.

These words are said too often. The only way to put a stop to this scary disease is to find the cure.

I recently excepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Portland Race for the Cure on September 19th, 2010 in the fight to save lives and end Breast Cancer forever. Along with raiseing funds, I will be running in a 5k race.

I have made a goal to raise at least 100 dollars. With your help WE can accomplish my goal. Please donate anything from 5 dollars to 100 dollars.

Thank You!

http://race.komenoregon.org/site/TR/Race/PortlandRacefortheCure?px=2001657&pg=personal&fr_id=1130

Another Side of Heaven

2010-08-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

Every summer my family leaves the green of Oregon to enjoy yet another side of heaven, Bear Lake, Utah. There are so many things to do, and see, at Bear Lake. We stay at my wonderful, aunt Laura's house. The house sits right on the lake; so close, you can fall asleep to the sound of the tide coming in and out.

We've been going to Bear Lake for only six years and the traditions that we enjoy year after year feel decades old. Shakes at La Beau's, famous Bear Lake Pizza, tee time (yes, golf), smores, Phase10, midnight star gazing, the grandma catcher, and Laura's cookies. These are only a few of the little things that have left a big impact on my childhood memory.

There are fish in lakes, right? Yes. I am scared to death of fish. My cousins just love to shout "fish!" as we swim out to the dock. I, on the other hand, jump in fear every time they do it.

There are tons, and I mean tons, of frogs by the lake. No matter how long or how hard I try to catch a pet froggy, I never seem to catch one.

Not one single Fotheringham leaves Bear Lake without pigging out at the famous Bear Lake Pizza place.

Every one in my family knows how much I love strawberries. They don't last very long when I get to them. Because of my mad affair with strawberries, my mom has to get the jumbo pack at Costco so that the rest of the family can have a few. Anyways, my grandma brought strawberries and chocolate to the house one night. Oh boy, did she win my heart that night.

Back home Sarah and I always jump in the car late at night, drive out to the country, and go on what we call "Scary Drives." We get a sick thrill out of it. Becca, Sarah, and I decided to go on a "Scary Swim." Yes, it was creepy.

Bear Lake is a beautiful place to be, especially when your family is with you. I cant wait to get back.

Girl's Camp 2010

2010-07-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

It was ridiculously HOTT at camp this year. Me and my gals are cooling off in the stream.

On one of the days we learned how to do "food art".

I got pretty bored of making flowers out of carrots.... so I made a sculpture of ME in a canoe.

The youth leaders had a special night without our girls.

Tree Hugger.... gotta love nature!!!

Waiting for the bus.

Nerd, and proud of it!

I was standing on a bench behind the stage at camp. I got really excited to sing a song, so I ran and jumped off the bench. But was the landing pretty? I think not. I fell into a pile of logs. I began laughing and crying at the same time. I was behind a divider, so the crowd of campers couldn't see what was happening to me. As I lay dying on the ground, the camp nurses ran to my rescue.

All that's left now is a great big scar and a dramatic horror story. The pain was worth it.... good times.

Picnic at Hagg Lake

2010-06-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

My family had a picnic at Hagg Lake with the wonderful Preece family today. The weather was so nice and the lake was gorgeous. I love how Oregon is infested with green trees.

After cooking hot dogs on the grill, Jen spotted four dear up in the field across the street. J* wanted to see if his Frisbee skills were good enough to hit a dear. I bet him the last cupcake if he could do it.

Throw #one...miss, but close. Throw #two...miss. After the second throw, the dear ran off....with the Frisbee. Looks like the Preece family is going to be buying a new Frisbee soon.

I had a great time at the lake with some of my best friends. I cant wait to do it again.

(Gotta get my Zen time in.)

The Nagging Can Stop

2010-06-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

For two years my family and friends have been nagging me about getting my permit. One, I am a little scared of cops, two, I don't want to crash, and three, I don't want to fail the test. None of my brothers or sisters had to read the book before taking the permit test, but I just knew I would be the one who has to read it in order to pass. Sarah convinced me that all I had to do was lightly skim over the pages. And I believed her. I went in February to take the test and...failed. I failed the test by one question. Yeah, I was pretty disappointed. After that, I wasn't in any hurry to take it again.

My family began to pester me about driving again. So this time, I read the whole book...twice. I got to the DMV and passed with a 94%....drastically better than before.

I proudly stuck my temporary paper permit in my wallet.

Oh, and acording to my permit, my last name is Otheringham.

All I have to do now is muster up the guts to get behind the wheel and drive. The way I see it, I've been doing the community a great service by staying in the passenger seat. Well, don't blame me for the dents and scratches to come...you are the ones who nagged me to get behind the wheel.

Sarah's Missionary

2010-06-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

According to Sarah, the mailman "did his job beautifully" today.

David Arringtton left for the MTC last week, and Sarah is already getting letters. For those of you who have seen the movie The Best Two Years, Sarah's excitement level was that of Elder Vampelt's when he received letters from home.

High Adventure 2010

2010-06-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Four hours after students screamed "summer" through the halls of every school in Hillsboro, I was on my way to a weekend of the great out doors.

High Adventure was held at the beautiful Oxbow Regional Park this year. The park is next to YMCA's Camp Collins, so we spent a day out on the ropes too.

Setting up a tent can quickly turn into a fishing trip when you're with my girlies.

We were camped right along side the Sandy River. There are not many things better than falling asleep to the tranquil sounds of a running river.I do believe I have rubbed off on my friends...their all turning into tree huggin' hippies. Next thing you know their all gunna want dreads too. Sarah made what she calls a "Hobo dinner" for our meal. It was quite tasty.Sarah and I had a great time at the ropes course.Sarah was itching for her turn at the "Leap of Faith". I got a video of her jumping 50ft off a platform hanging in a tree. I took my camera with me to the top for my jump.The next course we did would be perfect for the adrenaline-junky. I'll try to post the videos of this one too.It started raining our second night there. While every one was down in the dumps because on the rain, I put my shorts and poncho on, and took in the refreshing breath of nature. I spent my last morning of camp hiking through the jaw-dropping shades of green that paint this landscape of Oregon. Spending my first days of Summer out camping was a renewing and reviving way to release myself from the old stresses of school. I plan on spending plenty more summer days with my dear friend Nature.

Lacrosse 2010

2010-05-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

Liberty Girls Lacrosse was lucky enough to get a new coach this year. I admit, at first I was a little...actually extremely scared of our new coach. I didn't know what to expect. All I knew was that she had been a college lacrosse coach before. I thought she would be the meanest coach and that she would make us work really hard. Well, I was right about one thing; we worked hard...but we liked it.

It's hard to believe but, my new coach made sprinting fun. Before this year of Lacrosse I never thought I could run a whole mile let alone run it in under 9 minutes. Coach taught me that pain is all in the head, and giving up doesn't have to be an option if you don't want it to. She taught me to control my mind and in doing so I could put all I had into practices and games.

My team had a great season this year. I felt like we were a little family. Everyone has their own crazy personality. Sadly the Seniors are leaving and wont be with us next season. Our team went to playoffs this year, which was fun. I cant wait for next season to start up.

My cult initiation

2010-05-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

I was invited to join the National Honor Society. I only knew two things for sure about NHS before joining; one, it looks good on a college app, and two, the induction ceremony is ridiculous. I tried so hard to make up reasons not to attend. I couldn't use Lacrosse practice b/c it ended before the event. And what do ya know, it's the first Monday with no Lacrosse game either. Life was punishing me.

I went to the "candle lighting ceremony". I felt like I was being initiated into a secret cult. I had the hardest time not laughing while I had to stand, raise my right hand, and repeat a pledge (I still don't know what I pledged to do.)

I guess there was one cool part of the night though. One of the teachers at my school was there to give a speech. She was also my third grade teacher. It has been nice to have her in elementary as a teacher and now see her in the halls at my high school.

LHS Spring Fling

2010-04-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before, I love dances. The school dances are too expensive (in my opinion) so I hadn't planned on going to the Spring Fling. But like always, there I am sitting on the couch, the day of the dance, and I cant help but gather up some friends and head to the dance.

Katie and I both rode our bikes to Jordan's house to ask him to go to the dance with us. This dance was casual dress (my fav), so we wore baggy basketball shorts, white T's, high socks, and Vans...(sigh) if only every dance was casual.

Anyhow, Lacrosse having started up, and me sorta kinda being "in-shape", agreed to Katie's suggestion to ride our bikes all the way to Liberty. I thought 'what the heck, it's only ten minutes away'. I failed to realize that ten minutes driving is a completely different story than riding on a rock for a seat attached to a piece of metal with two wheels.

After an hour, we arrived at the school.

Aside from the dead legs, I had a great time at the dance.

(Note: this last picture was taken with a cell phone in the pitch dark. Even photoshop could not save it.)

Spring Break

2010-03-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

This year I had the best Spring Break I've ever had. I was able to do so much.

Mt. Hood Meadows

2010-03-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

When I was younger, fear didn't exist. I loved to go snowboarding. I would go speeding down the slopes, without a seconds hesitation to how fast I'd be flying.

It's that time of the year. Snowboarding trip with friends. I had planned on taking my camera up and go snow shoeing, but Jen convinced me to go on the bunny hill with her the whole night.

Not once that whole night was I able to trust myself enough to lean on my back leg, like you're supposed to. Kelly, Katie, and I went up to a harder slope for one run, just to see what it was like. As Kelly and I rode the ski lift up the slope, we looked to our side and watched snowboarders do 360's, half pipe jumps, and go of ramps. I said "Kelly, I think this was a bad idea. I cant do that." After Kelly talked me off of the ski lift, we buckled up and headed down.

At one point, Kelly and I were yelling back up the mountain for Katie. It was night skiing, so we couldn't see where she was. Eventually, Katie made her way down. I fell, and hurt my knee, so I un-buckled one boot and sat on my board the rest of the way down. Surprisingly, it was very fun. I just got a couple looks and comments from the people riding up the ski lift above me.

Sadly, Kelly dislocated her shoulder and had to be taken to the hospital. When asked if she will ever snowboard again she says "Of course!"

Even with all of the fear and heart-pounding experiences, I had a great night.

Portland Rescue Mission

2010-02-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

This year I joined my school's Interact Club. For those of you who don't know, this club is basically a service club. One of the events that I just recently went to was the Portland Rescue Mission. Katie and I were the only ones there, but we had a blast.

(Sorry about the picture quality. The lighting was terrible, and I didn't bring my regular camera.)

All of the tubes that you see behind Katie are full of donated clothing, that has been sorted by volunteers, such as Interact Club members.

The guy in the back is my dad. He came to help out. The boxes you see are full of gently used or new shoes. Nike donates their sample shoes to the Portland Rescue Mission too, so there are some quality shoes.

Katie has a thing for cows lately. As we were sorting the shoes into boxes, she found a cow slipper. You don't even know how excited she was.

This is how the donations start out. In that pile there are shoes, shirts, pants, scarves, etc. Then volunteers sort everything into male/female, shorts/jeans, dress shoe/athletic shoe... Because of the amount of donations that PRM receives, they only take the best of the best. We are told to keep only the things that we would actually wear ourselves. The rest of the clothing is shared with other homeless organizations in Portland.

There is a massive amount of food that has been donated my Winco. They donate anything that has been sliced with a box knife. Therefore, PRM has crates full of good food where only one of the hundred packages is cut open.

There are poster boards with homeless people on them around the entire warehouse. The first time I volunteered at PRM, I would turn the corner and jump when I saw a fake person. But now that it was my second time, i got to see Katie jump.

Just a little fun with the barrels.

This guy works at the PRM warehouse. My mind is at a blank and I forgot his name, but he's a pretty fun guy.

FHE with the Barnes

2010-02-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

This past Monday we invited the Barnes' over for Family Night. We had a lesson on how we can become physically strong as well as spiritually Strong. As a visual add we made paper airplanes. Each individual fold or crease in the paper make it stronger and more sturdy (folds representing: personal prayer, fasting, tithing, sacrament, etc.) We had a great night.

J found the clothes pins and went at it.

Lilly had a blast making the best airplane.

Gideon had a fun time showing us how to be physically strong.

Elda' Butters' two years are up

2010-02-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Elder Butters came over the night before his mission was completed. He and my dad both love golf; hence the golf balls and hat.

Butters has been a great missionary here in Oregon. I cant wait to meet him again...which wont be long since he and my dad are meeting up to play golf in Utah.

The Flush...

2010-02-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

The truth is painful, but true... I live with a murderer. I guess it's a good thing I'll be living next to her when we have our own families...just in case.

Sarah has killed another one of her pet fish. Of course, this comes as no surprise to those of us who know Sarah's history of pets; it's quite a rap sheet. Two birds, two hamsters, too many fish, and we all know the cat was her too.

There I was, running on the treadmill and I hear an innocent "Lizzy? Can you come up stairs?" Hmmmm, what could it be this time?

As I walk up the stairs, there Sarah is, standing in her doorway with terror and guilt pasted across her face. She ushers me to the fish bowl and there he was. Tequila, this fish, was floating, lifeless on the water. Just because I'm her sister, I had to rub in the guilt. "Sarah, you should be ashamed with yourself. How many fish will it take for you to realize you just can't handle the responsibility of another life?"

When my fun was over, I followed her to the toilet for the "burial".

Family Bowling

2010-02-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

Sarah joined Liberty's Bowling Club this year. The four of us went out for our traditional bowling tournament on our day off of school. My dad always wins, so we say whoever wins has to buy treats for the losers. This is the one time I'm okay with coming in second.

"Fall For You"

2010-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Once again, LHS Leadership puts together a great dance. Ever since last Homecoming's success, I was determined to never miss a dance after that. Up until 30 minutes before the dance, I had planned on not going. Not because I didn't want to, but because I wasn't too excited about the price. I mean, seriously... 15 bucks for a school dance. I wasn't about to be robbed. After my friends reminded me about how much fun I had at the last dance, I still wouldn't budge. However, I couldn't let my friends go to the dance without taking some pictures. So I offered up my services for the night.

It was 10 minutes before I was about to drive over for pictures, and I think I might as well see if Sarah has any dresses that I can use, just in case I have to go for Yearbook. So I find a dress and I eventually decide to attend the dance...and I got Sarah to come too, BONUS!

Before going to the dance, a group of my friends and I went to Chang's Mongolian Grill. One word yum. It turned out to be a great night, and I thank Sarah for having so many dresses in her closet for me to choose from.

Christmas at the cabin...

2010-01-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

This year was possibly the best Christmas I've had in a long time. Ever since my brothers and Melissa have grown up and moved away, Christmas has been very different. It is a rare occasion for all of us to be together in one state at a time. Usually someone is gone. It couldn't have been a better time to have the whole family together for the announcement of Melissa and Brett having a baby. We spent most of our time up at our family cabin. One of my favorite places in the whole world is the cabin that my best memories have been made at. Close to what I think heaven looks like is this cabin and the nature surrounding it.

Melly's Eggo is Preggo...

2009-12-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

My family and I went to Utah for Christmas this year, and we are sure glad we did. The night we arrived at Melissa and Brett's house, Brett seemed anxious for present time. Eventually we started to open presents. It came down to mom opening a gift from Brett and Melissa. While unwrapping it, she froze and looked up at Melissa. None of us knew why she had stopped opening the present. Knowing my sister and Brett I honestly thought they had given my parents a cruse. Boy was I wrong. Once mom showed everyone a mug that said "Worlds Greatest Grandma!" on it, we all freaked out.

After a long wait, Melissa is finally carrying a beautiful baby in her belly. I am extremely excited for this new and first edition to Melissa and Brett's family. I think I might be looking forward mostly for the time that I get to start spoiling him/her. My friend has two new baby sisters, so I find myself over there holding the babies all the time. I know Brett and Melissa will be amazing parents.

(and no we're not drinking wine in the video)

We Will Miss You...

2009-12-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

I met Missy Cochran at church, and the first words I think I spoke to her were, "you are just like my 8th grade English teacher...and yeah, that's a good thing."
All of us who know and love Missy know just how outgoing she can be. Missy is one of a kind. I have learned so much from her. I was privileged enough to have her at Girls Camp this summer. I defiantly saw a different side of her, mostly while we played ZipBong :0

Sadly, Missy is moving. Everyone will miss her.

We love you Missy!!!

My Baby...

2009-12-23T17:44:00.000-08:00

When asked what brand of camera I want to upgrade to, the person asking looks at me with disappointment when they hear my answer. "My dream camera is a Nikon!" Most, actually all of my friends who are professional photographers have, use, and recommend Canons. One such photographer pushed for my reasoning behind wanting a Nikon. And this is what I said:

It's has little to do with quality, name brand, or price. For me, it is all physiological. It all started with my brother, Spencer, and his passion for photography. Spencer had a nice Nikon when I was a little kid. As my own passion for photography grew, so did my desire to test out his Nikon. He never let me touch that camera. And since he took it everywhere with him, I couldn't even sneak in his room and look at it while he was away at school. Years passed and not once had I held that camera. I never looked at a camera in the same way that I looked at a Nikon camera. My parents had noticed my ability to take good photos with the small, family snap-and-shoot camera we had at home. So they said they would pay half the price if I wanted to get my own camera. I didn't have the money for a Nikon, so I settled for a camera that looked similar to Spencer's Nikon....it was even black like his. A couple more years passed and I had fallen in love with my camera. I had brought that camera with me everywhere. That camera went through hell in my possession (sorry for my choice of word, but it is the closest word that comes to what it was like for my camera.) That camera has been dropped while hiking and rolled down the side of Montana and Wyoming's snow caped mountains. It's been on roller coasters, bike rides, snow boards, and more. Don't get the wrong idea, I loved that camera and took care if it like I would my own child...minus the rolling down a mountain part. It has been with me during the best times of my high school life: my first dance, championship lacrosse game, first trip to the Portland Saturday Market, sister's wedding, and even the midnight showing of Twilight. I never expected to get an upgrade anytime soon. But then I saw it on April 14 2009. The Nikon D5000. Ever since then I would dream of having this camera.

And that was my reason for wanting a Nikon.

Every weekend I would pass the Nikon station at Costco, and have to pull myself away from the cameras so I could go home.

Three weeks, straight, before Christmas I made sure to let my parents know just how much I NEEDED this camera. A line I would often use was "I will never progress in photography if I have the same camera the rest of my life. Do you want me to progress?" When I was feeling bold I would pull the What-Would-Jesus-Do line. I even gave a speech about the comparison that could be made between the boy in The Christmas Sweater novel and my need for this specific camera. ( Read The Christmas Sweater and you'll understand.)

It was two days before Christmas and I was sure I wasn't getting a Nikon D5000 anytime soon. Boy was I wrong!

On Christmas Eve my dad came in from the car and said "Lizzy, will you go get the rest of the groceries from the car?" I went out to the trunk and froze. I was in shock. If it wasn't for the light-headed feeling I wouldn't have remembered to breath. Lying in the back of the trunk was a box, in that box was my new baby.

I ran into the house screaming, and I sat on the kitchen floor hugging the box that held my long awaited treasure.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Fun with Friends

2009-12-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

A small group of my friends all had their birthdays around the same time, so they planned to have a birthday party during lunch. Thanks to KaitlynO. we would have a delicious ice cream cake to eat. The day before we planned out all of the details. One minor detail was who would be assigned to bring the lighter. I took the assignment.

The next morning I put the lighter in my pocket and went off the school. I arrived and was hanging out in the library when news was brought to my attention.

In the middle of the library, next to a teacher I openly say "Hey Katie, I brought the lighter for the candles..." Katie hushes me with wide eyes and says "Lizzy be quiet. If security sees you with that you're in trouble." It turns out the school rules are that no students are to have lighters on campus. (That explained why everyone stood around silent when deciding who would bring the lighter.) But what is a birthday cake without candles...burning candles.

Once again I thought the rules didn't apply to me. I mean, I'm The Lizzy Fotheringham. Shouldn't that count for something? Despite my thought process, I decide it would be best if I put the lighter deep in my backpack for the rest of the day.

The little party we had during lunch turned out great...and the cake was amazing.

I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture with Katie holding the lighter, because if a fire just happened to start I would have some evidence proving I was innocent ;)

That weekend we stayed up pretty late and, as you can see, when Sarah gets tired she ties scarves around my head to make a turban...It was cold so I had no exception to the added warmth.

We also had to set up the tree. Yes, I said "setup"...fake tree. The year we had a beetle come out of our tree was the year we stopped cutting down out own Christmas trees.

I went caroling with some friends. I'm not much of a singer so I feel sorry for the people I sang to.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

This year's Thanksgiving was a special one. If I was to describe it with a quote I would say "There is always a first for everything."

I had the opportunity to make the turkey this year....yeah, I'm still surprised my parents trusted me to do it. I was excited up until my dad informed me that I had to pull out the "extras" from the turkeys back side...if you know what I mean.

Bath Time!!!

The turkey was definitely made with love ;)

Spencer and Sarah decided to make a movie for Thanksgiving. Whenever Spencer has a camera and it's a holiday we tend to make movies....some of which have made it on to Facebook. (My first day of High School Freshman year I had teachers saying "Hey your the one in Spencer's movie." Not fun!)

Here's Spencer showing Sarah how to look mad.

I will always remember this Thanksgiving. Not because it was so fun or because for the first time I had no homework over break. But because my dad had our family host a dinner at a homeless shelter. At first I was a little nervous, I had never done this kind of thing before and I didn't know what to expect. The dinner turned out great. The amazing thing about the whole experience was that if the family hadn't told me that they were homeless, I would not have been able to tell that they were. It was truly an eye opening moment for me. Just because someone is homeless it doesn't mean they are worthless. If you think about it, Jesus was born homeless yet he has made the biggest and greatest impact on our lives.

When it came time to cut the turkey I insisted to do it myself. Yeah, that didn't turn out so good. I cut one piece and was frustrated with the difficulty of the seemingly easy task. I gladly passed the task over to my dad.

This year was great!

Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl

2009-11-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

There is one special tradition that I look forward to every year. Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. Who says the guys get to have all the fun playing football on Thanksgiving morning.

This year I thought it would be nice to dress up for the occasion. Spandex here I come.

New Moon, Midnight Showing....

2009-11-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Last year the wonderful Kelly Burton organized a Twilight party for the midnight showing. It was amazing. This year Kelly has done it again.

With boat loads of homework, Sarah and I drove over to Kelly's house for the New Moon party. We watched Twilight and hung out with a ton of friends.

Kelly decorated her house for the occasion...red carpet and all.

Sarah and Shayna with their vampire fangs.

I have never, and will never, read the Twilight books. But I am always willing to stay up till 4am to watch the movies. It being a school night I was dreading the fact that I had 2 hours to sleep before getting up and going to school. I missed first period and I had planned on "missing" second period to get in some more sleep and to try and study for an up coming test. I called it my "rebel" day. But before I could fully experience my rebellion, I had to tell a past teacher of mine about my midnight adventures. After I had shared my thoughts on New Moon, she asked me what class I was supposed to be in. I knew I was caught. She gave me the you-should-be- disappointed-in-yourself talk. I gave her the evil eye and said she was ruining my life. What a teenager response, I know. After "slamming" her class room door, I was still determined to live out my "rebel" day with Shayna. I got to where Shayna was and I panicked. I felt so guilty for skipping class. I called my mom to tell her what I had done. She laughed and said it was fine. Then I got a pass to go to my class. The guilt was gone and I felt good about not totally skipping out on my classes. But I did make sure to tell my teacher how guilty she had made me feel. Next time I feel the need to be a "rebel" I'm staying far away from Ms. GiultTrip.

Dinner at Gramp's

2009-11-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

My grandpa lives in Portland, so we go to his house for dinner often. This time both Matt and Kristyn came...this made all the difference.

Kristyn, Matt, and Spencer all together at anytime makes it impossible to go for one minute without laughing...or peeing your pants.

This is what it is like when we eat with Matt, Kristyn and Spencer at one table...

Spencer is...different

All I wanted was a good picture of them, but the seriousness didn't last long...

"Sorry 'bout your car Kristyn."

Dinner with a friend

2009-11-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

A couple Sundays ago I was sitting next to my amazing Young Women leaders, aka my best buds, and we started talking about cooking. I told them about the addiction I have with my pork chop meal. I decided it was about time I cooked for them, so I set dates to cook for each Kelly Berton and Kirsten Hinton.

I made Kelly's family my pork chops for dinner that week. It was very fun sitting and chatting with her and her family. I cant wait for our next dinner date.

Tonight I brought mini pizza crusts and pizza toppings over to Kirsten's house with Sarah and we made pizzas with her little kids for dinner. I had a good time.

Jen your next on my list of dinners to make....oh, maybe a dinner and then a movie at the ghost place in Downtown :)

I love my Young Women leaders. They're more like best friends to me and I love spending time with them.

Mooning Mulvey...

2009-11-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Today Sarah and I mooned Mulvey. I totally know what you're thinking, and no not that kind of mooning.We cut out little moons and taped them all over Mulvey's door during school.I had a class first period, so Sarah did the crime for me. I was walking to lunch and Mulvey happened to walk out a door as I passed. The first thing she said was "YOU!" She didnt even stop to say hi, she went straight to accusing me of the vandalization. I was shocked with her accusation. "I was in class first period, so tecnically I couldnt have done what ever you are saying I did to you" I said with innocence....but I garanty she saw the gulty look in my smile. Once again we were in a "fight". I had to confess to the crime in order to get help with a question. If she wasnt a teacher I could go days with out talking to her, it would be a fight I could win.

Anyway, I got some pics, but the lighting was terrible so they're blurry...and whoever took the pictures didn't realize that it would be nice to get the door with the moons in the picture instead of me and the wall. Oh well.

Fun at Kohls

2009-11-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I met up with Katie and Shayna at Kohls to go shopping. I baught a black P-coat...I love it.

It all started when Shayna saw two furry vests. We got a picture together. Then every time we saw something else that look funny, we took a picture with our phones. I had a great time.

I LOVE MY GILRS!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-10-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

Every year Sarah and I get pumpkins with the full intention of carving them on the first day of the Halloween week. However, for about seven years straight we have never seemed to get them carved until the last ten minutes before we head out for trick-or-treating on the big night. When we stopped trick-or-treating, after elementary school, we had plenty of time to carve the pumpkins, but we still found a way to procrastinate.

It is ironic that on the busiest Halloween week in my life, we actually carved our pumpkins early. This was a big shocker for me and my family.

Well let's get down to the business...we'll start with Sarah.

For some reason Sarah felt the need to give her pumpkin a bath in the sink. I guess she is practicing for when she has kids of her own. I really don't know what goes on that little head of hers.

Now I would assume that Sarah is practicing for her wedding day. Again, I really don't know when it comes to Sarah....

After hours of searching for the perfect pumpkin design, Sarah find a cute little ghost to carve.

Tedious work I tell you...

"Pa, pa, pa, poker face, pa, pa, poker face..."

Sarah's muscles put too much pressure on the carving tools. When it happened she acted all innocent.

Sarah messed up on her ghost design, so she decided to carve big eyes. I felt like I was in an art gallery when I was looking at Sarah's pumpkin. Not because it was beautiful, but because I felt like I was seeing something that wasn't intended to be seen....

Of course after I told Sarah what I was seeing, she decided it was necessary to add some pupils to the eyes... we thought this would humor some visitors during the week.

My pumpkin was ginormous. I knew exactly what I wanted to carve.

My IOWA HAWKEYES baby... I was so excited to carve my pumpkin.

I took forever to carve my pumpkin. I had a ton of fun though.

Well, by the end of the night we finished our creations. Let's just hope we can get a head start next year.

Jazzercisers...

2009-10-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Cut polos + lots of makeup+ spandex= Four Hot Jazzercisers. What better way to collect UNICEF donations than in spandex? Personally, I think people are more willing to give money if they are able to see the cold face and shivering hands of a girl at their door.

This Halloween was so fun. My friends make everyday worth while.

The Four Bandits

2009-10-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Every Halloween we have a party with our church friends. This year Sarah chose the costumes for us. A group of friends and I dressed up as bandits. I had to search through my closet for goth colors, or should I say color.

I found this mini toilet and I had to get a picture with it. I am so having one of these in my house for my kids.

Partners in crime.

I just love to bake.

As we were getting the picture set up Sarah said, "Alright Patrick. This might sound a bit awkward, but spread em'."

Shayna and Patrick could not stop laughing.

As you can see, there is a picture of Christ on the back wall....fits in just great doesn't it?

We were ready for business.

"shhh...we're trying to robe a bank."

I drove past this tractor and I needed to get pictures so they all went back just for me. :)

"Ahhhh, help me."

The flash is reflecting off my glasses, so I looked like a cat.

Yup, I went behind the tape....what a rebel.

I had a great time with my friends. I cant wait for next Halloween...what to be.

Haunted Corn Maze

2009-10-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

For my church we have what is called Personal Progress. It is for the young women (ages 12-18) who are in the ward. Personal Progress is a booklet that is filled with challenges that cause you to form habits in your life, such as service, healthy cooking, choosing good friends, etc. If a young women completes a certain number of challenges in two months than the bishop, or my dad, plans a fun activity for all who accomplished it. The thing is, my dad never tells us where we are going or what we will be doing...basically we guess all the way to the activity.

So far I have been to Malibu Raceway, Beavers game, Concert, Lazar tag, and more. I finished my Personal Progress, and now it is my responsibility to help others finish theirs and most of all keep up the habits of service towards others.

For this past activity my dad took a group of us to Sauvies Island, in Portland. We went to a haunted Corn Maze. Being who I am, I brought my camera to document the activity. I took videos through out the corn maze. I had a blast with my friends and I cant wait for the next activity.

Cross Country Districts

2009-10-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

Sarah's last Cross Country meet was at Meriweather Golf Course.

ESPN- IOWA Hawkeyes

2009-10-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

ESPN Video - Send a Friend: "http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4592250"

What Happens In Vagas, Stays In Vegas...

2009-10-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

The theme for this Year's LHS Homecoming was Vegas. I am so glad that my friends forced me to go. I'm not much of a get-crazy-n-dance kind of person, so this was a new side of me to be unleashed. I had the best time of my life. The whole weekend and week AFTER the dance I was still dancing. Even now, I hear a song form homecoming during art class and Shayna and I start dancing. The leadership kids did an amazing job this year. I cant wait for Winterformal.

Park Pics

2009-10-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures from the Hillsboro Library park.

Fright Town

2009-10-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

What would be your perfect Thursday? I think I came pretty close to mine this past Thursday.

Ever since last October I have been looking forward to going with Katie, Sarah, and Chad and Janet Murdock to haunted houses. I'm not the kind of person who enjoys the haunted houses as much as I get a kick out of watching Katie and Sarah pee their pants.

On Thursday night we headed out to the Portland Memorial Colosseum for Fright Town. I have to be honest, I was pretty nervous to go through the first haunted house. I hadn't been through one since I was a little kid, and back then ever thing scared me. Anyone of my friends would have enjoyed watching me scoot through that haunted house clinging to Chad and Janet's arms.

After that haunted house I decided to put on my tough face and go face first through the next two houses. I had a great time with my friends. Afterwards we all went out to Cold Stone for ice cream.

Oh, and the best part is that I had a recorder with me the whole time...it's hilarious to listen to.

Eggin' the Door

2009-10-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

You remember a while back I posted a story about me plastic wrapping Ms. Mulvey's class room? Well, I may or may not have egged her door this time :)

I know what you're thinking, but no...they were paper eggs.

You see, now that I'm not in her class anymore I have the all access pass to pranks on her....and my grade wont be affected one bit.

So, after school on Wednesday Katie and I waited at school till Mulvey left for home. Once again this was quite a wait. Katie and I had to hide under a blanket as Muvley passed us in the hall. Once she was gone we went straight for her door.

The next day I went into Ms.Miller's room to ask for a band aid, which she DIDN'T have. I told her that I had egged Mulvey's door and she looked at me with concerned eyes. I then remembered to say that the eggs were paper ones. She was relieved to find that I hadn't gone too far on the pranks. During the day Mulvey asked if I was the culprit, but I was innocent of course. But at the end of the day I really needed to asked her a question about how to write an essay and before she would answer she asked if I was the vandal. Being concerned for not missing my bus ride home, I instantly said "yeah, sure it was me. Now answer my question." Now that I think of it, I must have sounded a bit pushy...but I wasn't about to miss my bus because of her, for the second time.

I have this great idea for what I'm going to do to her room on the Friday before Halloween.

Shayna Learns How to Give a Talk

2009-10-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was with my buddies before YWs on Tuesday and it was Shayna's first time using the primary kid's microphone. Before she was able to use it Katie gave her a lesson on what it looked like and sounded like when kids gave their little talks.

XC Meet Number 3

2009-10-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Sarah finally had a Cross Country Meet at Liberty. I ,unfortunately, had to take pictures for Yearbook, so I don't have a lot of Sarah from my personal camera. But here are the few pics that I do have, Enjoy!

My back pains are the result of years of Katie insisting on being carried everywhere.

Okay, so on my way home I saw the new kid at school walking on the side of the road. He lived in the neighborhood next to me and if he was walking home than he would never get there, especially since he had know idea where he was. So I took a video of us saving him...

Friday's Game Pictures

2009-10-12T16:39:00.001-07:00

No, my eye color is not normally white....I cant believe people actually thought that was my really eye color.

Hey, look at that amazing Yearbooker on the field of battle....yup that's me! Spirit gear and all.

My eyes are still creepin' me out.
I was freezing by the way.

We came home to a spooned house...but we quickly drove over to, who we believed to be, the culprit's house and returned the favor...turns out it was someone else.

Da' Blood Drive

2009-10-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Last week some girls at school came up to me and asked me if I wanted to give blood. I took the form, signed it, and forgot about it. It wasn't till Wednesday that I actually remembered and realized what I had done. The blood drive was the next day and I was flippin' out.

Thursday came and I was feeling the butterflies race in my stomach. Thursday, also, happened to be the day that my English class' student teacher was shadowing me the whole day(for college reasons.) I didn't know when I would be pulled out of class for the donation, so she had to watch me freak out all day.

Finally I was tired of waiting so I went up to the blood drive and got in line. When I told them I had been to Mexico that year, they interrogated me to make sure I dint go to any skechy places. After what felt like hours of interviewing, forms, and reading I got the first of the torture. My poor little finger had to be pricked. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I had a pass sent to my friend Shayna's class so that she could come down and hold my hand. I know I'm a wimp. I sat down to get "hooked-up" and right away I couldn't stop laughing. I tend to laugh when I am that nervous. The nurse I had was hilarious. She kept referring to me as the girl she was about to jab with a needle.

For obvious reasons, I didn't watch the needle when it was being "jabbed" into my arm. But Shayna was watching and seeing her face as it was all happening was enough. It turns out my arm decided to squirt the nurse with my blood. I filled a pint of blood in like 5 seconds. I'm a champ. I didn't even feel one bit different when I was done.

I had a great time donating blood, now I'm officially addicted to blood drives. :)

Liberty Football

2009-10-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE going to the Liberty Football games. Sadly, this year there are only three home games. I decided to be a super fan and take the bus to Portland for one of the games though. Being on Yearbook makes football games a little more fun now too. I think one of the things I will forever remember about my high school experience will be the fun I've had with friends at the football games.

The Portland game was Supa' fun...especially with my two buddies!

I was being a rebel that day by getting a tattoo.

Getting all Falcon Spirited was a blast.

Being on the field, with all the action, made the game amazing...but actually winning would have been nice too.

I had two of my friends draw on my legs with permanent marker. I'm very ticklish so I was laughing the whole time. The only bad thing about it was that I had to clean it off before church that Sunday.

Are The Consequences Worth Being The Favorite Teacher?

2009-10-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

I believe there are only a couple of negatives that a well liked teacher has to undergo by the average student. But for the teacher who is...fortunate enough to have me as a "fan", well, they suffer the consequences....daily.

Last week I decided it was about that time in the school year when I needed to do some damage. It took me two days to think of what I really wanted to do to a specific teacher. I thought newspapering her door would be fun. Hmmmm, maybe I could bubble wrap her door.

I stayed up all night contemplating the perfect way to show my "friendship" towards this teacher. Some, or most, of my ideas had to be thrown away do to the consequences I would face if I dared to do them.

Finally, as I was putting Seran Wrap on dinner's left overs, the perfect Plan-of-Vandalization hit me like a truck. I nearly fell over with excitement. Seran Wrapping my teacher's door, it's perfect, so random, so me, I love it. Then I thought oh no, what if while I'm Seran Wrapping her door she comes out and catches me? I had to rethink my plan.

The next day I went into another teacher's class room, Miller, and asked if she would leave her door open for me to get from her room to Mulvey's room during lunch. I told her my plan and she agreed to "forget" to lock her door. However, Miller did have one condition: If I was to get caught, she had nothing to do with it. I said ok and my plan was set.

During lunch I went into Miller's room and waited till I heard Mulvey leave, which took forever. When she was gone I went to the wall divider and attempted to open it. Miller warned me about the difficulty in opening the wall. It took me 10 minutes of pulling on the door before I realized that I should be pushing instead. The door opened and I rushed into action.

The first thing I did was wrap Mulvey's chair. I didn't plan on it being so difficult to Seran Wrap a chair, but it was. As I went from chair to stapler then to the door, I began to get more and more worried that Mulvey might just come back in the room while I was in there. I quickened my pace. Just as I was wrapping her desk I heard a knock on the door. I froze. Because of the glare on the window I couldn't see who was at the door. I was positive that Mulvey was back and there to kill me. My heart was pounding. I prepared for Mulvey to storm in and kill me. I put on an innocent face in hopes that she might fall for the I-just-got-here-and-it-was-like-this-face. I took a better look at the door and I was relieved to see that it was just a student. I opened the door and acted like I was supposed to be in the class room without any teacher. I answered the student's question and shut the door. After the scare, I took out my camera and documented the crime scene. Even when the job was done my adrenaline was rushing. I don't know what I would have done in it was Mulvey at the door.

I went about the rest of my day using the hallways that didn't pass her room to get to my other classes (as a result I was almost late for class.) As the day drew to an end I began to expect the worst for the days to come. I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid her for the rest of the week, especially because I was supposed to get an assignment from her the next day.

Miller was entering Liberty at the same time I was the next morning. I asked her what Mulvey's reaction was. I, finally, was put to ease when Miller said that Mulvey thought it was funny.

I went into Mulvey's room and asked for the assignment. I acted like I had no recollection of what had occurred in the day before. She insisted that I was the culprit, and I persisted to plead innocent. I said "Why do you always accuse me of the things that happen to you, gosh that's not very teacher like. You should be ashamed. You're jumping to conclusions, and you don't even know if I was here yesterday. I want a Lawyer." Well, I didn't exactly say that last sentence, but if I did that would have been a slap in the face. She ended the conversation by saying "Yeah, that's right, we're in a fight!" I left the room smiling. I felt proud of my acting skills.

For all of you who watch The Office, you know about Jim putting Dwight's supplies in Jello. Yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to put a whole apple in Jello instead of doing my homework. I had never made Jello before. I followed the directions, as much as I felt was necessary. Not thinking about the purpose of a specified amount of water for the specified amount of Jello mix, I put lots of water with a little pinch of Jello mix. I didn't want the Jello color to be too dark for the Apple to be seen. I woke up the next morning to a bowl of red water. Right then I realized my mistake and promised to never attempt Jello again.

I visited with a former teacher from Poynter this past week, and shared the Seran Wrap incident. He gave me some new ideas for what I could do next. Now all I have to do is buy a boat load of balloons.

XC Meet #2

2009-09-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

I feel like an over obsessive mom when it comes to Sarah's Cross Country meets. We all see those moms at a game that get out of their cars carrying a camera, dinner-in-a-sack, jacket, unfoldable chair, umbrella, first aid kit, and the occasional poster saying "Go Billy!" I use to think wow I feel bad for the kid who has to deal with that. But now I understand the thrill that drove Super-Mom to such measures.

Ever since Sarah's first Cross Country meet I fell in love with being one of the spectators. As much as I would love to be out there running in the mud and rain, I think, in this case, being on the sidelines could be considered a workout as well. I've learned to come prepared for exercise. Once that starting gun is shot for runners to go, and I've taken as many pictures of Sarah as possible before she's out of sight, I have to run to the next best spot for another glance of Sarah as she rushes past. The secret to being where the runners are every chance you get, all you have to do is follow the coach.

I'm a little embarrassed to confess that I can be very aggressive when it comes to getting to the best-picture-spot before the professional photographer takes it. I know, about half my friends are professional photographers and y'all are prolly scowling at me right now. I cant help it. My little Sarah is growing up and I need every picture I can get.

Anyway, I'll be turning over my obsessive parent role back over to my parents when Lacrosse season starts, but for now it's all mine.

Sarah's 1st Cross Country Invitational

2009-09-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to watch Liberty compete in the Cross Country invitational at Rood Bridge Park. I had never seen a XC race before, so what I saw was ten times more intense than what I had expected. Sarah ran a 5k race in grass, dirt, and over bridges and hills. One girl even had to be taken away in an ambulance. The race was very fun to watch and I cant wait to see the next one.

The LHS XC team prayed before the race, which I thought was cute ;)

This is my friend Makenzie White. She about died after the race.

Pictures at the Portland Oregon Temple

2009-09-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

For a young women's activity we headed down to Portland to visit the temple.

I love going to the Temple!

Rappelling

2009-09-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went Rappelling with the church youth group at Lewis and Clark Park. On the way there I was telling Katie how I was going to rappel head first (Sarah did it and told me i should.) My dreams were shattered when I hiked up to the cliff that I was supposed to rappel down. I'm usually a dare devil when it comes to things like rock climbing, but when I saw the cliff drop off I found myself clinging to the nearest tree for safety.

After a while I faced my fears and went to put on the harness. Rock climbing looks easy from a distance, but when your up there you cant see where any of the foot holes are. I got probably a wimpy twelve feet up the cliff face before my arms were dead and I gave up. One day I'll go back and conquer that cliff, but for now I'll stick to the REI rock wall.

Here's Kelly climbing higher than everyone.

Here's Katie Rappelling.

If you look close my tongue is stuck out for major concentration.

At this point I'm clinging for my life to the wall. I never quite got it through my head that if I slipped the rope would catch me....therefore, every time I moved up for another foot hole you would hear me nervously saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

I had a great time rappelling with my buds.

Youngest-Child-Discrimination

2009-09-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Once again I, Lizzy Fotheringham, am being discriminated for being the youngest child in the family. Many would say "oh that Lizzy, joking around and saying shes discriminated against." To all you who dare to think of my discrimination as merely a "joke" can think again, 'cause this time I have hard evidence to back me up.

Around the year 2005 I was introduced to the New York Yankees. Ever since then I have been a hard core fan of them. I've bought the jerseys, hats, shirts, blankets, and yes even the Yankee tooth brush. I have only broken one rule in the Yankee hand book. Many are shocked to hear that I am also a Boston Red Sox fan. For those of you who don't know a hoot about baseball...the Red Sox and the Yankees are long time rivals....to put it in simple terms, they hate each other's guts, and it is not a good idea to put them in the same room.

Anywho, my dad, a Boston Fan, of all people should know that I would LOVE to go see the Yankees play ball. I have even been talking about wanting to see them. But what does he do? My dad books a vaykay for him and my mom to go see the Yankees play the Mariners. When I first heard of this tragedy my mouth dropped in astonishment. My dad, not even a Yankee lover, is going to not only see a team that I love, but a team that he hates.

Now would you say my discrimination is a "joke"?...I think not.

Summer Beach Trip

2009-09-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

My summer can officially be over now. The one thing that I have been dying to do since the start of summer was go to the beach. Most of my friends that I had planned to go with had already gone several times during my absence. I made sure to say that I wanted to go to the beach everyday since I've been home. Finally my efforts had been noticed. My mom said "you know what? Tomorrow we're going to the beach." I was so happy.

We left for Seaside Wednesday morning. When we arrived I rushed out to the Seaside Walk. My only disappointment came when no one wanted to walk out to the water. Oh great, why did we even come? If you go to the beach and you don't even step on the sand, that's like painting a beautiful picture and sticking it on the wall backwards. I quickly got over my disappointment when my mom said we could come back when she was able to walk out with me.

We went to all the little shops in Downtown Seaside, and we ate lunch at Ping 'n Pancake. Sarah had to be back home for Cross Country soon. Before driving back, I went into a candy shop and got myself a treat.

RedRobins

2009-09-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

A group of my friends and I got together for our birthdays. Sarah, Mckinna, and Arrigotti's birthdays were on August 22, 24, and 28th, and my birthday is on September 9th. We all thought it would be nice to celebrate together, and I wasn't about to let a chance to open presents early pass me by.

Saturday night came and Sarah and I planned out when we would have to be done getting ready in order to show up at RedRobins at exactly 8:30. We hopped in the car and eventually we pulled into RedRobins at exactly 8:30. Feeling good about being on time, we walked into RedRobins to search for our table of friends. Minutes had passed with no luck and no friends to be found. I decided to call Katie to see if we were the first to arrive. I was relieved to hear that they were already there. She gave me directions to their table "Straight down the main isle, take a left, then you will see us." I did just as she directed, but no one was to be found. I went over her directions over and over again until I realized that the waiters had started to look at me with curiosity. I walked out the door and quickly called Katie once again. After I told her she was definitely not at RedRobins, she said "well, what RedRobins are you at?" I said "The only RedRobins in Hillsboro. Where else would I go?" She began to laugh and I walked to my car as I realized what had happened. Sarah and I had to drive an hour away to a RedRobins that, in our minds, did not exist.

I don't know how to quite describe the events that took place in the car as we drove to our new destination. Lets just say there was a lot of crying, screaming, yelling, confusion, and stress on the way there. The first of the yelling occurred when the stop light wouldn't turn green. I sat quietly until all of the sudden Sarah yells out "turn green, Gahhh!" Sarah tends to yell really loud when a situation gets too much to handle. Just to fit in, I yell too. Basically, at every light on the way to Beverton we would be screaming and yelling. To make matters worse, Sarah had been fasting for her patriarchal blessing, so she was getting lightheaded from screaming and her eyesight pretty much sucks without glasses....she didn't bring glasses. Can you just imagine how her driving was at this point.

The yelling and screaming came to a dramatic end when we got pulled over by a cop. Yup, Sarah's driving 'skills' weren't at their best that night. I'm totally kidding...just makin' sure you're paying attention. Anyways, my yelling and screaming turned into tears when we missed the turn off and had to go across the highway. My crying was a mix of laughing and crying. I was crying because we had been driving forever and my throat hurt from yelling, and I was laughing because I couldn't stop crying. But seriously, the car ride was crazy. I just wish I had recorded it.

The party turned out great. We ate, took pictures, opened gifts, and had fun.

Hagg Lake Trip

2009-08-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

My church youth group had our annual Hagg Lake trip this past month. Hagg Lake's water isn't known for its warm waters; therefore, I didn't bring my swimsuit. Like a good little girl, I sat on a rock admiring the lake's beauty, when along came two "friends". When I asked what they were up to they said they wanted to "see how the water was next to me". I got very suspicious when I saw the guilty looks on each of their faces.

I became even more suspicious when two more "friends" came next to me, and one with a camera (ready to capture some terrible event.) I pointed to Jen, one holding the camera, and said "you push me in...you die." I thought to myself that threat should be enough to stop her from pushing me in.

Just as I felt I didn't need to worry about being push in, I realized I should have been worried about being pulled in.

Katie and Missy pulled me in, and surprisingly, the water was warm.

When I was done killing Katie and Missy for pulling me in, we went to find someone else to get wet. A bout full of boys, an easy target for destruction.

We succeeded in getting all the boys out of the bout.

Missy and I decided that we needed a day-at-the-spa.

When I got home that night I was cold and wet. I took advantage of my hot tub and jump in. I'm not sure how excited my dad was to find dirt in the hot tub. I just cant wait for next year's Hagg Lake trip.

Camping Outback

2009-08-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

The day my mom got home from the hospital was the same day she gave me an idea for a new adventure. You could tell her mind was still very drugged up by the proposition that she gave to me. Most of you have seen my back yard, and know that the only place for a fire to be made is in our BBQ. Well, obviously mom had forgotten that little detail when she said "How 'bout you girls make a fire and have smores." Not to mention, most moms would never even let two teenage girls make a bon-fire in their backyard. I took advantage of her drugged mind and dug a small fire pit.

My friend, Makenzie, made me some hot chocolate, which is the one drink that I am desperately addicted to. I guess I was a little too excited to gulp it down for another cup..... See pic below

Yeah, I was spitting out HOTT chocolate for the first time that night. As I'm telling you this I am also laughing about another incident on a bus ride home from Liberty. All I can say is, Capri-sun, funny conversations, a bus, and myself are not good combinations. Also, now that this incident is brought up I should apologize to Sarah for making her ride home with Capri-sun soaked jeans...oops.

Makenzie and I played chubby-bunnies. I, of course, won the game...Booyeah!

Okay this one is great. Makenzie went to blow out a candle and came back with a wax covered mouth....at least it wasn't me :]

Mom's Surgery

2009-08-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Mom went in for her first reconstruction surgery on Friday morning. The surgery lasted a whopping six hours. Sarah and I drove down to Providence Medical Center to say hi. You would think that finding your way around a hospital would be easy, but no it's not. First we were honked at because Sarah was driving the wrong way in the parking garage. Then we couldn't find a parking spot. Once we were out of the car we had to find mom's room. Because of mom's previous treatments I knew my way around the East wing, but were we in the East wing? No, we had to search the whole entire West wing to find the Green Elevators. Why couldn't we just take the Gold, Yellow, or Purple Elevators? Providence has a weird system or getting around. After endless back and forth walking, we found the room.
Mom was drugged up, as expected. Those pain meds gave her a crazy sense of humor. She was crackin' joke all night long. I'd repeat some of the things she said, but it's a lot funnier coming from a drugged up patient. When she goes in for her next surgery I am definitely having a hidden camera record all the silly stuff she says.
Mom had six tubes coming out of her. One thing I want to do is try on the air tubes that go in your nose, just sounds cool.

Dad had been in the room with mom ALL day, so we went down to the cafeteria to eat. Surprisingly, the food was good.

Dad slept at the hospital with mom. But I feel sorry for the other people in the hospital who had to hear him snoring.

Sarah and I went down to the five dollar jewelry sale. I got her a watch for her birthday, and I got myself an amazing, blue scarf.

Sarah and I left around eight that night.

My mom's doctor drew a smiley face for mom. He came in and checked up on mom. He is in a rock band...I've always wondered what fun stuff doctors do after a day of serious surgeries.

Mom gets to come home next Tuesday. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on how the family is doing.

Me and My Books

2009-08-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

In the last year I have taken a complete 180 degree turn with my view towards reading. I have read books before this year, but never finished them. I would read enough to know how the story would end then get bored with it. I even did this with class assigned books...don't tell my teacher. Anyways, it wasn't till my ninth grade year that I enjoyed, and finished, my class assigned books. I actually picked up and read a book for myself that wasn't a class assignment. Once I finished that book I picked up another one and finished that too. I guess it helps that my parents have a library collection of books in the house. I have never, not once wanted to spend any part of my summers reading a book. When I was in Montana I found it quite pleasing to sit down and read a book that I liked. When I finished a book I picked up another and read that too. I am a VERY slow reader so it may not seem like I read a lot of books to you, but for me I am becoming quite the reader. So far I have read: Speak, Dove, Animal Farm, Lance Armstrong, Recovering Charles, Wednesday Letters, Why I Believe, Timepiece, and The Letter. I decided that the next book I am going to finish is The Christmas Sweater because I gave it to a friend for Christmas. My friends and I went to the Library yesterday. Sadly, they didn't have the book that I wanted. But I did go to Barnes and Noble with the same friends today and they did have another book that I have been wanting to read. I didn't bring my money with me, but this gave me a great idea. I have been wondering where on earth I would get my first job. I now plan on working at a book store. If I work at a book store I can read the books without having to buy them...it sounds illegal, but fun. If anyone has any suggestions for books that I should read, my comment page would be the place to spill your ideas.

(One more thing.)

I went to the library to get a book that I've been wanting to read. They didn't have it, so I went to the desk and they ordered it from a Portland library. Two days later they called and I picked it up. I had not clue what this book was about, only that it's my friend's and dad's favorite book. I thought, oh if it's her favorite book than it must be good. I didn't want to pass up a good book. When I got the book I was disappointed and excited at the same time. First off, it was only a 110 paged book that looked REALLY old. I thought, I have been searching everywhere for this? it better be good. but at the same time I was excited because it, being a short book, meant I could finish it in a day and get back to my other book. Boy was I wrong. I got home and started reading the Introduction. Within the first two paragraphs I was in need of a dictionary. After five pages of gibberish, I gave up on finishing the rest of the Introduction. I started the book. Right off the bat, I was confused. I kept reading in hopes that it would clear up eventually. Early on in my reading I pulled out a dictionary. This book had the weirdest words. It even spelt color wrong. I kept reading; I was determined to finish this book that I had worked so hard to find. The day was at its end, and I was only at page 19. That in itself tells you how hard this book was. I decided that if I couldn't recall anything that I had just read, it was time to quit. I gave the book one last chance, and I opened to the last page (this is something I tend to do with all my books.) I read the last page and was lost once again. I flipped to the second to last page and read that too. There was no way that I was going to try to read this book. I took out my book mark and shelved the book. I'll never know what that book was about or what message I would have gotten from reading it. But one thing I do know is that my dad and friend must be amazing readers to have that as one of their favorite books.

I'm debating whether or not I should tell you what book it was. I don't want to crush someone's dreams of reading it too. But then again, I don't want anyone to go through the torture of reading it after their painstaking efforts in finding it. I've decided to reveal the book that caused me to sweet bullets finding and reading it. The book is......Heart of Darkness, by Joesph Conrad.

THE SURPRISE Return

2009-08-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

While I was in Montana I had been planning out my return to Oregon, and how I would surprise my friends. I had it all planned out when a new and improved plan was brought to my attention. I had remembered my family reunion that we go to every year, in Utah. I wasn't going to miss my chance to surprise Sarah when she least suspected it. I called my mom up and told her my idea. She, secretly, bought me a plain ticket to Salt Lake City, Utah. When I got back from Mt. Rushmore, the week before, I said goodbye to Montana and jumped on my 10 o' clock flight to SLC, Utah. I had to fly to Denver, Colorado to switch plains. It wasn't just a simple, half hour delay. I had to sit in the Denver airport for three hours. Not only did I have to sit for three hours, but I got lost and I was all alone. When I found terminal A50 I took a seat and read my book. Three hours later, I got on my plain and eventually made it to Utah. I stayed at my grandparents before we drove up to Bear Lake. When I got up to my Aunt's cabin on Bear Lake, I started to plan out how I was going to pop out and surprise Sarah. I eventually came to the conclusion that I should be buried in the sand when she arrives. You're probably wondering how I kept all this secret from Sarah. I had just gotten back from a hiking trip with Amber a couple weeks before. I told Sarah that I was going to be up in the Mountain again for that weekend so don't call me. I even let her brag about seeing Melissa and being in Utah while I was supposedly stuck up in Montana. She didn't have a clue what I had in store for her. I knew what time she would be arriving at the cabin, so I dug my hole and waited for the right time to have my cousins bury me. There I was sitting on the couch waiting when, out of nowhere, my dad's car pulls up honking (my mom's way of warning me that they were there.) I flipped out and ran out to the sand. I jumped inside the hole, and my Uncle, Mark, put an inner tube and towel over the hole. I, anxiously, sat in the hole waiting for Sarah to look inside. My cousins told Sarah that they had caught a fish in the lake, put it in the hole, and wanted her to see it. Through a hole a watched her walk over. When she lifted the towel and realized it was me she jumped inside. She flipped out and, as I expected, she hit me for not telling her. I had a great time at the reunion. I got back home last Saturday night. I love being back in Oregon with all my family and friends.

The Love Inn, my aunt's last name is Love hence the name.

Trip to the Lagoon in Utah.

Waitin' in line.

Best ride at Lagoon

The 'Rents

Farris Wheel.

Our traditional Bear Lake Pizza run.

Me kicking B-U-T-T at PacMan.

Gerrrrr. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Just out for a walk...in the middle of the road.

My dad gave us a quarter to ride, Yahoo.

I can hold the sun, pretty cool ha?

This is such a random picture, but that's why I love it.

My grandparents are amazing!

My dad got Jet Skis. You can hear me screaming a mile away.

One night there was a wind storm and the tree fell over. I was out side with my cousin next to the tree when it fell over, scary.

Melissa and I hit some golf balls, if you don't know by now I LOVE golfing...I even watch golf on TV with my dad.

Our traditional Friday night shakes at LaBouse cafe.

Week FOUR in Montana

2009-08-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog.
I went to Mt. Rushmore for my last week in Montana. The drive down to South Dakota was too long. It took us two days to get to Rapid City. There's really not much to say about the trip, but seeing the Mountain was pretty cool.

i stayed in Rapid City for a couple nights. On the last day I went to Bear Country USA. Driving through the park was nice...but...they would yell at you if you had your window rolled down. I mean come on, how am I supposed to pet the bears or even get a decent picture through a window? I was feeling like a rebel so I left my window an inch open the whole time. Since no one has invented non-reflective windows, I didn't get any blog worthy pictures of any bears.

On the way back to Montana I stopped at the border. If you ever are at my house ask me to tell you the story behind this picture...it has to be done in person, only I know the sound effects needed to tell it.

The day after I got home from South Dakota I rode horses with my Uncle Jeff, and Amber. One thing this picture doesn't show is Jeff holding the reigns of my horse the whole ride. I am still deathly afraid of horses, but I can now get within arms length without screaming.

On Saturday I packed up my bags for THE SURPRISE return....

Backpacking at Red Lodge

2009-07-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Amber and I went backpacking up at Red Lodge. This experience proved to me just how out of shape I am. The view at the top of the mountains was great.

At Vista Point in Wyoming.Flippin' amazing truck.I had to cross a shark infested ocean to get to the snow on the other side.

In my efforts to cross the shark-infested-ocean I was swallowed by a whale. I rolled the rock, that I'm sitting on, down the whales throat and then it spit me out.

I think this is the exact spot I am going to build my house. I would have plenty of visitors hiking by each day.

We got to this point and had to go all the way back, I'm told it's not a good idea to be on the top of a mountain while there is lightening.I, eventually, got to play in the snow.Me crossing the treacherous waters below.

Just picture me holding a fishing pole.No, that is not a helicopter above my head. It's a mosquito. Oh that's Amber, by the way.

That was the hardest hike I had ever done.

The next day we hiked up to Basin Lake, in Montana. It was a very nice hike.

We hiked to the Upper Basin Lake and ate lunch. That was the first time I had ever eaten MRE's...surprisingly tasty. When we got to the Upper Basin Lake, we went swimming. Yup, I went swimming in a glacial lake...I was freezing and far from dry.

On the way down it started hailing with lightening. I thought Montana was supposed to be a dry state.

Week Three in Roundup Mt

2009-07-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Y’all! This week was so slow that I, some how, got enough patients to scrapbook. I got all of my camp pictures scrapbooked…and, if I may say so myself, the pages look pretty darn good for what normally comes from my scrapbooking at home.
This week I drove on highway 87. Yup, no joke, and I don’t even have my permit. I do have to add that Roundup, Montana highways are completely different than our Portland highways. At 5 o’clock in Portland, you can expect to be in stop and go traffic all the way home. But here, the most traffic I’ve seen consists of, at most, four cars. Oh, and not to forget, I only drove about 30 feet down the highway before getting to the turn off I needed. However, my heart was still racing five minutes after that. Good thing there are no cops in Roundup.

That same day Amber and I went down to the Hooderite Colony (not sure if that’s how it’s spelled.) We met up with Carol and drove down to the river.

At the river we went fishing. I had to hold a worm, I almost died. Once I got my fishing poll, I got my thumb stuck on the hook, it hurt.

I was the only one to catch a fish that day. I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. I’d have to give a little credit to Lardy for all this fishing advice in class.

Fishing got boring so we hopped in the river. I was scared of being bitten by a fish the whole time.

I guess I shouldn’t have been scared of the fish; I should have been scared of the leaches. When we got back to the house Amber held out her hand and right between two fingers was a leach. It was right then that I began to flip out and look at my arms and legs for leaches. Thankfully, none were found.
I can check off four more things on my list of activities to do while here.
~Get a Portland postcard in the mail (I’ve always wanted one)
~Catching a baby Cat Fish
~Swimming in leach infested waters
~Illegally driving on the highway
Today my dad is officially 50 years old. Sorry dad, the world has to know who our senior citizens are. Hey at least you can get the senior discount. Okay my teasing is done; I wasn’t there to tease you in person, so it’s only far.
This weekend I will be going backpacking with Amber at Red Lodge. I’m a little nervous about sleeping outside with all the bears and snakes. But I’m excited to sleep under the stars. Stay tuned to find out if I get back alive.
Until next time, enjoy the Rose City!
PS. For all of you who know how much I don't read, I have finished two books...booyeah!

Week TWO in Montana

2009-07-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hello my fellow Oregonians. Sorry ‘bout all the miss spells last week. My grandma’s computer doesn’t have spell check. I’m just going to use that as my excuse for horrible spelling skills. But you know what? You can’t blame me for the ‘spell check generation’ I was born in.
I’ve been here two weeks and they still haven’t kicked me out. Let’s get straight to the good stuff.
I had a picnic with my grandma this week. As you can see I am enjoying my very own quart of chocolate milk. To tell you the truth, I drank about half of it and was so full I wanted to…you know; get it out of my stomach.

What really cracks me up is how much chocolate milk my grandma drinks. You might say chocolate milk is her beer. In that case, I should have been driving. If she knew I posted this picture she’d prolly kill me….but it’s so worth it.

I went to the zoo here in Montana. I didn’t even know they had one. I was so pumped to see all the animals they have in Montana.

This little cutie is Taylor. I just love this picture because she made the same face that I always make. It’s like she’s my little apprentice.

I prepared myself to see all the lions, snakes, and etc. However, I came to find out that all I needed to be prepared to see were some horses, goats, bears, and bunnies that couldn’t even be considered Killer Bunnies. I guess I shouldn’t harp on the innocent, little zoo. At least they had one. I bet it saves a lot of moms from having to plan out stuff to do at home all day.

Seeing the Bald Eagle confirmed to me why it is our nation’s symbol. If looks killed I would be long gone.
The zoo might have had a microscopic selection of animals, but they sure did spread them out. I felt like I was walking the distance of a marathon from one cage to the next. Plus the little kids wanted me to give piggy-back rides. Yeah, I was feeling my age by the end of the day. Who ever made up that style of traveling is definitely NOT on my favorite-five list.

I now know why parents take their kids to the Zoo. All the kids, including me, fell asleep on the way home.

I went on my first trek to the mail box. It took me forever, but I did get to see nature.

I was planning on being helpful by getting the mail and bringing it back home. My plan was shot down and so was my energy level. I opened the mailbox to find nothing but dust. Gee, thanks to my so called friends in Oregon, I had nothing to be excited about on my way home.

On Friday we went swimming…Montana style.

When I first saw this sign on the bridge I wondered... “Hmmm, this small town has a problem with suicides, or they have a problem with their depth perception; it’s easy to see that the river is only four feet deep.”
Taylor found out how much she likes to play in the mud. She insisted on drawing faces on everyone.

I’ve definitely had a memorable two weeks here in “Small Town USA” (that’s a country song, if you didn’t know.) If my grandma had something faster than Dial-Up I’d tell you all my funny experiences that I’ve mailed home to my family. I’ll try to convince Sarah to write about them on her blog.
I’ll write again next week. Until then, enjoy Oregon!

Week ONE in Montana

2009-07-10T19:02:00.001-07:00

Ignore the hyper linked words, I couldnt fix it.
Hey y'all, I made it to Montana on the 3rd of July. I might as well get straight to telling you about my first week in a little town called Roundup. On my first day in Montana I celebrated the Fourth of July. I woke up at 6am and went golfing. I only lasted two holes before having to go to the bathroom. The golf course was on my cousin's land so I just cought up on my beauty sleep while the others finished out the course. Later that day I went to the parade, a Gene Watson concert, and finally launched some fireworks into the big sky of Montana.
My cousin's son decide to catch a frog and he had the nerve to bring it within two feet of me. I would have never guessed that Montana had frogs...I learn something new everyday.

These are my cousins Ty and Amber. We discovered that you can draw pictures on Grandm's patio using rocks...let's just hope Grandma doesn't see.

I went on a hike up the (small) mountains in front of my uncle's ranch. The view was amazing. I wish I could capture what it really looked like. At the top I ate lunch.

I bet none of you have ever made REAL lemonade...let's just pretend I'm not the only one who had never made real lemonade. Well as you can see I made lemonade. It was a nice treat on a hot day.
I just thought I'd add a picture to remind you all back home what I look like.

After having my lemonade I went with Amber to concur my fear of chickens. It took a while but eventually I put both of my feet in the door...but I was as stiff as a board until Amber got all the chickens out of the coop. With my sneekyness skills I quietly gathered the eggs. I was looking back every second to make sure chickens weren't about to attack me.

On Wednesday morning I went with my aunt Shelly to my cousin Chris' house to pick up a horse. Rapelje is the town that we went to. Here's a little comparison to show you just how small Rapelje is. On a map Roundup would be smaller than the pin point of a needle....Rapelje made Roundup look the size of Portland. I don't think it would be true to say I drove through Rapelje because by the time the back of our truck made it into the town, the front was already out. Anyways, once we got home my uncle Jeff unloaded the new horse. I am terrified of horses, therefore, I stayed a good distance, of a mile away, the whole time .

Once all the horses were put away I got to test out my gun skills...actually all I did was prove just how much gun skills I lacked. I would have to say that I did make some progress. So all you boy who think you're good enough to date Sarah better watch out when I get home.

I doubt any of you will believe that I went shopping for over 6 hours. Yeah, it's hard for me to believe too. I went with my cousin Amber and her friend Carol.
You don't see bears like this in Oregon.

I have to admit I almost fell asleep in one of the stores. But then we went to Starbucks. I got the yummyest thing on the menu...vanilla bean frap.

After my hunger was satisfied we went to Carol's house. She gave me a tour of the colony that she lives in. She also showed me the dog that she had told me I could have. I knew I didn't want a dog until I laid my eyes on the cutest puppy ever. All I have to do now is convince uncle Jeff to let me have it...I'm pretty sure I can do it.
The time that I have spent in Montana so far has been an experience. I love when the wind goes through the trees here because it sounds like the ocean. I have had an amazing time being in a place without the distractions of TV, music, phones, and computers. Most teens would think that being unable to have cell phone service 247 and no TV shows or friends around would be near impossible to enjoy. However, without these worldly distractions around I am able to freely see all the beauty that Montana has to offer. If you asked me what the hardest part about being here has been, I would say no being able to hang out with Sarah has been torture. I miss my friend back home, but I guess being away only brings us closer.
I can only get on the computer maybe once a week so I wont be able to update.

Just a Quick Note...

2009-06-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a little taist of the kind of person Sarah is....

Those yellow lines that look like topramen noodles, are really the rays of love blasting towards our parents at speeds and with an energy that would BLOW your frickin' minds! And we definitely are not 'flipping them the bird'. That's the 'I love you' symbol...idiots.

We wrote this because Sarah and I were being 'terrible children', so we thought we would add to the heat at the house by being even more twerpy. We totally ask for it...every time baby:)

My Jam Packed Schedule

2009-06-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

As you all know by now, I'm going off to Montana for the summer. Before I leave I wanted to hang out with all of my friends. I jammed each of my friends into my schedule. So far I have gone to a 3D movie, made muffins, service project, movie night, bike ride, picked flowers, lunch, etc.This has been one of those weeks that I cant even remember what day it is.

The first thing I did was hang out with Katie, Mckinna, Ms. Arrigotti, Stephenie, and John. We all went to the movie UP, in 3D. Katie and I enjoyed the 3D glasses the most. We agreed to wear them to Liberty next year...that's not gonna happen cause I already lost mine.

I'd have to say, we look pretty spiffy.

That same night was my service project. I planned a service project for a group of my church friends. A ton of people showed up and the project was a success.

The next thing I did was cook with Sarah. I made spaghetti, french bread, and muffins. Sarah made Alfredo. I waited forever for the muffins to be done.

That is my Portland-Wanna-Be water bottle that I told you about earlier.

I waited a long time :D When the muffins were done Sarah and I had a movie night.

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to go on a bike ride. Sarah, Shayna, and I rode our bikes to both Jen and Kelly's houses. We picked flowers on the Intel Campos for Jen...I'm pretty sure this act was illegal, but so worth it.

In order for me to take these last two picture I had to ride backwards....yeah I know I'm a dare devil. I'm surprised karma didn't choose right then to make me hit a rock in the road.
This is how Sarah puts her bike away....you can imagine what her room looks like. Actually her room is really clean.

This afternoon my neighbor and friend, Chris, took me out to lunch. Her daughter, Makenzie, and I are very good friends. We went to Spaghetti Factory, and for dessert we went to Cold Stone.

I want to finish off my week by taking a trip down to the Portland Saturday Market....we'll see what happens.

Another Discrimination Story....

2009-06-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

Here's just another story about me and the discrimination I get from being the youngest child. This tragic story took place Monday afternoon. I woke up like any other day; you know, with my hair all crazy and my eyes cemented shut. After I ate my usual breakfast of wonderful eggs and toast, I put on my flip-flops and got ready for the day. I was just about to run off to Katie's house when my mom and dad put me to work. They sent me on a mission to dig out a stump. I made my way up the stairs to my room, put my workin' clothes on, and attempted to tie my shoes. When I got outside I started to hack away at the stump. Let me tell you, this was a stubborn stump. But I was determined to yank it out before my hands melted in pain. As I was doing so, I began to think "Hmmm, I wonder where Sarah is." Then it happens...Sarah comes out the back door and gets in the hot tub. "That's it." I shout "Discrimination on the youngest child!" This is something that you can here me say daily. I continued to suffer in the heat and Sarah continued to relax in the sun. I said to her "I hope your white, Oregon tan skin burns." Now that I have pictures to prove the discrimination I face, I can use it against them. I end this tragic story by saying, to all of my fellow youngest-child-in-the-family friends, one day we will revolt and next time we will be the ones in the hot tub.

Being the youngest child has its perks, but I'm one to exaggerate the cons that come of it :D.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

Today was Father's Day. This picture was really taken ten minutes AFTER we made the cheese cake. Sarah and I just wanted to get a picture of us actually cooking. If you look at the bowl, there is nothing inside :)

I made the topping.

I accidentally broke the spatula...sorry mom

We had a good ol' BBQ

My grandpa came down from Portland to spend the day with us.

Sarah liked the fruit salad a little too much.

At the end of dinner who gets put on clean up duty? Me, the youngest child always has to do the dirty work. I call it DISCRIMINATION! Some day I'll revolt.

This is our gangsta' face.This is our thinka' face, I actually look like this when do my math....except I'm probably thinking about something totally different:)

Hope you all had a great day with your dads.

Yup, Women Build Too!

2009-06-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sarah and I were asked to put together a trellis. Sure, how hard can it be to build a little trellis? Well think again. The face that Sarah has on is real, it took big time muscle to put the piece of junk together.

I found a screw driver, the project was a little easier on our fingers after that.
Once I put one side of the trellis together I sorta' just watched as Sarah put the rest of it together.I look like I have a sailor's hat on. Right when Sarah and I had the hardest part done, my mom came out and told us we didn't need to make it any more. Gah!
Sarah and I refused to stop the project. We persevered and eventually compleated the unwanted trellis.

I told Sarah it looked like a horse shoe....
We just had to have a picture with us throwing our GIANT horse shoe.
After the trellis was done my dad saw that the shed needed to be fixed from after the wind storm.

I was the right person for the job.

All my dad had to do was ask for my help.
Eventually, I took over.
Yup, that's right, I showed him who was boss.

The shed was almost fixed.
All I had to do was drill in the last screws.

I was so proud of my amazing handy work, I just had to admire it.

Trip to the Nursery

2009-06-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my family and I went to the nursery to stock up on our garden yummyness. In fact I planted my own Zucchini and Tomatoes last weekend and when I checked up on them today I saw green leaves coming out of the dirt... yup they didn't die :)

Sarah was a little thursty....I feel like her babysitter when ever we go out.

The flowers were B-E-A-utiful.

Here's a joke for all of you who have seen the new movie UP... you know the opening commercial with the happy clouds and the storm clouds? Well this flower looks like the one the storm cloud would make ;)

My little TreeHugger

What a goof

Since I'm too whimpy to get my drivers licence, I think I'll just drive a wagon for the rest of my life.

I am KING...you like my belt buckle?

The apple and cherry trees, that we bought, were testing Sarah's muscles.

"Roses are red, Violets are blue...bla bla bla bla bla...

I wanted to get the pink sunflower things, but no we were only there to get trees.

The only complaint I had was having to run away from too many bees.

I don't really know what Sarah is doing here, I'll just make up what I think she's thinking.

"Hmmm, Lizzy is the best little sister, I should get her some flowers to thank her."

Okay, here's a little taist of why I think Sarah was meant to have blonde hair. As we drove to the nursery, we had to take a detour on RiverRoad. Sarah said "Wow, they have been working on that road since last year." Dad replys "That's how long it takes to build a bridge." Sarah says "Why are they building a bridge? Are they putting water under it?" I say "Sarah, if they're building a bridge that normaly means there was already water, hence the need for a bridge. Also, we are on RiverRoad, so I'm guessing there has been a river there for some time." Sarah says "Was that a dumb question?" I say "No question is a dumb question. It was just a blonde question, if you know what I mean."

My 24 Hour Fast

2009-06-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

Just to warn you before you read this blog entry... I have a lot to talk about so I am going to get carried away on random subjects that come to mind as I write. If you were to grade me on organization I would fail.
It all started on Thursday at 6pm after dinner. My family and I were all getting ready to have a family 24 hour fast together. Sarah had peanut butter and jelly toast, my mom and dad had spaghetti, and I had a yummy sandwich and two carrot sticks. Before I go on with the story you have to know just how important my sandwiches are to me. I have specific bread, and I do everything from right to left. In order to have cheese in every bit I have to have my cheese cut and set in a perfect square. You laugh now, but just wait till we have a picnic together and I'm the one with the good lookin' sandwich.
After I ate my last meal I began my fast. Sarah and I went to hang out with our friend, which wasn’t a good idea. We went to Jackson Elementary School and hit some balls…well we attempted. Sarah and I hadn’t swung a bat in a while so we looked like we belonged on a T-Ball team. But even when we used to play T-Ball we could never hit the ball off the T. That explains why we never made it off the bench.
Sarah and I enjoyed playing field…there were flowers to pick. After we had our ‘fun’ playing baseball, our friends decided to buy a pizza. It just happened to be my favorite kind of pizza too, Little Caesars. At that point I was craving water and pizza. It was late so Sarah and I went home. Once about 11pm came around I was dieing for a drink of water, but I restrained myself and I continued my fast. Throughout the night I pictured myself being able to drink the cold refreshing water from my new, red, reusable, stainless steel water bottle...AKA my Wana'-Be-Portlander water bottle. If any body asks me why I use such a heavy duty water bottle you can bet I will answer them proudly by saying "Just doin' my part to save the trees." That's about all the tree-hugger I have in me. I guess I could do better at recycling if you gave me a green stainless steel recycling bin.
Once again I’m off topic....so basically the whole night I craved water, oh and pop corn. I live on pop corn, ask my mom's shopping list if you don’t believe me. I went to bed that night, I wouldn’t be surprised if I had dreams about drinking water. Actually now that I think of it I had a dream about being in the 8th grade all over again and not being able to open my locker.
I woke up this morning still wanting water. I decided to fill my day with stuff to get my mind off of water. My day consisted of me going to Poynter, hangin with my friends, going to the library, driving with my brother, sleeping, and cleaning my room. But no matter what I did I still needed water. Even the rain was shouting “Drink me.” As soon as 5pm came along my whole family was more than ready to end our 24 hour fast. Sarah and I wanted to go to Olive Garden. We both LOVE Italian food.
We all hopped in the car and Sarah was driving. This meant we were going to be driving slower than my grandma drives, and that is very slow. Sometimes I find myself check to make sure she isn’t sleeping based on the fact that I could probably walk faster than the car. Once we made our way to the freeway on-ramp we knew we were in trouble. There was big time traffic. It looked as if it was the end of the world and the whole town was getting out of town. Why did the traffic pick today out of all days to be slow? It felt like days were passing as we waited for the on-ramp lights to turn green. Slowly, but surely our car inched closer and closer to the front of the line. Finally we were there. Once the light changed from red to green Sarah shouted "Freedom!" That's Sarah for you. I thought our slow traveling was over, but I was wrong. We went faster in the on-ramp line than we did on the highway.

As I sat in the back seat I glared at the opposite side of the highway. They had open space with freely, speeding cars. A half hour passed and we were about to see the reason for the incredibly slow traffic. It turns out there was a guy who got pulled over and wouldn’t move his car. I felt like he was purposely slowing traffic to prevent me from getting my long awaited drink of water. Once we passed the car, I looked to the other side of the highway and they were all stuck in traffic caused by all of the rubber necking. It had been an hour by the time we pulled into the jam packed parking lot. It took five minutes to find a parking space and another five minutes till Sarah squeezed the car into a narrow parking space. My dad decided to play a sick trick on me. He said “Oh gosh, I think I forgot my wallet. Do you guys have any money?” I think my heart skipped a beat or two. It took me a minute to regain consciousness. When I walked into Olive Garden I had a smile of relief on my face. I was excited to get a cold drink of water. Five seconds after walking in, I found myself walking straight back out. We would have had to wait another hour before being seated, and even after that we would have had to wait for our food to be served. Yeah, not gunna happen. As we drove to another restaurant my mom asked the worst question you could possibly ask your starving child. “What do you want to eat on Father's Day for dinner?” Oh great, thanks mom for making me think of all my favorite foods that I would love to be eating right now. I began to describe exactly what I thought would be the perfect meal. I said "We need stake, baked potatoes with bacon, cooked carrots, seasoned asparagus, and cheese cake." I regretted saying cheese cake. I make a mean cheese cake, and I just thinking about it was killing me. Just when I convinced myself nothing else could go wrong my dad said “We are out of gas.” We had been driving with the gas light on since yesterday, when Sarah said she would fill it. I was worried about running out of gas and having to be towed all the way home and never getting to eat for the rest of my life. With panic in my mind I convinced my self that I needed to persevere. I told myself we would soon be at HomeTown with a plait of food in front of me. We continued to drive and I spotted HomeTown “There it is!” Even before we parked the car I had my seat belt off and my hand on the door handle. I waited till the car pulled between the two white lines and I jumped out. I told Sarah right then “Good thing there is never a line when we come here.” I walked into HomeTown and what did I see? A line …”someone sure has a ‘great’ sense of humor.” As I waited in line the suspense, of not knowing when I would ever eat again, was killing me. My family and I were finally seated. Our 24 hour fast turned out to be a 25 hour fast, and yes that extra hour made all the difference. But I would definitely do it again for what I get out of it.

I'm Leaving For Montana...

2009-06-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, I am moving to Montana, by myself, for the summer. I am flying out of Oregon on the 3rd of July. Then on the 4th I will be in Montana and that night they have a huge rodeo with bull riding and fireworks. I remember going to it when I was little. I should me back around late August to early September, unless I go to school there, but I highly doubt I'll choose to do that. I will be living with my Grandma and my Uncle Jeff on his ranch. His ranch is out in the middle of no where....probably 40mins to the nearest small town. He even has horses, but I'm dead scared of horses so I'll stick to watching them from a distance. I still have a scar on my ankle from getting the eggs out of his chicken coop. I am excited to be able to shot a riffle with my uncle. My grandma has dial-up Internet, so I will be able to update my blog and FaceBook once or twice a week. I'm bringing my camera and I'll post pictures of everything adventure I take. I'm most excited for hiking the mountains he has behind his house. I'll be able to wake up at the butt crack of dawn and go for my morning runs. My grandma will probably have me run all the way down to their mail box. (hint hint: I will be at the mail box a lot this summer, what do friends send in the mail?) I plan on making eggs for breakfast everyday...but I will probably get sick of eggs and switch to cereal. I am basically just rambling on and on about everything I plan on doing. Don't be surprised if I come back to Oregon, at the end of August, with cowboy boots, cowboy hat, belt buckle, and maybe even dread locks. Yup I said Dread Locks. I've always wanted Dreads and this is the perfect time to start them...but I doubt I have the patience to start them. Oh well, we'll see what happens. I might even end up reading books...for those of you who know just how much I love to read, reading one book would be a celebration. I will defiantly miss everyone here in my home town. Feel free to call me and I will post the address and number as soon as I can. Well, I don't know what else I can say other than I will be missing everyone of my friends.
Here are a couple pictures from last time I went to Montana...let me add this was a LONG time ago.

This is part of my uncle's back year. My cousin Dusty was teaching all of us how to swing a rope.

This is me and my attempt #1

Attemt #2

Attemt #3...I eventually got it down.

We had DoughBoys that night.

Till We Meet Again

2009-06-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Dearest Friends,
This school year has been a wild ride, but I would do it again and again if ever given the chance. As I count all the wonderful blessing I have be given, there is one that stands out as a theme of my year. I have meet and come to love some of the most amazing people in my life, all in one short year. Each one of them has changed my life in a big and small way. One has taught me to love writing, others have shown me how to teach, and all have given me the love and support that I could never describe. I just hope I can one day return the favor by being a positive influence for them. However, as the school year has come to an end I am unavoidably having to part with many of my beloved friends; one of which I have know for nine years and has become a sister to me. Some are moving miles away, starting their own families, and some are simply going their separate ways in life, but to all I wish the best. As part of the many things I believe in life, I know that no matter how far apart I am from a friend we will one day meet again, whether it be in this life or the next. As I told a lot of my high school friends, you can all get a hold of me by email, FaceBook, and BlogSpot. Or you could go my favorite way, the good ol' hand written letter in the mail. Either way I would love to stay connected to everyone. To all my friends young and old, I thank you and leave you a message by quoting one of my favorite songs, "God be with you till we meet again."
Sincerely,
Lizzy Fotheringham

Email: Yankeeluvr247@comcast.net

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/lizzyfotherigham?ref=name

BlogSpot: (Well obviously you are here so you know what the address is, but why not?)http://www.mypinkribbon-lizzy.blogspot.com/

Mail to: 218 NE Hillwood Dr Hillsboro OR 97124
PS. If you send me a letter put a return address on the envelope, especially if you're one of my moving out of state friends.