Today was the last day of ninth grade! Wow! And what a weird feeling it is to not be called a student at that school anymore. I have "graduated" from Zakladni skola (Basic school) with two 2's (B's) and the rest 1's (A's). I am really happy about that!
As I was walking around the school one last time before I left, memories came flooding into my mind of all the things that have happened there. That place is so familiar to me right now, I know every single hall way and stair case as if it were in my own home! And now I have to leave it and I will probably soon forget all of those places... sad.
I have been going to that school since second grade. I have memories from when I moved to that school on my birthday in second grade, how my friends changed through the years, when all three of us Americans (Lucy, Nicholas and me) got put into the same class in sixth grade. I remember learning about Greek history, how to count percentages, the differences between longitudes and latitudes, what the periodical table of elements is and so much more!
But through the years, I have not only learned facts and information. I have also learned how to be a better friend, how to respect my authorities, how to work as a team, my tricks to studying, how to not worry - or at least mostly (that was a big one). 
But the most important way I have grown in the past nine years of my schooling life is in my faith in God. I have learned so many things about Him, about the Bible and how I should live to glorify His name. For that, I am thankful! The challenges that I have faced through the years of school have made me question the kind of life I want to lead and the kind of friends I choose. It's these kinds of challenges that have made me the person I am. Without those trials and tests, I might not be prepared for the next leg of life in high school! School has been one of the many places of learning in my life, not the only one. I have learned so many things and am grateful for the time I have gotten to spend in that school!
But, alas, that time doesn't last forever. So I am a little sad to say that that time is over... and the next chapter begins. Goodbye Zakladni Skola Komenskeho (My school)! And thank you for all you have taught me!! 
Yay, my dad's home! And he came home right on Father's Day, so it was fun to celebrate two things: dad coming home after two weeks, and what a great dad he is!
For Father's Day we had a nice evening with the family. My present to dad was a drawing of a picture I took a couple of months ago. Here's how it turned out!
On another note, I have been sick for the past two and a half weeks! I went to the doctor and she said that I am sick with some kind bronchial infection (English translation= a bad cough). It's my last weeks of ninth grade, so really I'm not missing much... except for time with my class, which I have sadly missed now with only one week of school left.
Not that I am extremely attached to my class, but I've been with some of them since second grade and others sine sixth. And next year we all go our separate ways!
It is sad in one way that after all these years, we split up, but it's also a good thing. As much as I love my class, there are some kids who I know only because we go to class together, and some that I never even talk to! So, in that sense, I am glad that I get to start afresh next year and go to a new school, have new classmates, new teachers, a whole new school life!
The conclusion: I am sad I am missing time with my old classmates, but am eagerly awaiting time I will have with new ones next year at BMA!Even through my sickness, I know that God has had this time all planned out, so maybe this is just what my spirit (and body!) needed before Summer! Who knows? (Well, besides God) :D
That is the reason why I am not depressed or in a bad mood about being sick..'cause what good would being that way be?! I am accepting this as part of God's Will, and while at it, am enjoying calm, quiet days at home.
As long as I have lived in Czech, I have never learned how to make the traditional ginger bread ("perniky") that every Czech can make! It is the Czech tradition to bake gingerbread cookies for Christmas. Czechs can spend hours, even days baking and decorating these cookies! I have always wanted to learn how to make perniky, but I didn't know anyone who could teach me.One day I was at my tutor's house not long after Easter, and he offered us some of his Easter perniky that his mom had baked him. I took a bite, and right then, I knew that these were the best gingerbread cookies I had ever had! I had to have the recipe!I then asked my tutor, if I could have the recipe of his mom's cookies. A few weeks later, he gave me the recipe. The only problem was that all the measurements were in grams, kilograms and milliliters. And also, I had no idea in what order to put the ingredients in! So just the recipe alone wasn't enough to teach me how to make these amazing perniky.That's when I got the idea that I could learn from the master, my tutor's mom! I
then organized a baking day along with Lucy (who also wanted to learn... we both came up with the idea), where my tutor's mom would teach us how to make her famous gingerbread!On the day we had planned, we went over to my tutor's house and spent the day measuring ingredients, kneading dough, rolling, cutting shapes, baking and decorating gingerbread cookies!
We also got to spend the day talking to Mrs. Bartkova (tutor's mom), listening to stories about her growing up during communism, how she remembered when communism fell and so on! It was so cool hearing real life stories of the time after WW2!We came home that day with trays full of perniky, great stories from Mrs. Bartkova, and the knowledge of how to make perniky!
I started doing my devotions daily at the beginning of this fall, and have been loving it! I will share some verses that really like and what I have learned from them. (The translation of Bible: NLT)
1 Peter 1:3"All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again." - God is so merciful! I am so blessed to be his child.
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18"16Always be joyful. 17 Keep on praying. 18No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." -These are great things that I need to live out. I should be always joyful, always praying, and always thankful. Aren't those great things to be?!
Ephesians 3:12
"Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome." - It's great to know that I don't have to be afraid that God will reject me...he will always welcome me with great joy! It's awesome!
Isaiah 58: 11
"The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too." - I can go to God for replenishment and he will fill me up.Psalm 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble." - God is my refuge, my place to go in times of trouble.God has taught me a lot through his Word. I am so happy that I have the Bible as my guide in life!
This year, my Easter celebrations were great! It contained some firsts, and lasts and memories that will always stay in my heart.Ok, so the thing that was a first for me. This Spring, as I posted before, I got baptized (an amazing experience). This was the first Easter after I have been baptized. I know it's just a symbol, but it almost feels like Easter now is more special to me, now that I am baptized. I rejoiced in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for ME! To forgive MY sins! So that I could live an eternal life with Him, in heaven! It makes me so thankful to know that I don't have to pay for my sins, that He pays for them with His own blood. So praise God for sending His Son for that purpose!Every year, since I can remember, we have celebrated Easter with the Pitchers (and then with the Tills when they came, and the Bozonovi later too), and every year, as a tradition, we have done an Easter egg hunt. Sadly, this year was the last egg hunt we were doing. What with the Pitchers moving, and all of us kids getting pretty old, we thought it was time to end that tradition. It was a little sad (and kinda cool too though) to think that the next time we do an egg hunt here, at this house, will probably be when we come back with our own children. How weird is that! We enjoyed the pleasure of hunting for candy filled eggs for many years of past, but now, we must go on in life, and find new traditions for our Easter celebrations. :)Something that I will remember from this Easter, is that feeling I had on Sunday, when I read the passages in the Gospel talking about how He rose from the dead. I got a tingly feeling inside that made me so happy, and I could imagine just how Mary, the disciples, and all the people who loved Jesus, must have felt when they discovered Jesus was alive! It must have been glorious. Just imagine...Mary walked to the tomb, saw an angel who told her Jesus was alive and then got to see Him herself! That's just awesome!I am so thankful to God that He sent His one and only son, so that I could believe in Him and have everlasting life! Amen!
The picture is of all of us kids participating in the Easter celebrations at the Patty house.
Here's a list of some of my favorite things right now, the little simple pleasures of my life. :) Since it's the 15th, I will post 15 favorites.1. I love drinking hot tea in the morning...ahhh!2. A new box of colorful crayons is definitely one of my favorite things. I love all the colors!3. The Spring sunshine. It's so nice!4. The Bio City Cafe: a cafe in our town that serves only bio/organic things and it's the cutest thing ever! I go there all the time for lunches and tea.5. My devotions book I got from my Auntie Kristi (thank you auntie Kristi!). I really love them and they are really helping me as I grow in my faith and love for God.6. Traveling! I love traveling to new places and old ones alike, especially with my family and friends!7. The yellow Crocuses blooming in our little garden! The first signs of spring!8. Taking pictures: I love capturing the beauty around us in still photographs...I think that is so cool!9. The Narnia books: I am re-reading some of them and I just love them so much! They are so much fun to read! One of my favorite Narnia books is The Horse And His Boy.10. My "fuzzy Crocs". They are Crocs with a lining of fuzzy cloth on the inside. I wear them all the time because my feet stay warm when I wear them! :)11. Playing songs on the piano that I can finally play fluidly. I always feel so accomplished after I finish playing a song! :D12. The birds singing in the morning- "Chirp, Chirp!"13. 'Lavender and mint tea'. It's so-o-o-o-o-o good!14. Having flowers in a vase on our dining room table. It brightens the whole room up!15. Spending time with people I love!
Today was the last day of ninth grade! Wow! And what a weird feeling it is to not be called a student at that school anymore. I have "graduated" from Zakladni skola (Basic school) with two 2's (B's) and the rest 1's (A's). I am really happy about that!
But the most important way I have grown in the past nine years of my schooling life is in my faith in God. I have learned so many things about Him, about the Bible and how I should live to glorify His name. For that, I am thankful! The challenges that I have faced through the years of school have made me question the kind of life I want to lead and the kind of friends I choose. It's these kinds of challenges that have made me the person I am. Without those trials and tests, I might not be prepared for the next leg of life in high school! 
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