Johanna Speaks

I had my first driving lesson two days ago, on May 19th, in Redding. My driving instructor's name was Garret. 

I was pretty nervous as my parents were driving me there. But once we got there, my dad and I went in, gave Garret the money and my permit, and talked a bit. He asked if I had ever driven before, and I said yes, but only on dirt roads. And after discussing where he would take me, he began signing my permit, and we started to walk out. So my dad left, and I got in the student driver's car on the passenger's side. Garret was going to take me somewhere not so busy so I could get the hang of driving. 

We ended up in some neighborhood, and he stopped the car, and we switched sides. Then he began to show me all the important things I needed to know, and then we were off! For about twenty minutes, I was driving around the neighborhood. Then he asked if I was ready for some intersections. So I said yes, and we headed more into town. All the lights were a lot of fun to go through. And also having to change lanes and look over my shoulder before doing that. Slightly scary but still more fun. 

My lesson was from 3-5 PM,  so I had two hours of driving around different areas of Redding. Garret was so much fun, and we talked about my family and the lotion business. He told me how he started this job and that he also has twin girls, etc. We got to the topic of music, and I mentioned I liked listening to Forrest Frank. Then he said he and his kids were going to his concert! I was so surprised! Apparently, their family is a big fan of him. I also mentioned different artists I like, and he's heard of them too! 

Anyway, we were basically talking for the whole driving lesson.😂 At one point, I got my left and right wrong/confused. And he said that literally happens to all his students. But later in the lesson, he started teasing me, saying, "Turn left," pointing left to make sure I knew which direction it was. He was such a fun person to do this with, and I felt really comfortable driving with him. I'm pretty sure he and his family are Christian. 

Also, while we were driving, some people were crossing the street, and he was like, "Okay, now you want to speed up and hit the people." And then I said, "Yeah, extra points, right?" He said, "Exactly, " and started laughing. He loves being sarcastic a lot, which is so funny, and I can play along too. So yeah, he wasn't a super strict guy at all. Super relaxed. He's been doing this job for four years now. He said he likes this job because he gets to meet so many different people. He has a different job in real estate, and he only does this one for extra cash on the side or when he doesn't have enough work. 

Towards the end of the lesson, he had me go on the highway! I was so happy and ready for it. Merging into the highway wasn't too bad. I just had to really floor the gas pedal to merge safely into traffic. Once on the highway, it was pretty easy. I then had to exit the highway after about 5 minutes because I was driving to church for Bible study that night. I took the exit that is right next to Costco. I'm not sure what exit that was, but I do know it's where the new Costco and the new In-N-Out are. Anyway, I exited fine and made it safely to church! 

I parked in the church parking lot, and he told me that for the next two driving lessons, I should wait and take them in July or later, so I can be closest to my actual driver's license test at the DMV.  

He gave me my permit back, congratulated me on being a really good driver, high-fived me, and then he drove off.

One thing I know I need to work on is staying as close as possible to the yellow middle line. I keep thinking that I'm too close to it and worried about hitting cars as I pass, but really, I'm actually too far from it and lean more into the curb. So I definitely need to get better at that. My dad said I should focus on one line instead of looking at both at the same time. So, either look at the middle yellow line or the outer white line. I chose the middle, and it seems to be working. But sometimes I do drift to the right, so it's something I need to keep working on. 

Today, May 7th, is exactly when I am 15 1/2 years old. I wanted to get my permit as soon as possible. I studied a lot for about a week, but I still didn't feel super confident as we were driving to the DMV. 

Once we were there, and after all the paperwork, I had to do a vision test by reading letters on a piece of paper about 10 feet away. Once having both eyes open, and then covering one eye to try and read it. Same thing on the other side. After that, my picture and my thumbprint were taken. Also, apparently, the picture they take of you now will go on your driver's license. I thought my picture would be retaken after I received the license, but it won't be. So I probably look pretty bad lol. I won't see until it's on the driver's license. 

After taking my picture, the lady had me go to one of the computers and do the test. I was pretty nervous, but I tried to calm myself down and remember I had all the time in the world. If I rushed it, then I probably would've gotten many questions wrong. I think I took about 40 minutes to answer the 45 questions. Maybe not that long, but it felt long to me. 

The questions were kinda hard at first. The ones I kept getting wrong were mostly about what kinds of penalties people would face if they tried to run from the police after a car crash, or the police found a person drinking too much and driving, something like that. I feel like for those types of questions, there were two technically correct answers. But they want to be more specific, which was hard. But towards the end of the test, I was getting mostly right and just going through them pretty quickly. 

I thought I had gotten too many wrong because I was counting the ones I failed on, and it seemed like too many. I stopped counting after like four. But in the end, it said I had passed! I was surprised and super happy! 

I went to the desk and asked the lady what I should do next. She gave me my permit and had me sign it. After that, I joined my parents again in the lobby and told them the news! I'm so happy I passed!! 

I have already booked my driving lesson with Mora's Driving School. It's in Redding and on May 19th. I tried to get in as soon as possible, but that was the earliest they could book me in. So after that one lesson, I can officially start driving on the roads! I'm really excited!!

Our whole family, except Caleb, Risa, and Benji, came out to North Carolina for the wedding! It was so much fun. We left on Thursday (23rd of April) and came back Sunday night (26th of April). The wedding was on Saturday. 

We flew out of Sacramento at 10 PM and arrived in North Carolina at 6 AM. So, yeah, we didn't exactly get any sleep. It was about a five-hour flight. And North Carolina is three hours ahead. 

Once we landed, we picked up our car rental and then went to Starbucks for some much-needed coffee. It was about a two- to three-hour drive from the airport to the Airbnb, but we stopped at some stores to get food for the house and some shoes for Sophie. 

The White family (Elizabeth's family) owns the Airbnb we stayed at because that's their business, and they have many more Airbnb rentals in different areas. It was a gorgeous house on a ski slope. The house could accommodate about 30 people. And actually, we shared the house with many different families. It was a lot of fun and cool to see all the different rooms. So yeah, it was a full house! 

The day we flew in, that night, there was going to be a bonfire at the White's house. We went and had a great time! We got to meet her family and friends and have a delicious dinner with homemade bread and stew. So good! 😋 I also made a friend named Daniel. He was so cute! I think he was three years old. He just started hiding from me while I was having dinner, so I played along, and eventually we made a secret handshake, played lots of tag, and he let me hold him a lot, too. I had no idea whose kid it was.😂 One thing that made me so happy was when he crawled into my lap without me even knowing he was there. I just felt something trying to crawl up. It was so cute!!

Saturday, we just rested at the house and hung out. We walked to a nearby store/coffee shop. We explored it and then went back to the house to get ready for the wedding. 

Once everybody was ready, we headed to the wedding about an hour early. It also takes about an hour to get there. We got into our seats and waited for the wedding to begin. Here are some pics and vids from my phone:

We had a blast!! Lots of dancing afterward, too, which was so fun! I also got to help serve cake to people with some other girls. At the end, we all made a line, and Gideon and Elizabeth went through it while we threw rice at them. One of the groomsmen held Gideon down and stuffed rice in his shirt. Then they were off! 

Even more dancing began after they left, but we started cleaning instead of dancing since our family was about to leave. The rest of the day, we hung out with family and went to bed kinda late. 

The next morning was Sunday. We went to Elizabeth's family's church and then had lunch at their house afterward. It was such a beautiful sunny day! After that, we went to the airport and got dressed in our travel clothes. 

After landing at Sacramento airport, we drove to In-N-Out and had dinner. We finally got home at 1 AM on Monday.

Sophie and I had our choir performance three days ago. It was so much fun singing and being with friends! 

I am in the Chamber choir, and this time I have a duet, and I also did a song intro. The only thing I was truly nervous about was my song intro because my voice was still kinda bad. I was sick about a week ago, and I still had a stuffy nose, which made it hard to pronounce certain words, including my sick-sounding voice. But thankfully, it sounded a lot better than I expected.  

Here are two videos of me singing/reading that my family took:

Here is the whole performance link:

Sophie is in Junior choir (the dark blue shirts), and I am in Senior choir (the black shirts). 

After about an hour of fishing, I finally got a bite! I felt it tug a lot, so I started reeling it in as fast as I could. I thought maybe it was a small fish, but I could feel the weight of it while it was pulling hard. The moment I realized I had caught a big bass, I was so excited and happy! Then my fishing line started going backwards since the weight was too much. So, holding the fishing pole in one hand, while using the other to grab the line, I pulled it to shore. 

I took the hook out, grabbed the mouth with my fingers, and took some pictures before letting it back in the water. I was about to kiss it because I've done that in the past with other fish, but I didn't. If I catch another though, I am so kissing it. 😁

When I put it back in the water, I kinda held it with my hands so I could feel it swim out. I love feeling the scales and the tail. I was so happy and overjoyed about catching such a big bass. 

Today, I'm thinking of going back out and fishing again. It's going to be addictive lol.