Johanna Speaks

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). 

I went fishing near the Lake Club yesterday and used live worms for my bait. My fishing line isn't for large fish, but for smaller ones that don't weigh much. But I still put a large hook and one full worm because I really wanted to catch a big bass this time. 

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. 

I have been playing pickleball for about two years. It's been a lot of fun, learning more and more about the rules of the game and finally understanding the scoring system. I feel like the scoring was the hardest thing for me to learn. But after a year or so, I fully understood it. 

I've been getting a lot better on my serves (pretty proud of myself on that), but I still need to work on backhands and defending from the kitchen. I am so afraid of getting smacked by the ball. Yes, I have been hit many times, twice in the face. But I need to be confident in hitting it when it comes straight at me, so I don't hesitate, and then it does hit me. 

Last night, we played, and Sophie took some pics and videos:

At our church, six of us play on the worship team. And recently, the lead singer/pianist and her husband are "retiring from playing." They said they wanted the younger generation to take over and to lead. Now, that means my brother Nicholas is in charge of the music, and his wife, Noemi, will help lead the singing. 😊 

We've also recruited another guy, Ian, to play bass. We've actually put the piano away for a bit. I'm not entirely sure why, since one of the violinists can play it. 

There's one acoustic guitarist, two electric guitarists, one singer, and two violinists. So far, it's been going pretty well. The Orrs (the pianist/singer and her husband, who plays the bass) said they could help us out once in a while and play if some of us are gone traveling on some Sundays. I'm really happy they said that because Nicholas and Noemi are gone right now in New Jersey, and I don't think we could do it with only a couple of us playing and nobody really leading. 

Anyway, it's been a challenge, but I know over time, it will become easier. I really enjoy playing violin, and sometimes I will play the mandolin. I'm still learning, but I know enough chords to play some of the songs. 

Here's a pic of the worship team: