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!!

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:

Ezra's birthday was yesterday, June 1st. He turned seventeen years old. We had a big party at our house after church, with delicious snacks and food! We all played a game called Bang. It was so much fun!!

All of our siblings came except Gideon, who lives in Alabama. Some other friends also came. Caleb and Risa brought their baby, Benjamin. He's so cute and growing up so fast! He was always smiling at someone, and he is almost seven months old.🩷

Ezra got a sailboat for his birthday! He's been wanting one, and so we all pitched in and now he has one. I also got him nice tennis shoes since he plays a lot of pickleball and has needed a new pair. 

Here are some pics and vids I took of him on the sailboat. It's pretty cool! Noelle also tried getting a cool pic of me on the kayak. 

We went to our lake ( which is about five minutes away ) to sail the boat. It was windy enough, too. We all sang Happy Birthday super loudly over the lake to Ezra while he was sailing the boat. He totally loved it. Even random people heard us and told Ezra Happy Birthday. 😂 

Had a great time!

I got to go to Kobe's restaurant with my friend's family since it was her birthday and her brother's that same day. They are twins who turned fourteen yesterday. Their names are Abby and Adrain. 

This is what I got Abby for her birthday:

• Bracelet-making kit.
• Hair Clips. 
• Pack of Cute Silver Earrings.
• MadeOn Lip Balms. 

When we got to the restaurant, we had to sit down and wait ten minutes for a table to be ready. Then, they took us to the table and gave us the menus. I wanted what Abby was having since it sounded really good. She ordered the Habachi Chicken, which is chicken and teriyaki sauce, vegetables, and rice, either fried or steamed. She chose steamed rice, and I chose fried rice. Their family has been to Kobe's before and liked it a lot. 

While we waited for the chef, they served us salads and soups. The salad tasted pretty good, and the soup was interesting. It was like a soy sauce mushroom broth soup. I liked it, and I also didn't at the same time. It just had an interesting flavor. 

The chef came with all our food, which hadn't been cooked yet. We got to watch him cook it in front of us. He first played with the knives, which was pretty cool and scary. 😁 Then, he put oil on the pan, and up went the flames! It felt so hot since we were so close to it. After that, he started cooking all the vegetables. Before some of the vegetables got too hot, he threw broccoli in our mouths one by one. I knew I would never be able to catch it in my mouth, but surprisingly, I did on my first try. Abby and Adrian missed a few times but eventually got it in their mouths. It was a lot of fun.

After the chef had been cooking the food for a bit, he stacked up some onions, put oil on top, and again, up went the flames! He started singing Happy Birthday to Abby and Adrian, and we all joined in. 

When the food was all ready, he started putting it on our plates. The food was so good!! I loved all of it! Everything tasted amazing. Abby and I used chopsticks. I tried using the chopsticks to eat the rice, but that didn't work, so I switched back and forth between the chopsticks and the fork. 

Then, after everybody was mostly done eating their food, they brought dessert to Abby and Adrian since it was their birthday. It was one big ice cream scoop with a chocolate drizzle and a candle on top. 

I had a great time and felt so full and tired afterward.

Here are some pictures and videos that I took: