February 2, 1993: Interviewing Chris Papp

As I said early, I was on the school newspaper and absolutely loved writing the articles and interviewing people.     The Students of the Month were announced yesterday.  They were Chris Papp and Leah Kern.       I interviewed Chris Papp today.  I asked him 19 questions. He said he was born in Cleveland, Ohio and had lived in Iowa, California, and now in Michigan.     He loved physical sports such as basketball, tennis, soccer, and swimming.    He said at the age of 32, he would settle down and get married and have kids.   He said he wants to raise his kids in the Midwest because he felt that it was the best place.   He was going to the University of Michigan. He regretted not getting involved in activities until 11th grade.   

January 19, 1993: Skiing in Cannonsberg

The St. Francis youth group took a trip to Cannonsberg to go skiing.   Andrea Erwin and I went on the trip.   I took a ski lesson.   I could barely walk in the skis. It was funny as everyone else was way ahead of me and I was just trying to walk.   After our lesson, we practiced going down the bunny hill. Of course, I fell on my skis.  The instructor was a royal pain as he said that I didn't listen to his instruction on how to get off the ground on skis.    Ever since then, I haven't liked any part of skiing.    Carly didn't enjoy skiing that much either.   Bridgette and I turned in our skis and I got hot chocolate.    I enjoyed hanging out at the lodge way more than skiing.    

January 15, 1993: DECA Regionals

I was a member of DECA, which was a marketing group at high school.    Today was the regional competition.   I was in Food Marketing - Supervisory Level.   We took 2 tests and did a role play.   This competition was at Muskegon Community College.  Jake Messinger, Mike McCullom, Amanda Hladki, Ann Tyler were some of the people in the competition. 

At 2 p.m., it was the closing of the competition.   I won a gold medallion for being the Top 3 in occupational area and a medal for the state finalist.      Jake won 3 awards.   I could hear Julie Christiensen yelling "Yeah, Amy Gonyo" in the audience.    

December 27-28, 1992: Youth Group Retreat with Kara

Sunday:   Kara Filius and I drove to the Holiday Inn in Lansing for a youth group gathering through her Lutheran Church. There were about 1,500 students at this retreat.  Roomed with Jennifer Morehouse, Renae Silk, Kara, and Denise Hobby.  

Monday:  Our entire church group ate breakfast together and then went to a mass gathering.   We got together in groups and talked about our struggles. I didn't realize how hard it was for Kara in Russia. She was an exchange student in Russia while in high school.   We took the shuttle to the Governor's Inn for some skill shops.  

Tuesday:   We had to do an activity in which each of us had a handicap.   I was blind and others were paralyzed. It taught me how dependent we are on each other and to trust others.     Went to a 2nd skill shop.  This one was about Arabic family structures.  

Wednesday:   We packed our bags and went to our core groups and told what we learned during this retreat.  

December 12, 1992: Christmas Dance

I got dressed up for the Christmas Dance.  I wore a black dress with a fake diamond necklace and matching earrings.   I looked funny walking in my heels.   I don't usually wear heels so it was strange to walk in them.    Andrea Erwin, Josh Parker, Mark Craig, and I went to the dance together.  Mark was my date.    We had dinner at Raffertys.  Molly Piersma, Carrie Devries, Nathan Wright, and Chris Jend were at the next table. Tim Miedona and John Deweerd were at the other table.      Mark was quite the gentleman.  He helped me with my coat and held the door open. 

Mark and I had professional photos taken at the dance.  We also got a group photo taken along with Matt Johnson and Julie Courim.  Mark and I danced together to several songs. We all had a great time.

After the dance, we all went to the midnight movie, "Bodyguard".    Practically everyone from the dance was at this movie.

November 21-22, 1992: Grace Youth Camp

"Love" and "peace" were the key words today.  Took a trip with the St. Francis youth group to Grace Youth camp in Silver Lake.  At first I felt very nervous and fearful because I didn't know hardly anyone.  As soon as we arrived, we did an "ice breaker" in order to learn something about each other.    We got into small groups.  Our leaders were Patrice and Bob Mills.   The kids in my small group were:  Jessica Kurtz, Kevin, Erin, and Dave.   We each told our life stories.    I was surprised at all of the life struggles each of these people had gone through.   

We had recreation time outside.   I played soccer with Gina Mattson, Joe Peters, Adrian Shepherd, Jessica Kurtz, Emily Kimball, Evan Rodansky, and Dave.   I made Joe Peters trip on the ball.   Then, we went horseback riding.    My horse's name was "Ladie".  She was 27 years old.   

We had a speaker after dinner.  The lady told us to always follow forward in the direction of the Lord.  Don't let your peers and material things take you elsewhere.   Always stay focused toward God.   He will always be with you through the good and bad times.  Never ignore God because God is too much to lose.   

At 8 p.m., Father Stasker had mass for us.   His son, Ernie, joined us.   Met a nice girl, Cate Freisleben, from Catholic Central.   We played Euchre.   We also played cards with Joe Peters and Gina Mattson. 

On Sunday,  I had breakfast with Cate, Mandy Garza, and Brian.      Found out who my prayer partner was. It was Mandy Garza.  Her boyfriend was Ryan Mullally.    She said she has been praying for me all weekend and into the future.   The person I prayed for was Eva Rodansky.    

We all got a t-shirt and had to write messages on each others t-shirt.     
Had a great time at this retreat.  

When I got home, I found out that Mark Craig said he could go to the Christmas dance with me which made me so happy. 

August 1992: First Car - 1983 Buick Skyhawk

Grandpa Thomas helped me find my first car, which was a light blue 1983 Buick Skyhawk with 151,000 miles on it.   I thought I was so cool having my own car.  I gave rides to school and home to Molly Piersma, Meghan Piersma, Rhonda Johnson, and Sue Arnouts.   We didn't have much luck with the car and put thousands of dollars into it, but it got me through high school.