Merry Christmas!

Hola Familia y Amigos,

Merry Christmas! Wow we find ourselves once again at the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. 2007 was packed full of good memories, huge transitions, and exciting events. I want all of you to know how much I love you and how I wish that next year will be even better than the last for you and your family.

I know this time can be hectic and crazy, but take time to think about what Christmas really means to you. Make this season more than just another commercialized Hallmark holiday. Whether you celebrate your beliefs or just celebrate life and your family remember, even though it is cliche, this season is not about getting. Try and think of something you can do to make a difference in the upcoming year, whether it be in your local neighborhoods, in our country, or in the world.

I know that we all hear messages of how giving means more than receiving, but let's live out that message this year. Make sacrifices and give of yourself without getting anything in return. This was just one of my thoughts and I hope you can all take it to heart. Christmas is not about us it is about others. I love each and every one of you and once again wish you a Merry Christmas!

Love, Mackensey

My Article

Hey Guys!

So I seem to have too much time on my hands... well now that I think I have no time on my hands but I wrote this article anyways. It was featured on some softball websites so I thought I might share it with you too. Anyways if you go to this blog (www.respectsoftball.blogspot.com), you can see it . It might not be as cool to those of you that don't play softball, but it is something that needs to be changed. I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions about it let me know.

Mac

A Family-Filled Thanksgiving

I hope everyone does not feel neglected, but I am finally finding time to update my blog, which is long overdue.I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and remembered to be grateful for life and the blessings of each day.

For my Thanksgiving, my parents and I traveled to Chicago where we met both of my older brothers. The day came where I finally met my niece, Madeleine. Let me tell you, pictures do not do her justice... SHE IS SO CUTE!!! Along with meeting my niece, I also spent time with some of relatives that I hadn't seen since I was super young. I partook of two Thanksgiving dinners, needless to say I felt fat. Thais and Heath did an amazing job of making dinner on Thanksgiving day, even deep frying the turkey, which was delicious. The turkey's name was Rudy. Heath named him and yes, it was Rudy Guliani (don't ask).

Not only did we get to see the beautiful city of Chicago, my family also traveled Little Miss Sunshine style (if you haven't seen that movie it is a must see) all the way to Shelbyville, Indiana for a mini family reunion. The van included 7 of us, Violet (Heath and Thais's puppy), and Maddie (my niece). It was a fun experience and it was great to see the fam.

Along with some great stories, we got some great pictures so here are some of them:



I think we have another contender for the cutest picture yet of Maddie!!




My uncle Greg, my grandma, my mom and my uncle Steven.



Our beautiful family in our annual holiday picture. You will probably be seeing this in a Christmas/ New Years card soon.



Me and my beautiful neecha (Heath's affectionate name for Maddie)




The cutie pie Violet...




Goofing around with Ash, my big bro...



Heath and Rudy... (We did it Gilmore Girl style... and if you haven't seen that show you must have something wrong with you =) see episode Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving)



My dad and I.



Maddie and I fell asleep together.




Mommy and I.




Thais and I




Courtney and Maddie having mirror time... Maddie loves looking at herself in the mirror.



Celebrating Ashley's birthday



Another picture of our family...

I had a great time not only hanging out with Heath, Thais, Ash, and Courtney but also hanging out with my extended family...

I hope you enjoyed this insight into my Thanksgiving...

Mackensey

Cutest Picture Ever!!

I love you Maddie!!

Wicked!!

Hey Peeps!

Here is my latest adventure...

I am in the International Baccalaureate Program, which is basically an honors program on steriods, at my school (I know I am such a nerd). Anyways, senior year we all take this class called Humanities, which mixes civics, philosophy, english, history, theology, and a few other things together, and we get to do a bunch of fun things. We are, in fact, in the middle of a mock primary election.... (sadly, Ron Paul won the Republican nomination). Anyways.... something fun we got to do was go to Hollywood and see the play Wicked. Before we also went to the La Brea Tarpits, which is a museum and site where they have found dinosaur bones, and the Los Angeles Art Museum. Here are some pics I have from it.... IT WAS AMAZINGLY FUN!!!



Kaitlyn and I on the bus on the way up there... School buses fun fun fun..



Me, Annie, Kaitlyn, Jessica, and Kristin. We are totally going to be on America's Next Top Model!! Here we come Tyra...



Eating crepes at the Farmers Market with Annie, Kristin, Troy, and Jessica..



Walking around at the Farmers Market/ shopping mall in LA with Steve, Jessica, Alan, Kristin, Kaitlyn, and Annie. (Sorry its sideways)



In front of the Chinese theater with everyone..



All of us at the Pantages Theater about to see Wicked.. (it is once again sideways.. I need to figure that out)

Once again it was fantabulous!! I hope you enjoy my pictures..

Bye M.C.

New news....

Hello Faithful Readers....

I have some interesting things for you to read... The first one is a profile that a softball website did about me after I committed to Georgetown. He asked me some quesitons so here is the link http://www.teamsmithsoftball.com/18Gold/ts18Gold_news.htm ....

Now another thing is I am officially the editor in chief of my travel ball team's website. I am going to be writing a weekly newsletter so the first one is out.... Here is a link to it... http://www.teamsmithsoftball.com/18Gold/pdf/OctExtreme_Iss1_rev1.pdf


I hope you have fun reading it... I will be updating it every week (hopefully). So keep checking it at http://www.teamsmithsoftball.com/18Gold/index.htm..

Here is a picture of me and my coaches... Terry and Julie...



Love you Mackensey

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!

Dear Friends and Family!!

Wow it has been a while since my last post! Sorry about that but I guess today is the best day to post again. Today is my 17th birthday! And man, I feel old! Just kidding!! Well once again Georgetown is the best school ever and I am so excited that I am going there!! I can't believe that I am 17 and that I am a senior in high school. Wow the days do fly!!!

Love You All!!

Mackensey

The Rivalry Begins...

Hey Friends!!

Well I am glad to report that my eye has healed even though I still have to wear my lovely glasses.

Anyways... Some of you know that one of my best friends is going to George Washington as their catcher. Seeing as we are going to be so close I am so exicted, but the rivalry has begun. But I tell you with pride that the two teams played each other this last weekend and the Hoyas came out victorious. Well the debate continues of whose school is the best, but we all know that Georgetown rules all!! It has been fun and I can't wait until next year.


MAC

A New More Painful Adventure...

My first few days alone (since both of my parents have been out of town) went pretty badly. So now my mom is coming back and taking care of me. Not only have I been sick this whole week but to add onto that I have an abrasion on my cornea. Yes in other words I have a big cut on my eye. I had to go to the doctor by myself yesterday and today I am going to an opthamologist to get it checked out more. Just my luck right.... well I am on codeine so that helps =) but it still is pretty painful. I will save you from the rest of my sad story but I would love your prayers for a quick recovery.

Mackensey (with only one eye)

I Bleed Hoya Blue

Drum Roll please....

Yes, another Carter is going to be traveling to our nation's capital for school. I just returned from my official visit to Georgetown and I absolutely loved it!!!!! The girls were great, the coach was so fun, the school is amazing, and I verbally committed. I could not be more excited. I just want to celebrate and I can't wait until next year. I just can't stop thinking about it....

The winner is......



Mackensey

Boston College Official Visit

Hi!!

I am writing this post from Boston. Yes that is right the time for official visits have come and I am currently at my first of two. I am in beautiful Boston, visiting Boston College. I just came back from the BC football game and it was pretty intense. The students are diehard fans and the atmosphere was amazing. So next week is Georgetown and then I will know where I am going for college. Exciting!!

MC

More Pics!

Hey Friends!!

I have more pictures of Maddie!! Enjoy!


The baby and her daddy!!


Cutie Pie!!


The baby and her mommy!


Sleeping peacefully!

Thats all! Mackensey

I Am a Proud Aunt of....

Hey you guys!!
I am a proud aunt of :

Madeleine Aurora Carter
Born 1:59am on 8/30/07
Length: 18 and 3/4 inches
Weight: 7 pounds, 3 ounces

She is so cute!!!


Love to All
Aunt Mackensey

Nothing New...

Hey Readers!

I am still not an aunt but anxiously waiting for the day to come!!! I start school on September 6th so the countdown of my last days of summer begins. Nothing new to say but keep checking because soon there will be news!!

Kense

Two Official Visits

Hey Guys!

I have narrowed my school choices down to Georgetown and Boston College and I was invited to official visits for both. I am going to be going in the beginning of school and I am very excited. So I will keep you posted because I should know what school I am going to be attending in a matter of a month. Keep checking in! (I still am not an aunt but I will keep you posted on that too!!)

Love Yah,
Mac



VS

Back to Cali!!!

Hey All!

I am back in the OC and ready to hang out with all of you before I start my senior year. If you guys want to hang out just call me and I can make it happen!! But I might be leaving again for another adventure to Wyoming because I may become an aunt next week!! I will keep you posted but for now we are all on baby watch.

Bye For Now
Mackensey Leigh

More Chronicles of My Chicago Visit

Hola Todas Las Personas!

Well I am leaving Chicago tomorrow but before I leave I want to update you on some of the things I have done here. Besides playing with amazingly cute Violet, many other things have happened.



First off I have to say that I tasted Indian food for the first time and I am sorry to all those who adore it but it was not my kind of food. I liked the simosas and the naan but besides that not much.


(Sorry it's not rotated)

Then after that adventure we gave Violet her very first bath and I think she learned to hate it.





Then we went to this fun place called the T-shirt Deli and made our own shirts here is my lovely one:

Then Heath made one for Violet. It is a jersey for their church softball team that says Res Cov on the back. Res Cov is their church (Resurrection Covenant).


Then I went on Heath's boat tours. This summer he has given architectural tours of Chicago on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. He is a very good tour guide.






Then after grabbing a brownie sundae at the Ghirardelli shop we headed over to his church's slowpitch softball game. I first pitched a little fastpitch and they were amazed and then I tried to play slowpitch. I wasn't bad but I think I will stick to the faster pace game. That has been my trip so far and Chicago has been amazing, it will be sad to leave it.

Peace Out
Mackensey

I Found Myself!!

Dear One and All,

I am happy to announce that, yes, I have found myself, ladies and gentleman, here in Chicago. Heath, Thais and, I all took the Meyers-Briggs personality test. If you speak that test's language, I am an ISFJ and if you don't know what that means go to this link and find out about ME!! http://typelogic.com/isfj.html

And you can find yourself too, just go to this link. http://humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
And if you want after you take the test either post your results in the comments on this blog or email me your results!

Ta-Ta
MC

Greetings from Chicago!!!

Hey Friends and Fam!!!

I am writing this from my brother's condo in Chicago. I flew into Chicago on Thursday and I am flying out again on thursday. The few days that I have been here have been very humid but very fun. I watched Heath and Thais play slowpitch softball on Thursday and supposedly I am playing in the game on Tuesday (I just can't get away from softball). The majority of my time has been spent loving Violet their new, extremely cute puppy. That is the focus of my blog today, her cuteness!!! Here are some pics of Violet and of Heath and I:





She is even cuter in person!! I will keep it short but just wanted to update you all on my life!!

TTYL Mackensey

My Sweatshirt/ T-shirt Collection

Hi Everybody!

Well as most of you know I play softball and that is basically my job. While being my job, it is also helping me with my college hunt. With almost any sport that is played at the competitive level once you reach your sophomore or junior year in high school you start to be recruited by colleges. This was an exciting new event for me and for my family (seeing as neither of my brothers played sports in college). Getting my first email, letter or phone from a college coach, especially one that I was interested in, was an amazing feeling. (The phone calls can be somewhat nerve-racking.)

With the recruiting process, it is necessary to take unofficial visits to the schools that interest you. That is what brings me to the subject of this entry. Along the way to my many visits we have made a collection of sweatshirts from each college. Although we have not got one from every school, my collection is growing. I thought I would share this collection with you. (Sorry I didn't rotate them.)



















I have also been to Notre Dame, Princeton, Georgetown, and Pomona College.


They are all great schools and it has been a difficult process but totally exciting!!!

Enjoy!
Mackensey