Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I got up at 5:00, when my alarm went off.  I quickly showered, and ate breakfast.  Then, I quickly hurried to finish getting ready.  I put the last few items in my suitcase, and then it was time to go.  Dad dropped us off at the airport at about 6:30.  Our flight left at 7:30.  Before we left, I finished my chemistry homework, except for the lab-book.

            It lasted about an hour and a half.  I worked on one of my 1 & 2 Peter Total Review packets.  We then landed in Denver, Colorado, where we had an hour and a half layover.  During this time, I was quizzed on some of my passages, ate a chocolate croissant, and talked with Grace Ann Westfahl, a fellow competitor at the national Bible Bee.  She’s also competed all three years.

            We then flew from Denver to Nasville.  The flight took just a little over 2 hours.  I worked on calculus, and finished my review packet.  As it turns out, the father of another competitor from Utah, Elyssa Edwards, was on our flight as well.  He offered us a ride, when Mrs. Edwards came to pick him up (the rest of the family had driven).  Once we got to the airport, the shuttle that was supposed to pick us up had already gone, so we took him up on the offer.  Of course, it was a complete surprise to Elyssa’s mom and grandparents, but they were fine with it. 

            Once we got to the hotel, we took our stuff up to the room, and then went down to registration.  As part of registration this year, they gave us a tour of the parts of the hotel/convention center that would be used for the competition.  The line was so long, that mom had time to get some water bottles and come back.  After she took them up to the room, it was time to go on the tour.  Our tour guides were…..interesting.  One of them, I found out later, was only 15.  It didn’t seem as though they were well prepared with what they should say, and thus it was hard to follow their explanation. 

            As part of registration we received a book (Jesus Freaks – very good book), information about restaurants and fun places around Nashville, and contest information. After registration was complete, I went up to the room and studied.  Mom quizzed me on some passages.  I then read Inheritance (amazing book! Kudos to Christopher Paolini for once again writing a great book! Can’t wait to finish it!), and watched the X Factor.  I went to bed around 10:30 ish.