Captivated

Don't call it a comeback

2011-10-17T10:53:00.002-05:00

Five suggestions to reaching the next generation:
1. Grab them with passion
2. Win them with love
3. Hold them with holiness
4. Challeng them with truth
5. Amaze them with God

It's not about the programs, it's not about how in tune with youth culture you can be. It's about being real, bein passionate, being loving,building relationships. It takes mature, growing Christians to produce mature growing Christians. This is what young people want. I know because I am one.

Taken from Don't call it a comeback by Kevin DeYoung and others.

2011-08-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

Camp Barnabas

2011-07-29T18:12:00.003-05:00

Sunday morning, bright and early...and I mean EARLY, we are leaving out (at 5:30 in the AM) for Camp Barnabas!!! Huzzah! Ashley, Naomi, Iain, Jonathan P., Jonathan H., Brian and I are going to Missouri to hang out with children with special needs. They may be physically or mentally handicapped or both. Camp Barnabas provides for them a fun summer camp experience just like any other. Kids with disabilities are generally the ones on the side lines watching everyone else. Everything at Camp Barnabas has been adapted so that they too can experience summer camp fun. Swimming, ropes course, horse back riding...these are just a few of the fun things we will do at camp. It is a Christ centered camp and organization. Every night we have a different themed party and will dress up and have some fun! We are each placed with one child for the whole week. We get to love on, bond with and devote everything to that one child:)

Please be in prayer for the campers, that they will see Christ in each of the staff members and volunteers and that they will have a memorable and fun week that will effect their lives for the better.

Please also pray for the staff and volunteers. Specifically for our group, as the nerves are riding high right now. Pray that the Lord will meet us at every challenge and that we would be willing and able to do whatever is demanded of us, even if it's hard and we don't feel that we can. This will be a very demanding, challenging and maybe even a little bit stressful week and we will have to rely on God. Pray that we will trust Him and not only make it through, have some fun along the way! Pray for our attitudes and our health. Me specifically, I get head aches quite frequently and sometimes they get really bad. I do not want them to get in the way of what I am doing. I want to be able to give my camper 101% 23 hours of the day (we get an hour a day to ourselves and of course we do get to sleep as well.) Lastly pray for us, that we would take something away from the week, that God would not only meet our physical needs, but also spiritual. Pray that we will build friendships, learn and grow.

Thank you!

2011-07-03T22:07:00.000-05:00

"God, you are my God; I earnestly seek you; my soul thirsts for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands." Psalm 63:1-4
Good stuff....

My Identity: Christ's Identity

2011-07-02T06:43:00.002-05:00

Self depreciation is a big struggle that I have had for many years. Over the past year or so I have gotten a little bit better about it, but I still fall into it. It is a sin rooted in a pride issue.

Every time a comment like "ugh my hair looks funny" or "I don't like the way I sound" or "I don't know why you would want to be friends with me", it just goes to show what I am looking to for my identity. Looks, talents, friends...they are all things that can be used for identity. False identity.

While at youth conference last week, I was reminded of something. As a christian, when I became saved, I died to myself. I took up Christ's righteousness. I took up Christ's identity.

In turn, I believe that as a christian, by being self depreciating, I am being Christ depreciating. When I degrade myself, I degrade Christ. It is as if I do not trust in who He is and in what He has done for me. Jesus didn't save me for my talents, looks or popularity. "If that were the case, he wouldn't have saved me!" (see it's easy to throw self depreciation into anything!) (*Joking*) Seriously though, by acting like I suck at life, it downplays what's important, The Cross.

I know I am not the only person that struggles with this. Give it some thought. Don't let people give you and identity. Find your identity in Christ and what the bible says you are as a child of Christ.

Psalm 139:13-16
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

2011-06-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Eli and I are headed to Greenville South Carolina for Totally His Youth campt at Evangelical Institute of Greenville SC! It is a blast. I will have pictures to post and stories to tell when I get back!!!

2011-06-17T09:17:00.000-05:00

Texas was fun! I made it through the airport by myself. YAY! I am home for a few and today is my birthday:) I am headed out on Monday to SC for camp!

TEXAS!

2011-06-06T22:23:00.002-05:00

I am now in Texas (got here yesterday, after having arrived home the previous day from NC). Just got back from swimming, which I plan to do every day that I am here. We did lots and lots and LOTS of laundry, and a little grocery shopping. All in all a good day. I do not have a ton planned for this trip, mostly just chillin and doing whatever my cousins do. Should be a good time but I will miss my family a lot!

Trip #1

2011-06-01T22:06:00.002-05:00

I am sitting here in NC about to go to bed. So far the conference has been really good and opened my mind to some new thinking. I believe I will learn a lot! Pretty good drive up. My aunt has developed pink eye:/ My eyes are just dry and itchy:/ but other than that it's going to be good. I am going to try not to let anything bother me:) With the Lord's help. Just a quick update!

Summer time!

2011-05-27T18:38:00.002-05:00

I decided to quit my wonderful full time job:'( To do a few things over the summer before getting a part time job and going to school. Notice I said to do a few things. Actually I think that when I first concidered quitting, it was just a couple of things. Lets just say my summer has REALLY filled up. I believe I will be gone more than I will be here. Let's see...

This weekend my fabulous TX family, Tia Pantelones, Uncle Pi and cousins Amy, Tyler and Adam are coming into town. Our two families will be headed to North Carolina for a family camp (I have no details on that) for a few days. We will come back here and then I will be headed to TX with them for about a week and then fly home (by myself)

I will then be home for about 4 days one of which happenes to be my birthday *wink* *wink* and then I will turn around and head to South Carolina for E.I.G. Totally HiS Youth Conference. I went last year and it was an incredible experience!

After that I will be home for about a week and then I will head to Florida for a full week:) with my aunt Becky and uncle Chris and my wonderfull best friend/cousin/sister Sarah:)

As soon as I get back some of the people from my church, myself included, are going to Clarksville TN to host a back yard bible club at our church plant. SOOO exciting!

And lastly...

I will be home for a couple of weeks before heading to Missouri to Camp Barnabas. It will be such an incredible camp. It is a camp that provides an opportunity for disabled and mentally handicapped children (and adults I think) to go to a summer camp just like anyone else. It is Christ centered and fun filled. It will be new to me but I beleive that God will really use it!

I hope and plan to provide pictures and stories after everyone of these trips so keep me accountable!

2011-05-17T17:32:00.002-05:00

As I sit here in Starbucks on my new MacBook I feel...so full. So full of something...words. Words that I can not get out. My heart is so full of love, yet hurt at the same time. I watch youtube video after video of orphans in Africa. Why are there so many? Why are there so many orphans God?! Why?! Tears prick my eyes over and over. My heart aches so very deeply and I feel that the love and passion I have for those children is about to burst from me. However, I feel stuck. Here I am sitting in Starbucks, sipping my green tea lemonade. I do not feel the Lord moving me over seas. Not right now anyway. Not without a husband to be my head. However, these feelings are overwhelming and I know they must be coming for someone more loving and compassionate than I. Love is a powerful thing and I can feel that power. It's the power that causes me to itch and ache inside. I must act, not speak. True love can only come from a powerful God and if this is truly coming from Him then I will show me in His good time what He would have me do with it. I must learn to trust Him.

2011-04-15T22:53:00.000-05:00

I sit here staring at a blank page...I want to write something so bad but know not what to say:/

2011-01-05T23:24:00.001-06:00

He is jealous for me,Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.When all of a sudden,I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,And I realise just how beautiful You are,And how great Your affections are for me.

Pre-Chorus:And oh, how He loves us so,Oh how He loves us,How He loves us all

Chorus 1:Yeah, He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves.Yeah, He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves.

Verse 2:We are His portion and He is our prize,Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way…

Chorus 2:He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Oh how He loves.Yeah, He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves us,Whoa! how He loves.

The Emerald Isle

2010-12-26T08:45:00.002-06:00

The story begins...

Okay so the story didn't actually begin here but this is the first picture I am posting. Enjoy! More to come...hmmm maybe one a day?

2010-10-28T16:44:00.002-05:00

Slan! That is the Irish Gaelic word for goodbye!!!

Are you "starving"?

2010-10-26T16:40:00.008-05:00

"I'm Staaaaarving!" It's a phrase used all too often. I didn't know what starving was...

Now I do. The next time my stomach growls I am going think about what I say. I challange you to also.

poverty and world hunger

2010-10-23T21:56:00.002-05:00

I just looked up videos of poverty and world hunger on Youtube. It is blight that is so wrong! Some of the images were just...inhuman. It is the most tragic, sad thing I have ever seen. While I eat three meals a day and waste food, there are skeletons walking around. It hurts. It should hurt more. It should hurt so bad that I do everything in my power to make a difference. This is my prayer. Maybe I can't feed a hundred, but I can feed one. If everyone will say that, look at how many people will get fed! Let's make a difference. I am not sure where to start. Well I guess that answers itself. Start with prayer.

"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your armes for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see"
~Brandon Heath

2010-10-23T18:15:00.001-05:00

I am sooo excited about God! That is such an amazing feeling! I am so excited about what He is doing and what He has yet to do. The Lord is soooooo good!!!!!!

2010-10-21T16:47:00.000-05:00

Please check out the TOM's shoes and the Radical video at the bottom of my blog.

Follow up.

2010-10-21T10:16:00.003-05:00

I have not made any commitments to the previous post. I was simply wondering what could happen. It's something to think about and pray about anyway. Even if it makes the slightest difference it would still be a difference. I wrote that post late on night and then as I was typing it out one the computer the next day I felt like it was kind of corny. Anyhow I felt the urge to post it the night I was writing it so I went ahead and did it anyway.

Make A Difference. Drink Water.

2010-10-17T20:24:00.003-05:00

In America we are pretty much used to having everything at our fingertips. What is a little pocket change? A coke. It's nothing to us. While it may be very satisfying to the taste buds,think about it. Is it really good for us? No. It is really not. So why do we drink it? Because we can. We have choices. Choices out the wazoo. In our homes we have milk, juice(multiple kinds. Apple, grape orange. Oh and pulp free for the picky one in the house.) tea and sometimes even carbonated beverages. Oh and I forgot to mention clean highly purified water. Sometimes bottled with a nice label or even flavored. We go out to eat and we generally have even more options. Walk through the store and you will find every kind of carbonated beverage filled with sugar, artificial flavoring, color and caffeine. We can afford to be a little unhealthy. Now let's go to a nation stricken with poverty. Let's just say Africa. In poverty stricken areas of Africa, women may walk six miles a day for water. This is not highly purified or flavored water. This water is not even as good as our tap water. No, It is water infected with disease. It probably comes from a stream or a hole in the ground. While we have choice upon choice and the only thing we stop to think about is what will satisfy our current taste bud needs, they only have two choices. In reality both options lead to the same thing. Death. Death by dehydration, or death by disease. They beg, they cry out to the earth for a drop of clean water. We choose to be unhealthy because we can get away with it. Sad but true. Is it not? This leads me to question and I hope you question too. What could we do with that loose change? What if we stopped popping it into the coke machine? What if we threw it in a jar to be used for something bigger? Could others drink clean water because I chose to drink clean water? What do you think? I think we could save the change and be the change.

2010-10-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

New video at the bottom!

Amazing Grace

2010-10-13T19:51:00.002-05:00

My God and my Savior, my King and my Friend, chose me out of my sin to bring glory to His name. The weight that was placed upon Jesus, His perfect holy Son, in order for this to happen,
was awesome. The Lord gives beautiful meaning to my life and even to my struggles. Although He saved me many years ago, I am growing more now than ever.
Who am I that the Creator of the stars and of ladybugs, of trees and of ants, of bears and of lambs, of you and me, would look down at me, in all of my wretchedness, with love in His
eyes and say “You are my friend. Come follow Me.”? I am not worthy, yet this is what He did for me. He placed upon His Son what I should eternally suffer and die for, yet He gave me eternal life. He called me clean and righteous. All of God’s wrath was poured out onto His perfect, holy Son, because of the world’s sins, because of my sins. I am no longer condemned to hell. Jesus did not just die in my place; He literally took upon Himself my sins. He took upon himself my filth, my baggage and everything the Lord hates and the Lord now sees Jesus’ cleanness in me. He can now look upon my face. Jesus Christ, Son of God, took the beatings and mocking and being spit upon when I deserve to burn in hell for eternity. How could I not love and serve a God like this?
Life has no meaning apart from God. My one purpose for being on this earth is to bring honor and glory to the holy name of the Lord. My struggles and trials even have meaning through Him. He often uses them to teach His children but also to show His power through them and in turn is glorified. If I did not have the Lord to live for, what else would there be? Myself? What a sad life that would be. I am the lowly sinner. He is the perfect savior. I am the creation. He is the creator. When He saved me He brought meaning and purpose to my thoughts, to my actions, to every aspect of my life. If it means going to the most dangerous nation and being tortured or killed in the most cruel way in order to bring praises to His name, then so be it. He deserves the honor and glory. It will only be the closest to hell I will ever get, then I will enter into heaven where I do not deserve to be but by His grace am allowed to live forever. What a day that will be!

Although He saved me at a young age, He is working in my life in such a huge way right now. I have struggled over the years with my salvation and assurance. This past summer was probably the biggest, hardest, worst struggle I have ever had. There were times I felt like giving up on the Lord but He did not give up on me. He has never and will never, ever leave me.
He pulled me through it and now He is giving me a passion and a love for Him like I have never had before. He is teaching me what radical obedience to His word is. He is giving me a heart for the nations, the poor, the hurting and the hopeless. He is showing me why I am here. Over the past few weeks He has shown me the importance of spending dedicated time with Him and how He uses people for his glory. My hope and prayer is that He will continue to work in this way. I have learned and grown so much. I am beginning to take my relationship with Him more seriously and He has opened my eyes in many areas. It is the desire of my heart to do His will and to live in radical obedience to Him.

I cannot begin to fathom why He would choose me. He is a holy, just and perfect God but chose to look down and call a child of darkness into the light. He chose to save and bring meaning to the life of an otherwise hopeless human. Although I did not live in the time of Jesus to see His miraculous works, I see them in my life today. From the time I was a young girl to this very day He has increasingly worked in my heart and in my life. John Newton’s song “Amazing Grace” comes to my mind. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see...” I have truly experienced that same amazing grace in my life. I serve an indescribable, incredible and irresistible God.

2010-10-11T22:32:00.000-05:00

"The road to success is always under construction"
~Arnold Palmer

2010-10-07T10:41:00.001-05:00

God blesses us with stuff so that we can give more not have more.

2010-10-07T10:36:00.002-05:00

Red river this weekend! Pictures to come!!! Janae will be returning home tomorrow YAY! I am in college. I don't think I ever mentioned that. um...what else is new? Oh, I got a job as a secretary for my aunt's company. That's super new and scary. A little bit out of the comfort zone but I guess it's exciting. Thats what's up!

2010-10-03T19:55:00.002-05:00

PRAY FOR JANAE! My dearest Janae is away on a mission trip to Seattle. Pray for her and the small team that went to share the gospel and to love on and reach out to people. They would all be very greatful for your prayers. You are welcome to post them here if you want. Just keep them in mind this week. They left out on Friday and will be returning this coming Friday. Thanks!

2010-10-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

Just got back from camping!!! Maybe pictures to come...? We'll see.

2010-09-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

WHOO HOOO!!! 101 POSTS! chyeah baby!

2010-09-28T17:23:00.003-05:00

I deleted my facebook and I am hoping to have created more time for blogging. I have not touched this thing in so long and am glad to be back at it. Hopefully I will have stories and pictures and maybe even other things to post. I may even try to set a goal of how much I will blog in a week. Maybe I will even obtain some faithful readers;)

2010-09-28T17:21:00.003-05:00

I have been blessed with the privalge of taking a trip to IRELAND!!! I am quite looking forward to it:D My flight leaves October 31st and I will be returning on the 6th of November. There WILL be lots of pictures to come!

2010-09-28T17:20:00.001-05:00

The old look is back. Do you like it?

2010-09-24T22:26:00.005-05:00

UNDER CONSTRUCTION...again *sigh*

2010-09-12T23:12:00.003-05:00

oh geez...I just laughed harder than I think I have ever laughed...really. it hurt like heck I was laughing so hard. my nose is running and tears were running down my face. after glow was AWESOME, good talks, fellowship in Jesus Christ, great food, bball with my amazing and hilarious friends, that I am SOOO stinkin blessed to have,then a car ride home with Elijah that I think I shall NEVER forget with a stop for energy drinks thrown in there:D The whole ride was unforgettable but I think the highlight was when I swear I thought I heard Elijah say this "one time I grabbed my adam's apple and tried to swallow it" then after laughing and then repeating what I thought he said and him spitting his full throttle all over me and my car laughing so crazy hard, i don't know if it's possible to laugh harder. good times! Thank you Lord!

I haven't posted anything in so long and I don't have anything better than this. I guess as a writer, I should put down what is near and dear to me whether or not people read it, so here it is:D

2010-07-11T22:28:00.003-05:00

I have heard the Lord is always at work even when we can't see or feel Him working. I guess thats true...however I really do feel like the Lord is working in my life right now. It is always so nice to feel it. To really know it. Praise the Lord!

Totally His Youth Conference

2010-07-05T14:18:00.002-05:00

I recently attended the Totally His Youth Conference at the Evangelical Institute of Greenville South Carolina. What a blessing it was! It was a week without any distractions, focused on the Lord and in His word. Team sports were played throughout the week and were incredibly fun! I hope to go back next year. For more info on the Evangelical Institute visit www.eibibleschool.org

Attention!

2010-05-29T22:33:00.002-05:00

I am happy to announce that I am the proud sponsor of a beautiful 5 month old baby girl. Her name is Kimberly and she lives in Colombia. Please pray for me that I truly make a difference in her life and the community that she lives in. Also pray for her, pray for her health and that she would grow up to know the Lord. Pray that although I may never physically meet her, that not only would I be a blessing in her life but that she would be a blessing in mine. It has been only minutes since I made that decision and commitment, however I already feel great attachment to her. I feel like she is mine. Pray that I will be faithful! Thank you.

Aspire Blog

2010-05-02T18:29:00.004-05:00

I recently became a follower of a blog called Aspire. I entered a drawing that she has on there and I have to post four random things. So here goes...

Hermmmm...

#1: I ran around in the rain today in my reenactment clothes and got soaked!

#2: I am probably better friends with guys than girls.

#3: I have a strange fascination with Ireland.

#4: I am making a blanket that has allegators on it(i'll post pics:).

Yeah nothing interesting but that's what I had to do. I will try to make the 4 on my other blog different.

Photo shoot(s)

2010-04-23T20:53:00.009-05:00

I have had several photo-shoots in the past few months. Being a senior and all everyone wants to take my picture! For once in my life I am popular! I even on occasion get special treatment. Ha ha! Not to be vain but I thought I would post a few of the better pictures of me.

This one is from a photo shoot we had done specifically for my senior pictures. We ended up using a combination of pictures from different photo shoots to send to people.

This picture makes me think of Narnia:)

This is my "drape" picture, taken for my grandmother.

This is from the same photo shoot ast the first one. I really like this one!

I randomly asked mom to take this one:)

New look

2010-04-23T13:51:00.001-05:00

What do you think about the new look? Please let me know you opinion. Wether you like, dislike or just like the old one better either way.

2010-04-04T18:03:00.003-05:00

All my flowers are starting to bloom and I am SOOOO excited!!! I LOVE flowers so much!!! (I am kinda dramatic huh?:) Thank you Lord for the flowers!

2010-03-25T17:18:00.002-05:00

Sorry my blog is in shambles at the moment. I will try to get to it soon. Hopefully something interesting enough to post about will happen.

Something to ponder...

2010-02-28T14:50:00.007-06:00

I was reading a book the other day when I came across this analogy. I thought it was a really good way to put things into perspective.

"If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be stupid for me to say He is only the small amount of water that I can scoop into my little can."

~ Francis Chan, in his book 'Crazy Love'.

That statement helped me to realize how huge my God is and how our limited minds tend to think "well that is all I can comprehend so that is all God is". He is so much more than I can wrap my mind around. I serve a BIG God!

OH NO!!!

2010-01-11T10:46:00.003-06:00

I am so upset, the memory card that was in my camera stopped working. Which means I lost a bunch of pictures. I lost Christmas pictures (which included a picture of a yummy desert I made and was going to post.) and bunch of others. So once again...a post without pictures.:(

A difficult decision...

2009-10-26T10:29:00.003-05:00

It seems this always happens to me. When I have the opportunity to do something really cool, some other door opens as well. It is so aggravating and me being the challanged decision maker that I am does not help things.:) Last night I asked my father if I could go to a church camp and he said I probably could. Well...a little while ago my mother called and said that my old art teacher, who is now doing wedding photography, invited me to come with them to a wedding and help out. AHHHH!!!! It is my last chance to go to this camp since I am a senior but I don't know when else they will have a big wedding that they need help with. The camp is just a last chance deal and the wedding thing is a really big opportunity. I will not really be doing much more than pushing a button and protecting some gear but still it would be so great!

2009-10-20T15:04:00.000-05:00

Wow, that stinks, you can barely see those pics. Oh, well!

Artwork

2009-10-20T14:09:00.006-05:00

I decided to start posting some of my drawings, so here you go. These are all horse drawings. Sorry about the lighting on the top three. Well, enjoy!(or try to at least!)

Belgian

Spooked Horse

Old Horse

Bucking Horse

2009-10-14T18:05:00.005-05:00

Casey and Janessa being "normal" but really they were the "weird" ones in this case.

So if they were actually the weird ones then this is Janae and Sam being normal:)

2009-10-14T13:37:00.001-05:00

I have plenty more pictures to come but I have to go to volleyball practice. As to the ones I already posted, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-14T13:08:00.006-05:00

I actually have Red River pictures!!!!! We had a lot of fun. It was very cold at night but we managed not to freeze. It was also very muddy. All the same it was still fun!

Left to right: Janae, Samantha, Evan, Janessa and me:)

ME!

Mr Tom. held a meeting to discuss future plans for Red River Meeting House.

2009-10-14T13:07:00.001-05:00

I lost my job due to the pool not needing as many lifeguards for the fall and winter...:(

2009-10-14T12:48:00.004-05:00

Here is another decent one of Lee and me...

2009-10-13T15:07:00.002-05:00

I did not have my camera at Mansker's Station "Fall Encampment" but a friend sent me a few. They were not the best pictures of me but here is one of them. I was "attempting" to make candles. Ha ha! It was NOT pretty!

Yay!!!! It worked! Praise the Lord! Ha!

Re-enacting opps.

2009-09-09T11:07:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow we are going to Mansker's! I will try and get pictures and I will try and put them up! I actually have several re-enacting opportunity's coming up. YAY! Besides tomorrow there will be fall encampment (hooray!), red-river, my school will be taking a group so I would like to try and be there for that and of cour Yule fest in December. I am really looking forward to all these opps.

Yum!

2009-09-09T11:05:00.002-05:00

Check out seasons of a heart. There is an amazing looking recipe for homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream. YUM! I can't wait to try it!

Recent happenings

2009-09-05T16:49:00.003-05:00

The post about Lee's birthday is a little late, sorry! Nothing has really been going on with me lately. Tristan(my eldest brother) turned 21 last month also. School has started along with volleyball, both of them are going good. At uca I am doing spanish II, volleyball, choir, I am on the yearbook staff and maybe drama(?). Oh yea! and I am doing music theory II. At home I am writing a novel and I am supposed to be doing gov. and economics but I don't have my books yet (MOM!)(JK!). We are leaving for florida a week from wednesday and my dear Janae Jana will be traveling with us. YAY! That is all for now. I have to go get ready to dove hunt.

A rather large task.

2009-08-24T16:37:00.001-05:00

I am writing a novel!!! I am pretty excited!

Lee's Birhtday

2009-08-15T19:30:00.005-05:00

Our little "bubba wee" (aka: Lee) is now 11 years of age. *SNIFF* *SNIFF*...He is growing up.

Lee and Mom with the"Hamburger" cake (and yes, fries with that)

Joanna and I deep in descussion (just thought I would throw that in there:)

Luke and Lee

What a cute picture of Lee and Levi! (Too bad I didn't take it!!!)

2009-08-09T20:08:00.004-05:00

This is...interesting! Kinda weird, kinda funny. Oh and a little dumb!

1. Your name: Allison
2. Your gangsta name ( the first three letters of your first name plus izzle) Allizzle
3. Your detective name ( your favorite color plus your favorite animal) Green Dog
4. Your soap opera name ( your middle name plus the street you live on/or neighborhood if it’s a number) Aster Hog (LOL WOW! Nice huh?:)
5. Your star wars name ( the first three letters of your last name plus the first two letters of your first name) Millal (That's kinda dumb...)
6. Your super hero name ( Your second favorite color plus your favorite drink) Well once again mine is dumb so I am gonna go with Blue Water (Mine would really be like...Blue appke juice or Blue Dr. Pepper LOL!)
7. Your IR name ( second letter of your first name, third letter of your last name, first letter of your last name, second letter of your Mom’s maiden name, third letter of your dad’s name, first letter of a sibling’s name, and last letter of your Mom’s name) LLMASEY (EH?)
8. Your witness protection name ( your parents middle names) Beth Lee (That is actually not so bad!)
9. Your goth name ( black, and one of your pets names) Let's see...Black patch, Black Jo/Black Jo Jo, Black Kit-Kat, Black Strech Or Black Phillipe (I am going with Black Jo or Black Phillipe)
10. Name of your own TV show ( Your favorite color and your favorite food) Green Pizza (?)

2009-08-07T16:36:00.002-05:00

UGH! My blog is soooo boring because my dumb computer (which I am very thankful that we have) will NOT upload pictures! Nobody wants to read a post with no pictures! It is really aggravating!

2009-08-01T19:31:00.002-05:00

I'm back! I really don't have a ton to post though...I enjoyed it. It was a new experience for me. I am very grateful that my parents let me go. I was a little surprised they did. I might post little things as I think of them but I am really tired and I don't really feel like staying on here long. It was pretty fun though. It had it's good and bad moments. When we got free time we played volleyball or four square. Volleyball was fun! The classes were fun but I am not gonna lie I got a little bored in class sometimes. I learned some stuff that will be pretty valuable I think. Well I am so tired and this post is kinda blah because of it so I am going to stop now.

2009-07-25T20:38:00.002-05:00

I am leaving tomorrow and I won't be back until Saturday so I won't be posting for a while. I just wanted to let everyone know. Although I have not been posting much lately anyway. I will be at music camp though. I will try and post on how that goes when I get back.

2009-07-19T15:44:00.001-05:00

Check out my widget at the bottom!!!

Dancing

2009-07-14T17:00:00.002-05:00

I am going to an english country dance tonight. I was trying to find my camera so I could post some pictures of my new dress on here. I obviously did not find it. My dress is of a regency style similar to the ones Janae has posted about on her blog. Mine is closer to the first design. My mom made me this one and I am hoping to make another one myself soon. If I ever find my camera I will try and post it.

2009-07-06T20:14:00.004-05:00

I am back in Tennessee. It is always a bit of a let down to get home from a trip...

I took over 1000 pictures!!! Well let me rephrase that, mainly Tyler and I along with a couple of other people took 1136 pictures! WOW! That was just my Rebel..Pictures were also taken with my Uncle's camera and my little camera and some other people had camera's too. It was mostly the big camera's though. All of us teens had a fun time with the cameras obviously. Amy is getting to borrow my uncle's professional grade camera and I got a new telephoto lens so we went a little crazy! My uncle Mike also let me borrow his macro lens. I am having fun with it too! Thanks Uncle Mike! I know Amy K is having a BLAST also! I will try and post some but it does not always let me so I may have to go to Janae's house to do it. It may be a little while though.

To get a good bit of history about it go to Amy K's blog but here is a little bit about where we were staying. We stayed in the hubble house. It was a bed and breakfast. The main house was the "Hogg House". Texas governer Jim Hogg's daughter was Ima Hogg. No, there was not really a daughter named "Youra Hogg". Though less known there were also two brothers. Ima stayed at her grandparents home in Winnsburough Texas, the "Hogg house", a lot through her childhood. Much later when George Bush was Governer of Texas, he stayed in this home.

Saturday night We went to see a firework show. I got some decent pictures of that. I will try and put them up later.

Sunday night we went to the "Shakespeare Festival. I REALLY enjoyed that. We saw a musical that my Uncle Steve was directing. It's called "She Loves Me". It is not a very well known musical because there are a lot of costum and set changes and because it is a musical it means more time and money. The movie "You've Got Mail" is based on this musical. It was not written by Shakespere even though it was at the "Shakespere Festival". It was good and the actors were GREAT! My uncle did a great job and should get a lot of credit in my oppinion.

It was soooo good to be with family! I love my family very much. I am blessed with a big and loving family. I thank the Lord! Not as much as a should though. It was a really nice break, although fairly short, from work. I am back it though and in full swing!
*Sigh*

2009-07-03T12:17:00.004-05:00

Hey Everybody!

I am posting from Texas At the home of Texas' Ima Hog's Grandparents. More on that when I get back to Tennessee! Just wanted to let everyone know where I am and what I am doing. Later!!!

2009-06-22T21:49:00.002-05:00

I have another prayer request that I can not go into detail on but it is far worse than I thought the other one was. Continue to pray for the other one PLEASE but add this one too. One specific thing you can pray for is my anger. It is just really hard on me. It is kinda two situations in one. One is affecting me and the other is affecting the one that is affecting me. Anyway please keep me and another family in your prayers. Thank you!

English country dancing

2009-06-22T21:42:00.002-05:00

I have done some english country dancing through re-enactments and I LOVE it! Recently I came across a group that does it through a new friend and we went a few weeks ago. It was a blast. Elijah, mom and I went with some dear new friends of ours. Anyhow my friends are starting a group in our area (we were driving an our and one family was driving two) and tomorrow is our first day. I am really excited! I will try, try, try to get pictures and post them. Although I have been having trouble with uploading pics to blogger lately. We shall see...I am also doing that for my birthday. My birthday was last wednesday but it did not work to do it any time last week so we are doing it this weekend. I hope it goes well. I will surely have pictures of that. So check in!

2009-06-16T20:45:00.001-05:00

I don't have anything interesting to write about...

2009-06-16T20:43:00.002-05:00

I would like to ask for prayer...I can not say what but it is for a friend. It is a very serious situation and it calls for serious measures of prayer so PLEASE HELP! Thanks! It would be greatly appreciated...

2009-06-14T16:49:00.001-05:00

Oh ya I mentioned my job so I should probably explain...I am now lifegaurd certified and am currently working at an 18 inch deep wading pool. LOL! I am also teaching swim lessons. I am enjoying that fine but not so much the wading pool. So there you have it! Later!

2009-06-14T16:46:00.002-05:00

As Janae mentioned on her blog that it would be filled with summer pics mine probably will not. Considering my new job which I have failed to mention on here I will not be doing much. When I do get a chance to do something I will post pics...If I remember my camera.

2009-06-09T20:31:00.002-05:00

Guess who's turning 17?...ME! Can you tell I'm excited? It is just that 16 seems very over-rated to me so I am ready to be 17. It is honestly hard to believe though. In a week from tomorrow I will have lived for 17 years...WOW! Ha ha ok that's enough.

2009-05-08T12:46:00.004-05:00

Nobody is blogging...what's up with that?!?! Nobody is commenting either..............waaa!

2009-05-07T16:49:00.000-05:00

I got my ears peirced! I can't believe I actually did it!

English Country Dancing

2009-05-06T21:35:00.004-05:00

Last night we were out at all hours dancing. Ha ha! We went english country dancing with our new friends the Biggs and my friend Joanna. It was so fun! The people there were sooooo sweet and helpful. I really enjoyed it. I have to admit I was a bit nervous at first. I have done some english country dancing before but I still messed up some. I think we maybe starting a group here with the Biggs, Joanna and some of our other friends! I am so excited we finally got to go! Yay!!!

2009-05-06T21:35:00.001-05:00

Guitar is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-29T16:52:00.001-05:00

Please pray for Janae as God is hopfully opening up a new and exciting chapter of her life. I can not really say how just yet but I am sure she will post about it soon!

2009-04-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

I am learning guitar and LOVING it! Just thought I would share that.........

Sorry!

2009-04-20T21:36:00.001-05:00

I apologise for not blogging much. I have a lot I could write about so I will try and catch up asaifli...(that stands for "As Soon As I Feel Like It" lol!)

2009-04-17T21:32:00.002-05:00

Ok, ok...sorry. So really it is no big deal. I got my first car! I was trying to wait till I could get a pic up. Sorry for getting you excited and then kinda letting you down. I tried to post the other day and something happened. So sorry again but there you go. Hopfully I can get some pictures soon!

2009-04-10T17:15:00.001-05:00

So I kinda have a surprise well if you could call it that...ok not exactly a surprize but something that happened to me that I can't wait to tell but I am keeping it a secret for now! Hee hee!

2009-04-09T21:43:00.002-05:00

I am such a dork! I meant to post this last night before I really got into. Last night I had the brilliant idea to start knitting a felted Easter basket. HA ha yeah I said last night. Do you think I will finish it? When I was working on it yesterday mom asked me what I was working on and I said "a felted Easter basket but it probablly won't finish it by Easter" (I don't think those where my exact words but you get the picture). Well the truth is I am actually already finishing it up. I am such a DORK! but yeah so I guess I can knit kinda fast. It has been fun thouhg because I have not finished a whole project in a while so I am enjoying seeing it all come together!

YAY!

2009-04-02T21:39:00.004-05:00

I am sooo excited!!! I finally get to put on my re-enactment clothes again! I am going to Red River meeting house this weekend with Janae Jana and her family. It is going to be so fun. About five miles before we get there Janae's mom is letting us all out and we are going to bike the rest of the way. Of course we are going to change when we get there:) I am also excited because we looked at a car for me today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes it is old but it is actually quite cute. Besides if I can finally call it mine I don't think I will mind too much what it looks like. Although if it where a really ugly car I would probably wait a bit longer to find something else;) I really hope everything works out and I will be able to buy it or else the Lord brings me a better one.

Singing

2009-03-29T21:10:00.002-05:00

I just got back from another school performance. It was definitely not any of our best performances! I messed up in both my trio and my duet and I had a tiny bit of trouble on the small and large ensambles. Oh well I guess. Wow my toes are cold! Sorry. Anywaysssss...I recovered pretty well I think and at least I was in tune on everything. I love singing! I struggle with my voice though. I have been told by a few people that I have a pretty voice and I am just now getting to where I can except that and just say thank you instead of rolling my eyes and then saying thank you or saying "well I don't think so but thanks anyway". However I still have a hard time with it. Maybe I have a fine voice and can carry a tune and even sing a little harmony but I don't think that I have a voice that most people would just listen to. Not a voice that people would buy. I don't know why I even care. I really do have a hard time with it though.

Facebook

2009-03-27T19:56:00.002-05:00

Has anyone ever had anything absurdly wrong happen on facebook? Or heard of anything? I want a facebook but I have not gotten answer from my dad yet and so I thought maybe if I got some info to back me up that would be nice. Please post!

Convention

2009-03-24T20:55:00.002-05:00

Convention was...let's see...good, tiring, hard, stressful, fun, exciting, boring (at times) and uhh...that's about it I guess. For those of you who don't know what convention is, it is a five day trip to Kentucky that is for schools who use the ACE curriculum. While we are there we compete in a number of things. There are academic competitions, sports, platform, music and the list goes on. There is a huge list of things you can compete in. There were some hard lessons learned this year and over all it was certainly different than last year but I can not say that I wish I didn't go. Here are the things I competed in and what place I got:

Girls 400 meter dash: 2nd place

Girls 400 meter relay: 3rd place

Female duet: 3rd place

Female trio: uhh...5th place?

Archery: 3rd place!!!

Large ensamble: 1st place

Small ensamble 1st place

Black and white still life photography: no place...sniff sniff

Color plants and animals photography: no place

My school as a whole got 1st place over all in music and sports (again!) and we also placed in academics I thin but I am not sure what place we got. My friend David got 1st place in the guys division of the archery, I was so proud of him. I was also proud of everyone else but since the archery was my favorite thing to do I thought it was pretty cool that he got 1st! My friend Jade did very well on her piano solo. I played three on three volleyball while I was there too. That was a lot of fun! I ate pizza every single day! Healthy right? That is not all I ate but I did in fact have pizza every day that I was there. It was good too! I will not go into all the details of the bad stuff that happened but let's just say that it made the week a bit tough. I think the fun balanced it out and it was all ok in the end but the fact that I was tired did not help at all. Well I must end for now as I am about to be kicked of the computer so good-night all and have a blessed week!

Marriage Ideals

2009-03-24T20:33:00.001-05:00

There is a post on my cousins website on marriage ideals. I am sure he would appreciate your opinions on that. Check it out at: http://www.adamterrell.com/apps/blog/entries/show/494183-marriage-ideals

Creation museum--visit with the PT's

2009-03-23T16:00:00.003-05:00

I guess it was three weekend's ago my cousins and my aunt and uncle came from Texas. They got here on a Tuesday and we all got up on Wednesday morning and left for Ohio. We arrived at the Creation Museum just before lunch. We ate lunch there and then we began our journey through the museum. As you progressed through the museum it went through the seven C's of creation: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, Consummation. I might elaborate on these in a later post. Everything was really well done. I liked it and I hope to go again because I was a little distracted and did not take away as much as I would have liked. Also I am a slow reader and I was getting left behind. After that we stayed in a hotel and the next day the men went to Indianapolis and the girls and younger boys went on home. The men had a leadership conference to go to. Once we got back I had a performance at my school. That was a BLAST! Everyone performed well and I think the audience really enjoyed it. I also believe my choir teacher was very pleased. Thank goodness! after that we all just hung out at the house. Oh yeah us girls did go shopping one day. The PT's went back to Texas that Sunday. Sniff Sniff... Here are some pis and I am very sorry that, that was not too interesting and that I did not sound very enthusiastic...

Catching up

2009-03-23T15:58:00.001-05:00

Ok, I said I would catch you up on everything. I am going to try and just make each thing simple and short since there are so many and because I don't really feel like doing it. Lol!

I need prayer please!

2009-03-19T21:32:00.002-05:00

I would like to ask for anyone who will to please pray for me. I really want to use this blog for God's glory, to share my vision (which is kinda shaky right now) and...I don't know. I just feel like there could be a much higher purpose for this so please pray that I will find it. Thanks!

2009-03-17T19:34:00.004-05:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!! I love this day because while a may not be full blooded Irish I am definitely Irish at heart! Also I loooove green! (A little happy with the exclamation marks I know!!!!!) Don't forget to wear green!!!!!!

I'm back...

2009-03-15T21:28:00.002-05:00

I am back and I will post what I said I was going to but I don't know when I will get to it. Hopefully soon! I am not fully recovered yet...that just tells you that it was a looong tiring week.

Coming soon...

2009-03-08T09:35:00.004-05:00

Coming soon...
Creation Science Museum
Visit with the PT'S
ACE Student Convention
Pictures of Tournement
Goal Setting
and maybe more...

Leaving for a week...

2009-03-08T09:28:00.002-05:00

I just wanted everyone to know that I will be leaving tomorrow morning and won't be back till Friday after noon. I will finally have stuff to write about. YAY! Ok so I guess I have had some stuff lately and actually I have a LOT to catch up on. So when I get back be watching for new posts! A few of the people that read my blog are going to be at the same place I am this week so uhh yeah...Ha ha sorry, I hate when I do that.

2009-03-06T19:32:00.002-06:00

I am posting pictures from tournement on my other blog. I know that one does not get looked at much so I figured that I would let everyone know in case anyone wants to check them out.

My extemely...uh whoa weekend.

2009-03-01T21:33:00.002-06:00

This weekend was v-ball/basketball tourney. Oh yeah I did decide to go. Where to start...Ok, the night before we left to go there Joe one of our important b-ball players, ok well they are all important but anyway, one of our basketball player knocked his shoulder out of place and had to have it popped back in. He was unable to play. One of the girls from another volleyball team had a seizure on the way to the tournament and had to turn around and go to the hospital. In the championship game (which our guys unfortunately did not get to play in but they still came in third, way to go guys!!!) One of the guys got his finger caught in the rim and ripped his skin to the bone and was rushed to the hospital. Then our dear JP Dooley was having really bad stomach pains and was also taken to the hospital. He thankfully is alright! Besides all of that there where some MAJOR, I REPEAT MAJOR relationship issues going on between people from my school. I was included in that. I got close to some people but also got hurt by some. I was hurt and angry and all kinds of things and so where a bunch of other people. I am now having a REALLY hard time with some stuff and I am mad at one of my best friends. So I got jealous of someone, hurt by someone, frustrated with a few people and extremely disliked a few people. On a lighter note our volleyball team one state for the third year in a row, second year to be undefeated and in this league if you win three years in a row you get to keep the trophy. It was pretty cool the basketball team that won, it was also their third year to win. It would have been cooler if our guys had won but that is still pretty cool. Back on a darker note though, I did not get to play in any of the volleyball games so I was upset about that too, even though I did not expect to get to play. I tried to get over it and be a good sport about it but it was quite hard. So I am in a really weird mood right now and having a hard time even praying (and typing, I keep messing up) or anything. So there was my weekend. At least I finally have something to blog about...(I am being negative). We visited a church today that several of my friends go to so I guess that was pretty good. Well that is all I have to say.

In a funk!

2009-03-01T21:26:00.002-06:00

Title says it all! Yes I am in a major funk. A bunch of JUNK happened this weekend...ha just had to say that cause it rhymed! I never posted about the prayer day. It was pretty good. Because of my mood I don't much feel like posting about it but I know I need to so I will say that we ended up pretty miraculously praying for over an hour and a half! It was pretty amazing. I did ok with the skirt thing for the most part but was at a tournament all weekend so I was wearing my v-ball uniform. So I just wanted to explain why I am not posting much about those and explain my funk. I am about to explain the weekend too...oh dear!

Clarification on home school video

2009-03-01T21:18:00.002-06:00

OK so someone got offended over the video so I want to clear this up. If you take it to mean that they are making fun of homeschoolers I really don't think it is. They are basically showing how we get stereo-typed as homeschoolers. I know that there are some families who are really like that and that does not bother me at all. I actually find that some of those are very very neat families. I am also like 99% sure that they are home schooled so they probably would not make fun of fellow homeschoolers. I hope that clears it up. Sorry to the offended and high five to homeschooled of the world!

2009-02-26T21:06:00.003-06:00

Oh if you could only see me now! Jk! I am quite a sight...I am doing the skirt thing with Janae and so I have on a swim suit (from practice) and then a t-shirt, sweat pants and then a skirt over that. I bet you are saying "OH MY!!!" To add to all of that my hair is an absolute WRECK! I have to say that I have been crying too and that does not help my appearance at ALL! Well that is me excerpt for the day since that is really all that I have to say. Well I can add that I am torn over whether to go to v-ball tourney or not go at all and go with my mom to something we had planned a while ago. *sigh* *sigh* My mom does not really care but I still feel kinda bad about doing that to her. I was going to go tomorrow and then go with my mom Saturday but now that won't work so I have to go to one or the other because I will have to stay the night at the tourney. Wow I sound really scatter brained, sorry. With that I shall end.