2009...

I am forgoing the "year in review," month-by-month reminder of blog posts, post for this blog because this blog hasn't even been around for a year, and really, I just don't think I'm that interesting. I did one over here at my livejournal, but it's nothing super spectacular. I'll mention some highlights of my year instead.

... Took the SAT. 1370. Heck yes.

... Worship night with Ingredients. I will never forget how it feels to have my feet washed. Beautiful. Perfect. Love.

... NYC with Mom, best friend from pre-school, her mom, her cousin, her mom's cousin. Almost as good as London. Almost.

... Camp Klema. Church camp is love.

... North Carolina. Have I ever been anywhere else quite this beautiful? No. I think even London doesn't really match up with the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway. And the family and friends that live there are priceless. This vacation with Mom was one of my favorites.

... SEN10R year began. We're halfway through. Yes. :)

... Eighteenth birthday. That's a highlight.

... And this holiday season, from Thanksgiving to now, has been really nice, spent with lots of family from both Mom and Dad's sides. <3

So Happy New Year's Eve! Be safe tonight and have a ball. Love, love, love. Hello, 2010.

The Sweeterie

I can't remember where I read about The Sweeterie, but it's high time I shared it. It's my homepage, and I love it.

Hope everyone had a happy Christmas weekend and continues to have a relaxing week leading up to the New Year on Friday. I am looking forward to welcoming 2010. It will be the year of my graduation, moving away from home, starting college, and becoming more free, becoming more me. I can't wait. :)

Merry/Happy Boxing Day!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. Our day was quite enjoyable. We woke up early to open presents and then drove out to my aunt and uncle's house in Louisiana for the day. Delicious noodles and turkey (my favorite dish, which I missed greatly due to being with Mom's family for Thanksgiving instead of Dad's), ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, pea salad, and fabulous wheat rolls graced the table, along with some of the best sweet tea I have ever tasted (I think I drank five or six glasses throughout the day). After lunch we lazed about, watching a marathon of Mythbusters on the Discovery channel, reading, playing Nintendo DS, and talking with family. We all trekked outside to take a few photos of the group before dinner: the best sticky rice ever and Louisiana gumbo with potato salad and more of that sweet, sweet tea. :)

Today I'm sharing a few shots of our Christmas decorations here at home. First, our miniature snow globes of the 12 Days of Christmas.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtledoves,
and a partridge in a pear tree.


Ketcher and I have beautiful stockings that jingle super loudly when you pick them up, and Mom always stuffs them with practical gifts. This year I got a new electric toothbrush, glasses cleaner, paper clips shaped like treble clefs, and a new charm for my charm necklace.


And the tree. :) Mom and I put it up at the beginning of December. There's a collection of homemade and store bought ornaments; the homemade ones are slowly being worked off because the tree is smaller than our old one. I generally sort out all the ornaments before the two of us decorate the tree. I cut the angel off the top, but he's there. :)

So I hope you all enjoyed your day. Continue to enjoy the Christmas break before you return to school or work or whatever real life you have to go back to. Remember God's blessings; His gift of His Son to die on the cross for our sins, to give us the opportunity to live forever in Heaven if we trust in Jesus. That's the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Senior Pictures: Sneak Peak

This is my senior year. SEN10R year. It's half over now. And along with the picnic, the cap and gown, the this and the that, one tradition of senior year is senior pictures, am I right? However, senior pictures can be extremely expensive, and I am not a fan of extremely expensive things. So, this creates a bit of a problem, right? Wrong! Wrong, when you have amazingly talented friends such as the beautiful Judy who took and edited my photos for me. We spent the afternoon at a pretty park, I changed clothes in my car, and she spent quite a chunk of time making about sixty-five pictures look their very best. For this, I will be eternally grateful, and I'll probably bake her an extra batch of Christmas cookies or something.

We intend to do this again, probably in the spring, with different weather, different locations, and different styles. I'll have all the pictures in the next few days or so, and I expect I'll put them up on facebook, but I wanted to give y'all a sneak preview first. So, may I introduce, my winter collection of senior portraits by Judy.

And no worries; most of the pictures include my face. ;) I'll add some more favorites in the coming days. I hope y'all had a beautiful Wednesday and have festive plans for Christmas Eve tomorrow. <3

Cousins

For my 100th post (oooo exciting) I'm talking about cousins.

Today I spent the morning making a gingerbread house with two of my little cousins that I babysit pretty often. It was quite successful. I was very proud of them. <3


I remember when both of these girls were born, and I've been babysitting them for years. They are precious, sweet children of God, and I love them so much. Their dad is my first cousin; he's nineteen years older than me, and his wife thinks that is so weird that we're so far apart in age, but we're cousins. But that's the way my family is. My dad is the fifth of six siblings, and he was the last to have kids, so Ketcher and I are the youngest of the first cousins. Almost all of our cousins are married and have children--one of those kids is actually older than I am. My mom's side is a little more normal; she only has a brother and a sister. However, her brother has five kids, the youngest of which is a year older than Ketcher. Mom's younger sister just had her first baby a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not the youngest on that side of the family anymore! Plus, my mom has a couple of cousins she is close to, and their kids are around mine and Ketcher's ages, so that's about the closest we get to "best friend" type relationships between cousins.

The magnitude of cousins means we don't all get Christmas gifts, but we don't mind. Time spent with family is such a great gift in itself; we love spending holidays at my uncle's ranch or my cousin's house where the guys cook out on the grill and we gather and eat and talk for hours. My grandmother on my dad's side did do something very special for each of the first cousins. There are fourteen of us, and grandma made each of us a quilt. They are gorgeous, and I'll cherish mine forever and hopefully pass it on to my daughter.

What I'm trying to get at is this: family is important. But for some reason it seems that "family" typically refers to mother, father, brother, sister, maybe grandparents. And I believe aunts, uncles, and cousins are just as important. There is love there that I try not to take for granted. I know not everyone has as massive a family as I seem to. We're spread across the country: Washington, Nebraska, Ohio, Vermont, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and all over Texas. I want to appreciate each member of my extended family and remember the time I get to spend with them.

Merry Christmas!

This is my 99th post; perhaps I'll do my 100th on Christmas or just after. :)

Are you in the Christmas spirit yet? It's only SIX days away!

This cute fire hydrant the day it snowed is definitely ready for Old St. Nick.

Last night was the big Madrigal concert--Carols of Christmas. I sang the second verse of "The First Noel" solo, and my sister cried because she sang that her senior year, too. :) Our last events are tonight (two favorites: the doctor's party where they drink and don't listen to us but pay us good money and the hotel is awesome, and the Blue Santa Toy Drive at this huge, gorgeous house) and then we hang the costumes up for the year. It's been a good one. <3

All the Christmas gifts I'm giving this year are wrapped and under the tree. I tried not to spend too much money and I think I did rather well, while still finding gifts my friends and family will appreciate. All that's left to do it write a couple of Christmas notes and that will be that. I love to wrap presents and put together fun gifts. PS: there are loads of Christmas cookies in my house; everyone come eat some.

Today when I checked the mailbox there was a thick envelope addressed to me: my acceptance letter to UNT. :D It's my first letter, so that was very exciting, though not surprising since it's a public school and I'm more than just the top 10% of my graduating class. I'm waiting on scholarship information before I choose where I'll be next August; probably either UNT or UTDallas. The thought of college makes me want to hurry this year up, after Christmas and New Years that is.

Almost an entire month has past

and a lot has happened! I apologize for my absence; life got overwhelming QUICK there around Thanksgiving and I just now feel like I may have caught up.

First of all: Thanksgiving break was beautiful. I toured TCU and UNT; two gorgeous schools, experienced a superb weekend at Dance Revolution, got to visit my brother, and spent the holiday with aunts, uncles, and cousins eating some delicious traditional Thanksgiving food followed by fresh seafood the day after. Plus: some intense Catch Phrase with my family. Of course, missing three days of school right before Thanksgiving left me with quite a load of make-up work to do, but it was definitely worth it.

When the break was over, Madrigal season kicked into overdrive. We performed at a H City Cafe in the pouringpouringpouring rain before what was supposed to be the annual Christmas parade. However, our next event was cancelled because of... SNOW. Again! Snow two years in a row is unheard of here.

The day after the "big snow" was Dickens on the Strand down in Galveston, always one of the favorite events of the year. Our dear friend Shaniqua took the lovely Judy's camera and acted as photographer, and she did a great job, capturing these special moments:

all the seniors after breakfast and before heading out <3

the crew after our performance at "Windsor Castle"

a family of pirates including the cutest "Arrr" I have ever heard

After Dickens a bunch of friends stayed the night at the beach house for Connor's birthday, and we made friends with some barnacles.

do they remind you of Audrey II?

And that brings us to this week. We preformed some Hebrew love songs with the Orchestra on their concert Tuesday night, then sang for the Rotary Club on Wednesday during school, and had our choir Christmas concert last night. Tonight is a day off before we go downtown to the Heritage Society Candlelight Tour tomorrow evening. We have a few more events next week before our big concert, Carols of Christmas, next Friday night. Next week is finals; I'm done with the fall semester of my senior year on Wednesday at 10:30am and I couldn't be more ready. College applications have been submitted, scholarships and honors college applications are in the process, and it's so close to Christmas I can smell it.

I've decided to make most of my Christmas gifts this year for my family and friends. I'm going to attempt to be creative and try not to spend a lot of money, because I don't have a lot of money to spend, and making things is just more fun.

So happy Friday night; happy weekend; happy Christmas. <3

poem 46

"Being the Better Man"

I dislike the phrase
"Being the better man"
Because it sounds
Pretentious and
Conceited;
So I need to come up with a more appropriate phrase
For those times when I do indeed
Try to "Be the better man."

poem 45

"Inventions and Equations"

Thinking about things,
Inventions and equations,
It just blows my mind.

poem 44

"Gift of Life"

Life is a precious gift from God,
So don't waste it on frivolous things,
Don't ruin it with drugs and bad decisions,
Live it to the fullest by keeping Father in mind.
Only one life is given to each human,
Father has a purpose for it,
So following His plan gives the most satisfaction
And it brings Him the most glory,
So everybody wins.
Gifts are meant to be enjoyed, so enjoy Life.

poem 43

"Attitude"

This is what I learned today:
Attitude is everything.
I choose whether or not to have a good day.
I choose whether or not to appreciate what I've been blessed with.
I choose whether or not to make the most of what I've got.
If I have to do something,
I may as well do it with a cheerful attitude,
Therefore allowing myself to have some fun,
Rather than brooding and hating every minute.
Attitude is absolutely everything.

poem 42

"Childhood"

Remember when you woke up early and went to bed early,
You played all day long in the sandbox,
Eating grilled cheese for lunch without even leaving the game.
Colorful band-aids for all of life's little boo-boos,
With kisses from Mom to make everything feel better.
Before you learned how to write complex sentences,
Or do calculus for early morning tests,
You got to finger paint and make macaroni necklaces.

poem 41

"Make-up"
Sure, it may make me look nice,
But I don't like to wear it because it feels
Fake. And I can't stand the
Dependence that some girls have,
Where they can't go buy a taco without their make-up on.
But don't be surprised that I know how to use it
When I have to.
Hello, I have been dancing on stages my whole life.
Make-up required.

poems 38, 39, and 40

yikes; I've really fallen off the bandwagon this week. It has been an odd week. I am still pretty sick so I have been trying to take it easy, haven't been at dance or anything like that. I was able to sing a little bit in choir today for the first time all week; I am really hoping my voice is better by Saturday night's region choir concert... it will feel like a waste of time if I'm mouthing the words to all my songs up there.

"Thank You Does Not Even Begin to Cover It"
Thank You for Your love, Your peace, Your words, Your guidance.
Thank You for my family, my friends, my mind, my heart.
Thank You for our freedom, our home, our opportunities, our security.
Thank You for saving me, holding me, believing in me, knowing me.
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

"Future"
Thinking about the
Future
Can be
Scary,
But it doesn't have to be.
Thinking about the
Future
Can be
Exciting
If you're careful to trust in Father and follow His guidance.

"Mascot"
At three I was a little lamb,
At five, a timber wolf,
From eleven to thirteen, I stalked like a tiger,
And now I am an eagle.

poems 36 and 37

"College"

Applications
Decisions
Essays
Tours
Forms
Letters
Visits
Money
Frustration
Requests
Deadlines

"You Never Know"

You never know what may spark an argument.
You can't know what someone else may be thinking.
You never know what may earn you a hug,
Or a slap in the face.
You can't know what someone else is going through.
You never know what may make someone remember you.
You can't know what someone else needs.
You never know what may bring tears to someone's eyes.
You can't know what someone else is feeling.

poem 35

"Texas, Home"

Texas means
Big cities and massive fields.
Texas means
Airplanes every half hour and so many stars.
Texas means
Hot, hot beaches and cold, snowy hills.
Texas means
All day driving and reaching either Florida or El Paso.
Texas means
Southern hospitality and delicious TexMex food.
Texas means
Sometimes there are cowboys at church.
Texas means
Cattle pastures, hay fields, and high speed Internet.
Texas means
Going off to school, but never really leaving Home.

poems 33 and 34

"Ugh"

Bad things always seem to come in a rush.
You're sore, you're sick, your best friend hasn't called in a while
And then you find out someone you love is
Hurting even more than you are, which just makes you hurt
Worse. You can't seem to get a break and you know you're busy schedule doesn't let up
Until Christmas.

"Cabaret"
What good is sitting alone in your room?
Well, at least I wouldn't infect anyone with my sickness.

poem 32

"I Don't Even Know"

Everyone has one thing that is their ultimate
Pet peeve.
And everyone has patience for different things.
Some people hold everything in until they finally
Explode.
And some people explode on a daily basis.
Many people keep secrets.
And many people fail at keeping even their own lives private.
But somehow, we all exist here, together. Different.

poems 30 and 31

somehow I have gotten so bad about remembering to do this lately...

"Days"
For years I have woken each morning
To a new day full of opportunity.
How many more days, weeks, months, years
Might I be allowed to experience that joy
Of waking up, alive and breathing?
I shall cherish each and every one.

"Defrost"
Fog on my windshield is
Dangerous.
It makes my sight much worse than it should be,
So I wonder if I'll hit something.
I pray that I won't,
And turn on the defroster
ASAP.

poem 29

"One Extra Hour"

Tonight we turn the clocks back
One hour.
One extra hour to do with as we please.
Many will enjoy it; it's Halloween after all.
Many will appreciate an extra hour of sleep.
Many will forget
and show up extra early for church in the morning.
And, as the jokes all go, the Aggies will
wake up at 2am, just to change their clocks.
One extra hour...
What will you do with it?

poems 27 and 28

I didn't realize until just now that I missed this yesterday...whoops. I guess I came home and went straight to bed after Fly Guys...

"Stop Trying So Hard"
Why do you think that is attractive? It isn't.
When will you realize that being who you really are would be better
Than what you're currently pretending to be.
I'm never going to appreciate you the same way
As I appreciate the one who's genuine.
Stop trying so hard.

"Family Game Night"
You roll your dice, you move your mice,
Nobody gets hurt.
I don't know where this saying originates, but it applies
During Family Game Night.
Tonight was Life,
Last week, Careers,
My favorite, Disney Trivial Pursuit.
Mom and Dad and Me, all sitting around the kitchen table,
Spinning, rolling, drawing, talking, laughing,
Playing.
Fun times all around.

poem 26

"NaNoWriMo"

It's almost NaNoWriMo again,
this year will I pick up my paper and pen?
National Novel Writing Month is November,
but I doubt that I can remember
to write more than this daily poem. Fin.

poems 24 and 25

Yesterday should not even have existed in real life. Any day I'm at school until 10pm just shouldn't count. Haha. Oh, region choir, why?

"Competition"

Not competitive
Don't care about winning, true
I just do my best

"The Truthful Book"

Once upon a time,
In a land where folks spoke in rhyme,
There lived a young female
Whose story I'm trying to tell.
She wrote a very simple book,
And everyone wanted to take a look
Because though her words were very few,
Her words made sense, and they were true.

poem 23

"Sonnet"

On one of these days
I'll write a lovely sonnet.
It won't be today.







PS: I've already sick of this broken toe business and it's only been two days. :/

poem 22

"Toe"

Oh woe is me,
Oh woe oh woe,
I do believe
I've broken my toe.
I smashed it on the door frame.
I bit my tongue to silence my pain.
And boy was I surprised,
When it turned purple and black before my eyes.
Oh woe is me,
Oh woe oh woe,
I do believe
I've broken my toe.



(True story. It hurts.)

poem 21

We're gonna say it's still the 23rd... I had no idea I'd be babysitting for this long.

"One"

As one man falls into sleep, another is waking up half way around the world.
The seasons change in time, oppositely on northern and southern hemispheres.
Humans are seperated by oceans, rivers, mountains, and deserts.
We speak an immeasurable amount of languages and dialects.
And yet, we all come from One Creator, One God, One Father.
He loves each and every one of us, no matter where we are.
For this, I am thankful each morning as I rise, and each evening as I fall asleep.

meet LAUREN

This is my friend LAUREN.



She's an extremely cool girl.
She posts cute blogs and she sings like an angel.

And she's having a GIVEAWAY because she's so darn cool.

Go here and check it out for your chance to win a box full of LAUREN'S favorite things. I promise, you'll like them, too. :)

poem 20

"Twenty"

Twenty photos can capture one perfect moment.
Twenty minutes can make a memory.
Twenty years can make a person.
Twenty songs can make a playlist.
Twenty people can make a party.
Twenty pages can make a story book.
Twenty minutes can get me to you.
Twenty moves can make a dance.
Twenty stories can make a memoir.
Twenty friends can make a family.
Twenty notes can make tune.
Twenty miles can get me away.
Twenty dollars can buy me Taco Bell (at least four times).
Twenty fingers can make a couple.
Twenty stars can make a constellation.
Twenty chords can make a melody.
Twenty "yeses" can get you the vote.
Twenty hugs can join a team.
Twenty dances can make a show.
Twenty lines can make a poem.

poem 19

"Perspective Is Important"

Perspective is important.
I can't complain about anything when I hear
Your story. And I can't believe you would
Continue to argue when you're so clearly
Wrong. When I know you know it but you won't
Give up because you're proud. It's
Ridiculous. Get over yourself. I tell
Myself the same thing sometimes. I am
Not perfect, but neither are
You. Perspective is
Important.

poem 18

"Poet"

Part
Of
Every
Teenager

Terrific Tuesday

Tuesdays are usually my least favorite day of the week, so I am always pretty thrilled when I feel like I've had a good one.

Today I feel like singing, "Tuesday was more than good... It was great!" Tony the Tiger style. (: Today was just very very nice.

I woke up a little late, but I had plenty of time to get ready (I only require about 15 minutes or so). Hair was cute and curly, I wore my new denim dress from forever21, and the weather was beautiful. School was typical school, which is generally good. Freshman AVID kids were on a field trip so I got to go home earlier than most Tuesdays. I got some food from the Wal-Mart deli; popcorn chicken and fried okra, oh so yummy, and a Dr. Pepper. Ballet was good and my foot cooperated, then I taught a class and headed for home. I love the people that I was with today and I am very thankful to Father for such a sweet, blessed day.

How was your Tuesday?

PS: Poem of the Day coming up after I wash dishes. (:

poem 18

one of these days I will write sonnets

but not today

"Twins"
For one small moment,
For just one night,
Or simply an hour,
I'd like to be twins so I could treat myself the way I want to be treated.

poem 17

"Songs"

Birds tweet,
Crickets chirp,
Bees buzz,
Snakes hiss,
Dogs bark,
Cats meow,
Mice squeak,
Frogs croak,

And I sing.

poem 16

"After Finishing Finley's First Paper"

I wanted to write
A haiku today because
My brain is just done.

poem 15

"Nighttime"

It's that time of day again,
That I just can't seem to like.
When darkness falls,
The house grows quiet,
And I lie in bed at night.
The emptiness of the world seems to come crashing in,
And I don't want to give in,
But I can't seem to get out.
Until,
Finally,
Sleep claims me,
And,
Hopefully,
My dreams bring a smile to my face.

poem 14

"Always Love"

He loves me, he loves me not.
She loves me, she loves me not.
They love me, they love me not.
Father loves me, he loves me
Always.

poem 13

"Addiction"

Something about the way we connected
Keeps me drawn to you
Constantly.
Sometimes I believe that it must be
Unhealthy,
But the truth is that I don't know what to do about it.
Most people's addictions are more
Dangerous than this,
But an addiction is an addiction, right?

poem 12

"1-5"

I
can write
a poem that
uses a different number
of words on each line.

poems 10 and 11

double posting today because I forgot yesterday, due to not coming home from Bible study until after 11pm...

"Columbus Day"
Smooth Dr. Pepper
In a clear, glass mason jar
Three-day weekend love

"Dirty Dishes"
Piles of dishes
All waiting to be scrubbed clean
Then patiently dry

poem 9

"Terms of Endearment"

Sweetheart is what I call just that one person.
Love is for all of my friends,
Because I do love them,
Ever so much.
Also my little cousins, because they mean the world to me.
Though they also respond to the name Goober.
Dear is interchangeable with Love. As is Darling.
Baby or baby girl is for my dear girlfriends,
Who are younger than I.

And dude is for the guy friends.
I love y'all too, but how awkward would it be if I just randomly called you
Love?

poem 8

"Thanks in Many Languages"

Thank you.
Danke.
Dank u.
Kiitos.
Merci.
Grazie.
Arigato.
Takk.
Gracias.
Asante.
Salamat po.
Ngiyabona.
Thanks.

poem 7

"Happily Ever After"

Page by page
Letter by letter
We read and read
Practice to get better
Book after book
Chapter by chapter
And they all end
"Happily ever after."

poem 6

"Perseverance"

Can you imagine the pain
They went through?
I have tried,
But each time,
All I can do is
Cringe.
How they survived is a
Complete enigma;
Well, truly, it was
God.
He saw them through
It all.
I pray He sees me through my
Pain, whatever it may be,
In my future, I believe
He's looking out for
Me.

poem 5

"Poetry"

Yesterday I wrote a poem that rhymed.
The day before, I didn't.
Most days, I probably won't
because poetry is not about rhyming to me.
It's about writing what flows through my head
in whatever format
I
so
choose
with little regard to the rigid rules of writing such as punctuation or CapiTALizAtioN.
(But I won't go to such extents as e.e. cummings).
To me,
this
is poetry.

poem 4

"Freedom"

If two plus two equals four,
and two plus one equals three,
then what do you think is necessary
for me to equal free?
Jesus says to trust in Him,
and by extension, God, our Father.
There's nothing that I can do alone,
so I shouldn't even bother.

I feel free when I dance in the rain.
I feel no pressure, only joy, no pain.
(Except when I tear my feet
on the slippery, cold concrete.)
My Jesus has made me free from sin,
from punishment and my evil nature within.
I thank him each and every day
for the freedom I have to go His way.

poem 3

"Rain"

Rain can make people crazy:
It may cause them to run in circles in their house,
Or stare longingly out the window,
Or run around and dance like crazy until a car passes,
Or sing songs about rain at the top of their lungs,
Or read an entire book in one sitting,
Or sleep the whole day away,
Or huddle in a dark corner, scared of lightning and thunderstorms,
Or twirl their umbrellas happily whilst splashing in puddles.

poem 2

"Wiper"

Gentle sprinkling raindrops, falling so softly they are almost unnoticed
Slowly dot the windshield until they cover my vision with spattering tears.
One simple switch, click, click, sweeps the black arm across the glass.
Windshield wipers to my rescue.

100 poems, 100 days

or something like that
following in the footsteps of my dear friend Alyssa

(inspired from Not Quite What I Was Planning and I Can't Keep My Own Secrets from SMITH magazine)

Six-Word Memoirs

Born September 1991. Reborn August 1995.
Eighteen years old, don't feel adult.
Danced. Tried gymnastics. Quit. Danced again.
Took van full of friends Thursdays.
Top 10 even without really trying.
Had to make decisions. God helped.
Dancing through injury created vast appreciation.
Inspired. Desire to inspire. Not sure.
Truly, all we need is love.
Jesus died for my sins; thanks.
Singing and dancing go together naturally.
Not resenting being called the ballerina.
Parents still together; no drama here.
Sometimes wish life was a musical.
No desire for boyfriend. No worries.
Trying to show Christianity through love.
Texas or England = places for me.
Like to think I fit somewhere.
Believe in love in many places.
Senior year; won't succumb to senioritis.
Vacation with mom 'cause dad won't.
Have not rebelled. Don't intend to.
Just don't understand most teenage drama.
Read too many books to remember.
Writing my prayers helps me concentrate.
Tomboy qualities from having older brother.
Usually can't justify cost of movies.
Would rather be dancing in rain.
My iPod will probably surprise you.
Would rather take pictures than pose.
Thank you for my life, God.
Eyebrows threaded once. Not worth it.
Hip hop dancer. Surprised? I bet.
My only instrument is my voice.
Only a little OCD about life.
3.5 years of Spanish. No hablo.
Finds great reward in teaching preschoolers.
Not afraid to say "Love you."
Not easily embarrassed. Laugh at myself.
Not ashamed when with true friends.
Could live on Taco Bell. No, really.
Prefer used books. They're well loved.
Sarcastic. Sometimes too much. Sorry. Really.
Learned to type when brother did.
Named after Dad's brother. Kinzie = Kinsey.
(At least Ketcher's name is weirder.)
Believe everything happens for God's reasons.

Wouldn't want there to be another me.

This is easier than I thought.
Pick one. These are my life.

Now that I'm 18 I can...

1. Buy cigarettes, lottery tickets, duck tape, and things off infomercials.

Awesome. I never intend to smoke, and I'll probably never gamble. I wasn't aware that duck tape was a banned substance, but apparently teenagers have been known to smoke it (what the junk? what is wrong with humanity?). Pretty much everything I like on infomercials ends up at Target or Bed, Bath, & Beyond anyway, so why pay the exorbitant shipping of an infomercial? Plus, I don't stay up that late anymore; I'm an old lady.

2. Go to actual jail.

So when I get in trouble for all of those bad things I do, I won't end up in juvie. I can go to the legit clinker. Sweetness.

3. Get the death penalty.

This is pointed out to me by a teacher I babysit for. What, does he think I'm going to end up killing one of his children one of these days? No; I do not think so.

4. Vote.

THIS IS ACTUALLY GOOD. :) The woman who mentioned this to me today said, "But only if you vote conservative Republican." Oh, I love her.

5. Serve alcohol.

If I ever decide I want to be a waitress, I will be able to assist my customers in getting drunk. But I will not be able to partake myself. I don't intend for alcohol to make it's way into my life just now, but thanks for playing.



Have I missed anything?

Birthdaaaaaay dress

Today I bought my birthday dress. :) I'll wear it for my partyyyy. The best part? It has pockets. <3

everybody's doin' it

torn between laughing and really excited
Jacob: I love you. I will miss your beautiful hair. Thank you for being so gorgeous and helpful and wonderful.
Bella: You're a freak. Although when you're having that nightmare I want to cry.
Alice: Why do you look older? PS why are you wearing a scarf around your head when you drive?
Edward: I don't believe those abs, but whatev, Bells still loves you, I guess.

November 20 please come quickly.
Oh, PS why did you just give the entire plot away?

dreary weekend

Or should we say dreary week? It's been raining for much of this week and today was especially muggy, though it thankfully stayed dry when I was driving.

But even in the rain, the sun always peeks through the clouds at some times. What made my week?

1. I put a bunch of Beatles music on my iPod and turned them on in the mornings on my way to school. It always put a smile on my face to start the day.

2. So You Think You Can Dance started this week, and I got to enjoy the first episode of auditions with some great friends of mine.

3. Ms Jessica, my hero, cut my hair. Goodbye nastiness, hello short cut. :) She also subbed my ballet class Thursday, and it was the first class I'd taken from her in over a year, so that was a real treat.

4. Emma and I shared my umbrella walking into school Thursday. I always love getting some use out of that umbrella; it was the perfect present from my secret Santa in Madrigals last year.

5. Speaking of Mads, we picked out our costumes this week. :) I'm so excited to dress up and sing Christmas carols.


Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Every Day Worthwhile

I started a new blog today called Every Day Worthwhile to have a place to share daily inspiration separate from my personal blog here. Go see!

Hey, this is my 51st post!

In celebration... 51 things that put a smile in my heart.

1. Parents
2. Brother
3. Cousins
4. My grandmother on facebook
5. Singing
6. Dancing
7. Watching other people dance (as long as it's not nasty)
8. Drinking Dr. Pepper
9. Eating queso
10. Driving
11. Reading cute blogs
12. When little kids sit on my lap and read with me
13. Pretty photography
14. Finding a great book
15. Rain
16. Hearing from old friends
17. Talking to people I love
18. Good dreams
19. Traveling
20. Smiles
21. Joyous laughter
22. Fried okra
23. Mac and cheese
24. Taco Bell
25. Poetry
26. Birthdays
27. Christmas
28. Coloring (especially on airplanes)
29. Kid movies
30. Curling up in a comfortable bed
31. My stuffed Horton that talks (he's what I asked for for Christmas last year)
32. Sunrises
33. Sunsets
34. Fireworks
35. Baking cakes
36. Madrigals
37. Getting out of school early
38. A sense of accomplishment
39. Getting my poof just right
40. New sweat pants
41. When my foot doesn't hurt
42. When I really, truly get it
43. Worship
44. Flowers
45. The smell of fresh cut grass, rain, and sawdust
46. Nerts
47. Text messages
48. VeggieTales
49. Interior design
50. Modern art
51. The fact that I just listed 51 things that make me happy

:) :) :)

Sorry for my absence

I haven't posted since the first day of school. Sorry. I guess nothing blog worthy has happened. After not being able to go to sleep at a sane hour that first week, this week I've been in bed by 9:30 or 10 every night, which has been AWESOME. Real sleep is such a great thing. Even with scary, scary dreams about snakes like I had last night. Also, my mom woke me up this morning at 6:45 and I was like, "Mom it's THUUUURRSDAAAAAY!" Uggh. But it was all good, I slept twenty more minutes or so and then got up and didn't have to rush to get ready for school. That's always nice.

The only other news I can think to report is......

CONNOR COMES HOME TOMORROW!


CONNOR COMES HOME TOMORROW!


CONNOR COMES HOME TOMORROW!!!

=] I'm so happy. I can't even explain it.

success! and lots of :)s

first period: calculus: yikes, so much trig review, but I'm sure it will be fine. :)
second period: english: finley was cracking me up. she wasn't what I expected, and I think I'm going to love her. :)
third period: a cappella: hello, duh, choir is awesome. :)
fourth period: madrigals: double duh, this is MADRIGALS. :)
fifth period: economics: I might be teacher's pet already... thanks Mr Duez for telling your wife about me. :)

and that was the end of the day. :) tutoring starts next Tuesday.

and for our picture of the day: lunch! schlotzskys! yum!

this is SEN10R year

Tomorrow begins the last year of high school.

What do we think about that?

I think it is going to be great. I don't want to waste a single second of my senior year. I want to enjoy it. I want to do well. I want to succeed. I want to figure out where I'm going, but I don't want to worry about where I'm going. I want to make a plan, but I don't want to force myself to stick to it when things begin to change. I don't want to dread going to class; I want to learn from my teachers and appreciate them. I don't want to deal with anybody's drama. I want choir to be nothing but enjoyable. I want dancing to be thrilling. I want to push myself to be a better person in every way possible. I want to learn, grow, experience, love, laugh, teach, smile, sing, dance, play, read and write. I want to have picnics. I want to go on adventures with my friends. I want to spend time with my family. I want to keep in touch with friends who've started college. I want to take beautiful pictures; I want to see the beauty in the world, every single day. I want to work hard. I want to earn what I get. I want to be surprised. I want to be inspired. I want to inspire. I want to make someone's day. I want this to be my best year yet.

Help me make it happen?

I'm betting on a great year. I love y'all. Let's do this.

late, again

I wasn't home at all yesterday, so here's a picture of the sky from my cousins' house.



Heading back over there now. :)

rain, rain, don't go away

There was a nice shower as I drove home from school this afternoon. I stayed outside and played and danced for a few minutes before coming into the house. :)

laundry day

My clothes that were in the drier didn't finish before I had to go to ballet, so my parents laid them out for me so they wouldn't wrinkle. Isn't that sweet?

it's still early, so pretend it's still yesterday

I was really busy yesterday. Two different babysitting jobs with a wal-mart run, baking a cake, laundry, and dance class in the middle.



my cousins :)

stay with us, for quickly falls the evening

The region choir music this year is very pretty. Naturally, the English songs are the hardest ones for me, hahaha, but I don't have to worry about those for the first round of auditions, so that's okay.

I've decided I'm going to try to take and post at least one picture every day. Sometimes it will have to do with whatever I'm doing that day. Sometimes it will just be something I like. Sometimes it might be completely random.

Happy Tuesday!

my goal for senior year

I want to make the little I can do just as meaningful as the much I used to do.

Things I <3 Thursday

I love: Happy Hour at Sonic where you can get a Route 44 lemonberry slush and a Route 44 vanilla DP for $1.99.

I love: Dancing in the rain. I got to do this yesterday during modern class.

I love: Showtunes.

I love: When people randomly do really sweet/cute things. Like yesterday morning, Dana brought me breakfast: a banana and a granola bar in a bag that read "Good Morning Kinsey! <3 Dana :)" So made my day.

I love: The thunder I am hearing right now. And the rain that is suddenly pouring outside my window. Texas weather is so great. Seriously. I'm not being sarcastic. I love it.

Kinsey is a licensed driver now!

As of yesterday, August 10, 2009, I can legally drive a car without my padre. :) It was really a blessing and a miracle that I got my license yesterday. We had to go to the bank first to get something notorized, and we figured we may as well try to get to the DPS; we got there 10 minutes before closing time and they gave me my license. Talk about shocked. I have yet to drive anywhere, hahahah, but I think I'm taking myself to work in half an hour. I'm excited! Almost 18, finally driving, haha, I'm a late bloomer, what can I say? ;)

Flight school today was long and boring. Took me almost 2 hours to get through everything, then stayed around to work in the choir room although there wasn't much to do... it will be busier the rest of the week probably though since there will be more new kids than there were senior day.

I have a couple of classes to teach this afternoon, and then my first ballet class of the year. :) Oh, I'm going to hurt tonight. Also, I'm wondering how my foot is going to feel... the plantar fasciitis hasn't been bothering me, but I've been wearing my pumas practically all summer, so I don't know what to expect. I think it will be alright. We'll see. :)

my weekend

I spent my weekend with a very good friend, one I haven't seen all summer, though we talk almost every day. But before I got to see her, I had work to do; fall classes started this week at the studio and I have preschoolers to turn into ballerinas! I taught three great classes Saturday morning, then enjoyed lunch with my family, finished my driver's education (yay! going to get my license later this week or next at the latest), and then got to spend the night with my dear friend. When I came home yesterday afternoon I got my room more organized; after orientation this week at school it will be time to figure out what kind of school supplies I still need to get.

This week I have to be up at school early every day to work in the choir room during orientation; today we got everything organized, set up, and ready. School starts in only two weeks! I can't believe how quickly this summer went by, or that I'm about to start my senior year of high school. Exciting! :)

continued NC overview

Monday was dedicated to Asheville. My aunt and unlce, mom, and I visited the Biltmore estate, this incredibly large, beautiful home of the Vanderbilt family. In my own words, they were disgustingly rich. The audio guide kept saying things like, "Most people did not have a toilet in their homes; the Vanderbilt's had 43," and, "Most people did not have electric lights in their homes; the Vanderbilt's had them underwater in their indoor pool in the basement." They also had two walk in refridgerators; most people used iceboxes. They had a two lane bowling alley, multiple kitchens, a beautiful library, and too many bedrooms to count, plus an electric dumb waiter and a call box in the pool room. Oh, and they're clocks were all wired to be exactly synchronized. After the Biltmore we met Tyler, Conner, and their friend Spencer at Moe's (delicious quesadillas, better than Mission Burrito, in my opinion). Even though I'd seen them just a week before at camp, it was a fun treat to see them in their new home. We also visited the Asheville Target store since Boone doesn't have one. Mom and I can't go long without Target. ;)

Tuesday was mostly spent in front of the Kodak Picture Maker in the Boone WalMart. Mom had some old photographs her brother wanted copies of, but all 25 had to be scanned in and then edited and cropped to make 4x6 prints (they were little square photos). The machine couldn't seem to figure out how to do a couple of the pictures; instead of doing them right (like all the others) it kept spitting out copies that were all red or all yellow. It knew it was doing them wrong though, so it kept trying, mostly unsuccessfully. Finally all the pictures were printed, but the stack of misprints outweighed the stack of good ones. We met my cousin's girlfriend and her daughter at dinner; they were super sweet.

Wednesday was our last day in Boone, so we went to Tweetsie Railroad to see the dog show--K9s in Flight. They were talented puppies, catching frisbies and jumping 25 feet into a pool of water. We rode the train and saw the cute, cheesy kids show that goes along with that before leaving. On the way to Lincolnton we stopped at Cone Manor and Blowing Rock for some more ice cream. It poured for the hour it took to get to Lincolnton. My aunt made delicious tacos and then we drove out to our old friends' house nearby. It had been six years or so since we'd seen them, and it was a nice reunion.

Today we just drove around Lincolnton, my aunt made homemade pizza, and then we headed to Charlotte to fly back to home sweet home. :)

North Carolina overview--so far

North Carolina has been absolutely beautiful, despite the rather large amount of rain we have received; it has been nice rain, not torrentous thunderstorms. I don't want to share pictures until I'm home (it is so much easier to resize on my computer than on Mom's laptop) so today is just a brief description of all the stuff we've done. It has been my kind of vacation; I have gotten to sleep in somewhat, and we have done so much fun stuff.

Tuesday we arrived in Charlotte. My aunt and uncle (on my dad's side of the family) picked us up and drove us to their house in Lincolnton, then loaned us their extra car so we could drive the rest of the way to Boone. We used a map that my cousin, Adam, drew us about ten years ago and made it to my aunt and uncle's (on my mom's side) house.

Wednesday we picked up Chic-fil-a and took it to my aunts office at Tweetsie (the kids' amusement park she works at here). Then we drove around town with my cousin, Amy. We ate barbeque at a place called Bandanas and then got Kilwins ice cream in Blowing Rock.

Thursday my uncle arranged for me to be part of a tour at Appalachion State University, where he works. Amy is a student there, so we had a mini tour with her--we ate lunch at one of the cafes on campus, then did the official tour. The school is really nice; I like it a lot. Though, like my dad told me later on the phone, I'm going to like everywhere. I got a hoodie on clearance at their bookstore (that is the way I shop, haha). My uncle took us to hike at a beautiful place called the cascades while my aunt made a yummy dinner.

Friday we had quiznos before driving to Ashe county to visit the Church of the Frescoes, a really neat craft store, and the Ashe County Cheese Factory (where we got not only really good cheese, but all kinds of delicious snack food and coke in a glass bottle). We got to see my cousin, Justin's, cabin on our way back; he met us in Valle Crucis for a picnic of KFC in the park.

Saturday we got up earlier and went to the Watauga County Farmer's Market where my uncle got me a scrumptious whole wheat cinnimon roll. Then we drove up to Grandfather Mountain where they have sort of a zoo and a swinging bridge that's a mile above sea level and hiking trails. I fed bears (they can catch the food in their mouths if you throw it right). :) My cousin, Sara, and her boyfriend came up from Asheville and we went to a mexican restaurant that I was super impressed with.

Today we celebrated Amy's birthday, even though it was a while back (she was out of town). There were about 14 people here for lunch. This evening we walked around Bass Lake which was very nice. Amy, her boyfriend, my mom, and I played several games of Yahtzee. I did pretty badly until the last game which I managed to win. I also got to talk to my cousin, Adam. He's the only one of the five cousins on this side of the family that we don't get to see, because he lives all the way out in California instead of good old North Carolina now.

See? Fun. :)

the blessing called Camp Klema

Blessing is the word I have come up with to describe my experience at church camp this past week. We arrived home Friday afternoon, but we had family here this weekend and my mother and I are preparing to leave the state again tomorrow, so I have unfortunately been too busy to sit down and type out a proper retelling of my week. It included a lot of sitting in hard chairs, sweating in Texas summer heat, and making sure not to step in ant piles. It also included sharing a cabin with girls that I love, hearing some great teaching, and singing and experiencing some of the best worship I have ever felt. The food was decent; not amazing, but definitely not bad for camp food. I liked having a few hours of free time each day, rather than scheduled "activities" or "recreation." We swam, walked through the woods, canoed, watched kids get blobbed, and watched a lot of random funny games that teenage boys make up when they're bored, including one that I believe was called Ninja Destruction.

Some people--a lot of people--go to church camp and have this time away and so Father shows them something amazing. He teaches them something they need to know, reveals something they've wanted to know, convicts them--always for their benefit. But this camp, for me, I think was simply a gift from Him. I left my cell phone and my iPod at home; I didn't have to keep in contact with anyone. I had a week away from the chaos and drama and worries and junk that go on in daily life to just soak in His presence. And one of the main reasons I went to camp was to really make these kids my church family, because I'd been lacking that since freshman year, and I know that I need it, no matter how good my home life is, how Christian my parents are, I need more than them.

I was sad not to go to Arts Camp with my dance friends; especially after hearing their stories, but I don't regret making the decision to go to church camp instead. Father could easily have spoken to me through either one, but Arts Camp would not have taken me away like church camp did. I made the right decision.

I even left my camera at home, so I don't have any pictures to share with you. Amusingly, the camp was somewhere I had actually been before. Quite a few years ago, our former youth pastor at GFBC, Tim, took us one Saturday to a ropes course--turns out that it was at this camp. :) Ah, familiarity, haha.

Camp Klema

Church camp begins today. :) I'll be back Friday afternoon, probably with plenty of stories.

Praying this is a great week for all involved.

<3

Okay, detail time. HBP ramblings alert.

If you continue to read this post, you will encounter several Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince spoilers. In fact, that is just about all you will stumble upon for the rest of this entry. If you have not yet seen the movie and do not wish to have its secrets revealed to you, I advise you to stop reading now.

Still with me? Want to know what I thought about the movie?

One more chance to turn back. This is it.

(via google image search)

Okay, I love Harry Potter. I do; I admit it; I know I'm a nerd. I've read the books more than once, own the movies and have seen them over and over. But as much as I enjoy them, I also very much enjoy laughing at them. So, in no particular order, these are many of the thoughts I had while watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today for the first time. They're not deep and they're probably not worth reading, but if you're interested, enjoy.

-What the heck is Harry thinking reading the Daily Prophet in some random Muggle cafe?? Hello--breaching the secrecy laws much there, kid? And flirting with the waitress? Where did that come from? That is so random! And Dumbledore's just like, "Oh sorry dude, but we've got places to go."

-Also, Dumbledore, awkward to the extreme: walk into Slughorn's house, clean up, "Gotta pee." Dumbledore should not use words like "loo."

-The Burrow was awesome.

-I totally did not mind Luna getting Tonks' role of rescuing Harry from the train. As evidenced by my earlier post, I quite like Luna Lovegood. Also having her notice that Harry put the lucky potion into Ron's drink (or thought he did) was nice. Just gave her a bit more time, and gave us a chance to see the lion hat that is so beautifully Luna.

-Also very much liked Ginny. Except in the scene where she hides the book. That was dumb. Harry totally got away with almost killing Malfoy? I don't think so. And it didn't allude to Ravenclaw's diadem like it was supposed to. But then again... Harry never finds out he may need to look for something of Ravenclaw's. OMG IF THEY LEAVE XENOPHILIUS LOVEGOOD OUT OF DEATHLY HALLOWS SOMEONE IS GOING DOWN.

-The astronomy tower was also really, really neat looking. But lol at the end when Harry's like, "Wow it's really pretty; I never noticed!" Yeah Harry, that's because you've never been to this tower before.

-Tom Felton was brilliant. I do not like Malfoy. I do not feel sorry for him. But he was played perfectly, I thought. And I still like his clothes. And his mom was pretty brilliant. I was very glad they kept that scene (though Narcissa wasn't nearly hysterical enough). I was expecting Snape's house to get cut from the movie, but I was rather thrilled to watch him slam the door shut on Wormtail. :)

-Oppositely, I greatly disliked Dumbledore. Now, I'm not enamored by Dumbledore anyway, but I just really can't seem to like the way Michael Gambon plays him. I was not pleased with his performance at his death, although I thought everyone else did very well. I did like him in the cave, but that was about the only time. He really gets on my nerves in this book as well, though. And it really, really annoys me that Gambon rarely ever wears the Dumbledore glasses. Every time I think of Dumbledore, I think of those half moon spectacles, and somehow it doesn't seem to be Dumbledore without them.

-Freddie Stroma was sadly not given enough of a role to really play Cormac McLaggon to the extent of the obnoxiousness McLaggon possesses, but I thought he did brilliantly.

-Jessie Cave did a good job with Lavender Brown, but she wasn't what I imagined. She was excruciatingly annoying. And I'm sad that she just seemed to be some random character, since she hasn't been included in the movies so far.

-I was really confused because there were those twins, but they weren't the Patil twins, but the Patil twins were credited though I never noticed them in the movie, so I thought those other girls were supposed to be the Patil twins, and I couldn't figure out why the heck they couldn't keep the same actresses. But the internet movie database is rather helpful in at least clearing up some confusion, if not all.

-These movies really do an awful job of explaining things. I do understand, I suppose, why so much of Dumbledore's lessons with Harry were cut out because honestly, it was a lot of talking and it would not have made for an exciting movie, but still. In the book, Harry has a darn good idea of what he's looking for, whereas the movie leaves him with NOTHING to go on as to what the horcruxes might be. So I wonder how they've dealt with that for The Deathly Hallows. Also Tonks, why are you looking like that when you can look like whatever you want and "Sweetheart"? Really? Okay, sure. When was that supposed to have happened, eh? (Though I love Tonks and Lupin; it was just awkward in this movie.) BY THE WAY HARRY YOU INHEIRITED GRIMMAULD PLACE AND KREACHER AND HE'S GONNA BE REALLY HELPFUL NEXT MOVIE. The only reason I can come up with for them including Kreacher in The Order of the Phoenix movie is because of his role in The Deathly Hallows, because in OotP they didn't even let him carry out his purpose (lie to Harry about Sirius leaving the house, causing Harry to rush to the Ministry). But I suppoe the CG money ran out for this movie.

-Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! Beautiful! :D

-The love potioned Ron! Hilarious! :D

-Harry "on" the Felix Felicis! Amazing! :D I read an article the other day about how this was more like the real Dan Radcliffe, hyper. Hahaha.

-The Inferi! Terrifying! They were great. Crawling out of the water onto the island they totally looked like an army of Gollums. Hahaha.

-So, y'know, I remember there being a battle of sorts at Hogwarts whilst Malfoy/Snape if offing Dumbledore. A battle in which a certain Bill Weasley gets rather injured by Fenrir Greyback (who disappointed me...looked nothing like I expected), but all is well because the lovely Felur Delacour, his bride-t0-be, does not mind and therefore earns Mrs. Weasley's respect and affection. Ring any bells? Again, wonder what they've done to account for that next movie, seeing as how the trio escapes from the wedding when Death Eaters attack it and begin their big adventure.

-Instead, Bellatrix (who is played wonderfully) is just going to walk along the table (why are they even in there?) and set Hagrid's house on fire. Okay. Sure.

-I suppose it isn't really that important why/how Snape is the Half-Blood Prince. At least they told us. I'll be happy for that slight explanation.

-Sort of like after seeing OotP I was pleased that they lessened Harry's angsty yelling crap, I was okay with the lack of obsession with Draco Malfoy and figuring out who the "Prince" was.

-LOL SHE HAS NICE SKIN!

-Another PS: aren't they supposed to be learning how to apparate? (This is a rhetorical question. Yes, they are supposed to be learning, I'm almost done re-reading the book.) They'll have to magically (no pun intended) know how by the next movie. There's rather a lot of apparition in Deathly Hallows.

I don't at all expect everything in the book to be included in the movie, nor do I think it should be. I loved the movie, I really did.

OKAY THAT'S OUT OF MY SYSTEM! :D I really liked the movie and I want to go see it again, probably next weekend when I get home from camp. (Oh yeah, I'm going to camp all week with my church. Should be fun; I haven't been to a church camp since 8th grade.)

Luna

So I finally saw HP6. More on that later, but can I just mention that I love Luna Lovegood?

Yes, yes, I do.

Topicless

I do not know what I wish to write about

I only know that I wish to write

The desire to put letters together on paper to form words

(to type letters words lines on a keyboard)

is irresistible.

From where does this need come

?

Whose idea was it, originally, to write

to use paper as a memory aide

a way to pass things on

a method of sharing

...words.stories.life.

I will be forever grateful for the ability to read and write.

The connection our brains make to decipher symbols/letters and understand their meaning...

think about it.

Really, think about it.

It's awesome.astounding.marvelous.indescribable.

Words: the written representations of spoken sounds

(says my dictionary; who else am I to ask but that grand authority/guru?)

No longer topicless;

the topic shall always be the words that are

written.shared.remembered.

PS: a pretty picture for your enjoyment. outside a hotel room in Fredericksburg, TX

Malfoys

Yes, they're evil, nasty, cruel, and fictional characters. Yes, they're heartless Death Eaters. Yes, they deserve all sorts of punishment.

But have you ever noticed just how wonderful their clothes are? They are my favorite dressed characters in the Harry Potter movies.

Note example: Draco poster for HBP

Note much better example: Papa

Although his dress is deplorable here, but that's to be expected, considering the location.

Hahahaha.

Wow I am on such a Harry Potter kick lately. I sort of can't believe the movie comes out next week. :)

(pictures curtesy of mugglenet and google image search)

Bellatrix Lestrange?

I am not remembering where this comes in in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...

Though I must admit, I think the way the death eaters move, in their swirly, black smoke, is rather awesome.

Bubble Umbrella!

(stripe bubble umbrella from target)

I absolutely love bubble umbrellas! They are so cute. I'd love to own one... and I'd especially love to walk down the rainy streets of London carrying one over my head. The only thing that disappoints me about them is that they cannot come in travel size. Here in Texas we never know when we're going to get a sudden downpour, though we have not had much rain at all yet this summer, and the cute little umbrella I carry in my purse comes in handy often. The last few times I've been in Target I've seen these cute umbrellas; pretty soon I may find myself the proud owner of one. :)

Falling in love with Flickr

This week I have been working hard on the website for my dance studio. I have never used Dreamweaver before, indeed, I hardly know how to use a Mac, but I mostly figured it out. Today, one of the tasks involved was to update the Photo Album page of the site. Whoever built the site had included a page with several photos, but it was slow to load and not organized very well, so I decided to take a different route--Flickr!

I had never before used a Flickr.com account of my own; but I had browsed pictures there before and knew that it would be a nice way to share the studio's photos without dragging down people's browsers. So I created an account and uploaded pictures from the studio computer. Now, Profusion's Flickr page is up and running! And it was so nice and simple that I came home and made one for my own pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it updated with all of my favorite pictures. So far it includes my NYC pictures, a series I took in London of bicycles, and my fireworks shots from the past few years of July 4 celebrations. (I wonder why I have no pictures of New Year's fireworks?)

I feel like I'm selling something. But truly, I'm loving Flickr. :)

Bedtime

No, not right now, silly. It's 4:30 in the afternoon! I mean that I'm looking for a new bed. I grew up sleeping in a rickety brass trundle bed that I was never very fond of, not unlike the rest of my bedroom furniture. My parents apparently expected me to be more of a girl than I was/am. So finally, just a few years back, my parents agreed to let me get rid of the bed. (The rest of the furniture was my mother's growing up, so it remains.) For a while I slept simply on my two mattresses stacked up on the floor, until last summer when my brother came home from school with the borrowed frame a friend had let him use that year. Ketcher has a bed of his own at home, so the frame naturally went into my room. But this fall, that friend needs his bed back, so I am to be left with simply mattresses again, and I have decided that I rather enjoy having a bed. So I'm hoping to get a new one. So far my favorites are from IKEA (of course) but Mom and I will go to the stores soon I expect.

(http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70160839)

(http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00120597)

Friends

During my vacation, I reconnected with two girls I had not seen in years. The three of us were friends in preschool, but Hailey (right) moved away to Ohio before we started kindergarten, and Jacqueline (left) relocated to Pennsylvania during elementary school. We have seen each other a few times since their sad departures, but we have never all been together again, until now. It was a short meeting, but it was enjoyable. The ways we have all changed make me wonder if we would have become the same people if we had always been together, or if we would even have remained friends. As it is, I love them, and I love the way I have become who Father wants me to be. I am thankful to still know them, however distantly, because I hate loosing contact with people. The Michael W. Smith song comes to mind called "Friends." Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them.

Happy 4th of July, America!

Okay, since the formatting is so terrible on my NYC post, I'm going to try to keep things simple here. I hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day. Mine was quite nice. I shopped with my mom and then ate dinner and observed fireworks with a great friend. The fireworks did not last as long as I would have liked, but they are expensive, and I was watching for free, so I cannot complain. Here are a few of my favorite shots; taking pictures of fireworks can be tricky. Again, the rest of the pictures can be found on my facebook.

Vacation 2009

Between my mother and myself, we took over thirteen hundred photos on our vacation to Ohio/New Jersey/New York City. I sifted through and chose just over one hundred to post on my facebook. I have chosen only six to share here.


Central park was not at all what I expected. For one thing, it is enormous. For another thing, there are giant rocks all over the place that are absolutely fantastic. We only made it through about half the park; we turned around after visiting the museums of Natural History and the Met. Isn't this couple cute in their rowboat? Also, I only wish it was this GREEN here in the deep, hot south. It is beautiful.

Across the street from Ground Zero, we visited St. Paul's Chapel, and cute little church that survived the September 11 attacks despite the close proximity to the Towers. Throughout the chapel memorials have been erected to the lost loved ones of the terrorist attacks. Countless paper cranes, patches of fire and police uniforms, pictures, cards, and signs are very nicely organized along the walls, leaving all the pew space empty for services. This is the front window and gorgeous chandelier. The cemetery behind the church was also very breathtaking.





This probably looks familiar, but we stumbled upon it while trying to find a bus that would take us back uptown; I am so very glad we did. The sign reads:
THE CROSS AT GROUND ZERO
FOUNDED SEPT. 13, 2001
BLESSED OCT. 4, 2001
TEMPORARILY RELOCATED OCT. 5, 2006
WILL RETURN TO WTC MUSEUM A SIGN OF COMFORT FOR ALL

We did not visit Ellis Island, but we rode the Staten Island Ferry in order to get lovely shots of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. And the ferry ride was a very nice opportunity to rest our aching feet.










The Metropolitan Museum of Art was delightful and I especially enjoyed the roof. A large, steel, modern art sculpture dominated and there were views of the treetops of Central Park and protruding skyscrapers of various buildings. Does the sky look ominous? It rained the majority of the time we were in the city, but I am a fan of rain, and it only downpoured once. :)




Last but very far from least, a shot of Times Square. I chose one featuring the poster for In the Heights because that is the musical I chose to see, and it was a good decision. The storyline, music, and especially dancing was fantastic; I really wanted to see something I had never seen before, or even heard the music to. It was something totally knew and it did not disappoint me at all. Times Square was exactly what I expected, full of people, sounds, colors, and life. I loved it.




All in all, our trip was a ton of fun. I cannot wait to get back to New York City.




but PS: London wins, no contest. :)

also PS: Sorry the formatting is so bad... I'll work on that for my next post of pretty fireworks from tonight. :)

Sorry that it has been such a long time.

But tonight I want to share with you.

Philippians 1:1

I thank my God every time I remember you.

This applies to so many people in my life. I have been blessed with amazing relationships; parents who love Father and have taught me from birth about His love, teachers who genuinely care about me, dance instructors with passion for sharing Father's love through our movement, friends who will do anything for me. I am so grateful for all the amazing people Father has let influence my life, in one way or another. I love y'all.

Mom's home, so NYC post with pictures soon, I promise.

NYC

I spent last weekend in New York City. :) It was a ton of fun. Details and pictures will come next week when my mum gets home with them.

spanked

Proverbs 23:13-14 says Do no withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.

There is such debate over whether or not it is right to spank children, and I'm just wondering, were you spanked as a child? We were. Ketcher and I were decent kids; I think our most common misdemeanor was fighting with each other. But we were spanked, and we turned out okay. =] It was always worse to have Dad spank us than Mom, because Dad used his belt and Mom only used a wooden spoon. And I don't remember how old we were when we stopped receiving this punishment.

Today I have a dentist appointment, then I am spending some time with friends before I head out tomorrow. My preschool classes at the studio start today, too. =]

Psalm 9:1-3

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.

Stop and think for a minute about what Father created. This earth is incredible. The way my heart pumps and my lungs inflate and my eyes blink baffles me. God takes care of His children. That's us. He created each and every human being and He loves each one fully and equally. He protects and defends us, provides and cares for us, loves us, cherishes us, guides us. If we let Him. It's simple and beautiful.

I'll sum this up with a song from Desperation Band, "Amazed."

You dance over me, while I am unaware.

You sing all around, but I never hear the sound.

Lord I'm amazed by you.

Lord I'm amazed by you.

Lord I'm amazed by you, how you love me.

How wide, how deep, how great is your love for me.

I hope summer is treating everyone well. So far mine has been very enjoyable. I teach my first dance classes tomorrow, then leave for Ohio, New Jersey, and NYC on Tuesday. =]