Happy thanksgiving!

I cannot WAIT for pumpkin pie tomorrow! *highlight of my thanksgiving*

I got home tonight... I've been sitting around watching TV all evening waiting for my family to get back from checking on the animals. I did get the dishwasher loaded and ran/walked 1.58 miles on the treadmill! So it wasn't a total loss.

Ahh.. I LOVE Carol of the Bells! I love being home! I love good food! I love my family! I love going to school with amazing people... and most of all, I love my JESUS! I had a long-put-off conversation with Him tonight. I listen to people tell about their spiritual life, and how awesome it is to spend time in prayer, and what a wonderful 'worship experience' they had in chapel, and I get so ENVIOUS! I'm lazy, and I put off my devotions, I put off talking to God, I put off getting right with Him... I end up feeling far away - which makes it so much easier to stumble. Maybe I can make a Thanksgiving day resolution to end this apostasy? (new word I learned at school! :-D)

Anyway, I rode home with two fantastic girls. Funnily enough, I met one five years ago and thought she was nice, and when I met her 'again' when school started, I decided I didn't care very much for her. How stupid am I? Now that I've gotten to know her better, she's my hero. When she has problems with the other girls, they no sooner leave the room than she gets on her knees. And even better - it makes things HAPPEN!

I want to be like that. Someday...

"Christmas dooooooooon't be late!"

I wrote this last night, and now I'm posting it:

I'm finally getting time to write! Tonight we have a Mission Meeting and a big meeting to plan for an upcoming banquet... I'm excited! But I have a few hours to spare, so I'm going to try and work on a couple of papers and catch up with a Certain Someone. :-)
Last night at devos, we a great guest speaker. She talked about Eve, and brought up something that has never in my life occurred to me!She pointed out that we need to know our weaknesses, and where we are most vulnerable to Satan's attacks, and make a plan of action to combat these weaknesses! (You can probably figure out where Eve messed up...)
I need to understand what my weaknesses are, and start making a stand against them. I struggle with gossiping, comparing myself, avoiding confrontation (something I worked on yesterday, which I'll tell about in a minute!), lusting, and wasting my time away dreaming about the future, particularly in regard to my future husband!
Definitely typical teenage girl struggles. Yet somehow, it has never occurred to me to specifically list ways I can avoid them.
-Shut up. When I open my mouth to start talking about someone, I need to just SHUT IT!

-TALK. At the same time, when something/someone bothers, I do everything I can to avoid talking to them about. I need to learn to talk to people about things - AND let it go, especially when it's not even something worth mentioning!

-TALK some more. I'm a big people-watcher. Instead of talking to the people around me, I'll stare at everyone going by and think of all the reasons I wish I was like them! Disgusting! I need to start paying attention to what's going on near me. I've wasted a lot of time that I could have used getting to know my classmates better!

-The next one is similiar... instead of reading a book or finding someone to hang out with, I'll curl up for a nap and instead of sleeping, try to decide what last names I like best with my first name. :-D I start daydreaming about being married and getting to have babies and end up cranky because I'm sick of NOT having those things!
Anyway... I'm going to try and find some verses to learn, and maybe I can begin to put to a halt to these things. I've improved a LOT since I was in middle school and guilty of those terrible habits almost 24/7, but I still have a long ways to go.
Yesterday I did one of the hardest things I've ever done, even though when I think about it, it wasn't THAT hard!My roommates and I met with our dorm head... we got several things talked over. I still plan on moving out, but at least I don't have to feel guilty for never talking to my roommate about her problems. I think she'd be very upset and hurt to come out of college and then have someone tell her that her personality needs major adjustments, and realize that we all kept our mouths shut.
I don't think she understood, though. Oh well. We're meeting again next week.
My mom is coming in two days! And my sisters! It's going to be a FABULOUS weekend!!!

*End post*

I am sad:

I have a fat lower lip, and I have no idea why. But it hurts!

I am wearing a poncho today, and although it's cute and soft and warm, it's SO AWKWARD! So I think it is going to the back of my closet.

I am HAPPY!

My mom and sisters are coming tomorrow!

Snow is here, really here, which means CHRISTMAS is coming!
The girls' dorm is hosting a banquet in just 6 days!

I had a cheesecake cup with blueberries last night!

Yeah... that's about it!

Here's my cute little cousins and I, 12 or 13 years ago. I'm the one in the cow outfit :-)

Fall is here!

Oh my goodness! The days are flying by!

So much stuff is going on... there's midterms this week, so I'm going to be busy studying for them. I started getting sick last night, so I don't feel very good today. In a bit I have to go work, and then I have a voice lesson, and then tonight we're off to church!

Tomorrow night I'm getting my hair cut.. yay!

I got a betta fish the other night... he is purple and blue and his name is Wentworth Alexander Cornelius Fernando the Violet! After Wentworth Miller, of course.

The Bible keeps getting more and more interesting to me... it is definitely true that once you train your mind to look for things, you can find more. I think I've finally reached that point, and when I start discussing the things I find with my roommates, I can often figure out an answer to my questions - or at least possibilities! I'm really excited with all I've been learning. There's so much stuff that I just can't believe I didn't know before - it's like, DUH!

Winter is coming - sad! When I go to breakfast in the dark every morning, the ground is all crunchy and a minty green color. I guess it's time to break out my favorite mittens :-)

It's Friday!

Yay! It's the weekend again! Tonight I'm going to my first Twins game.. so that should be fun :-)

This week I worked... helped out at the after school program at a church Tuesday and Thursday, and taught a class of little kids on Wednesday night at another church! Then on Sunday I'll be going to church elsewhere, and then visiting a youth group at a different church that afternoon.. wow!

Anyway... last night, one of the international students was telling us about a sermon she heard. And I'm sure it's really hard to translate a metaphor into a different language and have it make sense, but she did a great job! It was about how we need to turn on the light for people - when you've been in the dark and someone turns on the light, you squint and don't like it - it hurts! But it is, of course, good. Just like when you see the light of Jesus! I loved that.

So... we've been studying lots of interesting stuff in class, but I need to go get my clothes out of the dryer (I finally had two hours in my day to do laundry!) and then maybe do some actual work... haha.

Being sick stinks...

I'm still sick. I don't feel as rotten as I did on Friday, but this cold majorly stinks. And my roommates are gone, so I have nothing to do!

Time for an evening of online game-playing :-D

At least there's the Bible study tonight - I'm looking forward to that.

I went to Target yesterday to get cold medicine. They wouldn't sell it to me. I had to get my roommate to buy it - they didn't want to sell it to her, either, because she's not 21, but she got disgusted and demanded to know how they expected college students to get medicine. YEAH!

RIDICULOUS. Utterly ridiculous. What is this world coming to?

Let's see... I haven't really been learning anything from the Bible lately. Does that mean I'm just getting lazy? I think my spiritual, God-is-everything-I-need self went on vacation. What's that called again? I forget. Anyway, I'm thinking I should go spend some time with God, as long as I'm all alone. There's a reason for everything, right?

It's late.......

The last few days, I've been waking up at bizarre hours, getting dressed, and leaving my room before I realize it's wayyy too early to get up! The other day it was just after midnight... yeesh!

And I'm beginning to suspect that I have tonsillitis.. I'm gonna call my mom in the morning and see what she thinks. I feel so rotten!

Work is good... today I got to grade a verse quiz the seniors took :-D

And... I straightened a guy's hair. (It was much better curly!)

And I almost slept through supper.

And that was my day. It was not a particularly good one.

Busy busy busy!

I have a life! Wow! And the days are picking up speed... I hardly have time to breath from 6am-3pm most days - and I'm trying to work out volunteering at an after-school program 3 days a week!
I love it, though! I got the job, and it's great. I've been filing and sharpening pencils and sorting mail and doing inputting on the computer... exciting stuff! Lol, just kidding.

Some of my classes just keep getting more and more boring, and some keep getting better and better. I LOVE Youth Ministry, because it's the one that might actually help with whatever career I go into! Now I'm considering going to Northwestern or Bethel for a ministry degree... and as determined as I was to only come here one year, it looks like it might end up being 2!

I'm just not sure - I have kept coming back to social work as the career I want for about 6 years... now I'm starting to wonder again. Figuring out what God wants is hard!
At least I don't have to think about it until January.

Anyway, I got on the computer to do homework, and after an hour.... nothing done. So I'm gonna get to it!

Life is good...

Life is going great! I realized that a big reason I'm not homesick at all is because at home I was stressing out all the time - particularly over leaving for school - and now that I'm at school, I have nothing to worry about at all! This could end up being the best nine months of my life!

And God being God, he's taken care of every little detail :-) I wasn't planning to get a job, since I didn't have a car, but there is a strong possibility I'll be getting to work as an office assistant for a couple of hours every afternoon... I can't express how excited I am!!
My roommate and I are going to start having a game night every other Saturday... and if I do get this job, I can bring food! Which will in turn bring people! LoL.

We are also going to get fish, at some point.

Last night we headed off to a church to check out their Wednesday night activities... and the children's ministry director put us in charge of the 1st-3rd graders! They are so cute, and it's going to be a blast teaching them (I can't figure out how serving God and doing these things you're 'supposed' to do in the body of Christ can be so much FUN!).

The first night we just watched, though, and got to know them. And I am amazed at how much being involved in a children's summer ministry program taught me... I really don't want to go back to it, now that I've realized how strict and extreme the director is, and I was skeptical that those three summers had not really been all that good for me - but watching a middle school teacher try to keep these kids under control (it did not happen!) it suddenly clicked with me how much we were taught, especially with keeping little kids quiet and calm, making stories interesting for them, etc, etc. So I can't wait to try and put this stuff into practice!

We also dyed our hair last night... it was a good time.
The boy who sits next to me in class has a crush on me, and he's driving me nuts! He was ready to dig in my pockets to find my cell phone to play with today... I pulled it out as fast as I could and gave it to him!
I'm trying to figure out how to deal with him... he is just driving me crazy. I'm afraid I might explode by Halloween! :-P
Funnily enough, two years ago, this was the kind of guy I was totally interested in - funny and cute. Now I am just majorly annoyed. I joked to a girl in the same plight as me - with the same boy... - that we "gotta get boyfriends!" but then I realized that's probably not the answer (duh!). It most likely is not a good idea to get in a relationship within a month of starting Bible school!

So now I have to try and keep that mindset, and not be in a hurry. I feel really dumb, because I'm 'doing it again'! I promise God that 'this time' my heart is all His, and I'm going to be totally focused on serving him... and then WHOMP, I meet a few cute guys and my brain goes into "must find future husband!" mode. UGH!

There's one in particular I'm having a hard time not focusing on. Whenever I take a step back, I'm horrified - I haven't said more than a few words to this guy, and I'm reading into every time I make eye contact with him! I'm already getting way too emotionally involved, so I'm trying to figure out if I have to step away completely and avoid him, or if I can just work really hard at getting to know him and not daydreaming and make it work that way.

Aghhh... again, I'm making too big of a deal about this. Time to sit back and let God do things the way they ought to be done!

I'm back!

Hi again! It's been a few days. I started at AFLBS.. and as nervous as I was, I have been FINE. It's so weird! I love it here - I can't imagine being back home. I get along great with my roommates - they know half my life story by now! - and I've met TONS of people! I've gotten to talk - a little bit - to all my distant cousins, too, so I'm glad for that. It's funny how I've known of these people forever and now, almost two decades into my life, I'm finally getting to know them!

But most importantly - I've been learning SO MUCH from the Bible! I've never spent so much time or worked so hard at studying it - I've been spending several hours a day studying it and books about it, because I want to get all my assignments done and relax for the rest of the semester! And all the stories I heard when I was growing up are falling into place... it's amazing, now I finally understand how God brought Abraham to Canaan, and promised it to his descendants - and then did end up bringing the Israelites back there, just like he said he would!

I've also been learning about inductive study... tonight I just finished a book called "How to Study Your Bible" - or something like that - by Kay Arthur. It's GREAT! I went over 2 Peter the way she says to, and it made sooo much more sense - inductive study is about studying the Bible to learn what the author was trying to say, and why God wanted it in the Bible, and not studying it just to get whatever you need out of it.

Anyway... that about sums up my first week here. Maybe pictures later!

Dress-up and Movies!

All right! I've been so busy I haven't been able to post lately.

First, there are a couple movies I watched that I've gotta talk about!

When I saw the commercials for House Bunny, I was not interested at all. I hate everything related to Hugh Hefner. But one of my best friends came up to see a couple of days before I left, and she wanted to see a movie as a fun last-day-together thing. And we totally forgot about checking times before we went! (Thank goodness for the new big theater that isn't too far away!)

And the only movie on was the House Bunny... so we watched it. It actually wasn't too bad. It had almost the exact same plot as Sydney White - gorgeous girl doesn't fit into the big sorority at school, and ends up with the losers, and transforms them into wonderful people. The big difference is that said girl happens to be a playboy bunny.

It's definitely not a movie that guys should see - Anna Faris has NO modesty whatsoever! But my friend and I loved that, after her character fixed up the 'losers', they actually ended up deciding that they didn't want to be her clones, but they didn't want to be invisible like before, either. So they work on being themselves, without being too frumpy or too preppy. That was nice :-)

Another movie I didn't want to see was What Happens In Vegas. I love Ashton Kutcher, I think he's one of the funniest actors ever, but his movies are so gross! I'm NOT watching that last one he did, A Lot Like Love. The plot is that he meets a stranger, sleeps with her, and then they go back to their loved ones - but just can't stop thinking about each other!

Tough.

Anyway, I watched What Happens In Vegas the other day, and it's actually pretty good. I've been waiting for a movie like this to come out! A guy and a girl accidentally get married (aka, they were drunk.) Then they win the lottery, and a big fight over the money ensues.

Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz are great together! It's hilarious... the funny tricks they pull made me laugh until I cried. She tries to teach him to leave the toilet seat down... so he removes it entirely!

Now I'm watching Enchanted.. that's another great movie! Finally, a princess movie (besides the good old Disney Classics) that is just really GOOD! With one exception. The girl has the most ANNOYING voice, and she's cooing and shrieking and gasping throughout the whole movie... honestly. And the "Ahhhahhh ahhh ahh," singing makes me want to cover my ears!

Otherwise, love it. I think it has a message for everyone... I think people make marriage too complicated. I know it isn't easy, but I think it's ridiculous that people feel they need to date around in their teenage years and college years, and then date the person they're 'serious' about for several years, and then live together for several more before they get married.
I think it would be awesome if people would start marrying right out of high school, and divorce became illegal (with exceptions, of course). Or something like that. Maybe people need to take it more seriously, not less. Hmm.

Anyway, this message I'm speaking of... the girl and guy meet and realize they are perfect for each other. They get separated, and although people are trying to convince the girl that her guy is never going to show up, she knows he'll come someday!

She's appalled at how lackadaisical (sp?) the other man she meets is towards his almost-fiance, and starts to cry when she meets a couple and finds out they're getting divorced!

She's kind of an airhead, but it would be great if everyone got this upset about divorce! And it can't hurt for little kids to see that divorce really is a big deal...

I love the end! She ends up switching guys... her 'prince' ends up with the almost-fiance, and she and the 'new guy' fall in love. So I guess that means that the person you think is your true love isn't always the one God has for you?

Anyhow, I'm at Grandma's for a few days with Mom and my sisters - we're going to hang out for a few days and then go to AFLBS. I got all of my stuff at Walmart the other day... it was pretty exciting! I've never gotten so much stuff there at once! Abby and Sarah helped me pick it out... then it was pouring rain outside... honestly, I've never had a more fun late-night shopping trip!

The day before we left, we got all dressed up and took a ton of pictures! Here are some of my favorites...

Abortion is the SICKEST THING EVER!

I know it's murder, but I hadn't thought about it being 'cruel' murder until I started reading testimonies from the Partial-Birth Abortion Trial. Did you know they'll pull the baby most of the way out, and it's very much alive and moving, and then either crush its skull with a sort of tongs or their fingers, or jab it in the back of the head to kill it?Or they might use suction to get everything out. Or they might use the 'dismemberment' method and tear it into little pieces before they take it out. http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/RusePBAonTrial.pdf

And this - http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/Fetal_Pain/Norig%20Ellison%20ASA%20Senate%201995.pdf - says that anesthesia does not work on babies. You can't make it 'painless' for them.

And if the baby somehow lives through that (I have no idea how it would!) they just let it lay there until it's dead.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-512129/66-babies-year-left-die-NHS-abortions-wrong.html

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081209.html
SICK! I despise Obama. A nurse testified before him of all the babies she saw stuck in waste rooms to die, and he decided it was still a woman's right to let a little one just 'die' for convenience's sake. Can you IMAGINE if after all the joyful hugging and celebrating when a baby was born, the mother decided she didn't want it anymore and tossed it into the closet? She'd be in prison for years and years and years! Of all the neanderthals and animals in America... how is THAT man so close to becoming the leader of our country? Yeesh!

Gross stories...
http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/cjohnsonop-ed.html
http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/pbacampaign.html
http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/Haskellinstructional.pdf
http://www.consciencelaws.org/Examining-Conscience-Background/Abortion/BackAbortion02.html

Here's drawings of it: http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/PBA_Images/PBA_Images_Heathers_Place.htm

And this guy is really not very smart.... http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/notansweringboxersantorum.html

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=VIdbYjmbFzo
Oh my goodness! This is so awful. Watch it from 4:36 on, that's the saddest part!

And that's the end of my rant for tonight. Now let's see if I can sleep after reading all those stories...

Ha! I love this.


Here's the link to the worst video, the Silent Scream. It makes me feel very sick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjNo_0cW-ek&feature=related

The day is looming nearer..

This article is hilarious! I enjoyed reading it. I no longer have any reason to feel awkward being against homosexuality!
http://townhall.com/columnists/AndrewTallman/2008/08/21/perhaps_homophobia_isn%e2%80%99t_a_choice_either

A week ago, I was planning on bringing EVERYTHING to AFLBS. Honestly, just clearing out my room completely. Not even a dust bunny. But I changed my mind when I realized how overwhelming the task was going to be, and I'm only bringing about half my stuff. I don't need my calendar, my wall clock, all my posters, my 20+ albums, and all my stuffed animals and pillows and random decorations.
This is such a relief!

Yikes. Just eight days. I think.

"I'm supergirl, and I'm here to save the world... what I wanna know is who's gonna save me?"

OH MY GOODNESS! Once again, I am SO thankful for my Elizabeth Elliot bible study book. For maybe a year now, I have been struggling with something. It makes me SO frustrated just trying to think about it!

God promises he will save us, and protect us and always be with us, and so on and so on. And still, bad things happen. Today I could die in a car accident - and that would be all good and well, because it's God's plan, and I'D get to be with him! YEAH!

But what about the little things? What about the first day of school? What about having an unbearably hard day at work? God may be with me, but he sure isn't offering much help. At least, not to my small eyes.

I spent weeks crying over this last spring. I wanted to go to AFLBS, and I knew it was what God wanted, but I was going to be ALL ALONE. I knew He for sure wasn't going to keep me from embarrassing myself, from going through hard, difficult, and first-time things. So why in the WORLD would I want to go to something like that, when I can stay at home with my family where it's safe and comfortable?

I just did the study for today, and I'm finally understanding. It sent me to Psalm 106, which talks about how God saved the Israelites from the Egyptians for His name's sake, to make His mighty power known. NOT because he felt bad for the Israelites, or he figured they'd had enough, or he was sick of the Egyptians being mean.

And he won't save me from falling flat on my face a few times because he feels sorry for me, or thinks I need a break. What a revelation!

Even in Psalm 23, something I've read many times, it says "He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

Then it sent me to Psalm 143:11, where David asks God to save him. "For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life; In your righteousness, bring me out of trouble."

Duh. How did this not click before? God 'rescuing' me has not much to do with how I'm feeling, and everything to do with His Glory!

Last, Elizabeth Elliot asks, "If God guides you for His name's sake, who is glorified whenever your prayers for guidance are answered?"

HELLOOO! That was when I REALLY got it. Now if I can just keep concentrating on this, and remembering it when I get nervous, it should be much easier to transition into life without my family around!

Now my question is, so when exactly does God rescue me, like he says he's going to? Hmm...

“If we could wrap our minds around the concept of God, He wouldn’t be big enough.” - C.S. Lewis

I like that quote...

I'm freaking out. Ten days until I leave. I feel like a zombie - I have a long to-do list, but I have no idea where to start. Plus there's a mouse living in our kitchen. :-(

I started hyperventilating three times yesterday... one of these days, I bet I'm just going to faint on the floor.

Yeah, I'm miserable. I really keep hoping this is going to be one of those Abraham things, where I accept it (ha) and go along with it because I know it's what God wants, and then at the last minute he tells me that I've gone as far as I need to, and I can go home again.

Except I don't think I have enough faith. He'd probably say, "Oops, sorry, you're actually going to have to go now because you weren't trusting me enough when you had the chance."

:-(

I can't believe on how much I'm missing out on this year.

On the bright side, I'm getting muscles! :-D Last night Abby and I biked two miles and then ran two miles. Well, it was mostly walking - we were tired after biking.
And we made strawberry peach crisp. It was really good, it was just too sweet for me... now that I've gotten myself used to natural flavors, like in fruits and veggies, sugar doesn't make me feel very good. Laame!

It would be really nice if God would just stick a picture in our minds of our future spouse.

Then we really COULD have love at first sight! SCORE!

Oh my goodness... I don't get too ga-ga over celebrities, and I've only bought one of those all-about-Hollywood magazines once, before a plane trip. But I do love reading online about what they're really like. :-)
I've been looking at a fansite of Jamie Spears... I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty envious. I don't care about the famous family, the TV shows, etc, but she has 1) a career that's going well, 2) a boyfriend, 3) a baby (wouldn't want them at once, though!), and 4) a NICE farm, near her parents. Apparently she'll be marrying her boyfriend in a few months, and then she'll really be where I wanna be!

But it must be so hard. I saw a couple of pictures of her heading into the hospital the night she had her baby, surrounded by state troopers. How could someone stand to live that way? Someone younger than me, no less!

But enough about that. I realized I don't know anything about carry-out cart etiquette. I bought a fridge for my dorm room the other day. I had one of the guys there get it on a.. on a.. dang, a carrying thing! - and put it in the car for me. I felt pretty foolish when I got home and realized I actually could lift it. Lift it into a cart, maybe not.

Anyway, the reason I felt awkward is because I just didn't know what to say! (I'm pretty sure he was leering at me [rather, NOT my face] when I walked up; that didn't help). So I walked about twenty feet ahead of him all the way to the cart and really didn't say anything, except to tell him where I wanted it and to thank him. I felt like I should have made conversation, like "Sure is hot today, isn't it?" but considering the circumstances, I decided against it.
What in the world do you say to be polite to a creeper? (half kidding).
Hmm...

Last night, I had the greatest time at the birthday party. I got home around 11:30... I never stay out that late! Although the 75 mile drive may have made a difference.

I'm soo ready for a spinach-cheese-broccoli frittata with Ranch. YUM!

An interesting day...

I watched the men's individual gymnastics last night - WOW, Jonathan Horton is a cutie. The other US guy, Alexander something, wasn't too bad either. :-D

Today we woke up to find that our kitty Bailey was no longer waddling around full of babies... but the kittens were NOWHERE to be found. Do you know what one of the worst feelings in the world is? The feeling that, after you've spent hours traipsing through woods and digging in old machinery, you may have just missed a little kitten who's going to die because you didn't step a foot closer and see them.
Oh, I should mention that Bailey is the worst mother cat ever! She puts no thought into her babies at all. After she has them, she just completely ignores them - doesn't bite through the cord or anything. She'll have them in the middle of the yard, wherever. So I was a little confused when we couldn't find them - she wouldn't go out of her way to find a secret hiding place.

So I was asking God to help us find them all morning... after an hour of searching, my mom and sisters went to a friend's house, and I got busy with sewing and mowing and stuff. The mower kept killing, though, and I finally decided it had overheated and gave up.

A couple of hours later, I went back out to try again - I finally realized it was out of gas! So I pushed it up to the shop, where we'd been searching pretty intently earlier, because Bailey was up there all morning and the dogs got pretty excited when we went behind it. I saw Lilo sniffing in the grass, like she does when she spots a cricket or grasshopper, and I thought I check - just in case!

Lo and behold, she had found a little orange baby! It took me awhile to get it out of the long grass, because its cord was tangled in the grass and there were three puppies who wanted to see what I was doing.

I just can't believe it was still alive! Bailey probably had them really early this morning, so it was laying in the wet grass for hours! It was dry and warm when I found it, but it hadn't nursed or gone to the bathroom - it still had the placenta attached! (btw, that stuff is NASTY!)
We didn't find any other kitties, though, and I know there had to be more. Saddest thing ever. :-(

But anyway, I am incredibly thankful for a wonderfully sunny day and a really smart, beautiful, gentle dog :-)

Stupid me, I didn't take any pictures. I think the sun got to me - I am so fried!

And, lol, I am kind of a hopeful hypochondriac. I dream of having a tragic fall where I break my leg and am rendered helpless for weeks. Usually, however, my aches and pains are nothing at all.

But not today! My mom had me drive home, and she kept asking me why I sit hunched over the steering wheel. I realized that although I hadn't thought about it before, I go crazy when I'm driving for very long - I try to sit up straight, but my spine and tailbone really start to bother me, like there's little hands inside tickling my back, and the only way to make it stop is to stretch forward. And then I can't breathe! ARGH!
So Mom suggested it might be my tailbone screwing me up, and I remember that 4-5 years ago, Abby went over a bad bump with the 4-wheeler when I was on the back, and I came down really hard. I couldn't sit for days, and it bothered me for months! Maybe I've just gotten so used to it I don't notice anymore... I couldn't figure out why I would get so antsy in church, after an hour of sitting I thought I was going to go nuts if I didn't stand up - I wondered why I was acting like such a three-year-old!
I'm thinking it was broken... so I'm going to go to the chiropractor and get all straightened out! I'm excited!
I probably shouldn't be, though.

I am in awe of gymnasts... seriously...

Hey, I think God reads this blog! I've been telling people how much I miss all my buddies, and now it looks like I'll be seeing them this weekend! HURRAY!

I tried to fix my hair tonight, redying it... hopefully it looks more normal in the morning!

I like watching the olympics... the only part I care about is the gymnastics. They're absolutely amazing!

Anyway, I don't have anything else to say, except this. I. HATE. BIKINI. WEARING.

Kind of. I have verrrry mixed feelings about this. I love bikinis. They're very cute, and very comfortable. They're just so darned indecent, I never wear them without shorts and a shirt.

But it seems that nowadays almost all the girls I respect as Christ-seeking Christians are following the trend and swimming in the equivalent of their underwear. Funnily enough, I think they'd be horrified if a large group of people saw them in their underwear.
Thank goodness my closest friends haven't gotten in on this yet!

I am just so confused about everything.
I am definitely looking forward to Jesus coming to get me... no more hard things!

"It's raining, it's pouring, today is so boring..."

I absolutely LOVE my Elizabeth Elliot book! Really. It makes me feel like I'm actually getting something out of my devotions... haha.


I just found Daft Punk and got a whole bunch of their songs... if they're bad songs, whoops.. my bad. But I'm really excited to go run or something and listen to them!


Less than three weeks until I leave... I'm trying hard not to think about it, but I keep feeling like I'm going to throw up.


I went to visit my married friends with another girl last week... it was SO MUCH FUN. My friend is nearly engaged, so we went and got her ring picked out.
But I was soo frustrated! After they'd dated a few people on and off, both of them had their dream guy practically fall into their lap. And here I've been going all these years thinking I'd get a good guy sooner if I DIDN'T date.

Then the day after I got home, a family friend told me I was way too young to be thinking about marriage (laughing as she said it) and that I'd better not get engaged anytime soon.
I told Mom about it... and of course she reminded me that I had to quit freaking out about it, because no matter what anyone thinks, and no matter how many of my friends are suddenly getting married, God is sending my guy at the perfect time.

Whatever. I get so confused and frustrated thinking about how it's all going to come together. I wish I had my degree and a houseful of kids right now, but apparently God wants me to do things the long and hard way - why couldn't he come swooping down and whisk me away to 2013? ;-)


I can't stand having bright pink/red hair anymore. I gotta head to Walmart pretty soon, tonight maybe. And I get to buy a fridge!

On Saturday I got to see a whole bunch of people I knew when I was younger... I wish I could get over there more often.


Here are our new babies:

"And the caissons go rolling along.."

HA! Not mentioning any names, but I'm watching a 40+ lady in a tight midriff shirt and short shorts stride around a stage singing about her body to screaming kids. Wearing heels so high a backup dancer has to hold her hand and support her waist whenever she tries to maneuver the stage steps.
Ughhh, I'm going to be sick.

There's also something I have never seen this in an awards show before... so far ten or fifteen teens/twenty-somethings have come on stage in uber-short strapless dresses and stand there awkwardly trying to tug them up where they belong! LOL! Silly girls.

I'm thinking about joining the Air Force next summer. I'm having very mixed emotions about this!
-I will die during boot camp. However, the only reason this idea is occurring to me is because my physical shape has so vastly improved - before I never thought it was possible! I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 13 pounds - I'm down to what I weighed at 15!
-In college, I realllllly want to get married and have a baby right away. Deployment would just not work well with that. Actually, do you get out of it if you're pregnant? Cuz I could go for that! ;-p
-I don't do so well being yelled! In fact, I can think of three army retirees I know of right off the back - I don't get along well with any of them. Too harsh! But maybe it would be good for me. Scratch that - it WOULD be!

That's... about it.

Good things:
-THEY'D PAY FOR COLLEGE! OH that would be SO AWESOME!
Can you tell I'd be excited for that?
-I would like knowing I was totally prepared to defend my country, although I hope I never have to.
-This is pure pride... I want people to be way impressed by the fact that I'm in the army.
:-D
One more benefit... I would be in KILLER shape! I've been talking to a friend who's been in the army for two years, and she said that the requirements they give you in order to get tuition assistance are like having a part-time job - fitness training a few times a week and stuff. So having a 'job', where your 'workload' is to stay in shape, means free tuition!
That isn't bad any way you look at it. And I think once I actually get to fitness level they require, it shouldn't be TOO hard to keep at it.

So I'm likin' this idea. I'm going to pray about it all winter and talk to my parents about it, and then maybe give a recruiter a call next spring...

Ooh. One random question. My grandpa was in WWII, and his favorite song was "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along". I went on the army website, and their 'theme song' is just like this song, with all the same words, but they changed 'Caissons' and 'rolling' to "Army" and 'marching'. Or something like that. Is that just because nobody knows what caissons are (including me), or what?

Time for a happy post!

Wow - I just reread my last post. Majorly disorganized!
And it's time for a happy post. It's almost one, and I should be getting sleep - I'm going to CHURCH tomorrow! I'm uber-excited because we haven't been to church for most of this summer. Pretty bad Christians, huh?

So to begin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjnvSQuv-H4
Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. It has Robin Williams in it - I love it!

Today I made zucchini muffins. Amazing. And tomato/egg muffins. They taste good, but they made the house smell like barf. Baddddd idea.

I just got a very sweet comment, so I want to say thank you :-)

And lately, I've been thinking about something on the serious side. But it can wait for tomorrow... I mean, later today.

And in... six hours or so, the sisters and I are going to go for a walk on a sweet trail nearby, and take pictures. Unless I'm just too tired and sleep in till church time.

Abby and I went running again tonight. It was awesome. For the first time, I ran more than I walked. WOOHOO! Progress! It took less than an hour to go about three miles. By the time I leave, my goal is to be able to run at least half a mile without stopping to gasp for air.

Now my pillow is sitting right next to me on the couch, and it's a big, fat hint. It's saying, "GO TO BED. NOW."

So I shall respect the pillow's wishes. I do hold it in such high esteem.

Ooh, speaking like this reminds me of something. I REALLY wish somebody would come out with a show set in like, the Pride and Prejudice era. I'm not sure what it's really called, but that would be SO COOL!

Good night, all! Happy weekend! (My mommy comes home on Monday night, I can't wait!)

Blah. My nerves are wearing thin again...

Oh m'goodness. I've started freaking out about going away now... I got my packet a few days ago. I cried the rest of the day and woke up with HUGE eyelids!

I called Mom, anyway, and she told me if I hate it, after the first semester I can drop it. So that should be enough to keep me going.

Anyway... I've gotta get going - I need to leave to pick up my sisters from seeing the new Mummy movie in a few minutes. And I want to put my new favorite song, Give Me Your Eyes, on the new blog Abby and I are starting. It's http://www.picturablyyours.blogspot.com/ - so you can go check it out! :-)

Just call me 'reserved'.

I was writing a message to a friend... and a random thought came to mind that I've been wanting to talk about - and who better to tell than everyone and no one at the same time?

I am shy. Terribly self-conscious. Totally introverted. Entirely withdrawn.
Well, that was 6 years ago. The only people I was comfortable with were my sisters - I'd even stop talking when my parents came in the room. I could get going, around relatives and friends - when I forgot myself. :-)

Over the last few years, I've gradually gotten much more outgoing. I can make conversation pretty well. I like it!

But during the process, I was so frustrated with myself. If I knew I was going to have to talk to someone - when I was about to answer the phone, seeing someone coming toward me, when I was about to pass someone I knew - I would figure out in my head what I was going to say, and mentally repeat it over and over until it was perfect. Especially preparing for being judged at the 4-H fair!

And this drove me crazy. I was a freak. How many people have to practice saying, "Hi! How are you?"

This was about two years ago. And recently, I realized that as I practiced, and practiced, and practiced, making conversation came easier and easier. I had a lot of trouble talking to girls I knew. Old friends, new friends, acquaintances. And boys - oh, merciful heavens! I didn't talk to them at all! I generally avoided people I recognized - I didn't know what to say. Awkward!

Having a job helped more than I can say - I got the old "Hi, how are you?" routine down pat ;-)
And I dare say, talking to people on messenger helped, too. I learned how a conversation started, kept going, and ended. And I started practicing it in real life.

Well, now you know how I came from hearing, "Hi, Shy!" every Sunday to being friends with the janitor at the mall. :-)

"Give me your eyes so I can see, give me your arms so I can reach..."

OOH! My first post on my new laptop!

I love this thing... I hope it stays with me for a long time.

The cousins on my dad's side were here this week! There are 3 other families with kids who aren't all out of college yet, and in each one there's somebody my age. The four of us haven't been together in at least eight years, so of course we took pictures!

Unfortunately, I look pretty dumpy. I had just changed to go swimming and taken off my jewelry and makeup - ugh!

And here is all the grandkids (who were there, anyway... 6 older grandkids and 3 great-grandkids are missing).

We spent lots of time at the dam...

I got buried up to my waist in wonderful, gooey, clayey MUD!

And then everybody came out to the farm for smores and Ghost in the Graveyard.

Pretty sunsets occur like, every night here! That's very likely the best thing about living in ND.

And then one last picture... of my little sweetie :-)

I am very sad. Today I was working on my quilt, and my cute new iron burnt out or something! Okay, I did get it for $10 at Walmart...

I also have a new song on my 'favorites' list. "Give" by Brandon Heath. He's put into words what's in my heart! I absolutely love it. God, please help me to reach out to people and help broken hearts!

I've decided to start a recipe collection. I've been going through stuff like crazy online, and I downloaded a whole bunch of programs and I'm going to try every one and see which is best!

While trying out recipes, of course. Last night I made a weeird dumpling soup. With an Asian stir-fry mix added - but without the sauce. I called it random soup, especially since the dumplings didn't really work and I ended up with not-so-good little lumps and bits.

BUT my zucchini cinnamon bread worked. Not gonna lie - it's AMAZING! I had it for supper, and breakfast, and lunch, and I'll probably have it again at supper tonight. But the next time I make it, I'm going to do apples instead! YUM!

Anyway... all this talk of food is making me ravenous. (Can you tell how well my diet is working? Well, at least my grandpa asked if I'd lost weight. It was weird.)

Speaking of my grandpa... we brought a friend along this weekend, and she spotted a sign in the yard that I'd never noticed, and burst out laughing. I did too. This pretty much sums up my grandpa:

I'm almost a college kid!

I'm getting really psyched about leaving for school now! Just seven weeks!
And tomorrow I get to go see it! (!!!!)
Somehow, buying my own little cereal bowls and pillows and fluffy towels helps me look forward to this more :-)

I just had my own little yoga workout in my room... I feel very... stretched. My plan is work on memorizing scripture while I'm *trying* to hold poses. Today, I was just getting the feel of all the poses... I couldn't think about anything but where my arms were supposed to be and not falling over!

We're on a dog-selling mission - 4 down, 3, I think, to go! It's really weird not having all the puppies, but it'll be nice to not get mobbed when we drive up to the farm...

Heh... heh... this is when you know you have too many dogs. And, um, it's also sideways. I don't know why.

I went into the garage earlier, and got some pictures of our last little one - Squirt. He's my favorite, and apparently now we're keeping him! I'm excited!



There were more pictures I wanted to put on, but my post is being all weird whenever I put a new one on. So forget that!

My stomach is rumbling now... time to leave my cave and maybe read outside :-D I've been working on Breaking Free by Beth Moore - it's a good book! My problem is that I go to the library and get a big stack of 'deeper' Christian nonfiction, and then I can only read a few chapters of one book at a time... so they sit on my shelf for weeks, until they're way overdue. Oops.

Videos!

WOW. Rachael Lampa was FIFTEEN in this video. If I could sound anything like her when I'm 25, I'd be thrilled.

Okay, snap. Does Blogger not allow you to embed videos? Phooey!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fUze7W14YJ0

Here's T-Bone's "Name Droppin'" I love it because it has Tobymac in it :-)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aiZVI7mRTkE

Here's the Cactus Cuties.... they have the most AMAZING voices!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QKCVS57j284

This video is hilarious... and has a good ending :-D
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oCd_i7wW87Q

One of my favorite movie scenes! (From Monty Python)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

The worst music video ever!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YPnGPIMUnus

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! The song, the commercial... it's great. And the best soccer game(s) I've ever seen. Not that I've seen many... just Airbud, I guess.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dJStCJ2PFnM

This movie makes me cry... It's one of my favorite songs.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pn1ZIHgNImY

This one is the same song as the soccer movie, but it's another one of my favorite songs!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XzIK72iFDk4

Now Lexi needs to go get dressed and stuff before.. quilting time!

Ho-hum...

Well, because of random things happening, my 4th of July is not going as I planned... and my family is going to a rodeo and some kind of park or river or something. They'd like me to come along, but it sounds like torture to me! I hate rodeos (at least what I've seen on TV) and I don't like setting a weekend aside and driving for hours to look at pretty scenery - I can do that here!

Anyway, enough grumpiness. So my plan was to stay home and work on my albums... and then my wonderful mummy decided she wanted to stay home with me :-)

Earlier this week, I went to a quilt shop with Mom. I doooon't like craft shops, but she wanted company, and I like having her to myself. We wandered for awhile, and I saw a quilt pattern I liked, and told her that someday, I wanted to make a quilt. And you know what? She asked around and found the pattern, and told me to start picking out fabric. It took over an hour, but I had FUN!

So tomorrow, we're going to start it. I'm excited! It'll be for my new bed at college :-)
Speaking of college, we're leaving in five days or so to check it out. YAY!

Ooh, one more thing. I walked into a room at the quilt shop and was like...... HURRAY!
My favorite little pig in the world has become fabric!
http://www.fourthcornerquilts.com/QuiltPhotos/custDottieOlivia_Large.jpg
http://www.bunneyhutch.com/oliviathepig.jpg
http://www.baysidequilting.com/store/ProdImages/qkk22lg.jpg
http://www.shopfonsandporter.com/images/olivia_med.jpg

"Eggrolls and fried rice and weird kinds of chicken, great-looking soups that just couldn't be thicker...

All kinds of Chinese food in general, these are a few of my favorite things!"

Okay, that was kind of a mess.

Brianna tagged me! Hurrah!

Rules
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.

Who is your all-time favorite author and why?
I think if all but one of my favorite authors and their works suddenly vanished... I'd pick C.S. Lewis!

Who was your first favorite author and why?
Nancy Rue! I read the Lily series over and over and over. It's AWESOME! Now it's gotten a little... less interesting, but I still like it. I was madly in love with Shad :-)

Who is the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors and why?
C.S. Lewis... I've always loved his fiction, and I just recently started reading his nonfiction - I absolutely LOVE the way he writes! I feel like I've gotten to know him by reading Mere Christianity. I guess at the beginning it says it's a few of the talks he's given - but I can picture him sitting at a little table, sipping coffee and expounding on theology. Agh, I'm not usually this romantical about things!

If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth?
Karen Kingsbury, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, C.S. Lewis, and Joshua Harris. That's pretty much all of them! I love a lot of books by different people, but I can pick up anything by these five people and trust that it'll be a good book! God is a pretty fantastic author, too!


Randy Alcorn is a pretty amazing author, too... I'm always more anxious for Heaven when I finish one of his books. Right now I'm trying to slog through his book Heaven... it's hard going. But it's very interesting!

Anyway, Mom and I are home alone, so we're going to a chinese buffet tonight... I AM SO EXCITED! I do not get Chinese enough, can you tell?

He's holding my hand ;-)

I've been watching my old baby videos - they're too cute! (If I do say so myself.) My sisters and I agree, we need to get a baby around here to cuddle. Motherhood needs to hurry itself up!

Tonight the whole family went and played tennis at the courts - even when it started raining, although Mom wimped out and hid in the car. I laughed until my sides hurt... tennis is GREAT! Even better when you feel - and look - like a drowned rat!

It seems like I can never find good passages when I'm reading the Bible, but I found TWO today - probably a record!
Psalm 73:23-26 - "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

WOOHOO!

And I intend to get a good picture of a summer morning, and stick this verse on it -
2 Samuel 23:4 - "He is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth."

I LOVE that! A gorgeous summer morning, and the wonderful smell after it rains! I suppose it's only natural that those two fantastic happenings would be compared to God somewhere in the Bible. I for one think that verse is pretty romantic ;-) Ahh, can't wait for heaven!

The fuzzy stare... impaired my tribal lunar-speak... hmm...

WOOHOO! It's almost 2am, and I should be asleep. But I haven't posted in awhile, and every night I tell myself, "Ahhh, I'll do it tomorrow." And then I never do. So I'm doing it now!

I saw one of my best friends off on her honeymoon yesterday - it was an absolutely fantastic day. Everything was perfect! I'm so happy for her!

Now I just gotta coax the rest of my friends to find someone and get engaged so I have more weddings to be excited about. ;-)

Apparently the college I'm attending this fall will only have between 120-140 students. *Huge sigh of relief*. I'm so glad! I was NOT looking forward to being lost on a big campus. I'm sure I'll know everyone by the end of the year - way cool!
So I'm excited. And now that the graduation and wedding are over, I'm ready to sit back and chill out for the rest of my summer. However, judging by the knots my stomach was in all day today, I'm afraid that my nerves are ready to work themselves up in a bundle over college, starting right now! Maybe since my mind isn't on the wedding anymore, it's free to be apprehensive about leaving home... Ugh! I don't like that thought at all!

Two girls I know have had babies in the past couple of weeks. When I was younger, I thought newborns were just yucky looking - but now, every time I see a new baby, they just seem cuter!

I've been listening to a happy nonsense song. I have no idea what it's talking about. I just love the line that repeats over and over, with some variation - "Can't steal my sunshine!"

I know it's bad grammar... but I'm pasting it in, and I'm too tired to fix it, even as my perfectionistic inner self cries out, "NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo!"

i was lying on the grass on sunday morning of last week

indulging in my self defeats

my mind was thugged, all laced and bugged,

all twisted round and beat uncomfortable three feet deep

now the fuzzy stare from not being there on a confusing morning week

impaired my tribal lunar-speak

and of course you can't become if you only say what you would have done

so i missed a million miles of fun

i know it's up for me

can't steal my sunshine

making sure i'm not in too deep

can't steal my sunshine

keeping versed and on my feet

can't steal my sunshine

i was frying on the bench slide in the park across the street

l-a-t-e-r that week

my sticky paws were into making straws out of big fat slurpy treats

an incredible eight foot heap

now the funny glare to pay a gleaming tear in a staring under heat

involved an under usual feat

and i'm not only among but i invite who i want to come

so i missed a million miles of fun

i know it's up for meif you steal my sunshine

making sure i'm not in too deep

if you steal my sunshine

keeping versed and on my feet

if you steal my sunshine

i know it's done for meif you steal my sunshine

not something hard to see

if you steal my sunshine

keeping dumb and built to beat

if you steal my sunshine

my sunshine

if you steal my sunshine