Surprise Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: This was actually written on Wednesday, July 29, but I couldn't post it then. So, pretend it's the 29th as you're reading this! Sorry about that.

Wow! So, I really have a lot to say! So way back on Sunday I went to church and was able to put in the final details for a surprise birthday party for my friend, Brittney.

Then, on Monday, I went shopping all afternoon/evening for the party. Well, that's not all I shopped for, but a lot of it. We (my mom and I) went to Wal-mart and shopped for food for the party and also got Brittney a present and got most of the decorations at Dollar Tree. Now, Dollar Tree has some nice things and I really was able to do some good decorating with their stuff, but their balloons are TERRIBLE! They pop for no reason at all!! Anyway, we got all the things for the surprise birthday party, and we also went to salvation army, and I got 2 nice skirts for $5!! I love second-hand stores. My mom also went birthday shopping for me (I waited on a bench by the entrance =]) because my birthday is this Saturday! We got home at almost 9 PM, exhausted, but it was a good day.

On Tuesday, I cleaned the whole house. I cleaned the bathrooms, washed dishes, folded laundry, vacuumed, and everything! Whenever we do something big in our home I get all OCD and everything has to just PERFECT. So I did that, and baked cupcakes, and did some stuff like that in preparation.

Today was a CRAZY day! I got up at 7:40, which was later than I had planned, so then I rushed like crazy. I took a shower and got dressed quickly, then tidied up the house again quickly, and went straight to decorating. I did banners, posters, streamers, balloons, and SO many fun things!! It looked absolutely awesome. We left around 12:10 to get everyone rounded up. The people who came were: Brittney, Emily, Kyla, Ally, Becca, and I. We went to pick up Emily first, then headed towards Brittney's house. We had a couple stops to make along the way, including picking up Kyla, and then we met Ally and Becca at the end of Brittney's road. Then we all got into our vehicle and my mom drove us to her house. We got party noisemakers, jumped out of the vehicle, and ran and barged into the house without knocking (yes, Brittney's mom knew we were coming =]) and blew all the noisemaker horns as loud as we could and RAN into Brittney's bedroom and shocked her out of her mind!!! She was so confused as to what was going on. See, her birthday was actually 9 days ago, so she totally wasn't expecting this. When we started singing Happy Birthday she understood it was a belated birthday surprise, and she was stunned enough at that! Then we told her that there was a totally decked out party planned and that she was coming to my house to party all day, she was TOTALLY surprised!! It was the most hilarious thing ever. Her face was priceless! She looked stunned, surprised, excited, and even scared! When we came in she was absolutely speechless! So once she got her wits together, we headed back in our van to our home where the party was set up, and played awesome fun games like Mad Gab, Catch Phrase, and Apples to Apples, and we opened presents, ate, laughed, and had an AMAZING time!! Then all but Emily (who wasn't able to come) headed out for prayer meeting. So we were sad we had to leave Emily. :( But that was the official end of the party and then we went to prayer meeting and that was good too. So all in all, today was one of the BEST days I've had in a long time!!! I LOVE MY AWESOME FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!!!! :D :D :D <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 !!!!!!!!!!!

Saturdayyy

Today my brothers came home. Cody was at TLC (teen leadership conference) and Erik was working at Camp Lamoka. Cody works at Lamoka too, but he took this week off for TLC. It was hard for me because when Erik got home he told me about how great this week at camp was, and when Cody got home he told me all about how great TLC was, and I stayed home all week. I had a good week, but it was still hard because I would have loved to be at either of the places they were. Then also we were considering going to a graduation party today, but it didn't work out because of the business of the guys getting home. But I'm still alive and God is still good, so who am I to complain?

I also watched part of "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution III" which is the 3rd DVD in a series of DVD's about absolutely amazing creatures that completely counter evolution. It was great to see how awesome our God is and to see how intricately designed everything in this world is.

This evening I was feeling really negative about the whole day, so I took a long walk to get my attitude right again. I walked out and then sat down on a hill and prayed and thought and then headed home. Now, I am feeling very refreshed and thankful again. God is good! :)

Busy, busy!

Whew! I am exhausted! It's actually almost 11 at night as I'm writing. So, yesterday I had my friend, Vicki, over from about 2-8 PM and we had an absolutely awesome time! Mostly what we did was talk. Which, if you know me, you know that talking is what I do best! And we looked at funny pictures and cracked ourselves up, and we took a walk. So it was really, really good to be able to see her.

Then today my friend, Courtney, came over and we talked, then went for a walk and talked some more. When we were about half a mile from home, one minute it was sunny, and then Courtney looked up and said "Is that rain?" and, sure enough, it was sprinkling. Then about a minute later, it started to DOWNPOUR! We ran into the woods, but still got soaked. When we got back we changed into cozy PJ's and were gonna make hot cocoa, but we didn't have any, so we made coffee. (I don't really like coffee, but with enough cream and sugar in it, it's good lol) Unfortunately, I accidentally put the filter in wrong and it got filled with grounds. So we had to re-filter it! haha. It was about lunch time so we thought we'd get some food, but we were really in need of groceries! And I mean REALLY in need of them! So after a lot of searching we came up with rice, cottage cheese, baked beans, and broccoli for lunch. haha. It was a CrAzY day!! So I have had an AWESOME 2 days!

I also learned a lot. I read Isaiah chapter 1 today and if you've not read it recently, GO READ IT!!! It was so convicting, it made me almost cry. It is God telling Isaiah what to tell Israel, and it's all about their sin. But He doesn't leave them hopeless, He promises to be with them and to forgive them if they will put off their sin and follow Him. It was really a great encouragement and very convicting.

I also started to watch a lecture thingy on DVD by Paul Tripp, and he was talking about how the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart, and it was, again, very convicting. We often say, "If my circumstances were better, I wouldn't be having an angry outburst." Well, maybe you wouldn't be at that moment, but that's not the problem. For example: A man is in a traffic jam. He is angry because he's already late for work. He hits the dashboard and yells, "If I weren't in this traffic I wouldn't be so frustrated!" Well, if it's the traffic's fault, then you would think everyone in the traffic jam would be upset. But then, there's a woman in the car in front of him and she is just SOO happy! You see, she's putting on her make-up, so she is really grateful for the extra time! The reason the man is angry is because something is getting in the way of what he wants, and he is choosing the wrong response. If He were more focused on living for Christ, he could be in the traffic and be joyful. We are, by nature, worshipers. We were created that way. Now, not everyone worships the right thing, but everyone worships. Some worship food, others money, others appearance, etc. We don't realize it, but we are often worshiping things in subtle ways. The way to tell if something has become an idol is to stop and consider if you would be upset if you didn't have it or it didn't work out right, or whatever. If you would be, it has an unhealthy hold on you. Wow, isn't that a scary thought! That means for every time we get upset, we are worshiping the wrong thing! So I have been very challenged, especially today, to keep my focus on JESUS not ME. Tough, but SOOOO worth it! And I could really use prayer, so please do pray for me as I am growing in Christ and living out life.

That's all I have to say now, so thank you to anyone who took the time to read it! =]

Another day done...

Today was actually a busy day. I spent the morning doing yard work and washing our van and vacuuming it. It's hard to keep a minivan clean when you live on a dirt road! So I spent the morning in the hot sun sweating and working hard. But it feels good. Then this afternoon I attempted to sew. Yes, that's right - sew. I mean, I have always hated sewing and I'm horrible at it. And, I don't have the patience. But, I tried it. I thought I'd start with something simple and small, since I don't have a sewing machine. So I tried to make an A-line doll's skirt. I cut it, and then hemmed the bottom of it by hand, which took a long time. And, I only ended up bleeding in one place! Haha. :) Then after all that work, I realized I cut it totally wrong to make an A-line skirt, so it will either be a wrap-around skirt or a shawl. Anyway, I think I will cut some more fabric tomorrow or the next day and try again for an A-line. Then I went to prayer meeting tonight, and it was very encouraging. I'm especially thankful for all of my good friends, it's so nice to talk to all of them. And speaking of friends, I'm having my awesome friend, Vicki, over tomorrow afternoon and I'm very much looking forward to that. :) I also fell asleep while sewing today and slept for like an hour. Haha. It seems like I'm always tired lately. I take a nap almost every day. I love sleeping. lol. So that's how my day has been today, and now I think I'll go outside and roller-blade and maybe listen to my mp3 player. :)

Another seemingly dull day made bright in Christ :)

Hey all! So, not an awful lot has gone on the past few days, but hey, that's my life! :) Yesterday I didn't do much of anything. Today, I did lots of chores and cleaned my room, which now feels so much better to be in.

I was reading in Jeremiah chapters 1 and 2 this morning. I love those chapters!! God comes to Jeremiah and tells him that He has called Jeremiah to be a prophet and to do huge things. Jeremiah responds by saying "What? Me? I can't do that! I'm just a youth!!" But God replies saying "Don't tell me what you can and can't do, I made you! And I will be with you every step of the way. Don't be afraid, you will be able to do anything if you follow Me." That is so often how I feel, like I'm just a kid and I'll never be worth anything. But God is showing me how to take one step at a time and follow Him day by day... even though it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything worthwhile.

So that is all that I've done today. I'd like to take a walk now, but it's pouring rain. maybe I'll just sit outside on the porch. Goodnight :)

HELLOOOO!

hey! So, I've never posted on my blog before. I only made it so I could follow other blogs, but, i think i will post. Although, I doubt anyone will read it for a long time. I don't have time to write much, but I'll just say that I am headed off to church this morning, and I'm glad to be able to do so, and I need to hurry and get ready! So if anyone has read this, please comment so I can know if it's worth anything to post on here. thanks :)