Saturday, July 31, 2010

July is almost over.

- So tomorrow is the first day of August. How crazy is that! That will be the 8th month of the year and I honestly can't believe it.

- I helped with Upward soccer evaluations for about 5 hours today. I wish I could coach a team this year but leaving for school is making that rather impossible. It was fun to see all the little ones having fun though. It poured rain for a little while but was fun none the less.

- My picture for today was taken with my GMTEX GT-304 Film camera so I can't post it but just for the record, I did take a picture today :)

- Dad made macaroni and cheese for dinner. It was just the two of us. We also decided to get rowdy and go out to a movie. Let's just say that Inception is interesting, crazy and awesome! We never really get to hang out, just us, so it was fun to have some dad time. He's the best.



- I laughed out loud reading these to myself. Please disregard #4, it's inappropriate.

Friday, July 30, 2010

bikes, earings, chex mix & sunsets.

A morning all to myself. I rode my bike along the river and stopped at the lighthouse to read my bible. I packed a granola bar and banana for breakfast. It was overcast so the clouds were beautiful and the light hit the water just right. I read Matthew 5:14-16 and it was a great encouragement.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.











I tutored the Asian girls again. Their names are too confusing for me to remember, haha. They are starting to understand some of the things I've been teaching them and it makes me really happy to see them getting it! They gave me a Snapple to drink and I immediately regretted it because I wanted to fall asleep. It must have been those 62 grams of sugar.

Laurel and I spent the afternoon and evening together. Check this out.. She is leaving tomorrow for the Harvest Crusade which is going to be amazing. I'm so excited for her! While she's gone, I leave for a family vacation and when I get back she leaves 3 days later for school. This is going to stink, big time. We decorated shoe boxes today. They are covered in pictures of the two of us and will be used to store letters we send each other. Laurel got her ears double pierced today! She squeezed my hand and I think it hurt her more than she lead on. They are adorable though and I think I want mine too. We did the usual sunset and chex mix tradition and almost spent $5 each on MyFroYo, haha. We also visited Erwin and Christina. It's always fun to see them. They gave us each a glass of water and we talked photo talk for a while. I just love spending quality time with such a wonderful friend. Laurel's the best!



Thursday, July 29, 2010

Children

Meet Emily & Parker.



These are the kids my sister nanny's for and she's taking a trip to Seattle so I get to watch them next week for a couple days. It will be fun, I know it!

Saying goodbye to Andrew was a struggle. I'm not really sure when I'll get to see him again. He really has no reason to come out to this side of the country and I don't see anything taking me to the east coast anytime soon. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Early bed time for me. I figured I could relax and read a little bit. Carly called and told me to go look at the sunset. I did and it was beautiful. I'm glad I didn't miss it.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Greatest People.

First of all, I have the greatest best friend. We rode bikes this morning, shared our creation pictures, had smoothies and talked about life. I needed a good best friend talk to put me in my place. It really hit me today how much I'm going to miss Laurel. She leaves in a couple weeks. My eyes got watery thinking about it.

Speaking of leaving, my mom flies to Ohio tomorrow and Andrew goes back to New York. I'm not quite sure when I'll see him again. Also, makes my eyes tear up.

I'm kind of doing a terrible job at this 365 project. I've missed so many days of taking a picture. Today was one of them. I guess my new years resolution has turned into more of a blog post everyday telling about what goes on in my day to day life than the whole picture aspect. I'm okay with it though so no worries.

I tutored two Asian girls for the second time today. They are both very sweet but teaching english is quite challenging. God must know that this will help me in my future of being a teacher. Or, he just wants me to be a servant. I think that's a better answer.

Campaigners was uplifting.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19


God's love for us is far greater than anything we can imagine, even though we have deceitful and selfish hearts.

We were asked if something would change about our lives if Jesus was living our lives? Would our actions, words and decisions be the same or different? That really got me thinking...

Second of all, I have the greatest mom in the world. I have never seen someone who cares so much. I really don't know where or who I would be without her.

Lots of tears have come the last couple of days.. I'm not quite sure why. Things are changing. I suppose that's a good thing.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Oh my stars.

Cause I know a lot about closing doors,
but not enough about what opens up yours.

Oh my my,
Oh my stars,
Everything you see is ours
or it could be if you would try.
I wish you would
I wish you might
Oh oh,
if everything you've said to me has been true
then all my stars are leading me to you.



If this song didn't take the thoughts from my head than I don't know what did.

I had fun taking Amanda Simons' senior pictures. Her friend Kelsey came along for moral support. And then on the way back home, a beautiful sunset was on display.





Monday, July 26, 2010

Gives Me Hope.

My best friend died in a car accident on his way to deliver me soup for my cold.
Found in the car was also a bouquet of flowers and a card that read:
"We've been best friends for the last 5 years. Now, let's be lovers for the next 50."
Unforgettable LGMH

For 4 years, I've sent letters to 5 soldiers overseas.
And when I was diagnosed with cancer, I didn't have enough money for my own treatment, and sent a final letter to each of the soldiers. All 5 of their companies donated their paychecks to me, because my letters gave them hope.
THEY gmh.

I am a third grade teacher.
Most kids come in with notes or messages written by their mothers in their lunch sacks.
One little girl's dad left, and her mother abuses drugs. But her 12 year old brother never fails to write "I love you" on her brown paper bag.
He GMH.

I was diagnosed as a diabetic when I was five years old.
My brother who was turning three at the time saw me cry after getting an insulin shot. He walked over to my mom and asked, 'Mom, can I have diabetes, too? I don't want her to be alone.'
My brother, now and then, GMH.

Today, our history teacher was telling us about a man who was famous for transporting Jews to safety during the Holocaust.
A student in the class said "That's my grandfather."
Our teacher began to cry, and said "He saved my entire family."
Beautiful coincidences GMH

Five years ago, I witnessed an overweight girl being harassed. A group of "popular girls" had pulled down her pants while we were leaving school. The girl grabbed her pants and ran away crying. Our school's star quarterback chased after her to comfort her.
I just came back from their wedding. GMH.




Reading other people's stories like this gives me hope.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Home

Slept in, relaxed, played Yahtzee with my parents.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

needtobreathe, enough said.

Jesus is here on a mission to make disciples.
Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. -Psalm 16:10
"Go" in Greek means "as you go", it's not just once. When you go along your daily business you make disciples. We have to go "all out" for Jesus. We have to give up what we value the most which is approval... Approval of our friends, family and peers. We have to choose Jesus's approval if we want to go all out for him. There is a payoff for risking what is most important to us and giving everything to the Lord. Our lives can be compared to two things, the red sea or the dead sea. The red sea has an inlet and an outlet, to consume Jesus and then to share him with others. The dead sea has no outlet to be a disciple. Another thought, all of the 12 disciples except for Peter were teenagers. Jesus was the first youth leader. He chose them because they were all in for him.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. -Colossians 1:27
The spirit of God lives in side of us and we can listen to him at any moment.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. -Acts 1:8
Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria can symbolize different groups of people in our lives that God wants us to reach out to. He doesn't need us to change lives but he desires to use us.

There are people hurting all over the world but it takes people who aren't content with just going to church but living to help those in pain and striving to make a difference.
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." -Romans 10:9-13

We are all a piece of art and God is our artist.
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance of us to do. -Ephesians 2:10
I'm giving God the paint brush and letting him choose the colors.





Today is the day that I'll get to see Needtobreathe! We camped out in the third row for three hours. The people in front of us were waiting for Skillet which wasn't until 9:30 so they let us go in the front row. We were right in front of Seth! He is without a doubt the most beautiful human being I've ever seen, male or female. Laurel already called him but she has a little bit of competition now because I'd really like to marry him! Haha.









That concert was truly one of the greatest times in my life. I almost had tears in my eyes. We then waited an hour and 45 minutes to get their autographs. They were all so sweet and would genuinely smile at you. When Seth looked into my eyes, I thought I was going to melt.

This photo is by Jennae Piatt:



Please meet Seth. My future husband!

Friday, July 23, 2010

One Person - That's All It Takes

If every Christian lead one person to Christ and then they lead someone else to Christ it would take 17 years for the whole world to be Christians.

Think about that for a second. 17 years? Really, that's it? If you think about the thousands of years people have been on this earth, seventeen is such a small number. To think of every human on this planet being saved by the one true God and that someday they'll be in heaven is an incredible thought. Do your part, lead one person to Christ.

We saw John Mark McMillan perform four times today and each time was simply amazing. On our way to the stage at a whopping 8:00 in the morning we saw him on the side of the stage and we stopped and waved.. he waved back with a huge smile. Oh man, it made my day! We even got his autograph by walking in the back door! Who would have thought his choice of pen would be a silver sharpie.

We also saw Matthew West, Thousand Foot Krutch, Toby Mac and had a candle lighting. It was quite a sight to see thousands of candles lit up in the dark.







Thursday, July 22, 2010

Day Two

I opened my eyes to sunlight and quiet talk coming from the other tents nearby. Rolling out of my warm sleeping bag I unzipped the tent to find the sky cloudy and the air quite chilly. Sweatshirt it is. Cinnamon toast crunch for breakfast.. I admit I didn't brush my teeth. We packed our backpack chairs and headed over to the festival. Lakita Garth-Wright gave an amazing talk on "The Naked Truth About Sex". She used to be Miss California or Florida, I can't seem to remember and has modeled with Tyra Banks and has been a co-host on a huge television show. She's pretty much the big bucks but she lives her life completely for Jesus and was a huge inspiration. She made it clear that waiting for "Mr. Right" is completely worth it... To let God control your life and to give him everything will pay off and your match will come along when He wants him to. Sons of Day was the next concert. They are four brothers from Ukraine and the lead singer, Vladimir, is going to be my husband if I don't marry Seth from Needtobreathe, haha! Remedy Drive was next followed by part II from Lakita. The Classic Crime was definitely one of my favorite performances! Hillsong lead amazing worship and the Newsboys were incredible also. I've decided that I've never heard a bad live christian band before. They almost all sound better live than they do recorded.









Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Creation!

Off to Creation we go! The van is jam packed and Switching Goals, Marykate and Ashley movie is playing in the VHS player. Yes, it was that cool! Four hours later we arrive in Enumclaw. We set up our tent and get things situated, ate some Bar-S hot dogs and made our way to the stage for some concert action. My body was covered in sweat but I couldn't have been happier to be where I was. My best friend at my side, in a place where Jesus was the center of everything going on. The David Crowder band was first and then Switchfoot. They were both amazing! Jon Foreman was quite incredible I might add. We listened to a little bit of comedy by a man with the name of Nazareth and when our eyes couldn't stay open any longer we made our way to our humble abode of a tent. Casey, Macey and Sarah slept outside of our tent on the ground. They didn't have a campground and didn't want to drive back home at midnight so we shared our little piece of land. With no surprise, I fell asleep but apparently Meryn and Casey had quite a long conversation in Spanish and kept everyone laughing for a good while :)









By the way, I didn't take my Nikon with me on this trip. I just had my little Olympus digital camera that doesn't take the greatest pictures. I saw tons of SLR cameras the whole week though and it kind of upset me that I didn't have mine. It was good for me though. I really think it helped me to enjoy what I was experiencing more and not having to worry about always snapping photos.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Lamentations 3:27-34

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace for men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to children of men.


Oh Lord, how great is your unfailing love.
How great is your faithfulness.




Creation tomorrow!

Monday, July 19, 2010

things to do.

- Jog around the neighborhood.
- Shower.
- Picked up Andrew and took him to the eye doctor.
- Went to get his eye drops.
- Stopped by Barnes & Noble and the food court.
- Came home to edit pictures while Andrew napped next to me. Josie napped with him.



- Said goodbye to Josie. (My aunt had a stray cat adopt their family and she became pregnant. This little orange, adorable kitty needed a home so my aunt brought her over. My dad wasn't home and when he did get home he didn't like the idea one bit so she went back :( I miss her already.)





Now it's band picture time! Same Time Yesterday is their name. Gregg, Garrett, Matt and Curtis. I think I laughed more than I took pictures.









Sunday, July 18, 2010

BBQ

Today was the church BBQ in the park and I've never seen so many people at Howard Amon before. Tons of people got baptized in the river which was really awesome. Gregg's band played their first little gig and I took a few pictures of them in action. They sounded great. I believe they just changed their band name to Same Time Yesterday. It will be cool to see them succeed! I had a couple pieces of water melon, a cookie and two homemade ice cream cones for dinner. Pretty solid, I know.





Poor Andrew has something terribly wrong with his eye. It's all red and swollen and he can't open it very well so I was his taxi for the night. We went to feed Senora's cat who never comes out of the bush except for me. We rented Remember Me from the red box and it was kind of a bust. I fell asleep and Andrew couldn't open his eyes to even watch it. I don't know how it ended. All I know is that it's an overall sad movie. Not one I'd really recommend.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Drive-In Movies

We felt a little bit spontaneous today. Matt, Andrew and I squeezed, and I mean squeezed into the truck and drove to Milton Free water to the Drive-In Movie Theater. We got lost and the boys made fun of my driving the whole way there. It only cost $6 to watch two movies, Grown Ups and Knight and Day. Quite a deal if you ask me. We spread out a bunch of blankets in the truck bed and enjoyed the movies under the stars. Perfect, to say the least.