strength in my weakness

This is a giant picture blog with pictures of most of the good times this year had. Only "most" of them, because the best times we had i wasn't taking pictures of course!
and im not saying that these pictures can truly represent all the good times i've had this year, but they do an alright job and i love looking at them anyway.


this is from rachel's birthday party way back in january. carly and i were playing around with our cameras and i got this amazing shot of her while she wasn't paying attention



this is from disciple now back in... march? i think so.
we didn't win, but we definitely had the most fun and we beat freshman boys at eating spam, yes! haha


i took this while we were at Summit in Jacksonville, Florida. (april)
this was during one of our many expeditions to Steak'n'Shake, which is the best fast-food place in the world. aside from dions. Steak'n'Shake, when are you coming our way?

i remember one quiet night as i was walking along the river in jacksonville with my family, i told God that i loved Him, and He told me He loved me back. I told Him i would do anything for Him, and 2 months later He sent me to Portland, Oregon.


There were waaay too many pictures i had of portland for me to choose one that really represented the whole thing, and none of my pictures really do anyway, so these two are the best you get. This is of me and Selah, whom i nicknamed Booger. I babysat her while the rest of the kids moved The Door church out of the 5th floor of a building in downtown Portland. Not an easy feat... i seem to remember someone accidentally knocking a bouncy ball out the window where it fell 5 stories and hit someone in the head... haha!


Portland again, taking some apples home for breakfast and waiting for the downtown train to pick us up.

Portland was definitely the high point of my year and I hope to go again this year...

awana camp. good times.


jumping up and down and dancing in the street near downtown Alb one friday night... remember Viv?

i couldnt not put this picture in. It was nearing the end of summer, we were sitting outside of dions (where else?) being loud and crazy as usual.
(yes, evie dropped courtney)



Sleeping on a trampoline in august



katelin reading The Pigeon Wants a Puppy.
not anymore!



this was taken the night we were at marissas house and got into a giant wrestling war on the trampoline. one of my absolute favorite memories!


taken during awana. I think this picture does a very good job of summing up all that really happens during verses. eat that, leaders! :P



a definitive small group picture



bubble blowing contest at dions


playing singstar when i visited Clinton down at State. His friends are so crazy and make everything fun.




and finally, me with some pocket pals. This year was the first that i really took those things seriously; this year was the start of something very good.


so as you can see, I had a very good year despite all my griping and complaining, haha. I have learned so much and i have grown so much, and this is not even close to being an ending, because this coming year is (hopefully) only gonna be better.
and if its not better, well God makes us strong in our weakness and persecution, right? I love that verse. People have died and people have moved away (figuratively and literally), but i am still strong and God still loves me.



.... wonder what next year will bring?
we'll find out

debate exposes doubt

I re-did lauras sweatshirt.
she didnt like it because it was "tacky", haha.

(well, it kind of was)

before:
thats the back
thats the front.


and then now:

and

...ive had a small obsession with hearts lately.



this sweater was from a national awana competition in 2006- the best one we ever had, in fact.
but anyway, laura thought the chili's were a little much.
(actually i did the same thing to my sweater some time ago)
(only mine doesnt have the hearts)

i think the monsters teeth are too big and its smile is too lopsided.
and the hearts dont really go with the monster.
what do you think?




Todays Theme Music:
this charming man- cover by dcfc
over the mountains- eisley

cover what you can

Im having a pretty good break.

Christmas was good, how was yours?

This was my favorite thing i got that i asked for-

Eisley macbeth shoes.

Sherri DuPree drew the designs for them, just in case you were wondering :)


Also i got a laptop, which was a big suprise.
im very thankful for it though, since im thinking about going to nm state in the fall.
(and when i say im thinking about going, that means that i really really want to go, haha)

im thinking i just want to get away, for a while.


everyone ready for the new year?
(can you believe that stores are already setting up for valentines day?)
i am. classes are set up, ive registered to graduate with the other homeschooled kids, life is good right now. (hope it keeps up that way...)
im thinking my classes will be easier. No science, not much math.
mostly conceptual stuff, i s'pose. and memorization. But as long as its interesting, its nothing i cant handle.

And im going to a new years eve party, which im excited for. I think its always better to bring in the new year with people you love :)





Todays Theme Music:
anything by copeland, but mostly
im safer on an airplane
the last time he saw dorie
when you thought youd never stand out
sleep

and
new soul- Yael Naim

i celebrate the day

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey-
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life!
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve,
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be...

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior?
And the first breath that left Your lips,
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years-
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

be what you mean

I got blog-tagged. again.

this time it was:
1) go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures

2) pick the 4th picture in that folder

3) post it on your blog and explain it

here is the picture:

This was from Evies last night at awana, and they were talking and looking at music or a book or magazine or something. I really love this picture because it has two of my very best friends for LYFE in it, and its such a good representative of what we do best. and who knows what that is....!


you are tagged

ready for christmas

here is the lobster i made for Clinton. Think he'll like it? (no idea why he wanted a lobster in the first place, haha....)
i also got him a gigantic nerf gun. its the biggest present under our little 'christmas bush'!


And, here is a picture of Clinton and his pie-

He got a how-to-make-pie book for Christmas from his friend Jessica down at nm state, so while Ian was here we decided to try it out.
Doesn't it look fancy? lattice crust top with little crust hearts.
(you cant see the hearts too well in the picture though)

its so nice having Clinton home.

:)







Todays Theme Music:
mr pine- eisley
head against the sky- eisley

we're too strong to compromise

I made 27 little monsters for all the kids in my small group. It took me about 3 weeks, but i got it done.
Then I'm making a lobster for clinton (its a suprise, so shush), a monster for Clintons friend Ian, a monster for Heidi, and a pocket person for Hal.
still so busy... just a different kind of busy. a better kind of busy :)

im concerned about my grades. I very well may have failed my chemistry class. I reallly really really hope i got a 'C', haha im such an underachiever. oh well, God still loves me right?

Also, Clintons friend Ian has been visiting these past few days and just left about 20 minutes ago. Ian goes to NM State with Clinton, but the rest of the time he lives between Soccorro and Pietown, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Entertainment-wise, the best thing to do is go to Soccorro, and thats about 45 minutes away.
(and the best thing to do in Soccorro is Wal-Mart. Ouch.)
In spite of living in the middle of nowhere, Ian is a character. He's eccentric and so crazy its amusing.
So it was pretty fun having him here. He was kinda sorry to go, because the best thing to do over there is watch tv. poor, poor kid.

Time to go watch Aladin.
and make a lobster.







Todays Theme Music:
helena- mcr
second skin- the gits
dogs can grow beards all over- dtwp

pretty much anything really fast-paced

boyfriend pillow

jordan, you literally made me laugh out loud when i saw this:


and yes, i want one too

not one speck will remain

im done.









Todays Theme Music:
head against the sky- eisley
the sound of settling- death cab for cutie
chemicals collide- cloud cult

chain reaction

I woke up at 4:40am today to go to Smith Lake.
it was a mission trip to a reservation about 2 hours drive from here. It was a big Christmas thing- we put together boxes of food for Navajo families, made crafts with kids, and ate with them and hung out with them. It was pretty cool.



Rachel and Missa and I rode in Danielles car on the way there. We killed the boredom of the long boring drive by singing songs from Fiddler on the Roof. And reminiscing about The Neverending Story, Danielle giving us driving pointers, random comments. good times

When we got there, we were all split into different groups with different tasks, such as putting rice, beans, and flour into ziplocks and then putting those into boxes to give to families who needed them.

Shelby and i sorted beans. We also came up with an idea to make lots and lots of money. Raisin Bean cereal! Its like corn flakes and bran flakes, but instead itll be bean flakes. Theyre cheap, so we can make a lot of it, mix raisins in, and sell it at health food stores for top dollar. yummy!
just might work, right?

Anyway, we all had a great time at smith lake. I am so thankful to God that He lets me do stuff like this that changes my life for Him.
I worry about stuff way too much. Its only times like today that I realize ive been truly blessed.



(God has a plan for you, too)






Todays Theme Music-
walk on water- audio adrenaline
everybody here is a cloud- cloud cult
holiday- green day

we will soar

I went ice skating with some toastmasters kids today. It was pretty amazing.
and i did not fall down. pwned!

basically what happened was this-


1) We chunked around the ice, making jokes, laughing loud, and looking like retards cause we were anything but graceful.


2) we took lots of pictures. Sam struck manly poses (the same every time); paul stealing the attention by crashing in the backround.

3) and-
yeah... i dont know.


Afterwards we went to Dions. where else?
And we played Egyptian, and i won as usual.

hahahahaha....

the end.


(tomorrow im going on a day mission trip to Smith Lake. cannot wait to see how that turns out)






Todays Theme Music:
falling down- atreyu
because its named after the indian kid in The Neverending Story
and
blacking out the friction- death cab for cutie
because its finally starting to feel christmassy here, weather-wise
and
on wings of integrity- my children my bride
because theyre amazing

the end.... (almost)

Today was our last small group for the year.
And also extended night of worship, which is always cool. A good time to truly experience God and love Him for who He is, no matter what He may be doing in your life.

I am comforted to know how close we are to the end of the year. I can't wait for it to all be done already, to be just quickly over.
I'm especially looking forward to the end of school, seeing as how ive got a 65% avarage in chemistry... lol.
math and science are just not my thing.
is that excuse good enough? hope so.

i actually had an open book lab final. it was amazing.
it seems as if my lab teacher and my lecture teacher switched personalities but kept the same body. My lab teacher seems really gruff, but hes so lenient and cool, and my lecture teacher seems nice, but hes really uptight and makes things hard. (this is me trying to blame my grade on him...lol)

Im just glad that through everything, God has been there for me. This entire semester, while school's just been showing me how dumb i am, God has been showing me that He can use that for something.

i have a purpose, and a feeling that no words can express
:)




Todays theme Music:
nickels is money too- tdwp

facing the facts

Im pretty good at hiding from reality, but there comes a point where you cant hide anymore.
one of my best friends is moving away in just a week, and im facing the facts.
i wish it could last forever, finals and all...
but i know it wont.


im scared.

so far away from all we've known

The chaos has begun.
I had a precalc test last thursday, chemistry and physics tests today, and then i have a lab final wednesday, math final tuesday, chem final wednesday...
yuck.

Today i realized that i get distracted and space out really fast. I start out reading, and then i have one of those relaxed moments where im thinking of something funny or im daydreaming, and then i notice that my paper is blurry and i focus in and start reading again.
I did that like five times during my chemistry test today, just a little weird.

i cant wait for the weekend to get here, im going ice skating with some kids from toastmasters.



Anybody remember this?
that was such an amazing day.













Todays theme music:
jesus in the southern sky- kellin quinn
set it off like napalm- emarosa

we dont look back dahling, it distracts from the now

An interesting Toastmasters meeting today. Kind of emo. Kind of deep.
People actually cried. It was weird. I didnt like it much... i spose it was the result of finals and too many classes; too much studying, lol.

Afterward my 'rents and I went out looking for a Christmas tree... at 4 different places. Thats right.
My parents weren't about to spend 40+ bucks on a tree (i wouldnt either. i was all for the charlie brown tree) so they decided to go look at fake trees. After spending nearly an hour at Lowes and the prospect of spending equal to if not more than that time at Michael's comparing prices, i decided to head over to Borders instead.
I've been dying to read that new twilight book.
Dont get me wrong- i am not one of those hardcore twilight fans. Those books are totally overrated.
But ive read the other three books and i just gotta know what happens, lol.

Can you believe how much Twilight junk they have out there now? In addition to the books, theres t-shirts, bookmarks, posters, jewlery like the actors wore in the movie, books about the actor that plays edward, even giftcards.
its crazy.


Tuesday we got the news that theres gonna be no summit this year, so I can do the homeschool graduation thing that Clinton did. And i made it into the honor society at the last minute (by the skin of my teeth), so i get to wear one of those dorky red shoulder scarf things. but im excited about it anyway :)

Also i finally saw Wall-E. I loved it.
a cute movie about a sad, dumpy little robot that just wants to hold hands with a sleek new robot. I love his house, how its decorated with a bunch of stuff that people would think is totally useless, but when you bring it together it looks amazing.
and its totally hilarious how all the humans are obese and just slide around on the floor.

ughh. i'd better go study for finals. im so sick of this. ive had an awful semester. After the 18th im just gonna forget about all of it and sit around and make stuff all day.
its gonna be amazing



Today's Theme Music:
death of an interior decorator- dcfc
time of your life- green day

i am just a speck of dust inside a giants eye

I was blog-tagged to do the '10 things about me' blog:


1) i dont like the taste of water

2) i went on a life-changing mission trip to Portland, Oregon last spring

3) ive never broken a bone or had stitches

4) i suck at math

5) i love making things using any medium, especially cloth (felt)

6) i have strong thighs (haha)

7) i like things simple- i dislike fancy clothes, fancy foods, fancy parties, fancy anything

8) ive kissed a cow tongue

9) i love tree houses

10) i enjoy shopping for groceries with my dad



anyone who read this is now blog-tagged.
have fun



Todays Theme Music:
reinventing your exit- underoath
i like giants- kimya dawson

a milestone

This is Miles.

I named him that cause he's a big milestone for me; my first real order.
Danielle Gawronski was visiting a friend in OK City, and she brought hansel and leisel, her pocket pals, with her. I guess her friend liked them so much that she decided to buy some, so she contacted me via Facebook and ordered a panda and an elephant. I already had the panda, so Miles was the only special order- my very first :)




Todays Theme Music:
all i want is you- barry louis polisar
winter song- eisley


Also, evie bought me cloth.
it doesnt get much better than this