happy birthday punt!

happy birthday to you! happy birthday to you! happy birthday dear ashlee!! happy birthday to you!
have a wonderful day! i love you! :)

song...surrender

sooo, as many of you may know, i've been at berea for the past week for staff week (which was awesome!). it was an amazing week of really growing closer to God and realizing different things about myself and bonding with the other staffers and learning my job, etc. one of the things i really loved (other than everyone on staff!) was chapel time. the speaker was really good, but i really enjoyed the singing. i loved how everyone's voices sounded together and how everyone was actually thinking about the lyrics and meant what they were singing. one of the songs that i really liked and that really made me think was this song called "surrender," so i thought i'd share it with you all. just actually think about the lyrics, they're so powerful and meaningful...

surrender
by marc james

I'm givin you my heart
and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you, my King
I'm givin you me dreams
I'm layin down my rights
I'm givin up my heart for the promise of new life

(Chorus)
And I surrender all to you, all to you
And I surrender all to you, Lord, all to you

I'm singin you this song
I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
The sake of knowing you
the glory of your name
To know that lasting joy in sharing in your pain

take my quiz!!

haha, i saw this on ashlee's blog, so i decided to make my own!! :)
check it out, see how well you know me...or how well you think you know me... :)

Take My Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com Can you Ace my quiz? Yes! No Let's Find Out!

they're over!!

exams are over!! [for this year, at least...] now just one more day....then it's up to camp for 3 weeks on staff [please pray for that, too, i'm kinda nervous....]...yeay!! i'm gonna miss all my friends from school, but next year will be here before we know it!! anyways, thanks for the prayers!!

i put up some pictures from my sisters' soccer games on my photoblog...go check it out and let me know what y'all think!!













[click the picture]

new stuff...updates...

so, i just wanted to leave that post about the chapmans up for a while (if anyone was wondering why there was a posting drought...). please keep praying for them everyone. i'm sure they're still hurting and it'll take a really long time for this to fade a little. so just remember to say a prayer for them once and a while...anyways, here's a graphic i made for them...(i sorta stole the idea from ashlee's blog, great idea punt! love ya!)...














on a different note...i've updated my photoblog quite a few times with a bunch of random spring pictures and some pictures of naomi...check it out [click on the picture]...and let me know what you think!! :)













soooo, school is almost over!! yeay!! :D i am experiencing ambivalence (thank you mr. talkington...) over the end of the school year. i'm excited that it'll be over and summer will be here, but i'm also sad that it's over...see, i'm a remembering freak. maybe that's why i love journaling (thanks to jaina) and i freak out when i forget something and why i love photography. i mean, seriously, if i could video tape my while life, i would seriously jump at the opportunity!! (it would be a ton of film, but i think it would be worth it!) i also hate change (or most change....if someone wanted to change our bathroom or possibly build us another one, be my guest! i would welcome that kind of change!), so i don't want to let go of this year. i don't want to loose any of the friendships i've made this year...i don't want to give up my locker!! [i love my locker!! don't take it!!]... i don't want to forget a thing from my first year at "real" school...
anyways, so, all that to say that we're almost done with school...our official very last day is next thursday. today was our very first day of finals (*shudder*) but thankfully, we are now 1/3 through exams!! yeay!! if you all could pray for me and everyone at my school that we would remember everything and not be nervous, all that good stuff, that would be awesome!! thanks! today was literature and math, so it's nice to have those out of the way (especially literature...). monday is physics and history (i'm most nervous about history) and then tuesday is Bible and french (that should be the easiest day...i like both subjects! [i'm really going to miss my french class... :(])...sooo, if you could be praying for us as school winds down, that would be wonderful...
i think that's a brief overview of what's been going on lately...don't forget to be praying for the chapmans!!

maria chapman

hey everyone, i don't know if anyone's heard about this, but we really need to be praying for the chapman family right now. their youngest daughter, maria (she just turned 5), was killed in a car accident on wednesday. here's the story from steven curtis chapman's website--

© 2007 Tucker Photography.
(Left to right Will Franklin, Maria, Steven, Shaoey, Mary Beth, Stevey Joy, Caleb and Emily)

MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME

NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.

More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles.

it doesn't say this, but one of her older brothers was driving the car (i'm not in any way whatsoever blaming him).

so, we really need to be in prayer for their family, and also for the brother. i cannot even imagine how they feel. we need to lift them up in prayer, and be praying that their family will be strengthened by this tragedy, and that they will cling to Jesus, and that they will use this horrible tragedy to lead others to Christ. we also need to be praying for the brother. i cannot even imagine what he's going through right now. be praying that God will just draw him to Himself and that he can be a testimony before the world of God's faithfulness and love.

anyways, i just wanted to share that with y'all and ask for prayer for them. so please be praying!

dear Lord, i lift up the chapman family to You now. i pray that You would strengthen their family and just draw them to Yourself during this difficult time. please bless them now and help them to know that You're in control, even though we have questions and don't know why something like this would happen, help them know that You have a plan that's so much bigger than us. please just hold them close to Yourself and make Yourself real to them at this time. Lord, i pray especially for maria's brother. please help him to realize that it's not his fault. show him that You have a huge plan for his life, and just hold him tightly in Your arms. draw him close to You and his family through this tragedy and help him to see how You're using him. make him stronger through this, and help him to be a testimony of Your love, faithfulness and forgiveness through this. thank you so much for always hearing us, and just be close to the chapmans now. amen.

"the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." -psalm 34:18

one of his (steven's) songs that is really appropriate (he has a lot of great songs, another one that's appropriate is his song "cinerella".). this is "God is God"--

narnia: prince caspian

weelll...everyone else seems to be posting their reviews for caspian, so i might as well say what i think, too (lol!) [i was planning on doing this earlier, but school is insane!]...i don't think i can give a really good, complete review at the moment, i think i have to see it again to and really think about it [the first time watching it, i was in this blissful haze...thinking "i can't believe i'm finally watching this!! it's been what, 3 years?!" yea, we've been waiting for a while!]. throughout the movie, ashlee, naomi and i randomly whispered to each other about random details, which i'm sure the people behind us deeply appreciated [yea right. *rolls eyes*], but that made the movie more enjoyable for me! lol! like i said before, it's gonna be hard for me to really write a review, so i'll just mention a couple things i remember [warning::spoilers!!]...
first of all, the actors/actresses did amazing jobs!! i was a bit skeptical about ben barnes, but he was just awesome (although i don't quite get how spanish accent=telmarine...yea...). my personal favorite character in this movie was edmund. he was just stinkin' awesome (go skandar!!)!! he matured so much since lww, and he was great in this movie! lucy (yeay georgie!) was great, too! i loved her faith in aslan, and how she grew up in this movie (i also liked how they made her a lot like the book.)
o.k., some of you might not like this, but to tell you the truth, i thought peter and susan were somewhat of a let-down. they did have some great scenes, and anna and william are great actress/actor, but they weren't my fav. i didn't really like how they weren't really like the book. for example, i didn't like how peter's faith in aslan was really shaky during almost the whole movie. and i didn't like how susan acted rather snobbish at times. (i think this is what i remember, but i still want to see it again...) don't get me wrong, i loved the movie! there were just a couple things i didn't like. for peter, he was great during the fight scenes (especially his duel with miraz!), and did anyone see the hair flips?? those were soo funny!! one i found especially amusing was during the duel with miraz when i think peter's been knocked down, he gets up, does a hair flip and has this really determined look on his face that's like "you think it's gonna be that easy? think again." :)
i liked the scene with the white witch (even though it wasn't in the book...). i thought it was really interesting...one of the things that disappointed me was how after peter pushed caspian out of the way, and then he basically took his place (he seemed really easily swayed in this movie). i loved how ed saved the day, though! that was awesome! :)
o.k., i'm almost done, but there's one more thing i have to talk about--susan and caspian (you knew that was coming, didn't you?). i think it was totally unnecessary. i think the director said something like how you see susan and caspian and you think they go together, or something like that. what i heard that, i was just like, "ummm, NO! no no no no no!!" idk, obviously they aren't ever going to see each other again, but they didn't have to do that (even though susan's lines after that were pretty funny!). anyways, yea, i didn't really like that part...
sooo...hopefully that somewhat made sense, i loved the movie [even though it seems like i just focused on the negative, hopefully i'll be able to write a more complete review later...], and can't wait to see it again! :)
oh, and one more thing, reepicheep totally rocked!
the end.

meg and soph's photoshoot!!

hey everyone!! go check out the rest of the pictures from meghan and sophie's photoshoot, and don't forget to let me know what you think!!













[click on the picture, as usual!]

poll

sooo, i had to poll running for about a month over on the sidebar. the question was "which is better, sambas or converse??" and, the poll is now closed, so i can reveal the results (even though you can kinda already see them)...*drumroll please*...the winner is....SAMBAS!! sambas won 19 to 11. although they won in points, i'm kinda thinking that it was rigged, because every time my siblings went on my blog, and could vote, they did, and they voted for sambas. sooo, i'm not sure who really won, but oh well, they were close!! and my personal opinion is that sambas rock way harder than converse. period. end of discussion. done.

votm--may

"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." --psalm 45:11

whoopsie...i'm a little late... :p

wow...it's been a while

sorry everyone...it's been quite a while since i last posted...sooo sorry 'bout that...life has been crazy! for some reason, teachers decided to pile on homework and tests for the past 2 weeks...strange, i know! so, what's been going on in my life lately (not that anyone actually cares or checks my blogs anymore, but oh well!)?? well, last weekend, i went to the authentic beauty conference with a bunch of my friends (and my lovely sister), and it was awesome!! the speaker was bethany needham, our counselor's name was melissa, and they both rocked!! it was bethany's first time speaking at a conference, and she did an awesome job! :) she talked about the lies we girls believe and how we need to attack them head on with scripture and disprove those lies that satan is feeding us! a couple of her favorite verses were--
pslam 45:11- "The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." (talking about God to us!! He's enthralled with your beauty!)
psalm 139:17- "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" (God thinks about you all the time, and His thoughts towards you are precious!! how cool is that?!)
sooo, that's what happened last weekend....it was awesome!!
today was kinda crazy, i had a math and physics tests, and a Bible paper due! i was dictating my schedule for this week to sophie on sunday, and she was typing it into her phone (don't ask me why...), and all of it didn't fit!! that's one way to know your week is too full-- it doesn't fit in someone's phone!! :) anyways, then after i got home, i had an interview for camp (woop woop!)! mary is awesome!! hopefully i'll get to work there this summer, i'm so excited! :)
yup, so that's what's going on with me...tomorrow, my dad has surgery on his knee (please pray!) and friday we're having a group come to do skits and bekah's favorite church is coming, too, although she won't be able to see them because she's going to be flying to thailand (you can pray for her, too! i'm gonna miss her soooo much!!)

i think that's it...oh, and i put more pictures from sophie and meghan's photoshoot up on my photoblog (i finally got them all on the computer, edited, and ready to share!), so you can go check those out and let me know what you think!!
have a great rest of the week! :)

i'm a Christian

i saw this on sophie's blog (hope you don't mind me posting it on mine, too, soph!), and i thought it was really good! :) it is so true!! as Christians, we are no different from other people, other than we're saved by God, and we're trying to live differently according to God's word! :)

Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin".
"I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than you,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow.

pride and prejudice

soo, last night was the last performance of the play "pride and prejudice" that my high school did!! i went with my youth group, and it was amazing!! one of the amazing seniors in our group, bekah, was elizabeth, and she did a spectacular job!! she had sooo many lines to memorized, and she did them all perfectly!! so, great job everyone who played in it, it was awesome!! and bekah, you were amazing!! :)

beautiful weather!!

wow, we've had absolutely beautiful weather this past week!! sorry for the lack of posts, the past 2 weeks have been really busy with school and such. so, hopefully more posts soon! :)

poetry

aaarrrrrgggghhhhh.....i have to write a blank verse for lit....for one thing, poetry is nice, but i can't write poetry. period. that's ashlee's department....soo, we have to write 10 lines, with no end rhyme, and every line has to be 10 syllables, and every other syllable is unstressed and the others are stressed (it goes stressed, unstressed, stressed, unstressed, etc.) (it's official name is iambic pentameter)...sooo, at the moment, i have 9 lines that are sorta kinda iambic pentameter and sorta go together, and i only need one more!! so i should probably go write that....yea...

i just found this cool avviee...

this is so cool!!

this is one of the coolest (and most random) things i've seen in a while!! it's awesome! :)

idol gives back

so, ashlee and i watched the last 2 songs on idol gives back last night, which were mariah carey and the people who are still on the show. we were really surprised that the last song they sang was "shout to the lord"!! it was really surprising, sort of a nice shock. what was not nice (o.k., it was bad) was that they changed the 1st line from "my Jesus, my Savior" to "my Shepherd, my Savior," they just totally took Jesus out from it, which is the whole point of the song!! they never said Jesus at all. of course, the song was about Jesus, which they totally took out of it, but since they changed that, you could substitute anyone in there. this is part of our sick society and the work of the devil trying to take Jesus out of our culture and our lives, when that's the only thing we need that'll save us, we need Jesus. i also wonder how many of them actually know what they're singing or actually believe it. they're singing "nothing compares to the promise i have in You," and how many of them actually have that promise?? so, that's my opinion, they did a nice job, their voices are a beautiful gift from God, but you can't sing a song like that without Jesus! i would have been fine if they had left Jesus in, but since they took Him out, there's my problem. it's wrong.
oh, i just thought of this, it sort of goes with the barlowgirl song, "keep quiet." here are the lyrics-

keep quiet
written by barlowgirl

oh the things i've sacrificed
so that i could bring You to this world
i want them to see You in me
but Your name just keeps them far from me

so i'll keep quiet
let's hope they see i'm different

Jesus, Jesus, how Your name offends us
why are we so scared to tell this world You've saved us
when all of the hope of the world's in Your name
why are we so scared to say
oh Jesus

if i avoid to speak Your name
tell me would You do the same to me?
if relevance becomes my goal
tell me will i loose You to it's hold?

but if i keep quiet
they'll never see i'm different

Jesus, Jesus, how Your name offends us
why are we so scared to tell this world You've saved us
when all of the hope of the world's in You name
why are we so scared to say
oh Jesus

i'm sorry i cared about my name more than Yours
i'm so sorry, how could i hide You anymore
but if i keep quiet
they'll never see i'm different

Jesus, Jesus, how Your name offends us
why are we so scared to tell this world You've saved us
when all of the hope of the world's in Your name
why are we so scared to say
oh Jesus

(c) 2007 Word Music, LLC, Barlow Family Music (ASCAP)

update on camp...last year

i finally got around to posting about the rest of the week of girls camp at berea last summer (i know, i know, i'm really, really, really late!)!! here's the last post about the last day, but i can't find the pictures from that week, so if i do, i'll post them, but for now, you're just gonna have to read it (*gasp!!*)!!

spring weather...summer yellow

i love spring!! today's weather was absolutely amazing!! i think it was the first actual real day of spring! it was beautiful!! the sun was out, and it was cool/warm, and just a great day!! right when i came home, i changed into a bright summery yellow shirt and flip flops, and then went outside in the sun to read. :) i'm so excited, i have a 4 day weekend starting tomorrow! yeay!! so tomorrow, i think i'm helping reuben make breakfast for mom, and doing homework, then friday, i hope to do a photoshoot with sophie, meghan, and possibly ashlee and naomi!! :) yeay! i also spend almost my whole study outside today which was great! :) anyways, i'm in a very springy mood!! spring's my favorite season because everything's growing and happy and bright and beautiful!! :) so, my new blog colors hopefully reflect that cheerfulness (with the yellow and blue)!! :)
random picture i like, that ashlee and i took on erika's phone sunday, i though it was really cute, thanks for sending it to me, erika! :)

more pictures!!

check out some pictures from lancaster (a.k.a. amish country) from our trip to pennsylvania!! and let me know what you think!! :)










[click on the picture, as usual]

pictures!!

hey everyone!! go check out more pictures from our trip to pa, this time from gettysburg, on my photoblog!!
also check out picture from a walk turned photoshoot on my photoblog, too! :)
and let me know what you think!!

soooo...

i was just checking out my awesome jc from a couple years ago's blog, and now i really miss berea!! :( hopefully (if i get my form thin filled out and sent in!) i'll be working there this summer, which would be awesome! :) soo, last week was my first week of "normal" school after vacation and interim...it was rather long...sorry if i was acting strange at youth group last night...i was just really frustrated...my day hadn't started off well (literature, and then health...health was what really killed it, we talked about abortion and all the horribleness of it...which was frustrating to me), and then just i guess the way people were acting at youth group didn't help any...whatever...anyways, sorry 'bout that! sooo, i think i'm going to get off the computer, brush my teeth, journal, put up pictures in my room, figure out what i want to do this summer (only 9 weeks of school left!! WOOP!), and work on my application for staff at berea this summer!! :) ttyl!
i'm going through this awesome devos book called "God's Priorities For Your Life For Teens" and it's really good! i would definitely recommend it to anyone. it has little short thoughts on a whole bunch of topics and verses and quotes from awesome Godly authors, etc., to go along with the topic. here are just a couple quotes and verses from the section i read yesterday on patience (anyone who really knows me knows i have issues with patience, and it was really good for yesterday...)
"God is never in a hurry" -Oswald Chambers
"The next time you're disappointed, don't panic and don't give up. Just be patient and let God remind you He's still in control." -Mex Lucado
"When life is difficult, God wants us to have faith that trusts and waits." -Kay Arthur
"Wisdom always waits for the right time to act, while emotion always pushes for action right now." -Joyce Meyer
"God has chosen you and made you His holy people. He loves you. So always do these things: Show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle, and patient." -Colossians 3:12 (ncv)
"But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently." -Romans 8:25 (nlt)

i'm don't regret choosing God...

just made this...i totally don't regret choosing God in my life...and i'm so glad that it's Him who's holding my heart and not some guy... :)

addison road

sooo, i got addison road's cd for my b-day, and it rocks!! they are my new favorite band (next to barlowgirl, of course!). all their songs are great, and the lyrics are so meaningful and really have made me think! :) so, i think i'll post a couple of their songs...here's their song "it just takes one"

it just takes one
by ryan gregg, travis lawrence, jenny simmons, ryan simmons, jeff stutton & chris stevens

what if we moved
what if we wandered
took a reckless ride to the other side
of the tracks
what if we knew somebody's story
would we write them off like a number
on a check

or could we be the only sould
who take the time to love and find
the beauty in the nameless face

it just takes one
it just takes one
to step out from the crowd, and show
what love is all about
one, it just takes one
to change a life forever,
touch the world and make it better

so what if we moved with no hesitations
and learned to love the least of these
without reserve
let's spark a change in this generation
and let our actions speak louder than our words

and what if there's a world in need of hope
that only we can bring
brighter than the midday sun

it just takes one
it just takes one
to step out from the crowd, and show
what love is all about
one, it just takes one
to change a life forever,
touch the world and make it better
(c) 2007 Simple Tense Songs/Simply Complex Songs (both adm by Simpleville Music Inc.)/SECAS and Meadowgreen Music (adm by EMI CMG Publishing)/ASCAP All Rights Reserved.

come on guys, let's step out and change our generation, let's stop being half-baked Christians and show the world this love that we have. go out and make a major impact, take a stand that no one else will take for Christ!

random graphics...

random graphics i've made lately...

votm--april

"You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others." --1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 (msg)
thought i'd post it a little early...

votm--march

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." --1 Timothy 4:12
whopsie...forgot 'bout posting this at the beginning of this month... :/

happy birthday reuben!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR REUBEN!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!
i hope you had an awesome day! love ya! :)

check it out!

hey everyone! go check out some pictures from philly from our vacation to pennsylvania!! (click on the picture!)

:P

back to school again...and back to homework...whop-dee-doo...i'm so tired right now because we had an all-nighter at youth group on friday...and i only slept for around 2 1/2 hours. :P and i just got this weird craving for chocolate pie..mmmmm...that's sooo good! :) ahhhh!! so, the overnighter was fun!! ashlee and naomi invited hannah, so it was cool to have her there, too! :) we played polish pingpong, which was a lot of fun! random people sang and danced to random songs (which was soooo funny!!), we watched the princess bride and i fell asleep for the middle of it, which is surprising, because that was the first time i've ever (that i can remember) have fallen asleep during a movie. we hung out a lot, and i'm very proud of myself, because i only had a couple cookies instead of stuffing my face! :) i fell asleep from 5:30-7:30 sat. morning with bekah, ashlee, hannah and christa, which was pretty good, because i had wanted to sleep...everyone was sooo tired, though....i ran 11 laps around the auditorium with jessuly at 4:30 saturday morning...good times...and then i went home, took a shower, listen to my ipod for an hour, then fell asleep from 1-4 (during reuben's birthday party) (i know you all totally wanted to know that!). we went to ashlee and naomi's indoor soccer game at 4:30 (i love soccer!), and they lost 5-0, but for some reason it's being counted as a win. they had 4 tired persons on the field (ashlee, naomi, hannah and katelyn), and ashlee and katelyn looked like they were going to fall asleep. yea, so now i'm back in school...and really tired...only around 10 weeks left 'til the end of school!! :)

...i still want chocolate cream pie...

pennsylvania and interim

soooo, as most of you know, i had school vacation for the past 2 weeks, and my family and i went to pennsylvania to visit a family we haven't seen for a while. we were there for all of last week, and i had an awesome time! :) we went into philly 2 days, stayed overnight at gettysburg (with our pillows!), went to lancaster, a.k.a. amish country, got to see a family from our church who moved down there and got to meet their new daughter!, and had a lot of fun with our friends! it was so much fun, and i miss my friends so much, but i have a lot of awesome memories and a whole bunch (a.k.a. 100's!) of pictures to remember the trip!!
so, after the past 2 weeks of vacation (which were awesome!), we're back to school again. at my school, we're having a week of "interim" where we have a morning and afternoon class all this week that are different from regular classes (like this week we have fencing, medical specialties, ballroom dancing, hip hop, computer programing, scrapbooking, and a lot more!), and even though this is my very first one, it's been a lot of fun so far! :) i'm taking an all-day class called digital imaging, which is just awesome! i get to take pictures and play with photoshop all day, what could be more fun?! so far this week, we've photographed at my school, 2 town's centers, a church and library in boston, and we've been to a photography museum (which had a really cool exibit with photographs from ellis island by stephen wilkes). it has been so much fun!! it was kinda funny, because we went into boston today, and when we were walking back to the t, we passed a big group of people all with the big "pro" cameras, and we were like, woah, they're doing the same thing we are!! it was pretty cool! :) so, i've taken a couple 100 pictures...maybe i'll post a couple on my photoblog...idk...
anyways, just thought i'd give y'all a brief overview of the past couple of weeks for me! :)

these are hilarious!!

tucker showed us these and they're so funny!

this one is really funny, too!!

pennsylvania

sooo, we're having an awesome time down here in PA. the family we're staying with are just so awesome and so much fun i don't want to leave, but i miss all of y'all back home!! we've been to philly, gettysburg and lancaster, and we'll be home soon. here are a couple pictures...
independance hall...








the liberty bell...








starbucks... :)








the hotel in gettysburg...








little round top...












it was really windy...








kitchen kettle shop...








horse @ kitchen kettle...








the outhouse...












so there's just a couple pictures from our week here...more to come later with stories!! :) have a great rest of the week, and happy Easter, everyone! :)

gum & vacation...

did you know that gum with dirt in it is kinda strange to chew??
sooo...last week and this week is my school vacation!! woop woop! so, this week (we're leaving like, now!), my family and i are going to pennsylvania! if you all could pray for safety and lots of fun, that would be awesome! :) so, if there happens to be a lack of posts in the next week, you'll know why! :) sooo, look forward to stories, pictures, pictures, pictures, and more pictures!! :) love y'all!

hmmm...should i really tell you all...

well, i supposed i should...i'm getting married!! :D sorry i didn't let you all know before, but, oh well, it was kinda...sudden. i bet you all couldn't guess to whom!! :)


o.k., o.k., you all know that i'm obviously not getting married...but i did get my hair cut! :) it's really short, so prepare yourself for the next time you see me!! :)

how deep the Father's love for us

i love this song. it's so pretty and just gets the idea of God amazingly huge love for us across so nicely!! :)

how deep the Father's love for us
written by stuart townend

how deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure
that He should give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure
how great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away
as wounds which mar the Chosen One, bring many sons to glory

behold the Man upon the cross, my sin upon His shoulders
ashamed i hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers
it was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finnished

i will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom
but i will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection
why should i gain from His reward? i cannot give an answer
but this i know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom
© 1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music

sambas <3

you better believe it...they rock harder than converse... :)

smilie :)

wow, today is a beautiful day!! :) the sky is so blue!! it's an amazing day (great job, God!)!! i think i'm going to be outside a lot today...hopefully i'll be able to
1) go for a run
2) do a "photoshoot" w/ashlee (and possibly naomi and reuben) in a pretty park i found
3) write in my journal (gotta catch up to jaina...yea right...)
4) post some pictures from the aquarium we went to yesterday
5) possibly get changed out of my pj's! (gotta love spring break!)
6) have fun! :)
so, hope the weathers as beautiful where you are as it is here!! have a great day! :)

photoblog header

i made a new header for my photoblog, what do y'all think of it??

more random graphics...

:)

random graphic...hero...

love this song by superchick...

new colors...

what do y'all think of my new blog colors...i like the dark purple with the light green (i wanted to put a lighter version of the dark, deep purple, but the next step down was a florescent purple :P), but i'm not totally sure how "me" it is...what do y'all think? i thought the bright happiness of the colors was kinda cool...sort of a welcome to spring... :)
random...one day 'till my spring break! :D

poll...

go check out the poll on the side (and vote for sambas because they rock the clock!!) and vote!!

random...i was going to post about something else, but now i forget, so i'll post about this...2 more school days 'til my 2 week school vacation!! woop woop!! :D

and another random....please go comment on my photoblog (i'm kinda sick of just seeing comments from ashlee and naomi...not that those are bad or anything...)...i posted all those famine pictures for y'all and you havn't commented about them. :( that makes me sad...and i posted pictures of noah and lucas, sooo go check them out and comment!! (please and thank you)

happy march 1st!!

happy march 1st everyone! :) hope y'all had an awesome february (with the extra day!), and have a great march!
at the moment, it's snowing here, so it doesn't feel too much like march, and yesterday the temperature was something 7 degrees F, anyways, it was cold, but we still hold onto the hope that warm weather will come in the next 2 months (hopefully...you never know with our insane NE weather!).
i also want to ask for prayer for ashlee today. she's taking the headmaster exam, just like i did, and she's probably really nervous (i know i was!). so if you could just pray that she's not nervous, has clear thinking and that God would guide her and my parents as they're looking for options for school next year (*tear*she's growing up:(*tear*), and that they'll know for certain exactly where God wants her to be! thanks so much! :)

famine pictures finally up!!

hey everyone, i finally got the famine pictures up on my photoblog!! so, go check them out and let me know what you think!! :) {click on the picture! ^}

sorry....

sorry i havn't gotten the pictures from the famine up yet...i've been pretty busy with school and everything...so i'm sorry...i'll try to get them up asap! :)

famine! :)

the famine was friday-yesterday, and it was a lot of fun!! more stories and picture (on my photoblog) later, when i have more time. now i have to go do my homework... :P have a great week y'all! :D

happy birthday jaina!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JAINA!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! :)
(it seems like everyone else already got to this, but i'll say it anyways!) i hope you had an awesome day!! love ya! :) (yeay for purple!)

you're so kidding o_o

this is insane, i don't have school today!! o_o the reason why this is so insane is that we've only had 1 snow day this school year, so it's rather surprising that we wouldn't have school day. soooo, i now have a whole day ahead of me, and no vocab quiz!! yeay! :) i don't know what i'm going to do with myself! sooooo, you know what would be really funny? if it didn't even snow. ha. that would be crazy. but my mom assures me it will snow, so, we'll see! it hasn't started snowing here yet....
today's the famine (hopefully!)!!! yeay! i can't wait, and hopefully we'll still have it even with the snow...i hope so...
anyways, that's my random story for today, hope y'all have a wonderful day! :)

clustrmap

o.k., so that clustrmap thing i have at the bottom on the side of my blog seriously rocks!! it's so cool to see where everyone who checks out my blog is from! :) it's been pretty cool to see all the different places from all over the world, so welcome everyone!! don't be shy, comment, let me know how it's going with y'all!! :) hope you all have a wonderful day, and yup, i just think that map is the coolest! :)

meghan and my's club from camp...

soo...last summer at camp, meghan and i made up the most awesomest club in the whole world. and so last week i finally got around to making a graphic for it...so here it is, and the explanation...















so, i'll start from the beginning. it was chill time at camp, and meghan came to hang out with me on my bunk, because her bunk was right next to mine on the top, and we're just cool like that (btw, my bunk was just the most amazing bunk ever. i loved it, it was in the most perfect place. *teartear*) anyways, so it started off as the unwanted people's club, and then got many things added on to that. so, we started the unwanted people's club because we are unwanted by the other gender (yes, rather depressing, i know. but jaina and sophie were [and still are!] wanted and we weren't, so we needed a way to express our sadness...). so that's how it all started. i quickly became the fat unwanted people's club because we were just sitting on my amazing bunk eating chocolate and being sad, so we figured if we kept that up, we'd grow really fat pretty quickly. then we added the "watchless" part because neither of us had a watch and we had to keep asking other people what the time was. and we added the "who love archery" part because we just love archery! :) also, the "our dads love us but i don't think that really counts" part goes with the "unwanted people" part! :) anyways, that's just my random story for y'all right now, hope you enjoyed it! :)

pictures and songs

go check out more pictures from the "photoshoot".

my 2 favorite songs are now "You Never Let Go" by matt redman and "From the Inside Out" by Hillsong United.

from the inside out (the whole movie is great, the lyrics are simply amazing!)


"you never let go"

:) lol

i thought this was really funny--

You Should Play the Accordion

You are eccentric, funky, wacky... definitely one of a kind. People have trouble putting you in any one particular category. You definitely have your own thing going on. You are a born entertainer. No wonder you'd be perfect as an one man (or one woman) band. Your musical influences likely cross all genres - and blend together in a very unusual way. While you are definitely offbeat, you also enjoy tradition and influences from the past. It's just your style to take an old fashioned instrument like the accordion and make it uniquely yours. Your dominant personality characteristic: your total inhibition Your secondary personality characteristic: your interest in obscure activities and subjects

What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

:P

i'm kinda bored right now...just waiting at school to be picked up...i probably should be talking to teachers about the famine...i've raised at least $500 now, so i'm half way to my goal!! do you want to help me reach my goal of raising $1,000? please leave a comment, i need all the help i can get!! :) random famine facts: $30 can feed and care for a child for 30 days!! here in the US, $30 might get you a dinner and a movie. every day, 15,000 children, that's 1 every 6 seconds, dies from a 100% cureable disease called hunger. and you can help stop those appaling numbers from rising!! anyways...go check out sophie's blog, she wrote a really good post...

happy valentine's day!!

happy valetine's day to everyone out there!! :) hope you all had a great day! even if you didn't have a significant other sending you flowers (i didn't...but i did have an awesome mom leaving hearts in my lunch! thanks mom! :]), i hope you had an awesome day and remembered that God's love is so much better than any humans!! even if you don't get flowers or chocolate, you already have been given something so much better--God's love through Jesus!! God gave us the best valentine's day gift ever and showed His amazing love for us through sending Jesus die-showing us His love in the most spectacular way! and all He wants is our hearts and lives and love Him back! :) may you realize more deeply God's deep, deep love for you this valentine's day! :)

"how great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! and that is what we are!...this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." james 3:1, 4:10

prayer and meghan's fanfic

sooo...i would just like to ask for prayer for me. i'm coming down with something, and mom thinks it might be the flu, but i really hope not. throughout school today, i had a big headache, sensitive skin (everything felt really rough), i was freezing and shaking, but my head felt like it was burning up from the inside out, my stomach felt funny, and my leg muscles ached and were sore. i had a fever, too!! in physics, i asked lauren if my face was red, and she said no, but when she felt my head, she said it was burning up. i'm feeling better now, but i think just because i'm on drugs (you all know what i mean...) so, if you could pray i get better soon, and it won't be the flu! :/ i'm so glad it's friday, so i can just sleep all tonight and tomorrow!! (and if i was acting a little weird at school today, that's why).
also, y'all need to go check out meghan's fanfic! it rocks!! meghan's a really talented writer!

random quizes...

i saw the post on mrs. b's blog about names, and i thought i'd check it out...i took a couple other of the quizzes, too, how accurate do you think they are??

my name...

What Tori Means

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

my personality...

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

my pirate name(lol!)...

Your Pirate Name Is...

Dirty Right Eye Rita

What's Your Pirate Name?

what christmas tree ornament i am...

You Are a Tree

You love every part of the holidays, down to the candy canes and stockings. And you're goofy enough to put a Christmas tree ornament on your tree!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

what color purple i am...

Dark Purple

To others, you seem a bit dark, mysterious, and moody. In truth, you are just a very unique person who doesn't care what others think. And you really enjoy your offbeat interests and friends. You've decided that life is about living for yourself - simple as that.

What Color Purple Are You?

my birth month...

Your Birth Month is February

Peaceful and harmonious, you seek the gentle side of life. Your warmth and consideration touches many. Your soul reflects: Purity, modesty, and faithfulness Your gemstone: Amethyst Your flower: Iris Your colors: Purple, yellow, and light blue

What Does Your Birth Month Mean?

my sandwich (i love tuna!)..

You Are a Turkey Sandwich

Conservative and a bit shy, you tend to stick with what you know and trust. You are very introverted, and you prefer to blend in whenever possible. Though you may be hard to know well, anyone who does know you considers you a true friend. Your best friend: The Ham Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Tuna Fish Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

my crayon color...

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

*warning*there are some inappropriate quizzes on that website, so beware!*

the REBELution

check out the website, too! :)

our hope endures

one of natalie grant's new songs...check it out on her myspace...it's an amazing song, and i'm really looking forward to her new album! it looks like there'll be a lot of awesome, moving, meaningful songs on it! :)

"Emmanuel....God is with us....El Shaddai....all-sufficient..."

verse of the month--february

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him..." --Psalm 37:4-7a

possibly a post soon about the significance of those verses to me... :)

prayer, please

ashlee's going to shadow someone at my school tomorrow, and she's also doing an interview, too. she's in the process of applying for my school, so if you could pray for her, that would be awesome! pray that she wouldn't be nervous, and that she and my parents would have peace about her education, and just calmness knowing God's in control of everything (we definitely learned that with my education!)!! so, i'll try to keep y'all updated with ashlee's education, but for now, just pray for her! God is totally in control! :)

photoshoot...

go check out some pictures from a "photoshoot" i did with erika, katelyn and ashlee after church today...they came out pretty cool...more to come! :)
{click on the picture to go to my photoblog}

random graphics...

a couple random graphics i've made over the past couple of weeks! :)



(^for ashlee and naomi)




:D woot for the word of 2007!


i love that verse! ^






gotta love a spanish pirate! :D (evan lysacek rocks!!)