The Last Day

Kind of crazy to think that today is the last day of 2009, isn't it?

The change of the year brings a lot of new feelings: determination to fulfill my New-Year's Resolutions, excitement, and a bit of irritation because now I have to get used to writing 2010 on all of my papers and such.

While speaking of my New-Year's Resolutions, my family and I decided to go sugar-free (by sugar I mean sweets, desserts, that sort of thing; but also we're going to attempt to cut out most sugar from our diet, excluding natural and unavoidable sugar [such as the sugar in bread]) for the entire year of 2010. I'm kind of publicizing this fact in order to eliminate the possiblity of quitting after the first month. ^^

Christmas break has been so nice, hasn't it? My family and I have gone to two plays, eaten out several times, hung with extended family, watched movies; I've had numerous phone-calls with my friends, came up with two new plots (I wrote the sequel to the plot mentioned in the previous post, and am really excited to start writing), listened to the same songs over and over again, and relaxed. The thought of starting school next Monday is slightly scary, but as I'm having a sleepover with three of my dearest friends (Jenna, Hannah, and Jordyn), the excitement of that overrules the dread of school.

Happy New Year! :)

How I Love...

...opening an old notebook, seeing a forgotten idea jotted down months ago for a story, elaborating on it, getting a brilliant plot with some holes, calling your best friend who sews up your holes with stunning ideas, and creating a whole new world of characters just itching to be written.

Best Christmas present ever. :)

Freedom!

I just came back from my orthodontist appointment--I now have a mouth completely braces-free!

Wow, it feels incredibly weird. When they were taking off my braces, it felt like they were yanking out my teeth; they would grab onto one of my brackets with a big tool and pull. The pressure would keep building until it was almost unbearable, and then the bracket would come off. After the brackets were all off, I thought, I have no teeth left! And then I thought, (when I walked out of the orthodontist building, running my fingers and tongue over my teeth), Eiu! They're so slimy!! And they still feel really...weird--but in a good way. Like, I would never go back to having braces after feeling what it's like to not have them.

I have no "hardware" in my mouth right now, but tomorrow I'll be getting a removable retainer, which I'll have to wear for a year. So I'm enjoying feeling completely free--even if it's only for a day.

I just discovered something about myself--I like reading series backwards. I read the seventh Harry Potter book about a week ago, then the sixth, then the fifth, and so on: I'm now in the last pages of the second book. It's not confusing, contrary to how it may seem. When Sirius Black was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (hate her...) in the fifth book, it was awesome to read the fifth and see him alive again.

I also discovered that I love spending money on awesome gifts for my family and close friends. It's so much fun to pick out gifts that I know the receivers will love...though I am tempted to keep the gifts and use them. (especially the one I got Hannah...I was about THIS *holds fingers a centimeter apart* close to keeping it. I wrapped it up before I had second thoughts. ^^) :)

Merry Christmas!

Random Pictures

I've been in an editing-picture spree, digging through old files, dragging out old pictures, and touching them up. Literally, these are very random. Some are from trips, bored afternoons, photoshoots, and some are just completely random--but all are taken/edited by me.

Let the randomness begin. *laughs*

I thought I would explain this next one. First off, I didn't take it, Hannah from Aspire took it, but I edited it. This one is of me...I thought my hair looked kinda cool. ^^

And then I had to throw this next one in of Hannah that I took and edited. *laughs* I love this one.

And this next one I took while over at Hannah's house. This is Eli, her two year old (right, Hannah?) brother. He's so cute. He kept trying to feed me this yougart that he was eating. :)

Very random pictures, yes? ^^

Opinions?

Alzheimer Bowling

Last night for my service environment, I didn't end up playing Bingo--or Jingo, as it was dubbed for the night--as the nursing home leaders told Kelli, Tiffany (my mentor) and I to help with the bowling.

It was like the mission trip all over again! In Canada, we (my friend Ruthie and I) went bowling with Alzheimer-patients, and that is exactly what we did last night, except, obviously, it was Kelli with me, not Ruthie.

So we set up the bowling pins. Tiffany, Kelli and I were the runners--there were only two runners needed, so Kelli and I would switch every once in a while, one sitting down and talking with the elderly, one helping Tiffany. There was this one woman--Mary Anne, her name was--who refused to throw the ball (not a real bowling ball, but made of hard, fairly-light plastic) at the pins. She would pretend to aim at the pins, but then whirl around and hurl the balls at an innocent bystander. Talk about dangerous. Kelli was nearly pulverized, as was Tiffany. (I was spared, thank goodness)

Then there was this other, Maxine, who was--according to our church leader--a "complete hoot". When Maxine was introduced to me, she was like "Hey, beautiful!" and then to Kelli, she said, "Ooh, you are so pretty!" Then she said to Tiffany, "We really need to get some more men in here; this beauty shouldn't be wasted." Old people's compliments are like no-one else's. I asked her about her kids, and she told me she had three triplets who could talk in complete sentences five minutes after they were born. Kelli asked her the same question a little later, and Maxine promptly replied, "Oh, I have five kids, three boys and two girls. They're about this long"--holds her hands about two feet apart--"and like to say 'No, Mama'." Then Tiffany asked her the same question a little later, and the elderly woman said, "I have four kids, three boys, one girl. The girl I gave birth to three days ago. She went away."

I had this big hole in my jeans, and Maxine was like patting me on the leg, saying, "I love you, beauty, you and your little..." she squinted at my bare knee "you and your little...naked...thing." All of the people who came with my church glanced sharply at us (Maxine talks really loud), and I hurriedly said, "Oh, yeah, the hole in my jean, yeah, I like it too." (I said that pretty loud, I wanted everyone to know she was talking about my jean hole.) I had a whole bunch of little holes too, over my back pockets, front pockets, and legs, and such, and she poked all of them gently, saying fondly, "Love all of your little ones too..." So funny. :)

Overall, I had a ton of fun. :)

Of Chocolate and Prayer

I was going to call this post "Of Chocolate and Miscarriages," but that's just a little too weighty. Thus my title "Of Chocolate and Prayer".

First of all, I now have around 740 M'n'Ms in a large jar sitting in my room. I won them at the school-co'op that I go to--I take a writing class there. I never thought I was actually going to win one of those guessing games were you write the number of M'n'Ms you think are in the jar, but I wrote 642 on a slip of paper and handed it to my friend Hunter's mom, Robin. Hunter, Amber and I were getting really competitive; Hunter said he had counted them before and had come up with 650, though his mom had added a few handfuls more. So I went back and changed my vote--thanks, Robin--to 705. I barely beat Alex out of winning the candy, by only ten or twenty, I think. But anyways...I have a feeling I'll be looking at that jar for a long time. ^^

My science teacher, Ms. Bakos, had a daughter who became pregnant about twenty weeks ago. They took ultrasounds--they wanted to know right away, as she had had several miscarriages (I think that was the reason)--and saw twins, non-identical. A few weeks later, they took another ultrasound; the doctor who took them examined the pictures for several minutes, and then asked the daughter and her husband, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Or am I just crazy?" Because there, imprinted plainly on the sheet, was a third baby! They missed it the first time! Ms. Bakos brought the ultrasounds to us, beaming from ear-to-ear as she proudly showed us her future grandkids. Yesterday, however, she walked in, and I instantly knew something was wrong. She walked a bit slower, her red tear-filled eyes were rimmed with purple half-moons and her head was bent as if a great weight was hanging over her. I got this awful feeling in my stomach, and sure enough, her daughter had just gone into labor the night before. The babies were only nineteen weeks old, much too young to survive on their own. She just started crying when she told us...just crying. Tears were pouring down her face several times throughout the class. I gave her a hug afterwards, and told her I'm praying. I would love it if you all would include her and her daughter and son-in-law in your prayers every once in a while.

I'm also going to a nursing home tonight. See, my church has this mentoring program, and once a month we go with our pods (two other mentor-student pairs) to a service environment, serving for about four hours. I'm so excited to hang out with my awesome mentor and really good friend Kelli. We get to play bingo. *laughs*

Later,

Writing Quotes

I found some writing quotes that I am now in love with. :) (All quotes found here) (The main reason for this post is to test out my blockquote border...but the quotes are awesome! ^^)

"Fantasy's hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it." Lloyd Alexander

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." Ray Bradbury

"I write for the same reason I breathe- because if I didn't, I would die." Isaac Asimov

"Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending." Longfellow

Also, none of you will believe what I did today! I colored a picture with crayons. *laughs* I haven't done that in so long...but it felt kind of nice to pretend to be a little kid, even if its for ten minutes, right?

Random Things (Again!)

I don't want to make my title too long, yet I hate to use the title "Random Things," but I really have no choice. Anyway, first things first. I got tagged by Alyssa, and I had to do it. A Christmas tag, how fun. ^^

1) Do you like sugar cookies?
A: Oh, yeah. Chocolate chip are better though.

2) Do you like a LOT of lights on your Christmas tree, or just a few?
A: The more the merrier. (I actually like the tree better with just lights, not ornaments.)

3) Do you prefer a real tree, or an artificial tree?
A: Definitely a real tree. Though the vacuuming stinks. And the constant watering. But overall, I prefer a real tree.

4) What's your favorite Christmas carol?
A: What Child is This? and O Holy Night.

5) Do you like egg-nog, or boiled custard?
A. Eggnog is slightly good, but...boiled custard? *grimaces*

6) Do you want a lot of snow for Christmas, or just enough to sled in?
A. I want (and have) lots of snow...until I have to go shovel it. :P

7) What's your favorite part of the Christmas story?
A: All of it. It's such a beautiful story; not just because of the awesome plot and the fact that it was true, but because of the love in it. It's amazing.

8) What's your favorite Christmas movie?
A: A Christmas Carol--the new one, especially in 3D. ^^

9) If you could spend $1,000,000, what would you buy?
A: Books. And more books.

10) What is your favorite name(s) of Jesus?
A: I know this is technically the name of God, but Jehovah always struck me as cool. :) (but Jesus is, of course, amazing also)

I'm being lazy at the present moment; therefore, I tag anyone who loves the book/movies of The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.

*blinks* that was fun. Now the next random thing...
I now have 100 followers...thanks, you guys! I love you all, you're amazing. :)

*laughs* this reminds me of this one My Life Is Average that I read. It goes something like, "A blog I followed posted about how he reached a hundred followers. I stopped following. I felt like I beat him. MLIA" *shakes head while still chortling*

And an update on my grandmother who got in the accident: she's doing a lot better. I just talked to her on the phone yesterday, and she sounded better. She's in physical therapy now, resting a lot, and she just took her first steps yesterday, which is awesome news because the days after the accident she couldn't move at all. Also, you can watch another movie about her (in which she meets the man who saved her life. Grandma and Pop-Pop [our grandpa] get quite a lot of screen-time, it's awesome.) here.

Later,

Agh and 200th Post!

I've been receiving some very irritating Anonymus comments (not cruel, but irritating). The majority of them have been random, jumbled letters with random, jumbled links. There have been some random phrases within these chaotic, nonsensical comments, but they make no sense, like "before your first meal!" and "with love from a shoe!" (*laughs* irritating, but funny ^^)
Others seem to have a point: a few of them have been attempting to advertise vitamins, health care products--like shampoo and healthy nail polish--and ways to make money, but I just reject the comments and ignore them.
I don't want to not allow any Anonymus people to comment on my blog--there are some really cool people that are Anonymus and whose comments I enjoy...I would hate to lose them--but I don't think I can put up with these pathetic ones three times per day.
Any suggestions?
Perhaps I will make it so that no Anonymus people can comment...if I do, this is to all my Anonymus friends: just get a blog, or sign in to your gmail account.
*Shrugs* Who knows what I'll do? I'm just hoping these spam comments will stop soon...

Anyways, I just realized--this is my 200th post! I have done no planning whatsoever about giveaways, freebies, or anything (the typical stuff of a 200th post), so...sorry about the lameness of this 200th post. I guess I could write 200 things about me, but I'm growing tired just thinking about it. However, all is not lost--you can go to my Label Cloud (such a cute name! ^^) and click on 100 Things About Me (or something along those lines). Better then nothing.

Last night, I watched Night At The Museum II: Battle of the Smithsonians...SUCH a hilariously random movie. I love Napoleon and the evil Egyptian guy (not even going to attempt at spelling such a formidable name). *laughs* they are so great. Amelia Earhart, though... *shakes head*  I do not like her. At all.

On that judgemental note, I bid you all namarie,

Who Are We?

I was driving home with my dad from my friend's house; the night was bitter cold and dark. It was snowing; large white flakes were falling down from the black heavens. The flurries didn't stick, however; the furious wind blew them in clouds above the black asphalt. They swirled in beautful snow-chariots, always moving aimlessly. Never did the wind die, never did the flurries pause in their everlasting patterns of movement. Never.

Yet there were some snow flakes that stuck. Why, I don't know, but these stubborn clumps were scattered about the road. I watched as the wind constantly pulled at them, but they never unstuck, never relented to become one of the others.

The wind-chariots had their base in the wind; they always moved, never achieving peace or rest. But the clumps, they had their base on the road, which was immovable and solid. They stayed; no matter how hard the cruel wind battered against them, they stayed.

While waiting at a long red light, I contemplated this, awed by the beauty. Who am I? I thought. The wind-chariots or the clumps? Do I have my base in something transitory, something that comes and goes, like the wind? Or am I positioned on something more solid? Do I conform to this world, or do I serve the One who has been here before the beginning and will be here after the end?

I've been reading Pride and Prejudice the last few days or so, and the two characters of Miss Bingley and Jane Bennett stuck out to me.

I doubt any of you is ignorant of the two characters, but I will explain them anyway. Miss Bingley is a selfish, shallow, wealthy flirt, and Jane is a happy, confiding, innocent young woman.

Miss Bingley is continually attempting to flirt with Mr. Darcy, and jealous of any who speaks one word to him. She's unwilling to host Lizzy--as she knows Mr. Darcy's feelings for her--even though Lizzy needs to see her sister (who is sick at the Bingleys). Miss Bingley is only concerned about herself, and only has relationships if she can benefit from them.

Jane refuses to see anything but good in others. Lizzy says to her, "Oh! you are a great deal too apt you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in any body. All the world is good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life."

I think we all have a Miss Bingley in us--as well as a Jane. I know that is most definitely true for myself, at least.

But the question is, who are we? We all know that our sinful nature prohibits us from being exactly like Christ as we all would want; but who do we let dominate our spirits? Our Miss Bingley--always complaining, never concerned about others, always flirting, always selfish--or our considerate, kind, loving Jane?

I know who is easier to let dominate. It's clear that being selfish is much more easy then considering others before ourselves. But it is also clear what Jesus would want us to do.

And no matter how hard it is, I know that I will continue to strive after being like Jane--and, more importantly, Jesus.

Car Crash

I just discovered that my grandmother got in a car accident down in Florida. She was backing out of a country club--I think--and got hit by a man who drove through a red light. Her car got flipped into a nearby canal--over six lanes of traffic--and she nearly drowned. Two men stopped their cars, scrambled out, dove into the canal, and helped my grandma out of the totalled vehicle.
She has a cracked pelvis bone, and a sore neck, but that's about it.
Isn't God amazing? She was in a very serious car crash, nearly drowning or getting pulverized by passing cars, but she came out of it with only one cracked bone and few bruises!
Prayer would be awesome for her quick recovery so she can make it home for Christmas.
Edit: Go to this site to read the story and watch the news report. Turns out she wasn't unconscious. But if she hadn't rolled down her windows, she could have drowned. My grandma was the one in the Cadillac. I have sat in that car countless times. Wow...I am still in shock here...