weekdate #011

1. Not a whole lot happened last week.  Rachel, Ellie, and I spent some time together before we started school--Rachel and I this week, and Ellie next week.

2. Friday was Rachel and I's 19th birthday!  Our family all went out for dinner at Macaroni Grill.  It was delicious!

3. My parents gave me some roses for my birthday.

4. And a friend of mine gave me a ring.  It's really beautiful. :)

5. Yesterday my classes for my sophomore year began.  I'm taking Anthropology 101, Spanish 2, Western Civilization 2, Introduction to Teaching, and I'm trying to get into Modern Music Appreciation 1.

These are only the books for two of my classes. :)

6. My only class that's in-class for now is Anthropology.  I'll be going for the Intro to Teaching, but that doesn't start for another few weeks.  My anthropology teacher is a trip; I have a feeling it'll be a very challenging class in terms of standing up for what I believe.

weekdate #001

weekly + update = weekdate!

I always have things happen throughout the week that I want to blog about, but they're just too little to make a post about.  So I've decided to start doing these "weekdates" every Monday, if possible, talking briefly about 10 things that happened over the week.  I think it'll be fun!

1. This week Rachel and I went to Garcia's for dinner after school.  ^ this is what I had ^.  It was so good!

2. Work has been really great these past few weeks.  We have new crew that are being trained, and it's more fun with new people.  I'm trying to be as welcoming as possible; I know how scary it is to be new!

3. I've been giving Titus (my beta fish) a hard time lately.   Whenever I feed him he gets really excited, so I decided to try and see if he would follow my finger around his bowl.  Well, he did, but I think he thinks I'm an enemy because he gets all puffed up and tries to make himself as big as possible.  It's pretty funny.  I tried to take a video of him doing it, but it's terrible quality.  Hope you can still see it okay!

4. I've been going on a lot more walks lately, and trying to jog some.  On Saturday I jogged farther than I ever have before!  I almost died, but I'm so proud that I could do it!

5. Easter yesterday was great.  We didn't have a sunrise service, but the regular service was great.  Afterwards we had our first Seder Supper (it's like the Passover meal) and then a big potluck.  It was so much fun!  Then we came home and almost all of us took naps before we did Easter baskets and had an Easter egg hunt for Chloe.

6. I took my 4th Spanish exam--my last one before the final--and did tons better than I expected.  I also got a math test back and did really great.

7. The weather's been iffy this past week.  On Sunday it was around 70 degrees, and then Monday night we got a foot of snow.  It was all melted by Tuesday afternoon, and since then it been a lot warmer, but still a bit chillier than it was before.

8. I've actually been making friends at school, which is a lot different from last semester when I would just talk to people once and then never speak to them again.  This semester is a lot better!

9. Only four more weeks of school!

10. I love clearance. :)

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #32

I'm thankful for:

0621. Charlotte Bronte

0622. midterms.  As stressful as they are, it's kind of cool to see how much I can actually pack into my brain.

0623.speaking of midterms, I'm thankful for the blessing of recalling information!

0624. Hosea

0625. mustaches

0626. old drawings or stories that we made/wrote when we were little

0627. honey

0628. spring is almost here!

0629. cool gizmos that don't really have a purpose, but are interesting all the same

0630. chocolate chips pancakes (aren't these the most amazing pancakes you've ever seen?!)

0631. bell peppers

0632. cucumbers

0633. "Hard Times Come Again No More".  I love the harmony in this song.

0634. symphonies, even if I don't really enjoy them.  It's cool that God gave some people the ability to create them.

0635. time lapse videos

0636. spring break is almost here!

0637. red paint

0638. dance lessons

0639. cash (even though cash and I are basically strangers)

0640. my math teacher is really awesome

* photos from weheartit.com

what I'm learning

I really enjoy reading blog posts about what exactly is going on in people's lives: what they're learning from the Lord, what they're learning from their classes, etc.  So, I thought I'd make a post like that tonight.

In work: 

- It's actually been a really stressful couple of weeks as far as work goes because there's a big inspection on Monday and Tuesday that we were getting ready for.  Thankfully, I have Monday and Tuesday off. :)
- Otherwise, though, I'm just so thankful that I have this job.  I know there are many others who can't get a job anywhere.

In school:
- As I said in a previous blog post, this semester I'm taking five classes: Math for Teachers 1, Spanish 1, Sociology, Philosophy, and Western Civilization 1.  I'm actually enjoying all of these classes a lot more than I previously expected.

- My hardest classes are probably math and Spanish so far, although philosophy is a close third.  There is so much homework for my math class.  So far I've spent approximately a day and a half per week doing the work for the next week.  We're basically learning how to explain math, rather than just doing it; for instance, how do you explain to a child that when he counts one, two, three, four, five items, there's really five items total?  Sometimes it can be really hard to figure out the right explanation.  As for Spanish, it's just a lot of memorizing.  Philosophy is difficult in that there's a lot of reading, as well as twisted concepts I have to sort through as a believer.

- My Western civ class shouldn't be too hard; a good bit of reading and a couple papers to write, but not too bad.  I really like my sociology teacher.  We only have a midterm and a final, and she lets us have cheat sheets for those.  Plus, we get to watch three movies throughout the semester and then write a paper on each of them.  It should be fun!  That's definitely my easiest class.
- This week is week #3, and I already have three papers due and two exams on Thursday!

In family:

- After an awesome, long Christmas break from everything, our lives are picking up in pace again.  Ellie is again beginning rehearsals for a new play with her drama group, ABC (A Bunch of Characters).  She also has Varsity, Bible club, and youth group.
- My mom is also involved with Bible club this year.  I think she likes it.
- Rachel's life schedule is basically the same as mine.  We have the same job, go to the same school, and even have three classes together (one's online).  This semester I think my school load is harder than hers, though.  She got a new cat this week!

In faith:

- I feel like I'm learning a lot about working for your faith.  With all the things to do every day, I have to make specific times to spend communing with the Lord.  This time is usually in the mornings, and is fairly easy to keep up with.
- I really enjoyed my dad's sermon yesterday on John 1:43-51, especially in his pointing out the simplicity of the gospel in that passage.  Come and see Jesus!  It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.  That's a comfort to me in my day to day life.  When I'm stressed or worried or anything like that, I can just come and see Jesus.  What a blessing.

to please Him

Tomorrow I start my second semester in college.  I'm taking 16 credit hours with math, sociology, western civilization, Spanish, and philosophy.

I'm pretty nervous, but I was comforted by this devotional from Amy Carmichael this morning.

*The only thing that matters is to please Me.

   Have you noticed that if you go to sleep with the thought of Him whom your soul loveth, you waken—at least often it is so—with some little word from Him, a verse from His Book, or a hymn, or just a simple word that tells you nothing new, but somehow helps.

   “The only thing that matters is to please Me”—that was the word that woke me a few days ago, and it has not gone away. When the thought of the things that I cannot do comes and tries to trouble me, this little simple word comes at once. The other things seem to matter. I often think they do matter. But they are as though they did not matter in comparison with pleasing our Lord Jesus.

   The word—that simple word—reminded me of those other words, “All that pleases is but for a moment. All that grieves is but for a moment. Only the eternal is important.” Are any of you tried about anything? I think if you listen you will hear Him say, “The only thing that matters is to please Me.”

-- Amy Carmichael

* excerpt taken from Edges of His Ways by Amy Carmichael, page 15

31 Days of Song, Day #8

The song for today is "The Night Before Christmas", sung by Brandon Heath.  He said about it, "Some friends of mine wrote this song, and I've never heard the tension of that holy night captured so well in a song. It's so well crafted, so well written. This song is appropriate far beyond Christmas because the birth of Christ literally changed history."  I love this song, and I hope you will too!



I'm all done with my classes for this first semester!  Next Tuesday I have three finals--algebra, psychology, and art history--and on Thursday I have an English final.  Hurray!  I have a lot of studying to do, but I don't think it'll be too terrible.  I'd appreciate prayer!

31 Days of Song, Day #6

"Angels We Have Heard on High" was written by an unknown person, at an unknown time, in France.  In French, it's title is Les Anges dans nos campagnes, literally "Angels in our countryside".  The song was translated from French into English by James Chadwick in 1862.


I really like this version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" sung by David Archuleta.  I know David Archuleta isn't a Christian singer, and I don't agree with some of the things he sings about, but I really like the way he sang this song.



I'm so thankful that we made it safely to school today!  The roads and weather were pretty nasty, but we are safely here, which is great.  Nothing like waking up at 5 AM to make it to a math exam I think went pretty badly. :)

I'm also so thankful for Chloe.  I just love talking to her on the phone and hearing how her day is going.  She's precious. :)

spOILed

Hey everybody!

I wanted to just give a little update about what's been happening with me lately.  I can't believe it's already November 16th!

Yesterday I signed up for the classes I'll be taking in the spring.  So far my schedule is Math for Teachers, Sociology, Western Civilization, Spanish, and maybe Philosophy or Theatre.  I'm really excited about it!

I've hardly been working at all lately because it's just so slow, I've been sent home early almost every day for the past two weeks.  It's alright, though.  Hopefully it'll pick up again soon.

It's almost Christmas!  I'm so excited.  I love Christmas!  I'm excited about Thanksgiving next week, too, because I don't have to go to school. :)

I wanted to mention this movie that I went to see with my dad and sisters last night.  It's a documentary that this guy made about how America is totally dependent on oil, and how it's running out.  It was really interesting!  If you live in the ABQ area, it's showing again tonight at the Century Rio theater.  Here's the trailer.  Go see it if you can!

What wilt Thou give me?

Hi everybody!

There was a specific reason I wanted to write on my blog today, but I can't remember what it was, so I just thought I'd do a little update about how things are going lately.

Yesterday was my art history midterm.  I am seriously being over and over again shocked at God's goodness.  I have been dreading this midterm ever since the semester began.  It was the only midterm I had for any of my classes (for all the rest I have periodic exams), and this is the only test we have besides our final for this class, so it's pretty just based on those two tests.  I was so nervous about it, in fact, that I memorized the first four pages of vocabulary words I needed for the midterm within the first two weeks of starting school. :) But I was so ready for it!  Over the weekend I was feeling a little nervous because I didn't even really know what to study (we were going over ten chapters--was I supposed to everything about every one of them?), but when I woke up I read the little devotional for the day that I have in this devo book by Amy Carmichael.  I've talked about it before; it's called Edges of His Ways.  I wanted to post the devotional for yesterday because it was just so cool how God ordained it for that day.

*Gen. 15:2: Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?

   When thinking of the further reaches of prayer I came on this, the simplest of all, like the words of a small child before is has learned not to ask for things for itself.  If the friend of God could speak so to his God, we may in all simplicity do so too.  "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?"

   Just as a child passes from the less to the greater in desire, so we find in our Bible that the desire of man, as he walks further on with God, grows and grows till we come to such words as Paul's, words that reach far beyond any earthly good--"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings"; and soon that other word follows, so often forgotten in hurried prayer: the first good thing promised is not the thing for which we prayed, but peace.

   "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?"

   "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus."  Is not peace an answer?

Isn't that awesome?  I'm not saying that I wasn't a bit anxious throughout that day, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (plus, I think I did really good on the test!).  God is so faithful!  He gives peace and strength and whatever else I may need, all the time.  He is so good.

Start considering joining The Voice of the Martyrs on November 13th, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  To learn more about it you can go here.  I'm posting a video from their website below; I think it's sort of a promotional thing for this day of prayer, to get you started thinking about it.  I thought it was really interesting.

I also wanted to post another little thing from Amy Carmichael (I love Amy Carmichael; she was such an inspiration!).  This one is from A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot.  It's not really inspirational or anything, but it just stilled my soul and made me stop for a moment to pray for those little children around the world that evil people use for harm.

**Just how horrible [what she was saving little girls from] she (Amy) did her best to put into words.  Things as They Are has a picture of a half-naked holy man.  "This photo is from death in life," she writes, "a carcass, moving, breathing, sinning...  I knew something about the man.  His life is simply unthinkable.  Talk of beasts in human shape!  It is slandering good animals to compare bad men to beasts.  Safer far in a tiger's den than that man's monastery.  But he is a temple saint--earthly, sensual, devilish.  Now put beside him a little girl--your own little girl--and leave her there--yes, leave her there in his hand."

Take some time today to lift up to the Lord those helpless, little children and the people who do them harm, as well as the people who work to help them.

* excerpt taken from "Edges of His Ways" by Amy Carmichael, page 193
** excerpt taken from "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael" by Elisabeth Elliot, pages 170-171

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #25

I'm thankful for:

0481. plenty of time to get ready for my mid-term next Tuesday

0482. and God's wisdom for actually how to study for that mid-term

0483. a good grade on my first English paper

0484. Starbucks lemonade with passion tea--amazing!

0485. The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

0486. a nice substitute teacher for art yesterday

0487. friendly people at work.  This one guy a few days ago was passionately explaining to me why I should be on toothpaste commercials because my teeth are white and straight. :) Braces.  But come, I mean, really?  Would you honestly skip out on buying your Colgate from the toothless old guy in this picture? ;D

0488. reverse rainbows--I saw one a few days ago, and I was really cool!  The green was on the outside, and it progressed inward so that the red was on the inside.

0489. having wood for the fireplace

0490. metal crates

0491. school folders that you can color on

0492. extra credit points

0493. styrofoam

0494. my new blog design!  It's really simple, but I love it.

0495. piano recitals (when I'm not playing in them)

0496. scooters

0497. thrift stores

0498. making lists

0499. jean jackets

0500. streamers

Halfway done!  Thank You, Lord!

God is so good!

I know, I know--I have been posting WAY too many videos lately, but I just keep finding more and more that I like!  However, along with the videos, I wanted to give an update on how college life is going!

It's busy!  I have four classes Tuesday and Thursday, and then I also work Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.  Still, it's all going a whole lot better than I expected so far!  I got an A+ on my first psych exam, and 10 extra credit points for my first art paper!  I was thrilled. :-) Otherwise, I had a math exam last Thursday, first English paper due this Tuesday, next psych exam on Thursday, and first art take-home quiz due on Thursday.  Lots going on, but God is so good!  He continues to astound me over and over again with His goodness.  Not to mention He has made it so that I love my classes and feel like I'm learning a ton!

And on to the videos!  The first is this beautiful worship song by Audrey Assad.

Second, I had to share this.  This little boy is just so CUTE! (I feel like I'm using A LOT OF CAPITAL LETTERS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS IN THIS POST!!!!!!!!!) :D

In the Morning

I wrote this song about a week and a half ago as I was thinking about how busy I was going to be once I started college and continued on with work and everything.  I have made mornings my times for devotions for about four or five years now, but with starting work and everything it has sometimes had to be shortened.  I wanted to remind myself that my mornings with the Lord aren't just times to dutifully read four chapters out of my Bible, but to learn of Him, to speak with Him about my day, and to worship Him before anything else.  I really like how the song turned out; it has helped remind me that these mornings with God are precious and should come first and foremost, before anything else.  I'm going to try and record it this weekend, but for now here are the lyrics.

In the Morning

By Sarah Butler

Seeking Your face in the morning

Is one of the hardest things to do

Seeking Your face in the morning,

When all the world is askew

To lift my hands in worship

Would add so much to my day

But I don't lift my hands in worship;

Instead, I just go on my way.

Thanking You for Your blessings

The sunshine, and more, for the rain

Remembering all of Your goodness

At the start of a brand new day

To thank You for my family

And the love that You pour down

But I don't thank You for the blessings;

Instead, I just grumble and frown.

Lifting up the trials

And also the blessings that You give

To ask You for Your guidance

That I might know how to live

To lift this time before You

Would add so much to my day

But I just speak to You once in the morning

And otherwise, forget how to pray.

Seeking Your face in the morning

Is one of the best things to do

Praising You for Your wonders

And basking in Your love anew

Thanking You for my family

And for all, for me, You did

God, I ask Your blessing on this morning;

Show me how You want me to live.

Laboring as to the Lord

Happy Labor Day, everybody!

Around here, holidays like Labor Day don't do much to change our daily life.  Daddy works at home, so it isn't like this is a special day off of work, and with Ellie being homeschooled she takes about one day a week off.  Rachel and I are only going to CNM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we didn't get a day off of school.  But today has just been amazing so far!  I have all of my homework done, so what I've been doing today is just stuff to get a little bit ahead.  Mama, Chloe, and I went to Walmart to get stuff for our Labor Day cookout and, wouldn't you know it, God blessed us with three mountain bikes, one each for me, Rachel, and Ellie, on sale for just $29 each!  We've all been thinking that it would be nice to buy bikes, and these are just fantastic (fantastically cheap too)!  This afternoon we went and tested them out all together, and then made shish kebabs while Ellie made chocolate chip zucchini bread (amazing).  Right now I'm taking a break from psychology before we go eat dinner together.  The rest of our evening plans include a Bible study together, maybe some singing, as well as making smores, using up some leftover fireworks, and watching a Steven Curtis Chapman DVD we've had for about three months and still haven't watched.

My point to all of this is just to say that, amidst all the hubbub of starting college and continuing on at McDonalds and everything else, there is peace in the Lord.  He is showing me how He will set me free from worry and stress if only I'll give it all to Him and realize that, really, what is there to worry about?  The worst thing that could happen is that I fail all four of my college classes (I dropped my chemistry), and if that happens I can just retake them or do something with my life that doesn't require a degree.  I want to take care of orphans, after all, and raising kids doesn't require a college degree.  Teaching kids does, though, and that's what I'm leaning towards majoring in now.  If that's His will for me, God will see me through!  In the end it's all a matter of perspective.  Why on earth would I worry?  It won't add a single hour; rather, it will waste the hours God has given me in which to glorify Him.  Let's use this time wisely, and labor for Him.

And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

 Luke 12:22-32

Be Still, My Soul

I wanted to post this song today because there are a lot of changes going on in my life.  I'm going to be starting college in seven days, and tomorrow I'm turning eighteen!  It can kind of be a lot to take in at a time.  I never thought I'd even get to my senior year, much less be through with it, graduated, and starting college!

Thinking about all the new changes has kind of had me worrying about, well, everything.  I heard this song a few days ago, and I really liked it because it just brings peace to my soul, reminding me of God's faithfulness and steadfastness.

When I put all of this in the perspective that God is in control and all that matters is that I glorify Him in all of this, go where He leads, and rely on His strength, trusting Him for whatever happens, all this change is kind of exciting!  I'm sad to be leaving my "kid years", but excited to see what God has ahead!

Speaking of what He has ahead...

ALL my books.

My chemistry book is still wrapped in plastic.  I don't really want to look at it. :E

My intimidating math calculator.  I have no idea how to use it.

May God be glorified in it all!

ABQ Balloon Fiesta

This morning my family and I went to the ABQ Balloon Fiesta.  We had a fantastic time, even if we did have to get up at 5:00 (shudder), and I wanted to share some of the pictures that we got out of it!  I know there's a lot of them, but enjoy all the same!

This is maybe one third of the cars that were there!



Apparently this balloon didn't have a basket; just somewhere to sit.  Can you say insane?

The End!