Christmas

I haven't blogged in a week or so, mainly because I've found very little to blog about. A week ago last Friday, I turned 18. Yesterday, my sister celebrated her birthday. 18 and 25 are pretty big milestones, aren't they? 18 is when you can vote, buy a lottery ticket, and a lot of other things that you probably shouldn't do. 25? Well, 25 is a quarter of a century. No, I didn't get a tattoo or buy a lottery ticket as soon as I turned 18; in fact, I did very little besides register to vote to prove that I was 18. I've never really felt the pressure to rebel; I've never really wanted to rebel, if that makes sense. Many preacher's kids go off the deep end when they turn 18, 21, or move out of their parent's house. I hope I stay on the straight and narrow, and that God keeps putting people in my life to keep me there. Yes, I have a responsibility to stay there myself, but every Christian needs another Christian to keep them accountable.

But anywho, Friday was Christmas. I have to say, nobody predicted or expected the snowfall; snowfall in Texas?! P-l-e-a-s-e. Yeah right. Texas only gets ice, not snow. We don't get white Christmases. Thursday, an hour after my sister and brother-in-law arrived at our house, it started snowing. And sleeting. None of us expected the snow to last during the afternoon. We all expected it to melt by 2 or 3 p.m. But it didn't. It just kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing, until finally, we had at least 11 inches to a foot of snow on the ground. In TEXAS of all places! I've seen snow in texas before, but NEVER to the extent that it was Thursday. And you know what? IT STAYED!!!! We ended up having to cancel our Christmas Eve service (something I was disappointed about) becuase of the dangerous road conditions. I finally had the White Christmas that I had waited for for so long, but by Christmas morning, I was wishing it had melted! But the snow still stuck around, and yesterday, my brother-in-law and I built a huge snowman. *picture included* What a crazy week! Wednesday, I believe, it hit 70 degrees. Thursday? it was below freezing. Goodness. Only in Texas will you use your air conditioner and heater in the same day.

But seriously: what is Christmas all about? I've always maintained that because of why we celebrate, people seek to look to other means and other figures. Christmas is about Christ. Yeah, I realize it was begun as a pagan holiday, but Jesus hijacked it. Did you know that? Jesus Christ hijacked a PAGAN holiday with His birth and turned it into the greatest day of all history. Jesus' birth was miraculous; the simple fact that He was conceived by a virgin teenager proves that. But more importantly, the whole timing of His birth in and of itself was miraculous; I believe that Jesus' birth took place when the Roman Empire and a certain language was becoming powerful and the mainstay. I don't remember the language, but the language that was the common tongue helped to spread Jesus' message, especially during the first century. Jesus' birth also fulfilled several prophecies, including the one about where He would be born (in Bethlehem). You know, if Joseph hadn't been loyal to Mary after the angel's visit to him, I doubt the prophecy would have been fulfilled. But I honestly believe that God had selected JOseph for Mary in order that JOseph wouldn't just simply divorce her and leave her in Nazareth. God's perfect plan for salvation wouldn't allow a slip-up like JOseph divorcing Mary. They were a couple for a reason: Joseph was of the house and line of David. Jesus had to come from the line of DAvid. why do you think God put them together? I wonder if they ever looked back on those events and wondered, "What if we hadn't stayed together?"

If you've never seen it, you should watch The Nativity Story; it's a fairly accurate portrayal of Luke's account of the event, with a few historical missteps here and there (the 3 kings, when they worshipped Jesus, and the mistake that there was only one angel who visited the shepherds), but overall, I think it portrays Mary and Joseph correctly and what they might have gone through: shame, criticism, and doubts. It also shows how people were out to get Jesus before He was even born; Herod's constant worrying about the prophecies of a new King drove him to kill all the young boys (2 years and under) in Bethlehem; but God had that worked out too. When God's hand is in or on something, nothing can disrupt it because He plans everything out, and He knows the steps and the problems that will arise.

Sometimes, I think we can oversimplify the story of Jesus' birth. It wasn't simple; it was fairly complicated. But the REASON behind His birth IS simple: He came to bring us salvation and eternal life.

That's all I think you have to really understand about Christmas.

Finally a Break

My first semester of college is now officially over, and I am very proud of my grades. I haven't gotten a report or anything just yet, but in biology, I have a B. A B!!!!!!!!! I never expected to have that kind of a grade, or to even pass. Or if I did pass, it would be just enough to get me by. But I was pleasantly surprised that in Biology, one of the hardest subjects, I'm doing better than I expected. I have an A in Composition, but as for my other 2 classes, I have no idea what my letter grade would be; for Algebra probably a B, for History, probably a C or B. Whatever it is, I'm very excited to get my reports in from the school; whenever that is.

But I'm also ready for this break. I was nearing the point of exhausting myself and wearing myself out worrying over getting things done for school. Next semester will be packed...17 hours worth, in fact, although 1 hour of that is Aerobics, so maybe I won't have homework. Haha. I've already bought my books; and added 4 more to the 3 I already have. Good grief. I was going to get a job next semester, but I don't think I can handle it. Then I considered getting a job for my break, but then I realized: between school and a job, when would I rest? Anyways...it's only a few more days until I'm an "adult", and I'm so excited! Then a few more days after that, my sister and brother-in-law are coming down for Christmas. It'll be the first Christmas we'll have with my brother-in-law, and I'm very excited.

Hopefully I'll post some Advent thoughts this Sunday...nothing Advent-related is on my mind right now.

Advent/Pearl Harbor

Last Sunday (not yesterday) marked the beginning of the advent season. One year, my parents and I decided to do an advent wreath; where you have certain candles you light every week. We only did that one year because it seemed like a hassle. But in my devotional magazine (EC-Essential Connection), they suggested I keep a journal for Advent. So I'll post my thoughts here whenever I have them.

Today I finished watching The Nativity Story. I had actually started it 3 or 5 days ago, and I don't know why I never finished it, but anyway. My dad had preached a little on the Holy Spirit causing Mary to conceive Jesus in her womb while she was still a virgin (his sermon was yesterday). Funny enough, where I picked the movie up was the scene where Mary is met by the angel's news that she would be the mother of the Son of God. I love The Nativity Story; I think it's the most realistic and accurate portrayal of the Holy Family to date. Mary was completely willing to let the Lord lead her wherever He willed. She told the angel "let it be done to me as you have said", meaning that she would do whatever the Lord asked of her, even if it meant facing ridicule for being an unwed pregnant mother. Now technically she was married, but she wasn't allowed to live with Joseph until after their betrothal period (typically a year). I love how the film emphasizes her trust in God. Not just a fair weather trust, but a complete and total trust that He would be with her all the way. Many of us, including me, often lose sight of that. We forget to trust in good times, then when bad times come, we try to trust God and are disappointed if there aren't any immediate results. Mary trusted God 100%, and eventually so did Joseph.

Today also marked the 68th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Many men and women lost their lives during that, and those that were there who have survived are heroes. Every person serving in the military (with the exception of those who have turned on US troops) is a hero, whether they saw combat or not. So thank you to all our World War II veterans; and to any veteran/person who served in the military at one point. We owe you our freedom.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Last week my parents and I finally got our tree down and up, though we didn't get lights on it until Thursday. For the past few years, our decorations have been going up later and later, because for a long time, they'd be up at the very first of November (yes we get a head start). Mainly because we wouldn't have time to put them up if we waited. But anyway, we have our tree lit, decorated, and beautified.

I realized anew how nerdy I am. I have 2 Star Trek ornaments: the classic communicator and classic phaser (from TOS), and I have 4 Star Wars ornaments: One from Revenge of the Sith, Two from A New Hope, and one from Return of the Jedi. I very nearly bought one from The Phantom Menace, but alas, Star Trek has pretty much taken the place of Star Wars. (The one from PHantom Menace was the duel between Qui-Gon, obi-Wan, and Darth Maul. Best part in the whole movie!).

But as I was putting my ornaments on the tree, I remembered how many memories are stashed away in them. Most of our ornaments are Hallmark Keepsakes. For example, I have several ornaments that go from "First christmas" to 5th Christmas. That was a long time ago! Nearly 18 years ago to be exact, as my birthday is a week before christmas. Goodness. I almost hate growing up, but as I'm growing up, I realize just how much I'm able to do. I'm able to drive on my own (to the chagrin of other drivers, I'm sure, haha), go places on my own, stay home on my own. You know as a kid, I never really wanted to drive so badly that I was chomping at the bit to get my license; in fact, I was quite hesitant to drive. 'Course, once I GOT my license, I couldn't wait to go places. Funny how life works, isn't it?

Then there are the Christmas movies and music. I watched White Christmas not long ago, and everytime I watch it, I remember just how silly I was as a kid. I pretty much know every song and dance number by heart. I used to dance to "The Best Things (Happen While You're Dancing)" when I was 6 or 7. Of course, anyone familiar with that dance number knows it's for a pair; Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen did a fantastic number. But what really brings me back to my childhood is listening to Mannheim Steamroller, particularly their classics, "Christmas in the Aire", "Fresh Aire Christmas" and "Christmas". I love those albums! We would always listen to those while opening presents on Christmas day. Or we'd listen to them as we would drive around town while looking at Christmas lights, something we still do.

But most of all, it's the time of our Savior's birth. The plan of salvation was put into motion when He came to Earth to be born of Mary. Christmas isn't about presents. It's not about seeing your family or friends. It's about celebrating Jesus Christ's birth. The whole purpose of His coming was to save us from our sins and to offer us eternal life with Him. What's your focus this Christmas?

Oh, and btw, it's MERRY CHRISTMAS and not Happy Holidays. I urge all of you to say Merry Christmas to anyone and everyone, especially those who say Happy Holidays.

What a Week

*Big Sigh of Relief*


That's what I've felt as I reached yesterday. It seems like this past week just kept getting worse and worse. First, our cat hurt his knee/hip (the one that had surgery several years ago) Monday, and we had to take him to the vet Tuesday. Turns out he must have just sprained it, because now he's completely normal after he was given an anti-inflammatory injection. He's our million dollar cat, even though he's a mixed breed.

Second, my mom had to go to the doctor Wednesday, so I took her there and she was told what she had suspected all along: she had developed a sinus infection. They gave her a shot, and a *free* prescription for Nasonex. Yesterday she also finished out her last day as a Home Health Aide, something she was looking forward to.

Third, I've had a lot of homework this weekend. I love my composition teacher because she is very lenient with our due dates, and essay 3 isn't due until Thursday...but I should work on it more anyways. Monday is my second biology lab test; another thing I need to prepare for. Thursday is my 3rd history test, and then the Tuesday following that, my 3rd position paper is due. *screams* And I need to do algebra homework (though my teacher doesn't require it, because I'd never get it turned in on time). Whew. So glad it's nearly the end of the semester, because I need a break. I'm very much looking forward to my 18th birthday and Christmas! Why? Because I get to spend Christmas with 2 of the most important people in my life: my sister and big brother (in-law). Last year was our first Christmas without my sister home, which was hard and made me really dread the day, but this year they'll be here! Yay!

Oh, and tonight was our church's annual Fall Carnival. I used my graduation formal as my "costume", complete with a tiara and flowing ribbons. I got several compliments, including one from someone I didn't expect (I don't like him, but it nearly knocked me over when he gave me a compliment). I decided to be a "bad" preacher's daughter and leave early. I know, shame on me right? Hey, it's Halloween.

Not really, I hate the holiday because it creeps me out.

Procrastination is My Favorite Pastime

So today I realized just how behind in getting essay 3 done for composition. Oops. But my teacher is awesome in that she moved our peer reviews to next Thursday, so I have about a week to get it up and drafted. It's my final essay for this semester, which is hard to believe considering it seems like yesterday when I started the school year.

But as the title says, I love to procrastinate. And heavens, I'm trying to break that bad habit. So I plan on working *sort of* on research for history paper #3 in the hopes that it will be a LOT better than my last, and I plan on starting hopefully this weekend. This weekend will be no different from others in that I have homework and studying to do for my biology test on Tuesday. We played Jeopardy in Biology today in order to help review for the test...needless to say, my team didn't win. Oh well, it was only for fun and not for money. Even though we didnt' get called on hardly at all, we got a lot of them right just discussing the answers amongst ourselves.

Just 6 more weeks, and my first semester of college will be finished. Whew!

Is it Body Wash or Hand Lotion?!

Yesterday we made our weekly trip to Wichita Falls to do our grocery shopping. Well we actually buy more than groceries, but generally that's what it's called. Anyway, last week I realized just how many winter clothes I had left, which aren't very many, and that I needed some new ones as I've gained several pounds since last year, and my shirts seemed to have gotten shorter. So I asked if we could go to Target since I like their clothes a lot better than Wal-Mart, and usually Target has a much better selection.

So I find several cute shirts that I love, plus a "dress" coat for Sundays, and a camisole since my old(er) one is in bad shape. I'm feeling pretty good about my picks because usually I pick out 5 or 6 things and only come away with one thing that I can wear; this time, out of 5 or 6, I only had 2 I couldn't wear. (When Igot home, I realized one of the shirts I picked out didn't fit at all, so make that 3).

We are on our way to the checkout when we look at the travel aisle; i.e. where they have trial/travel sized shampoos and such. I find about 3 things that I wanted to try, including what I thought was hand lotion from Dove. I get it home and pay little attention to what is actually on the bottle. I put it on my hands that night and I said, "Wow, this stuff is pretty sticky/thick. Don't neeed much of it!"

Today, I go to put some more of it on, and in fact had poured out some onto my hands when I took a closer look at the bottle. It said, "Body Wash with 1\4 hydrating lotion." I felt so stupid. Talk about a blonde moment! Messed me up since I really like that smell, but now I'll have to only use it for a shower. Darn.

Where Has the Semester Gone?

It's been about 10 days since I last blogged...so first off, an update on Tony's progress: Tony is still 4th in points. The last race at California was a joke, as Jimmie Johnson won. Cheater. I swear that if he wins the Cup again, I will not support or watch NASCAR next year, as I'm sick and tired of one driver having the advantage. Since they changed the Chase format in 2004, we've only had 3 Champions: Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson. Something wrong with this picture, you think?

Today marks the end of week 8 of my first semester in college. Already, I'm halfway through with this semester of college. Where has it gone? My algebra teacher remarked Tuesday how quickly the time had gone by; and it made me think, have I really been in college 2 months? It seems like yesterday I was so nervous about going to college that I was making myself sick. (That's not happening anymore, I assure you.) Already we're approaching mid-terms, and I'm on my third and final English essay. Whew. Of course, we're a little behind in History and Biology because the lectures got drawn out and the teachers wanted to cover the material they needed to so we could be tested over it. Does this mean at least one test will be left out? Who knows. Would be nice though. ;) I know that one Algebra test was dropped because my teacher pushed a test date back a week. I'm not complaining; it's one less test/grade I have to worry about. English and Biology are tied for being my favorites so far. History and Algebra, I don't care much about. English (or Composition as it's called) is teaching me a lot of things about my own writing style and how I write. I have discovered that I free write a lot, and it's hard for me to outline everything before I just jot down sentences or paragraphs...unfortunately, I think I HAVE to outline for essay 3, which makes me a little nervous considering I don't outline very well! Biology isn't as boring as I first thought it'd be; learning about our cells, organs, etc... and how everything comes together and works just fascinates me. How can anyone look at the human body and say, "evolution did that"? HOW?! Our systems are FAR too intricate to be the product of an accident. (Not to mention, the earth isn't billions of years, or even millions of years old; scientists can't really agree on the EXACT age because every age you see is pretty much different.)

It makes me appreciate even more the fact that I have (we have) a Creator who created everything around us and created our bodies to function in such amazing ways that they can't be replicated. It also makes me see how blessed I am to have a body that isn't handicapped, or to have a mind that pretty much works normally, or to just be in fairly good health all around. We watched a video on DNA: Curing Cancer today in lecture, and it just fascinates me how we can go in and program certain drugs to shut down or re-program certain genes/molecules/dna strands and do something different. Whoa. How could anyone be a scientist and not realize there is a Creator who created what they're looking at? I mean, God created the cells and the DNA, and the blood, and everything else that became tainted in the Garden of Eden.

Anyway, sorry for that little bit of rambling. I'm very thankful I have the opportunity and the means to go to college and learn things I never knew before (and things I get angry about because I know they're being falsely taught), but some kids don't have this opportunity, and I don't want to waste it at all. Not to mention, a pig dissection next week should be pretty cool...or interesting, not sure which. :)

And Tony Wins Again!

Today marked the 3rd race out of 10 for the NSCS Championship; at Kansas Motor Speedway, Tony started 5th, being 5th in points. I didn't pay much attention to the race until about the last 45 laps....when Tony was leading! I was ready for him to win a Chase race, but also, I wanted him to get some points in and get back up in the top 3 in points. He held off Jeff Gordon to take the checkered flag, and he was very excited and happy in victory lane. I don't blame him. After the bad luck that's plagued him for weeks, he FINALLY bounced back. He also moved up to 4th in points, and I believe that Jimmie Johnson lost some points because he finished 9th. Yay! I'm so very proud of Tony, DArian Grubb, and of the entire team at Stewart-Haas Racing. They have done what nobody expected, and certainly what many thought couldn't be done: not only are they in the Chase, they have both of their cars in the Chase, they've had 5 wins (one being a non-points race, the All-Star race), and Tony has been incredibly consistent. Nobody expected Tony to be doing this well as his first year as a owner-driver.

He's sure proved them wrong.

Text Problems

So I changed the background of my blog, and naturally, all my text was white for my old one. I've been trying to go through and change the text color ina ll my posts back to black, but for some reason, when I reach May's posts, I can't edit the color. I apologize sincerely for that, but I'm going to be sendin e-mails to Google and/or Blogger to get help with this problem...it's really annoying and stupid.

So if you're going through my old blog posts. just hightlight the text so you can read.

Text Problems

So I changed the background of my blog, and naturally, all my text was white for my old one. I've been trying to go through and change the text color ina ll my posts back to black, but for some reason, when I reach May's posts, I can't edit the color. I apologize sincerely for that, but I'm going to be sendin e-mails to Google and/or Blogger to get help with this problem...it's really annoying and stupid.

So if you're going through my old blog posts. just hightlight the text so you can read.

Tests and Wal-Mart

Well, I can honestly say that this week hasn't gone well. Today was AWFUL. First of all, I woke up at 5:30, got ready as usual, but had to wait to get dressed because the clothes are where my parents' makeshift bedroom is. I should have gotten my clothes last night, but I'll know better Wednesday. Anyways, I woke up with my stomach hurting, a repeat of yesterday morning; I really think it was due to me drinking milk Sunday night, then a piece of cheese last night (I'm probably lactose intolerant like my mom), but yeah, I wasn't very hungry and usually I wait and eat when I get on the road so that whatever I eat lasts me a little longer. I didn't realize that we were completely out of bacon and biscuits/sausage and biscuits, and so I grabbed a packet of cheese crackers (didn't really bother me as badly as the other cheese products) and that was my breakfast. Needless to say, it's not a very substantial one. I made a sandwich as usual and cut it in half so I could eat it when I got hungry. So I was mad about the fact that I had no actual breakfast, nearly didn't get out the door at 7 as usual, and that I was mad. Yes, I was mad because I was mad and frustrated. ANd yes, I do have a short fuse for a temper. It doesn't take much to set me off, and it's something I should work on.

I got to Algebra class on time, and received my test back. I made a 78...not great, but still passing. Then went on to history and received my test results and paper back; she grades the reading journal, test, and paper together. I made an 84 (B-). I knew my paper wasn't an A; mainly because of the fact that I had never written in MLA format so this was a test run for me. Composition I didn't get anything back yet; my teacher said she hoped to get our papers back to us by Thursday; I think I made a B, but I don't think it was an A. Biology I got nothing back...my first test I made an 80 something. I made a B, obviously. Something I'm proud about. So after classes were done, I stuck around G-ville because my mom is takin some classes there at the school, and we were going to go eat at Cracker Barrel when she got out. So I had to stick around for a couple of hours; well I needed to run to Wal-Mart and get some school stuff, and at the four-way stop sign, as I was turning left, I was obviously somewhat accelerating. I hit a patch of something and nearly lost complete control of the car. I tapped my brakes and the car straightened out, but my heart was racing. I have been trying lately to drive more carefully and not be in such a hurry, but I don't know if it was me or if my tires just decided to slide. My car has absolutely no traction in it whatsoever, and I dread having to drive in winter weather. But the Lord was with me today, and apparently, I'm not yet meant to get into a wreck.

Can you see that today has been a little eventful?

Dover/There's a Spider On Me!!!!

So today is race 2 of the NSCS Championship post-season. Not much to say, except Joey Logano had a humongous (spelling?) crash and he and every other driver walked away without injury. Jimmie Johnson (ugh) won, with Tony coming in 5th. Not great, but he moved up a points spot and had a better finish than last week's race. If JJ wins the cup again, I am forever quitting NASCAR and I will send a very heated letter to the association. JJ's championship should've been revoked in 2007 since they found the team cheating...but since NASCAR officials' pockets are padded by Hendrick Motorsports, they took little action. Puh.

To end this blog on a little more humorous note, I was logging into Blogger when I felt something run up my arm. I brushed my arm, but couldn't see anything; so I lifted up my arm and see this black spider on the underside of my arm. Now, if you know me, you know I'm 100% arachnophobic/afraid of spiders. Naturally, I let out a scream and jumped up and yelled, "There's a spider on me!" I ran over into the dining room, brushing everything I could hoping to get him off; I turned around and my mom said, "you brushed him off." Wasn't good enough for me; I wanted to kill it! I found him on the floor so (thank goodness for having socks on) I just stepped on him. Whew. Yes, I know, I'm very much female in that I hate spiders, but I'd rather they not be on me. Ick. In the process of screaming, I scared our cat. He was hidin behind one of the recliners trying to figure out what just happened.

Is that a Kodak moment or what? You can decide. :)

Superchick/BarlowGirl

It's been a while since I blogged.

Wednesday was the best day I've had in a while. Why? Well, my friend and I got to meet Superchick and BarlowGirl, two very popular Christian bands. First off, they seemed like very nice people in their Q&A, very down to earth. The concert was held at FBC, Decatur. Huge church, and the perfect size for this concert. Superchick was up first, and man, can they rock out! Wow! I couldn't believe how good they are in concert. They sang some really great songs. One of them is Hold, that has the best message besides Crawl (Carry Me Through); lyrics to Hold are below:

Tell me that it's gonna be okay
Tell me that You'll help me find my way
Tell me You can see the light of dawn is breaking
Tell me that it's gonna be alright
Tell me that You'll help me fight this fight
Tell me that You won't leave me alone in this

'Cause I need, I need a hand to hold
To hold me from the edge
The edge I'm sliding over slow'
Cause I need, I need Your hand to hold
To hold me from the edge
The edge I'm sliding past Hold on to me

Tell me I can make it through this day
I don't even have the words to pray
You have been the only One who never left me
Help me find the way through all my fears
Help me see the light through all my tears
Help me see that I am not alone in this.

That song still speaks to me because that is how I was feeling up until last night. But Superchick has a fantastic sound and I'm loving their cd, "Rock What You Got."

Next up, BarlowGirl: I told my friend, "oh, they won't get too wild." Haha, I lied. They really shocked me! Lauren Barlow can play those drums and sing. They sang some great songs as well (and I got to get both groups autographs after the concert); they are adorable and beautiful women who I'm proud to be a fan of and support. I'd love to get to sit down with them and talk with them because they seem like the kind of people you just want to be around. They sang a mix of old(er) and new songs, including this gem, Stay with Me and Beautiful Ending:

Hope is getting though this night
And life is not dying in this fight
Begging you to deliver me
Confused why you won't take this pain from me

PRE-CHORUS
My steps never felt so hard
The end never looked so far
But if you won't take me out then please take me through this

CHORUS
Stay with me
So I wont leave
And make me see
That this is not forever
Cause all I need is your love
Pulling me

What is the reason for this night
Is hope found in moments with no light
Does strength grow in our greatest fears
God I pray something good will come from this pain
With you here I know
I don't go alone
I am yours and so
Through the fire I go....

PRE-CHORUS
Stay with me
So I wont leave
And make me see
That this is not forever

CHORUS

I'd post the lyrics to Beautiful Ending, but Blogger doesn't like to copy and paste. Pooh. Anyways, I had an awesome time at the concert and would love to see both groups again!

Richmond IR

Saturday was the final race in the regular season of the NSCS. Now, it's a race to the finish to see who will be hoisting the NSCS Championship trophy at Homestead-Miami in November. Tony is officially second. A little disappointed, but Tony has had a bad 3 weeks lately. I'm not worried, but I refuse to say, "Tony will be the 09 Champ" because I'll jinx him...lol. Not really. He'll do okay...even if he doesn't win, it'll be great if he finishes the season second as his first year in the driver/owner seat. NObody thought he could do it, and frankly, neither did I. I was thinking he'd play it cool this year, but no. He jumped right in and has done great. It's very hard to believe that it's already the post-season of NASCAR in 2009! Where has this year gone? First I was looking forward to the START of the season, then graduation, then summer, then my freshman year of college, NOW it's the post-season of NASCAR; I'm looking forward to the Fall Carnival at church, Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday are only a few short months away! I'll be 18 within 3 months. Yikes. Pretty soon, I'll be looking down the barrel of 2010.

I was going to blog some more, but history paper research 'tis calling me. Oh, and keep Andrew STephens in your prayers; I follow his blog, "HIstory Will be Kind to Me...I intend to write it."; he is the grandson of a couple that we're friends with from my old church. He is sick with something akin to the swine flu only worse and has been put on bed rest for 7-10 days.

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Yesterday's NSCS race at Atlanta wasn't much to watch...it was pretty boring, and Tony was doing so bad that I turned to Star Trek: TOS. But my dad told me he came back and finished 11th; not great but better than the place he could've finished, 20th. So, this is a very short blog. Richmond is this coming Saturday, the last race of the regular season, and will be the race that determines who will be in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and who will have to be on the outside. Tony has clinched his spot as 1st, but he needs to win some more races, and Johnson and Gordon both need to have a lot of bad races before I'll be relaxed about his position. He just needs to keep widening the gap every weekend, and he should be okay.

Let's hope Richmond will be better than Atlanta!

1 Week Almost Down, 15 to Go

Week 2 of the Fall semester started yesterday, with my biology lab running until about 2:45 p.m. (from 12:30). I didn't realize it'd run so long, but it wasn't all boring...we got to work with the microscope, and I hadn't ever really had the chance to look through a "real" microscope (I have once or twice at the vet clinic, but I didn't get to prepare the slides or anything). I have good lab partners too; which is good for me since I'm not the greatest at doing calcuations!

History on the other hand is another story. Now I know that secular liberalism is everywhere and anywhere you go, but it's sickening when the teacher can't seem to get off a tangent of her own. Shouldn't every teacher be a little more neutral on subjects like that? (It's US History, btw). I felt slammed, attacked, and bombarded with just about everything that she said. I couldn't wait to get out of there. I really wish I had another history teacher, but I guess I'll just have to suck it up this semester and maybe get another one for the spring semester (hopefully). I have a position paper that is due in September, but I am already going ahead and working on it, because I only have 3 weeks to do it.

Composition is...blah. I don't like English, and I never have. I'm not big on group or class dicussions or anything like that.

Biology (the class) is okay; evolution of course is a mainstay; and painting humans as being bad people is key. So, along with writing a history paper, I have a "Biology in the News" report that is due in like October I think. My article (or source) is due Sept. 15th. I have plenty of time, but I am going to go ahead and start looking for things to use. At the end of the semester, a group presentation is due. My team members and I will put together a PowerPoint presentation about something biologically related, such as diseases, hereditary issues, etc... and each of us will take a section and talk about it. We have to do outlines for it, but I don't think any of it will be too bad; the worst part will be getting up to talk about it in front of 30 people plus the teacher!

I also am taking Beginning Algebra, since I failed the math portion of the THEA test. No biggie, I really needed help in math anyway.

Despite all my complaints about school, and the fact that I don't like the views being presented, I am determined to: 1. be a witness for Christ, 2. glorify Him in my work, and 3. Do my best at everything, and not give it up.

Last Weekend of Freedom

School starts back tomorrow, the 24th. It seems like every school/college is starting tomorrow. This, of course, includes me. I have my very first college biology lab tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. I'm a little nervous/scared, but I'm trying not to think about it too much...otherwise I'll really be in trouble! I think I'll be okay; I am mainly worried about my workload, not really going to college itself. Hey, I get a new backpack and lunch bag out of it! Haha.

So, I haven't decided if I will blog tomorrow night or Friday about my first week of school...I think I will wait until Friday, or Thursday night, but if something interesting comes up, I will be blogging about it. ;) Until then, later!

(And all of you goin back to school...good luck!)

Another Win at the Glen

Okay, so after NASCAR postponed the Heluva Good race yesterday due to rain, and moved it to Monday, I was expecting a very boring race. But, alas, I should've known better; I mean, it is Watkins Glen international Speedway in New York. Road course races are almost never boring. Was this an exception? HECK NO! The race was only 90 laps long, and Tony started 13th. I wasn't worried about where he started because he's better working through traffic and has a better shot of getting to the front and staying there.

There were several major wrecks, 2 of them involving Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick. No biggie; I don't like any of them so I didn't care. But the one involving Gordon(the one that destroyed his car) was a BAD wreck, and I'm very thankful all the drivers involved were able to walk away. So anyways, Tony was ahead of all those wrecks, and he stayed up in top 10 for most of the race. Pit strategy is a very important thing at WGIS, and Tony's team strategized very well. Tony has always been great at this particular track, and today was no exception. He was smokin' the field, true to his nickname.

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/08/10/post.race.tstewart.wins.watkins.glen/index.html

I could NOT sit still the last few laps of the race, because they were going on about how close
Tony was cutting it on fuel. They were saying he'd be like a lap or 2 short. YIkes! I was pacing back and forth, and Tony brought home the win. It was his 5th win at the speedway, his 3rd points win of the season, and overall, his 4th win (the All-Star race isn't considered a real race) of 2009. He added I think 796 points to his lead over Jimmie johnson, where JJ is sitting second in the Chase. Championship #3 for Tony? I sure hope so, and if he keeps this up all season, we could be seeing him hoisting his 3rd Championship trophy at HOmestead-Miami Speedway in November.

Picture from http://www.tonystewart.com/

Bailey (July 30, 2004)

My Aunt Debbie, who has a blog entitled The Anchor Holds, blogged about her daughter Bailey's death in 2004. I should have done this on July 30, but have been really busy. Bailey was my cousin, and we were the closest in age (I was the youngest of my cousins Kori, Jacob, and Bailey; Rhyan was after Kori).

Ever since I can remember, we had gone to Tahlequah, Oklahoma the week of July 4th to visit with family, and my great-great aunt Ruthene, and to shoot off fireworks. What fun times those were, getting to battle mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks; getting to catch fireflies (or lightning bugs as we so fondly called them), eating really good homecooked food, riding around with Papaw Brame on the tractor there, getting to swim in the Illinois River...making trips to the Wal-Mart and Reeser Store. Also gettin to go down the water slide (of which made me very frightful of water slides because I hit my head on it the last time I went) and go to Del Rancho, the restaurant that was very popular, and serves one of the best cherry limeades I've ever had! Papaw would often take me, Rhyan, and our cousins to Braum's before dinner to get ice cream (Memaw didn't like that very much). Bailey would almost always get black walnut ice cream. I would almost always get cookies 'n' cream. In 2004, (I think) we weren't able to stay a whole week. We may have stayed 3 or 4 days, instead of the usual 5 or 7. We all, my cousins, aunt and uncle, and grandparents loaded up and we all went to my grandma's sister's house near Oklahoma City. My parents and I (Rhyan was in China at the time) visited then we left to stay in OKC and go to the National Cowboy Museum and Hall of Fame. That was the last time we saw Bailey alive, about 3 weeks before her death. How things can happen in such a short amount of time. I remember getting woken up by my dad one morning, July 30, and the look on his face scared me to death. My grandpa had had several health scares recently, and I was afraid something terrible had happened. I even asked my dad, "Is it Papaw? Is he okay?" Before answering me, my dad sat down on my bed, hesitated, and said, "Memaw called...Bailey's gone."

It took me a few seconds for that to register. "Bailey's gone?" I asked in disbelief. My dad nodded, and then I just started to sob, never realizing how close I was to Bailey. I guess you never realize how much you love someone until they're gone, do you? So, we all headed up to Skellytown that day, being able to pack and get everything in order quicker than normal; I think we got to Skellytown about 10:30 at night or so. My grandparents were devastated. All of us were devastated because none of us had seen it coming. Over the next few days, my parents and I would spend time at night on the porch swing. It's nice out at night in West Texas. I didn't realize that those nights would start the wheels turning for me to really consider what I wanted to do with my life. Bailey, because of her severe cerebral palsy, had taken hippotherapy (physical therapy with the aid of horses). I started to think about what it was; if it was somethin I could do later on. I started to do a lot of research into it, and for two or three years, I really was passionate about hippotherapy (now, I don't believe I could handle the stress and emotional part of it).

At the funeral, nearly the whole family wore something purple, because it was Bailey's favorite color. After everything was over, it was very difficult to get used to the idea of her being gone. For as long as I can remember, she had been at MEmaw and Papaw's to meet us when we got there for a visit. She had always wanted me to play with her right off. Though she couldn't walk, talk, or do anythin by herself, I could understand her. I can't really explain how or why...but I could. I guess I just learned to read her. I also never realized just how many people's lives she touched. Isn't that proof of how we almost never know how we impact other people's lives and that it's important how we live?

In short, I miss Bailey a great deal, but I know that she is in a much better place, where there is no sorrow, no sickness, no pain, no death. She is getting to do everything she wanted to do on earth but couldn't.

-In Loving Memory of Bailey Danielle Brame, October 23rd, 1990-July 30, 2004-

Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

I watched the first part of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway). Naturally, it was a very boring race so I left after about...I don't know, 30 or 40 laps. Juan "Problem" Montoya led most of the race, but Jimmie Johnson won. (He probably cheated again).

Tony finished 3rd. He started 7th, but it's another top five finish for Stewart. I was really hoping he'd win at his home track, but can't have everything...

CONGRATULATIONS TONY ON YOUR 2ND POINTS WIN!!!

Just finished watching the race at Daytona, and TONY STEWART HAS WON HIS SECOND POINTS RACE AS THE DRIVER\OWNER OF STEWART-HAAS RACING!!!!!!!! Congratulations Tony Stewart and your crew! Stewart led at least about 80 laps of the race out of 160. I hope you got to see the ending! Man, all the Kyle BUsch haters must be rejoicing. Tony completely and utterly destroyed the #18 car on the final lap, just a few hundred feet before reaching the finish line. This Daytona race once again proves why Tony Stewart is one of the best in NASCAR.

So, feel free to gripe about why Tony can't win races, but this Daytona race is one of many instances in which Tony proved he is a champion, through and through.

Again, congratulations to the #14 team and Tony Stewart. I hope to see you guys at Homestead-Miami hoisting the Cup trophy!!!!

The image above is one of the wild ending. Click on the link to view video of the final laps:

http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2009/07/05/cup.day2.high.final.nascar/

Sick in Your Spirit

Have you ever felt sick in your spirit? Like, you're sick, but there's no physical symptoms? I've been that way for a long time. I know the source of it: my walk with the Lord is suffering. All my reactions to anything and everything are tied into how well my walk is going. When my walk suffers, I suffer. Today is just another reminder of how much I've failed, not only as a Christian, but as a person.

While this may not be directly tied into the topic, since about 11 a.m. this morning, I've been feeling really upset, lonely, depressed, and angry. Why? Why would I start feeling that way during church? Well...it's a little hard not to when you have been alienated from kids your own age, partly by my own choice, partly by the lies of other people and their actions. Part of it I've done on my own, because I'm not a people person, and I like my independence. But, no person likes to remain completely alone. I like to hang out, I like to have friends over. My problem is, my friends all live 2 or 3 hours away. It's hard to get together when your schedule conflicts constantly with your parents' schedules. And now, since my mom is working, it's getting tougher. I just feel...left out. I am not really sure how to explain what I feel like right now. I want to cry, but tears just won't come. I was sitting completely alone during church. I know I shouldn't expect people to just buddy up to me. I don't. But it would be nice if I was treated like everyone else instead of "the preacher's daughter." It's a curse. I hate it. One of the youth treated me differently during VBS, and now, it's like VBS never even happened. Is there something wrong with me?

This is why, if I have the choice, I will never marry a preacher because I would rather die an old maid then put myself or my kids through something like this. I hate the life that comes with being in the ministry. I hate the political garbage I and my parents have to deal with nonstop. If you're going into the ministry, don't get married. Your wife will regret it.

Rainbows, Weddings, and a Road Course Race

Okay, so I have 3 topics to blog about today. thursday, my mom and I traveled to Skellytown, Texas (West Texas) to visit my grandparents, and to attend my cousin's wedding. The wedding was beautiful. Brandi's (the bride) dress was gorgeous! I'm sorry it's not a better pic. But anyway. (Brandi is on the left, pastor in the middle, and Jacob on the right. Yes he's very tall!)

It rained nearly all day, but thankfully the wedding and reception were indoors. We left long before the reception was over, but on the way home, we got to see a beautiful rainbow (the picture doesn't do it justice, and won't go underneath this text, so sorry about that; it's at the top)


To move onto my weekly blog about the NSCS race, it was at Infineon Speedway in Sonoma, California. I didn't get to watch the first part of it, since we were driving home, but I got to watch from lap 56 onto 110. Very disappointed tony was 2nd and didn't win, but hey, he didn't wreck like last year! Maybe he'll do better next week in New Hampshire.

Vacation Bible School

I said I'd blog about VBS last Friday, but I was so tired and stressed out, I forgot. So here's my Friday post. haha.

I was helping with 4 year olds this past week. Not the place I wanted to be, but the place where I was put. Thankfully, I had two youth helping out in Pre-K, which was right next door. They made the day go just a little faster and made it just a little more fun, as we always were talking and having fun with each other. I didn't get a headache until Friday morning. On average, we had about 12 kids each day, combined with about 12-14 of Pre-K kids. So, we had 30 or 25 each day. Good grief! A saving grace was the playground. I think it was Tuesday when we started using it because the kids were having a meltdown. In my opinion, they and Pre-K are too young to be there because they take naps. In fact, on Thursday, when we were watching Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, one kid came up to the teacher and asked, "When are we going to lay down?" (we had turned out the lights) The teacher turned to me and another helper and said, "I don't know, but that sounds like a great idea to me!"

Then, as soon as VBS ended, some of the kids (Tuesday-Friday) stayed from 12-2 p.m. to practice for our musical. I was one of them, so I had to be up at the church from 7:45 a.m. until 3 p.m. because the drama team had to stay 30 minutes to an hour after everyone else had left. I was t-i-r-e-d. So was my mom and the music director. But, it was worth it on Sunday morning when we, and the children's choir, presented the 2009 Vacation Bible School musical, "Boomerang Express." And yes, it was Australian themed. It was about how everything in your life comes back, like a boomerang, to your relationship with Jesus Christ. We didn't do any of it perfectly. There is no way to do so! But, the reason we did it was to show people what we had learned, and to share the gospel with those who may not be familiar with it. That was the most important thing; we did it to glorify Christ. That's why all the hard work was worth it.

The Lifelock 400 at Michigan

Not much to say about this race. It was boring, and I ended up leaving the room about 60 laps in. Tony didn't do entirely well; however, he finished 7th.

All I can say is, NASCAR needs to go back to the old car, but add in the safety features. These new cars, the COTs, make races b-o-r-i-n-g and uneventful. Good grief, part of the reason I watch NASCAR is for all the wrecks!

Tony Stewart's Win at Pocono

I completely forgot to blog about Tony's win! He won the Pocono 500 last Sunday. It was a VERY boring race until about the last 30 laps; then it was a question of, "who will run out of fuel and who will make it to the end?" Tony was amazing. He saved enough fuel to make it to the end, AND he did a burnout. ;) Tony ended up racing in a backup car; he had wrecked the original in practice Saturday and had to start at the back (43rd), but he had originally been the pole sitter (sitting in 1st place because qualifying was rained out).

However, I don't think tony would have won had he started the race in first. Dont' get me wrong; Tony can win when he wants to and when luck doesn't turn against him. But, he does better in traffic. He does better when he has to work to get up front to win.

All I can say is, the man rocks. He hasn't won all those races for nothing.

Cats, Dogs, and Vets.

Well, today marks the end of my first week as a volunteer\observer\shadower at my local veterinary clinic. I now realize how hard it can be to get up at 8:00 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. each and every day in order to establish a habit of going to bed early and getting up early. I'm starting to get into that routine, and though I'm not a morning person, I'm going to keep getting up before 9 even on the weekend(s). Next week, though, I can't volunteer as I'll be working at church for our Vacation Bible School (Boomerang Express, which I'll blog about next Friday).

So what have I done at the clinic? Monday, I mainly just observed and observed a cat being neutered (a surgery done on a male cat to fix it, for all you non-medical people. LOL), watched the vet perform examinations, and examined an x-ray of a cat's leg\elbow. Tuesday I was off, because the clinic here (which is another office of the one in a town not far from me) is only open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and half of saturdays, and on Tuesday I was helping our music director burn some cds for her students' recital Sunday and straighten up her computer and such. Wednesday was back to work. That morning, I observed a dog being spayed (a female dog getting fixed) and it was interesting! Because femals obviously don't have the same anatomy as males, they have to go in and remove the uterus and ovaries. So, in the process, I got to see the bladder, spleen, and small intestine. We were booked with appointment almost all day. I also got to file some files and run an errand to the bank for the vet's assistant.

Today, Thursday, I was able to finally see some ultrasounds run on two mares. Before that, I helped with an ultrasound on a cat (but he wasn't very happy about it, lol). Since I'm under 18, and not an actual worker at the clinic, I had to stay out of some things because of insurance issues, but that was okay. I stood back and watched as they ran an ultrasound; (and if you're wondering if they do it on the outside or inside, let me tell you, they do it internally; i.e. first they put their hand\arm inside the horse *the south end, the rear* then they run the ultrasound camera thingy in and look around). One of the mares was pregnant again, even though she had already had a colt\foal recently (the difference between the two is that a colt is a male baby horse, the foal is a female baby horse).

So, it was fairly interesting. I'm still not sure if it's something I'd like to do with myself, but it's worth looking into.

If you think about it, please pray for me this Saturday morning. I'll be taking my SAT test and am very nervous about it. :)

Sprint Cup Race: Dover International Speedway (May 31st, 2009)

I used to keep up my blog on Yahoo 360, and one of the main topics I blogged on was the weekly race. I was sifting through all my old blogs on there and got to thinking, "I've got a new blog now; why don't I just continue my thoughts on each race?" So that's what I'm going to do.

I missed the first 85 laps of the Dover race today. (The church took me, my parents, the music director, her husband, the church secretary and her husband and four other people out to lunch after church today) For the most part, the race was pretty boring. A few wrecks here and there, but nothing to really scream about.

At least, not until the last 15 laps. Boy, was that exciting! Why? Tony moved around Greg Biffle to take the lead! He lead for 12 laps, putting him in the points lead and giving him a few extra. I really thought he'd win, because he seemed to have a fast car, but he didn't; alas, Jimmie Johnson (aka the NASCAR cheating driver) won. They interviewed Tony after the race, and though I don't know him personally, I could tell he was upset and disappointed. REALLY disappointed. You could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. Total disappointment. He IS first in points though, which is good news. But, I'm being pessimistic about it. why? Well, Kyle Busch was 1st in points this time last year, and everyone thought he'd win, but he didn't; Johnson did, so I'm not keeping my hopes up. I mean, Tony is awesome, and I want him to win the Cup, but yet, I don't want to get overly optimistic. I did that with Kyle Busch and he was at the bottom of the points by November.

On another note, I sent an e-mail to Darrell Waltrip to notify him that I'm sick and tired of he and his buddies gloating over Earnhardt Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports. Jr., number one, has no talent, and number 2, is only famous because of his dad. Johnson, on the other hand, is a known and proven cheater, as Chad Knaus said in a race in 2007 that they would pay the fines and keep cheating for as long as possible. There are some other drivers down on that track who deserve a little more publicity. Drivers who may actually have talent and who are struggling to make it in NASCAR. I told DW that if Johnson wins the championship this year, I'm out of being a NASCAR fan. Johnson has won the past 3 championships; 2 of which he didn't deserve because he and his team cheated.

Also, Jr needs to take responsibility for things he's done. But he's even said, "I deserve respect because of my dad and of who I am." Oh please. The guy can't even win races half the time, and the last race he won he only won because everybody else ran out of gas.

Okay, so I'm done griping for now. Haha. I will blog next about my experience at the vet clinic on Wednesday; I'm starting my volunteer session tomorrow and will be working through the summer. (working but not getting paid, lol). Also, on Saturday I'm taking my SAT test so please be praying for me then. I sure could use it! Sunday afternoon\evening I'll blog about the next race. Wherever that is.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

My parents and I saw night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian yesterday in IMAX. While I love seeing movies in an IMAX theater, I was disappointed with the movie itself. If you're wondering on whether or not to go see it, don't. Wait until it comes out on dvd before you waste 10 or 12 dollars.

Why wasn't it that good? Well, it wasn't as funny as the first one; at least I didn't think. The language was about the same; there wasn't that much crude humor in it though. (something I don't mind). And I thought the whole Egyptian tablet thing was overplayed. not to mention it was creepy.

So I wouldn't go see it in theaters. I think my money (or rather my parents' money) would have been better spent in going to see Up by Disney\Pixar.

Honoring Our Veterans-Offended by Our Flag?

Yes, I know this post is a little late, considering that Memorial Day was on Monday, but I just have to share this video with you.

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/nascar#nascar/13653235

If you're not able to see the video, go to nascar.com, Select Video at the top, then look for "NASCAR Honors Our Veterans."

But if you can't do either, here's what happened: The Coca-Cola 600 was rained out SUnday afternoon. So they moved it to late MOnday morning\early afternoon. At 3:00 p.m., all the flags were lowered to half-mast, the cars were brought around to the front stretch, the engines turned off, the pit crews standing at the edges of their pit boxes shoulder to shoulder, the fans standing in the stands, the announcers silent while observing a moment of silence for our heroes, who have served, died, and who are still serving this country today. This is the only professional sport that does things like this. How many sports can you name that will pray in the name of Jesus, and will allow the mention of things like prayer, God and Jesus? Only 1. And that's NASCAR. One main reason this sport is so great is because they acknowledge the existence of an Almighty God; they do things like what is in that video to honor our veterans and current military personnel. This sport reflects some of the ideals and virtues that this great nation was founded on.

To move on, I heard a news report today that at a hospital in Mansfield, Tx. a worker was offended by the American Flag and took it down from a fellow co-worker's wall. Yes, OFFENDED. She was offended by our flag. The woman who had hung the flag (whose husband and children have been in the military\are serving currently) said that this woman is not American, yet she's over here enjoying the benefits and freedom represented by the flag. The hospital administration said, "this wasn't about the flag or what it stands for; this is about the size of the flag."

Yeah right. If someone gets offended at Ol' Glory, then they need to leave the country. If they're offended by something that men and women have fought and died for, then why are they here? I plan on sending an e-mail to this hospital and letting them know that if people take offense at the American flag, the flag that has stood for freedom, justice and liberty for all, then they should live in another country.

I can only imagine how sad this must make veterans and soldiers fighting. How someone can become offended at a symbol of freedom and liberty is beyond me. How someone can even dare to be offended is ridiculous.

Class of 2009

My grad party was today! Yay! I wish more people would have shown up, but oh well. One of my good friends graduated from home school the first of May, and her parents did this little ceremony where they talked about homeschooling. That's what we did; below is a copy of my 'speech.'

I’ve been homeschooled my entire life. My mom gave up her job to be a stay at home mom to Rhyan, then when she was old enough, a teacher. Then I came along, and she homeschooled both of us, which wasn’t easy. A lot of people criticized my parents for choosing to home school us; they thought that they were trying to isolate us from the world. But those weren’t the reasons; mom and Dad continued on despite the criticism, despite the sometimes hurtful remarks because they wanted the best education possible for us. God had called them to home school; if you’re not called to do it, then more than likely you won’t succeed. I’d be lying if I said that this road was easy, because oftentimes, it was very difficult. It can’t be taken lightly; because you must be determined, diligent, persistent, patient, willing, and committed. My parents were all that and more. They knew that people might look down on us because we were homeschooled. People didn’t always approve of that decision, but it wasn’t their decision to make.

My parents taught us the usual subjects: math, reading, science and the like, but more importantly, they taught us how to live Godly lives, not only through their words, but also through their actions every day. They taught us to not let others dictate who you are or how to make your decisions. You should make decisions the way that God leads you to make them. They raised both of us to be God-fearing, Christ-following young women, and though I often slip up and make mistakes, I have a good solid foundation, built upon by my parents. I also have a close relationship with my parents and sister, and I attribute that to homeschooling. It gave us the chance to be a family, especially because of my dad’s job, which would take him out of the house for a long time certain days and weeks. I loved being homeschooled; I loved the flexibility we had as a family and as a class. I’m leaving one part of my life and moving onto the next that will be more challenging, exciting, and sometimes scary. But I will always remember how my parents sacrificed time, money and popularity to educate us with a Christian curriculum. I was asked several times if I wanted to transfer into public school and I said no each time. My mom and I would often talk after assignments were given, and those are precious memories. That is a big reason why homeschooling has been such a blessing to me and my family; the ability to get one-on-one attention and to be able to talk at the same time.

So a tremendous thank-you to my parents, who stuck with it and didn’t give up, even though I’m sure they felt like it. I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am without them.

Gearing Up for Graduation

It's 2 days before I graduate! Can you believe it? I know I can't. My mom, grandma, and myself started setting up the fellowship hall at church for Saturday. We have to get more things tomorrow, but that's okay. We were laying out how we wanted things to look. We're picking up the cake tomorrow. Yay! I was also told to get together a little "speech" for Saturday. Yikes!!!!! I am NOT a public speaker. But, if it'll help people understand how homeschooling has affected my family, then I'll do it. 

Maybe, I should start writing it now....

To Boldly Go...

My dad and I got to see the new Star Trek movie today. And for what it's worth, if you're rating it based on 5 stars, it gets 5, or if on 10 stars, 10. Absolute excellent movie, definitely well worth your time and money. Maybe not great in the way of Trek content, but definitely an awesome movie. 

I really expected it to be a little heavier than it was; but it was a mild PG-13, of which I'm glad. The sexual content that it was rated for really wasn't as bad as I was expecting, nor the language. All-in-all, one of the cleaner Trek movies (and that's surprising, because STar Trek III has some of the most language and it was made back in the 80s!) 

About the actors: I fell in love with Bones the very minute he appeared on screen. If anyone nailed the performance, it was Karl Urban. Bones is my favorite character of Star Trek; so that character was important to me. I didn't need to worry because he was perfect. My dad made the comment that he looked and sounded almost exactly like Deforest Kelley. He was on top of all the others in performance and he deserves two thumbs up. ;) 

Chris Pine was a good young Kirk. I say good because he just isn't William Shatner. I guess I'm spoiled on the original series and films starring Shatner, but he just isn't; in his defense though (Chris') he gave an awesome performance and also deserves two thumbs up for a job well done.

Zachary Quinto was also a good young Spock. The whole two Spocks thing confused me. I'm wondering why the timeline wasn't automatically reset with the destruction of Nero's ship, but Quinto gave a very convincing performance of a younger Spock who was in conflict and who was dealing with his human side. 

For the rest of the cast, their performances were sub-par. Uhura was probably the better out of Chekov, Sulu, and Scotty. I don't know why, but the other threes' performances just didn't impress me. Chekov did NOT have that thick of a Russian accent. You could pretty much understand everything he was saying; this new guy, hardly a word. 

But director\producer J.J. Abrams should be proud of this movie. He made a film that will\would appeal to an audience who maybe aren't Trek fans. He made it interesting without going overboard. He made the right choices (for Kirk, Bones, Spock, and Uhura) in casting decisions...and especially one in casting Nero. Eric Bana was awesome as the main baddie. 

The violence was also less than I expected. I could have done without the whole bug-in-Captain-Pike's-Mouth thing, because that just was creepy, but the rest of it, amazing and well-done. I also loved how the original series' theme was incorporated into the credits at the end. 

Go see it, even if you're not a Trek fan. You certainly won't regret it if you're an action\adventure kind of person! 

Senioritis

I have a bad case of senioritis. Every senior knows what that is. Graduation is just around the corner, and every senior is itching to graduate. Seems like it's worse with homeschooling. I've hardly done a regular day of school in about 2 weeks. I'm ready to get out of high school and get on with life. My SAT is in June. Then, I'll have a THEA test to take (equivalent to the TAKS test since I don't go to public school); then hopefully, onto North Central Texas College in Gainesville. I won't be living away from home for the first year; I'll be commuting back and forth, probably 2 days a week. I'm sort of graduating early; I'll only be 17 when I graduate in less than 2 weeks.

But I'm excited. Excited at what college life will bring. Excited at what God will do through me in the coming months and years. Excited at what I can become, even though I don't know what it is right now. I'm not sure what God's leading me to be. I'm trying not to worry about it right now because I know that He'll reveal it to me in His time and way. 

Oh, and I'm excited for this weekend; my dad and I are going to go see the new Star Trek movie Friday. I'm planning on paying for his birthday (which was last Saturday). 

New Things

I was volunteered today to teach the 3rd and 4th Graders Sunday School class next Sunday morning. Me, teaching? LOL! Yeah, I'm not so sure I can be a good teacher but I'm going to try. I think my mom's going in with me, but I don't know if I want to try it solo or not...I think it'd be good experience if I did it alone. Not exactly alone, though. God's going to be there whether I doubt Him or not. 

Last night was awesome. I know I didn't mention this in any other posts, but we had a young man come and do a piano concert for the church. Sadly, only a few people were there and I felt bad that there weren't more, but I think that those who had come left blessed. His name is Andrew Stephens, and he's only 18. He's played twice before Dino (Kartsonakis), who is a world-famous piano player. He's AMAZING! Andrew, that is. Dino's pretty good too, lol. I actually kind of knew Andrew from his grandparents, who were church  members of our old church and are super nice. He's going to Romania again this summer for almost a month to do evangelism. He's very nice and it was fun to finally get to meet him after all his grandmother's bragging (lol). 

Then today I found out about a girl who had gone to my old church. She was only 14 and died in a car accident yesterday. Her sister, who was driving was released from the hospital last night. I know people around my old town who are very grieved at her death; if you could remember to keep the King family in your thoughts and prayers, even if you don't know them, that would be great. 

Anyway, Brad Keselowski won the race today at Talladega. Tony didn't even finish top 10 far as I know. They had some nice wrecks though, haha. 

Glad for the Weekend

I'm so glad for the weekend! Although, I haven't had much school this past week. But it's been a frustrating and hard week. It's one of those weeks, as Rhyan said, where you hope that the next day is better but it's not.

So, let's see...

While I can't remember if Monday or Tuesday were bad (although, I'm pretty sure they were. ;) ), Wednesday started out okay. My mom and I went to a tea party protest but after lunch the day started to go sour. Later that night, I dropped my laptop on the floor in the hallway and cracked the screen, but by some miracle, the system seems to still be working. On top of all that, we're having more issues with things in the church. (surprise surprise). 

Thursday was a little better, but not much. Today wasn't much better either. I also found out that two of my very good friends won't be able to come to my graduation reception, and while I know that not everyone I want will be there, I'm disappointed. They're 2 of my very few circle of friends (I only have about 4 good friends) and it's sad that they won't be able to be there. 

I'm hoping this week will end better than it started.

Tax Day Tea Party

This morning, my mom and I attended a tea party protest in Grayson County. There were at least 400 people there, while only about 4 Obama supporters (haha). I took some pictures with my phone, but couldn't find my regular camera, so I can't post any of them here.

But it was great. A little unorganized, though, but standing there with other people, letting my opinion be known, exercising my right to freedom of speech was awesome. It was my first demonstration\protest. The Tea Parties aren't about Republican or Democrat. They're about right and wrong. Both sides are at fault here. It's not just one side more responsible than the other, although the democrats have certainly contributed their fair share to it; it's about our rights as citizens.

Governor Rick Perry of Texas was on the Sean Hannity radio show yesterday, and he said something that made me like him, "The states created the federal government; not the other way around. It should stay that way." He, along with several other governors, have not only rejected the money from Washington, but they are also backing a bill that reinforces the 10th amendment (which, I believe, outlines the rights of states.)

A bunch of signs I saw today said that as well. It should be WE THE PEOPLE, not the politicans in Washington making our decisions for us.

Another sign I saw, "It's not about right or left: it's about right and wrong!". How true. I'm sure there were Democrats AND Republicans both in attendance at today's protest. It'll be the same around the country. I urge you, if possible, to participate in a TP Protest.

You'll be labeled as a right-wing extremist terrorist. Don't you wonder why the Obama administration has to label us as that? Because they're afraid of us. The majority of Americans who have common sense and who didn't vote for him are up in arms over his policies. They should have had the sense and intelligence to check Obama out in the first place instead of following the bias of MSNBC, CBS, and ABC!!!!! Now, everyone has to pay for those people's blindness and ignorance. Even those who work hard and live honestly.

Do something about big government. We are still free, and we are still the people and citizens of the United States of America.

Race Weekend at TMS (Part 1)

Okay, so I'm not at TMS today like I was last year, but so what? Usually, I don't watch the Nationwide race(s) but since it's at Texas, I decided to since I was there last year (on First Contact day!)

The O'Reilly 300 was my first ever NASCAR race, and though I would have preferred to also go to the Samsung 500 (Sprint Cup) race, I had a blast at the 300 last year. The smell of race fuel, burnt rubber, and tire smoke (which smells like Corn Nuts). The sound of 43 stock cars roaring to life after the words, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" The reverent atmosphere as the national anthem was sung and as the invocation (prayer) was given. The roar of the fans as those 43 cars came down the race track to the first green flag to start the race. You knew who your friends and enemies were just by looking at them (lol!), and it was quite interesting to see people. You definitely knew who were the Earnhardt, Jr. fans.

But I guess more imporant than it being my 1st race, it was also when I first met Jeff. We and my parents met him at IHOP in Decatur that morning. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect about him. But I thought that if he was willing to come halfway across the country just to meet Rhyan and us, he had to be worth something! So after we ate breakfast at IHOP and visited, I guess about an hour, I went with Rhyan and Jeff back to her house approx. 5 miles from TMS and my parents went shopping in Fort Worth while we went off to watch some racin'. I'm sure people felt sorry for Jeff while we were walking in and around TMS because he had all his Gordon gear on, and Rhyan and I had our Stewart gear on; he was outnumbered! Anyways, I don't think Rhyan and Jeff paid that much attention to the race...every time I looked at them they were holding hands (I know, you both will get back at me if I ever start dating)...but yeah, they were and still are quite twitterpaited with each other. ;) (you know I love you guys!)

Well, I'm going to continue this blog tomorrow during\after the Samsung 500. Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, let's Go Racing at Texas Motor Speedway, boys!

A New Day

Often, a new day brings about a new change of mind or mindset. Last night, or rather early this morning before I headed to bed, I spent more time in prayer than I usually do. Confessing and asking God to help me not be so bitter and to not hate some people when they do something stupid or (in my eyes) wrong.

I realized, almost with horror, that while I had been complaining about some people, I was turning into what I despised most! Isn't that how God works? He'll let us gripe and complain, then He'll say, "Okay, look in the mirror" and we see that we're exactly what we disliked. Hurts though, doesn't it? I know it hurt me.

And not really finding my devotional helpful, I thumbed through the book of Hebrews. Here is the passage I found: "...let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean, from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."-Heb. 10:22. I looked at that and thought, "Wow. Directed exactly at me."

While I still am very unhappy about a certain chain of events, I know that eventually, these people will get knocked down a step or two off their pedastal. I don't respect them anymore inwardly because of how they act (even though they're adults). But honestly, aren't I the same kind of person?

Frustrations

You know what is probably the most frustrating thing about being a preacher's kid? (PK). Not being able to say the things you want to the most to the people you'd love to say them to. Some things, I'll admit, aren't terribly nice, but there are tons of times I'd love to give people what-for but because of my dad's job, I can't. I have to stand by and watch while people stab my parents (and me) in the back and do a multitude of other things that are pathetic.

While this church has been better than our last (we've been here for 2 years in May), the amount of griping and complaining seems to be worse.

Don't get me wrong; sometimes I love the people that are in the church, but usually, the ones you strongly dislike are in the majority. In this church, the latter is very true for me. Now, I have tried not to have a bitter heart or an attitude towards such people, but it's very difficult. It's very difficult to let the God of the Bible take control of my situations. There have been times where I've said, "okay, Lord, this is in Your hands and I'm wiling to deal with whatever comes of it." And usually, it turns out fine. May not be what I want, but eventually I see how it worked. Not lately.

There's a forum I'd joined in 2005 called "The Dancing Lawn" at narniafans.com. I left for various reasons several months ago and only at the beginning of this year did I return. Disappointment could not explain what I think about the forum now. The people I had looked up to are now ones that I can't respect anymore. I know I've had my own share of words around the forum, and at times I could have been nicer, but some members take it too far. So I've pretty much determined that I'm a cynical pessimistic person who's bitter in her heart and soul.

I will be brutally honest: I hate my dad's job. And I'm bitter. Tried to fight that bit of truth but I am. I'm bitter about it. think what you will about me, but I said I'd be true and honest.

More About the Authoress

Though I won't give out much information about myself, I do live in Texas; been born and raised in the Lone Star State, and I hope to stay until I die. I'm a Christian, or rather a born-again Christian; and I happen to be a Southern Baptist Preacher's Daughter AND I've been homeschooled my entire life. I know, busy life, right? Unfortunately, you'd be correct. (insert rollling eyes here)

I really only created this blog because I needed some sort of outlet for venting. You may get a good or bad view about what life is like for me, but not every person born in this position is like it.