I LIKE...

After a short hiatus from blogging, I am BACK! :-)

Anyways, here are just a few pictures that I LIKE...

Isn't this an awesome treehouse?

And I think this is my motto for life...

I love puppies!

...almost as much as I love baby kitties!

And this is just adorable.

Yay for the little beautiful joys in life!

It's the last day of September! Hard to believe, yet somehow I'm ready for fall. We've had a dry late summer so I don't think that we'll have much of a colorful fall, however. So sad. :(

I'm going to a Bible study starting tomorrow night with a bunch of young people. I'm excited to get into studying the Bible with other people my age. I'm really looking forward to it.

We also have a SA sponsored barn party this Sunday, and being that I'm an SA sponsor, I have to be there! I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm going to bring my camera and hopefully I can post some fun pictures after the weekend.

I've recently discovered Kari Jobe and her beautiful music. If you've never heard her, go check her out. She's got such a sweet voice. I love the song she sings, "The More I Seek You." Check out the lyrics:

"The more I seek you, the more I find you.

The more I find you, the more I love you.

I wanna sit at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand.

Lay back against you and breath, hear your heart beat.

This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.

I melt in your peace, it's overwhelming."

I long for this experience with God everyday.

P.S.

Does anyone know how to put videos from youtube, etc on here? I'm new to this. Any tips would be helpful. I would've attached a video of this song, but can't figure it out. Thanks!

Mmmmm, fall is here!  Today I went out to Paugh's Orchard and got some fresh apples and cidar and honey to celebrate the new season.  :)  The apples were yummy!  I'm thinking I might try my hand at apple pie or applesauce.  We'll see how much time I have. 

I love seasons!  I was telling my hairdresser today (yes, I got my hair cut! Pics to come soon...) that I don't think I could live somewhere where it was the same temperature all year, without the changing seasons.  With each new season (hmm, reminds me of that Nicole Nordeman song) I feel a fresh start to life.  And fall is so beautiful and crisp and colorful.  Thank you, God, for the seasons!

Besides the fact that fall has given me something to get excited about, I'm feeling a bit... unmotivated.  I have no motivation to exercise, no motivation to clean my house,  and no motivation to work.  All I feel like doing is day-dreaming and sitting in my house - doing nothing.  I'm hoping this is a phase that I will soon get over.  I have things to do, but after I come home from school, I don't feel like doing anything!  Grrr.  Perhaps it's because I come home to an empty house with no one to talk or vent to.  I'm frustrated with myself, and yet I don't do anything about it.  HELP!

Please pray for me, friends.  :)  I guess I need to be thankful for what I DO have instead of moping around wishing for things to happen.  God, help me to be thankful for ALL of your blessings.

I want to cut my hair.  It's long.  Let's see if I can find a recent picture of it...

Here we go:

Now, Yves says that if I cut my hair short, that he is going to grow his hair out long.  Let's see if I can find a picture of Yves with long hair...

This is the pretty good picture of Yves with long hair (he's the one on the left):

Here's the not so good picture...  :)

Here's a picture of how I want to possibly cut my hair.

Let me know what you think.  :)

to blog or not to blog...

It seems that blogging is all the rage now days.  Every where I turn I find bloggers of all shapes and sizes.  It has actually inspired me to start blogging a little more consistently.  I love pictures and art and beautiful things.  And writing has always been a great way for me to express myself and helps me to discover more things about myself, as well.  So I think I will start in this blogging endeavor, hopefully on a more consistent basis.  Who knows if anyone will even read it, but I think it's more for myself then for anyone else at this point.  

So I made the decision a few months back to become one of the praise and worship leaders at the new and improved contemporary second service here at the New Market SDA church.  Next weekend is my first weekend to organize the service and I'm feeling the pressure.  I know how I want it to be in my mind, but making it happen seems a little more difficult to pull off right now.  We had a meeting today and discussed the past few Sabbaths and scheduled ourselves through the end of May.  We also were given a book to start reading, entitled Majesty-written by S. Joseph Kidder.  I read the first chapter today while I was on supervision in the gym.  It's a really great book about experiencing authentic worship.  Here's a portion that I read and really liked:

"In September of 2004 President George W. Bush came to South Bend, Indiana, about 30 miles from where I live, for a fund-raiser.  The South Bend Tribune mentioned that the Republican Party had rented a large auditorium for the occasion and had a special dinner and evening with the president.  However,  what caught my attention was the fact that to get into the auditorium and eat a plate of chicken and asparagus would cost about $30,000.  And if you wanted to sit close to the president, that privilege went for $50,000.  And should you desire to join the president at his table and have your picture taken with him, that would call for a mere $100,000.  (It would be the most expensive chicken and asparagus you'd ever eat.  I believe this would be the equivalent of buying such a meal for the rest of your life.)

Well, I did not believe the accuracy of the article, but still was interested in the details.  So I called the paper and asked them exactly what the dinner and photo opportunity would cost.  They assured me that all the facts in the article were correct.  Also they told me that all presidential candidates do the same type of fund-raising.

At that moment I felt really good.  My heart started rejoicing, and I had one of the greatest

worship experiences of my life.

I was struck with awe and amazement that the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the President of the whole universe desires to be with me.  He has called me to be with Him for free! I don't have to pay a penny for it.  All that I have to do is accept His invitation and enjoy His presence and bask in His company.  In Mark 3:14 we read that Jesus 'appointed twelve, that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out the demons' (NASB).  Jesus has called you to be with Him.  Enter into the presence of God.  Worship and love Him.  Give yourself as a living sacrifice to Him."

I started this whole blog thing and wrote once.  Hmm...oops.

Guess there wasn't much to say.  Either that or I just forgot.

Life is...life.  Not much to say right now.

life in Virginia

i've heard people say that once you move out east, you never go back...

hmmm.

i love virginia. it's definately growing on me. i have to get used to the knats that fly in your face whenever you're outside and the larger-than-life spiders...and poisonous snakes. but i guess those are just details. i really love the beauty of the countryside here. and the small, country feel is something i appreciate.

i didn't anticipate missing the lakes. i miss the lakes sooooooo much! especially lake michigan. to get to a lake here you have to drive at least a couple hours. and even then...be careful of poisonous snakes in the water. eek!

i also miss my familiar life of friends and family that i've known for forever. but, i'm making new friends and i'm realizing that people out here are just like people back home. the only thing is that i wish i had someone to come home to and tell stories to and to laugh and share with. but, alas...that will come someday. :)

i guess what i've been realizing is that God brought me here -- not only to be a witness to the students of SVA, but to help me to grow in my relationship with Him, to rely more on Him. And this life is just temporary. Don't become too attached. Instead forget about living life for yourself and help others understand and realize their purpose here, too. I'm finding that that's more fulfilling.