Easter 2013

 Easter was nothing too special this year. All of my family members' spring breaks didn't match up, so it was hard to coordinate things to do together. We did make it to church together, "opened" our Easter baskets, and then had dinner at my cousin's house together. 

 As we're all getting older, it's harder and harder to get pictures together and a chance to go on a family trip. I love my brothers though; even when their mean, cranky, and selfish. They'll always be my brothers.

We're all unique in our own way and our personalities come out in pictures like the one above. Luke, my youngest brother, doesn't like pictures too much. Zach, the one to my right, isn't really shy, but he's the guy that will make you laugh at just about anything. Devin, to my left, is getting too old for childish ways and has a hard time being funny. :P Haha! And then there's me... I'm cute, awkward, and maybe just a tad dorky. Just a tad. Maybe. 

 These two pictures really bring out my awkwardness. I love cameras and all, but they bring out my inner awkwardness. That's okay though, I will cherish these memories. 

 Before we had an early dinner, my cousin Eva and I went on a little hike. We walked to their park, through the snowy trail, and even had to forge a river (jk, it was a pond). Our shoes were very wet by the time we got home. Eva and I are two months apart in age and if we lived closer, I'm sure we'd be even closer cousins than we are now. 

I hope you enjoyed your Easter and are still living out the Good News. 

P.S. My good friend texts I think three people "He is risen!" every single day. That is how she is keeping the Good News alive. When she forgets a day, she feels bad about it. ;) 

Trip to the Farm

During spring break, I had the opportunity to travel to Nebraska to visit some family again. Our trip this time consisted of traveling to my uncle and aunt's farm! Unfortunately we didn't go south to warm weather, it was still pretty cold, but I love all the adventures I can take at the farm! It was cool to get really close to the Robins and take pictures of them. We were celebrating Easter a few days early, so we had a VERY fancy dinner with a yummy lemony cake for dessert {second picture}. Then, I had to get some pictures of me at the farm, so I asked my brother Luke to take some of me. He did a great job, and I think I received some good photos out of it! I learned how to make a sepia feel in photoshop, and the edit really fit some of these pictures. Overall, I had a great weekend at my grandparents'.

P.S. It was my second blogoversary a few days ago! Thank you all for your support!

Friendship Photoshoot | Joy and Katie

First off, aren't these two just absolutely gorgeous!! Both Joy and Katie emailed me saying that they wanted me to take some pictures for them. We all decided that it would be fun to have them do the photoshoot together because they're best friends! This had to be my most favorite session yet. I found a location {on google maps :P} that looked really pretty and Katie was so willing to drive us there. Yes it was really cold out and there was a lot of snow, but we caught some gorgeous light, especially at our second location at another lake. These two beautiful ladies are good friends with my older brother, but they have come to be friends with me too. :) I'm so thankful that I got the opportunity to take their pictures during winter break. I had so much fun, and they were so kind to take me out to Caribou after standing out in the cold for a couple of hours. Thank you Joy and Katie!

Life as of Lately | Honest to Blog

Hello Blogging World!

It seems that I've been gone for far too long again, so I suppose we much catch up a bit. So much has happened, especially in this past week. I do not know even where to begin to start. I suppose a review of this week would be quite an interesting story.

Just over a week ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a church lock-in. I didn't really know what to expect, considering I had never been to one at my new church. Luckily, my friend said that she'd go along with me, so we both experienced it firsthand, together. :) It was my first all-nighter. We played countless rounds of Sardines. Let me just tell you, I know my church way better than I did before! People hid in storage closets, furnace rooms, and everywhere in-between. Even though it was below freezing and windy, we managed to make a camp fire, burning approximately 40 pizza boxes from pizza we have every week.

Huddling around the camp fire

On Monday and Tuesday, I was a nervous wreck. I had two really big tests this week, that I felt like I had to pass. On Tuesday, I took my permit test, and successfully passed. I told one of my friends how nervous I was, and as we were passing a few notes in class :P, she wrote this to me.

"You are going to be fine!"

Has someone ever written something like that to you? I can't recall anyone ever telling me something like that, and I was just so encouraged. This whole week, I was praying my heart out. I was praying about passing my tests, my great, amazing friends, a safe delivery for my neighbor's twins, and other random things. On that Tuesday, when I found out that God answered my prayer, I was just in awe. I cannot describe how excited I was, but not as excited as I was on Thursday.

On Wednesday after school, I took a 95 point, multiple choice pretest. If I scored with an 80% or more, I didn't have to take one of our school's required classes, opening up my schedule for more college classes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out my score right away, so during lunch the next day, I started walking toward the teacher, and she gave me a thumbs up, meaning that I passed. Yet again, God provided for me. He was with me the whole time. I remember telling myself that if I didn't pass, I wouldn't be sad. Why? Because of this: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). I knew that if God didn't want me to pass, and had better plans for me in high school, that I would have to trust him. That verse, along with this next one, helped me overcome my common nervousness. 

Each day this week has a different story, but one thing about myself didn't change: my smile. When you start looking at the positive things in your life, you realize how fortunate you really are. One of my friends, Megan, and I both said that we just couldn't wipe a smile off our face this past week. We were constantly happy. Despite all of my nervousness, that smile, that positive thing in my life, kept me going. One last thing for you today: It may not seem like God is listening and answering your prayers, but He is. 

Source

Perfectly Imperfect | 1/19/13

Today was perfectly imperfect. My day really started at 1pm because that's when I got home from my cousins' house. When I got home, I had a headache from staying up late. After a while, it finally disappeared. On Friday, I got some pictures from Shutterfly, so I decided I should organize those and put them away in my photo box. Let me just say, whenever I look at old pictures, I am instantly happy. I remember the sites and smells of that day and the memory resonates inside of me. My dad told me I had to grab my laundry and then do the dishes when I got home, so I thought to myself, "might as well do them sooner than later!" So I did the dishes and while I did the dishes I made myself some macaroni and cheese. I was so happy to get things done!

bundling up because of the negative degree weather

sorry it's sideways.

 When finishing my lunch, I started the long process of doing my homework. I started reading my Civics homework, and working on my Driver's Education scrapbook. I did this for a long time (with quite a few breaks..) and eventually the house was almost empty other than my older brother. I love the sweet sound of a silent house. (:

I continued to work on my homework until my parents and my younger brother came home from a basketball game. My brother Zach then made dinner for us. I had a good 'ole salad. After dinner and four hours later, I asked my dad to take me to Caribou {the second time I asked him that day}. He said no... again. But that's okay though, because my mom took me!

 So we went to Caribou, and there was like no one there. The staff on duty was really nice and because it was 0 degrees out, it felt nice to have some hot, hot chocolate.

 After Caribou, my mom needed to run some errands to Target, so off we went. At Target, we picked up some food for meals this week, and got some clothes for my brother. I ended up getting some new pajamas that are so, so warm and comfortable. I also enjoyed taking pictures of random Target objects.

 In Target, I was wearing brown sweatpants and black boots, but it was so late, no one cared. :P

 When my mom and I were about to check out, I just had the sudden urge to take a picture here. I love the composition and the busy-ness of the photo. I think this picture really symbolizes a lot about America with the magazines, "express" lanes because people are too impatient to wait, pop and junk food, and the high technology that places these days have.

One other thing that I got from Target was an eos lipbalm. It seems like everyone at school has them, so I thought I'd give one a try. They make your lips feel so smooth for a long time. It works wonders, let me tell ya! 

The whole day I was sick, so I had cough drops and made my own hot beverage to make my throat feel better. 

Although my throat {and ear} really hurt, today was a perfectly imperfect day. 

P.S. All of these pictures are taken with my phone.

Youth Retreat 2012

This past November, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel with my new church to north Minnesota. I say north instead of northern, because we seriously were on the tip of the state, almost in Canada. :P At first I was really nervous for the trip because I didn't meet a lot of people yet. Like I said, I was new to the church. Looking back on the trip though, it was a trip of a lifetime. I had so much fun. I absolutely loved the simplicity of life up north. Let my pictures tell you about some of our adventures...

Adventures around Lake Superior.

{Almost} all of the girls that went on the trip.

Trips to different light houses... some being at 10pm at night, with no light, standing on a 3-foot slab of concrete, with no railing, surrounded by water...

The option of going in Lake Superior in November.... let me remind you were are in Minnesota. I didn't go in. 

Food combination testing...

Yummy pizza places

Hike to Gooseberry Falls

P.S. This is my 200th post! Thank you to ALL of you who follow and comment! You inspire me so much!