Lil Sibs Weekend

Hey!
Last weekend was an exciting one, however I'm a terrible blogger and haven't recorded it here! We (Me, EDD, EDP, ELT, and ENT) went to Kent State for what the title of this post clearly states: Lil' Sibs Weekend!
It was SO much fun!

Friday after I got home from babysitting, I finished packing up all my stuff and Mom, Dad, and I headed to Urban Vision to pick the girls up! On the way there (about half way), we realized that we had forgotten the release forms that their parents had signed and it was going to be impossible to turn around, get the forms, and get back in time to pick the girls up and get to Kent on time to get signed in.

So we decided that we were going to try to print some more and have their parents sign them again.
We got to Urban Vision and picked the girls up, Dad ran in and started the process of printing the papers. It took longer than expected, but we still managed to leave Akron around the time that we thought we would. And their forms got signed! So no worries there.

We got to Kent and picked up Hannah at her dorm and then headed to Eastway to sign in. It was CRAZY busy, however there was no one in the S-Z last name sign-in line! Which was a miracle. So we got signed in, got wristbands, and headed out. We started handing out t-shirts and realized that they had given us the wrong t-shirt sizes! So Hannah and Mom ran back in an got the correct t-shirt sizes and then it was off to dinner!

We ate at the Student Center (aka The Hub) and it was delishus. After dinner we said goodbye to the 'rents and headed back to Hannah's dorm where there was some Wii goin' on. We were a leetle beet confused and played Ninja for a while, but then Hannah realized where we actually needed to be, so we relocated and played Wii for a little bit. After a while more people showed up and Hannah and a couple of the girls had gone to a friend's room down the hall, so the few of us who were left relocated to P's room and hung out there for a bit and did some arts/crafts. So that was fun! P is an extremely nice person who knew the girls from Urban Vision.

After we left P's room, we went back to Hannah's room and got ready for bed and watched Despicable Me/fell asleep. I was in the "fell asleep" category. College will kill me. I'm quite certain of it!

In the morning we (Hannah and I!) slept in as much as possible and then got up and ate breakfast in Hannah's room. After brekkers we headed out to Centennial Field where some stuff was supposed to be happening. There was sand-art, pictures, and a face-painting station. Around 11 there was a guy from the Akron Zoo there with a few animals, so we saw that. He had a python (GORGEOUS), a parrot (very funny and cute, however I would never want to own one), and a scorpion (whose sting was less lethal than a bee sting! Interesting, eh?).

After all that stuff we headed back to Hannah's room to get changed for SWIMMING, what EDP was so excited about!
They all got changed (Eh Ler and I didn't because she wasn't feeling well) and we headed to the Rec center. We ate lunch there (we had tickets for a free lunch... which consisted of a hot-dog, a bag of chips, and a can of pop. Yay?) and then Eh Ler and I walked back to Hannah's room and watched Alice In Wonderland. After that, Eh Ler took a nap and I had a quiet time and watched part of How To Train Your Dragon.
They got back from swimming around 4 o'clock and showered and whatnot and then we headed to DINNER.

We ate dinner at Eastway with Michelle. We talked and laughed a whole lot! There was a group of h2o people eating there as well, so Kait and Maegan came over and talked to us for a while.

We sat in our corner booth after dinner for about an hour and played cards and then headed to the Kiva for Tangled!

We stood in the lobby for a while because they hadn't opened the doors yet. Yes, we were early, but we didn't want to not get seats. It had seemed like a lot of people were going to see Tangled, so we wanted to get there early. They opened the doors and we sat down (three (EDP, EDD, ENT) in front of three (Me, Eh Ler, Hannah) so we didn't take up as much room, or w/e). Hannah Yurk came and sat by us... she also knows the girls from Urban Vision! (It was crazy how many people they knew hah!)

We watched Tangled, which was AMAZING even the third time around. I love love love this movie and hope that I receive it tomorrow for my birthday!
It was fantastic.

After Tangled we headed to the car where Mom and Dad were waiting for us! We went back to Hannah's room and gathered our stuff and went home.

It was a great, tiring weekend full of laughter!
And that's that for Lil Sibs Weekend!

A Life Update

Hey!
I'm really horrible at posting these days now that I'm not doing NIPTO! Sorry about that...

I last posted about the concert on Friday.
Saturday I got up and ate breakfast and then went to Green Valley for Youth Leadership with Brandon and Erin... and that was everyone who was there. But we got a lot planned and then Erin and I straightened Brandon's hair. It looked gooood. But he got it wet and it got curly again. :(

That afternoon I came home and ate lunch with Mom, Dad, and Meme. Meme left and Mom and I talked to Kaite over Skype for about an hour, and went through her closet to figure out what to throw out before she left France.
In the evening Mom&Dad's small group came over and Kayla, Alexis and I babysat. It was fun to hang out with them and watch the kiddos.
After everyone left I'm pretty sure I went to bed. haha

Sunday morning... got up and got ready, went to church and sat through band practice, ended up singing with Jeremiah's group, and then went to Sunday School and whatnot.

Sunday afternoon... I think we went for a walk... I think I did some homework... and then I went to Nazirite DNA, half of the Prayer&Worship time and then Kayla and I headed back to my house to pick Dad up (haha) and then we went to youth group. It was fun! Dad talked about why he believes what he believes and we played Ninja.
Came home, went to bed, the usual deal.

Monday: Got up, got ready for school, went to school, did school in study hall, ate lunch, had lit class and SAT class. Came home, babysat. Nothing too unusual about Monday... ate dinner, watched a re-run of Chuck. Watched an episode of Monk, went to bed.

Tuesday: Got up, did school, went to Urban Vision (gym, reading, gym, computer lab (math), dinner, reading, homework), had a too-short ballet class (we have very few classes left and they still don't really know their dance. *cue freaking out...*), went to my dance classes. Our creepy doll dance is going to be SO good. And I have a solo-bit! Exciting.
Came home, ate a little bit, went to bed.

Wednesday: Got up and my back hurt. I think I pulled a muscle the night before at dance from doing a pas de chat... drove to Spanish because Sean&Adam have had some transportation issues. Came home after Spanish and did school... played some music, worked on my paper a bit. Mom got home and then I babysat (which is not a usual Wednesday thing). I made him do half of his math homework (which is what he's supposed to do) and he was kinda mad at me. haha. But he got to play outside after, so that was good.

I came home and then had to leave about 5 minutes after for bible study. Before I left I realized that I left my phone @ N's house, so I ran back to his house and grabbed it and then headed to bible study.
We had spaghetti, bread, salad, and fruit for dinner... and some moist cake for dessert and cherry cobbler. Yum.
Our discussion was interesting. I didn't participate a whole lot. But it was interesting.
Came home. Watched the end of American Idol. Watched a new show called Breaking In that was decent. Annnnd then went to bed.

Today I got up and did school. And watched an interesting 30-minute film about child sex trafficking that was called The Candy Shop. It was very thought provoking. You can find it here.

I worked on my paper some more. I hope this gets done soon. Because TOMORROW I'm going to Kent with my Karen sisters ;) for Lil Sibs Weekend with Hannah! :)
I'm excited for that.
I babysat today and it seemed like it should be Friday because I babysat yesterday too, however, it's Thursday.
After babysitting I came home and ate dinner with the fam, and then Mom left for her bible study and Dad and I watched The Biggest Loser and American Idol.

So nowwww. I'm here.
And tomorrow is another day.
And I need to go to bed.
But I hope this was informative.
Kaite's traveling tomorrow! Crazy.

Okay. I'm going to read her blog from today and then go to bed.
G'night, y'all!

I'm deleting my blog.

Haaaaaaaa. April Fools! I'm definitely not deleting my blog. (And if you play White Rabbit, Red Chicken.)

The past couple days have been... boring?

Wednesday I chatted with Katie a bit. It snowed a ton. I drove to and from Bible Study successfully and didn't get into an accident (it wasn't icy... just wet&snowy). 

Bible study was really good. We're going through Companions in Christ: The Way of Prayer. This week we looked at Scriptural Prayer. We did Lectio Divina! :) (That brings back fond Sunday School memories from my Freshman(?) year!) We did Lectio Divina during our hour of study and it was fantastic! I think that great things will be happening soon... more on that in another post, hopefully!

After my study I came home and watched American Idol and then went to bed.

Thursday, yesterday, I got up and checked and saw that my SAT scores were ready. *Freak out* 

I did okay (and surprisingly scored the highest on math!). I will take it again. I'm going to take the ACT again without writing. (There's your update on my standardized testing!)

D, H&E came over and we babysat them while Jay&Ang took Z to look at pre-schools. He's going into PRESCHOOL? Yeah. Weird.

They were pretty good. D plays well by himself, E is a content, happy baby, and H was pretty upset when J&A left, but D started singing Jesus Loves Me and she quieted right down! So whenever she started crying we would sing to her. Eventually, she fell asleep.

After they left, we ate lunch. I did school. Chatted with Kate for a bit. Had a quiet time. Cleaned my room. Ate dinner. Made brownies (with chocolate chips and walnuts! YUM). Relaxed for a while. Watched American Idol results and Mobbed. Mobbed is a fairly neat show where someone wants to tell someone something, so they get a flash mob together to tell them. On last night's premier episode a guy proposed to his girlfriend, and then they got married. All in the same... hour? Couple of hours? Yeah. Insane. If my boyfriend EVER did that to me I would kill him.

But yes.

I went to bed after that.

Got up this morning. Ate breakfast. Did school. And now it's 1:15 and I haven't eaten lunch yet.

I think that's next on the agenda. 

After lunch will be geometry. 

Meme might be coming over today through tomorrow! Which would be exciting.

I'm going to THE Civil Wars concert tonight. I am SO excited. 

Brandon, the genius that he is, forgot to buy a ticket. And the show is sold out. So, what's going to happen is Brandon is going to buy Dad's ticket from him and he and Erin will be my chaperons for the evening. 

Or if there are people selling tickets for exorbitant prices outside of Musica, he might buy one of those and Dad will still go. Either way it will be fun. But more fun if Dad could still go too.

I have a feeling that tomorrow during the Youth Leadership meeting Brandon, Erin, and I will be a leetle beet tired. Just a feeling.

I'll try to take lots of pictures. And I will try to post some of them here if I'm not too exhausted tomorrow!

Au revoir!

Hi

Hey people!
It's been forever since I posted, so it seems.

This weekend was a good one. And I found out what I'm going to do in my spare time this summer. More on that in a moment.

Friday Mom and Dad's small group came over and had their study, so Kayla came and helped me babysit. We managed to get the kiddos to watch UP for most of the movie... we sat behind the couch (if you know our basement, you know that isn't as weird as it sounds) and talked about whatever. Which was fun.
After UP was over we "played" CLUE. Z asked me "How do you play this game?" And I told him that to win you had to go in every room and then up the stairs. haha. So they played that for a bit and then I was a "bad babysitter" and "made" them sit in front of the TV and they watched Bambi. The adults finished up upstairs and so some of us made our way upstairs and ate some dessert. Everyone left after a while and I took a shower and went to bed!

Sunday I got up and got ready for church and whatnot. We had music practice and then church, sunday school, church. Kayla came home with us and we had lunch and then we worked on the flag for Space Pirates vs Na'vi. Speaking of which I should probably update the facebook event/website. BUT. We decorated the flag. And it's EPIC. We outlined a few things, painted the flag ON the flag black, and then we SPLATTER PAINTED IT. And that's what I'm doing in my spare time this summer. It's SO much fun.
So we did that. And then chilled for a bit. Annnnnd then we went to Nazarite DNA and then IMPACT. I came home and Mom, Dad, and I watched the end of The Amazing Race and Undercover Boss. Both interesting shows. I typed up my lit questions while we watched those and then printed them and went to bed.

MONDAY. Got up. Got ready. Didn't eat breakfast (until I was at school) because I didn't feel like it. Went to school. Ate some yogurt and peanut butter crackers. Kept doin' school. Didn't feel great. booooo. So from about 10:30 this morning until... NOW. I've had heartburn. On and off. I'm too young to have heartburn, right? hahha. No. Apparently not. At 11 I move into Mom's class room and then 12-12:30 is lunch... of which I ate... a cheese stick and a yogurt. And they had turkey burgers for lunch. I'm jealous. But I wasn't really feelin' the food. Then we had lit class... We're reading To Kill A Mockingbird. Which is a fantastic book. I'm not sure what I'm going to write my paper on, but I'll figure it out. If you have any suggestions, they'd be appreciated :)
After Lit is SAT... which I sat through with my glasses off and head against the wall, half listening. Occasionally throwing out an answer. Ya know =P
Then we loaded up and headed to the bank to do a few things and I got job applications at the library and DQ. Filled those out for the most part when I got home and then babysat. Babysitting consisted of reading and watching him play basketball/capture the flag with the next door neighbor.
Then I came home. Mom made pancakes and eggs and sausage.
Then I sat around and read Little Women and tried to get comfortable. Eventually I started watching Jeopardy! and Mom looked up on WebMD why my back would hurt in addition to the heartburn. She read that a heating pad on the back might help, so she got me one of those and it's still warm :)
I watched Chuck... which was awesome! As usual. Things are going to be happening on Chuck... good or bad. Not sure. hah.

I feel much better now. So I think I'm going to quit while I'm ahead and go to bed.
Hope this was a good semi-comprehensive update of my life!
As always, if there's anything else you want to know, leave it in the comments! (Katie, DQ&the library were the first paper applications I've filled out so far, the rest were online. But I have applied to Starbucks and Subway. I'm working on Famous Footwear and Regal Cinemas at the moment.)

That's all for now!
G'night....

A Whirlwind of a weekend

This weekend has been semi crazy.

On Friday night, Kayla-la and I went to The620's Pre-pirate-navi-party. We made our flag, crest, and chant and whatnot. It was super fun :) I like those people. And it was fun to introduce Kayla to those people! And she goes to school with  one of the girls, which was kinda fun :) So we did all that and then we watched Starwars Episode 4: A New Hope.
When it was all over, we stayed for... an hour? after it was over and watched YouTube videos.
Do yourself a favor, and go listen to some Boyce Avenue. This video is a good one to start off. I would also recommend "Yellow." AMAZING stuff. Sam OH knows where all the good music's at! :)

We took Kaylala home and then I went to bed.

Got up Saturday morning and took a practice SAT... and did a whole lot worse than the one I took last week.
But I'm blaming it on the fact that I didn't get enough sleep. Or w/e.

Then the Karen girls came over. And we ate lunch and whatnot. They played spoons and a couple of them worked on homework with Mom.
We had cake to celebrate BeBin's birthday :) She's turning 11 on Tuesday. Craziness.

Then Dad and I took them to their respective homes and came home, and half an hour later Mom&Dad's small group came over! The kids (and I) ate dinner and headed down to the basement so the adults could eat and have their biblestudy. We watched Cinderella and the beginning of Mary Poppins.
They were good. It all worked out.

Then I went to bed. Because it was all of 9 o'clock. And I had to take a shower and whatnot.

Got up this morning and went to music practice, practiced, did the first service, went to sunday school, which was awesome btdubs, then finished the first service, went back to sunday school. And then the second service. T'was super good. You should go watch the video. That probably isn't up yet.
But yes.

Then we dropped a meal off at someone's house. And then came home.

I ate lunch and re-converted a couple videos for Brandon.
And now I'm blogging. And will leave in a few minutes for Nazarite DNA and half of the prayer&worship time and then IMPACT.

So. This has been my weekend.
I hope you enjoyed it :)

NIPTO, Day 362

Haiii.

Today was... kind of uneventful.
Did school. Worked on my shtuff for lit class. Babysat (more on that in a bit). Came home and finished my book. Ate dinner. Took a shower. Watched Center Stage (AMAZING dancing!). And now I'm watching "What Would You Do." So interesting to see what people do in different situations. Yeah.

Okay. Babysitting. So yesterday N said that he would read for 30 minutes when he got home. He wanted to play and agreed quickly. I should've gotten it in writing ;)
When he got home, he automatically (almost the first words out of his mouth!) asked if he still had to read. Uhhh yeah. You said you would. So that got... a little crazyish. He eventually stormed off to his room and I sat against the basement door (where he wanted to go) and read my book. He came down 20 minutes later and said he had read for half an hour. Uhhhh you've barely been home for half an hour. Read for 10 more minutes. At least. I almost made him read for 15 more. He called me a mean babysitter and told me that he was going to tell his mom that he didn't want me to be his babysitter any more. He's said that before. I'm not too worried about it. Especially since when his mom got home, she told him that he shouldn't argue about reading with me. *hmf*!
So that was the craziness for today.

*yawn*
I should finish this up and go to bed. I have to take a practice ACT (with writing, probably) in the morning. yippee??  Yeahhh......
A'ight.
NIPTO.

1 Timothy 6:17-21

 ¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

Those who currently have money shouldn't be arrogant with it or  put their hope in their money. Money is uncertain. Your hope should be in God. God provides everything for us, including our entertainment!

¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

People who have money should do good with their money and should be generous and willing to share. When people are generous with their money, they build up their treasure in heaven. When you're generous you're able to take hold of life that is truly life. 

 ²⁰ Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, ²¹ which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

   Grace be with you all.

We need to guard what's been entrusted to us. We turn away from the godless things and false knowledge. 

Grace be with you all.
'Night.

NIPTO, Day 361

I am 5 days away from my 1 year anniversary of blogging daily. Uhhhh wow. I have no idea how I did that.
Katie asked me on Sunday if I was going to keep blogging every day after my year was up... and I haven't decided yet. I feel like my day will almost be incomplete without blogging. But my posts will probably be boring from now on ;)
Although I might like, post more pictures and stuff. If I would get around to taking pictures and stuff.

Today was interesting. I did school in the midst of 3 children (Z, D,&E) and eventually put E to sleep. She is ahhhhdorable.
Ate lunch... finished school stuff. Read blogs. Looked at scholarships. If you're ever underwhelmed with life (HAHAHA funny, right?), just look at scholarships. It'll get you OVERwhelmed in a short amount of time.
Babysat. Managed to get N to agree to read for 30 minutes tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I'll be sure to report back to y'all.
Ate dinner. Tried to get music on my phone in the freezing cold basement. Succeeded at getting music on my phone in the freezing cold basement. And now I'm listening to the new The Civil Wars album (Barton Hollow). And it's fantastick. Yes. FANTASTICK. Go buy it. It's $7.99 at iTunes&AmazonMP3 right now. AWESOME!

SO yeah. Mom's at her Bible study and dad just fixed the lamp that's inbetween the couch and chair. (For Kate&Hannah/anyone else who has ever come to our house and struggled with using this lamp: The little knob-y thing on the base of the lamp doesn't do anything and you don't have to worry about bumping it any more! Hurrah!)

And now back to your regularly scheduled NIPTO:

1 Timothy 6:11-16
¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.


As men (and women!) of God, we need to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. These are the attributes we should be focused on. 6 things. (There are more, I'm sure... but 6 right here.)




¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.


This is a fight. And we need to fight the good fight. On the right side. We should embrace the eternal life that we were called to when we confessed our sins. FIGHT. We're in a war. Spiritually. (Grammatically. Ecumenically. HA. But being serious...) We have to fight this war every single day of our lives. If we're not aware of it, we'll get pulled over to the wrong side and start fighting for the wrong things. 




¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.


God charged Timothy to keep these commands until Jesus came back. Aka for his entire life time. But God will bring the coming of Jesus in his own time. God. God who is the blessed and only ruler. He's the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. He's immortal and lives in a light that we can't even approach. No one has seen him or can see him. All honor goes to him. Forever. 
A-men.


I'm signing out for the night, once again.
G'bye!

NIPTO, Day 284

Hey y'all!


Today's been a good day. Annnnnnd it's not over yet. And tonight is going to be fantastic! So. Yes. Today... Got up. Did school stuff. Zakk&Derek came over while Ang took the girls for their 6 mo. checkup. Did some school stuff while watching The Fox and the Hound. Zakk is adorable and kept telling me what the characters said because I think he thought that I didn't hear him.
Angie picked them up and I did more school. 
Flat-ironed my hair and put makeup on and now I'm listening to an archived Dave Ramsey Show while Mom makes jewelry and I blog. :)
And then tonight I'm going to see The Wizard of Oz. AHHHHH SO PUMPED!  =D Yeah. I love musical theater. Yeah. I'm kind of strange. But not really. Yup yup yup. :)


Woah. This is the last day of Ecclesiastes! I guess I'm going to start Ruth next? 
Here it is... :)


Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

The teacher. The person who wrote this? I think so... but I could be wrong. But they were wise and they gave other people knowledge. They sought out knowledge and found what was true. And they wrote it down and shared it.

 ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
   Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

The words of the wise are strong, their sayings like nails that have been pounded firmly into the wood. But don't add anything to them. There's no end to making books and studying a bunch makes you tired. (I think that might be a college student's favorite verse! hahaha)

 ¹³ Now all has been heard;
   here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
   for this is the duty of all mankind. ¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
   including every hidden thing,
   whether it is good or evil.

Now that everything has been said, the conclusion comes. We need to fear God and keep his commandments. That is our duty. God will bring every deed that we do inot his judgement. Every hidden thing, everything that's out in the open. Good or evil. So follow God. Keep his commandments. Remember that he will judge you.

And now I read a book or something :)

Hope y'all have a good day!

NIPTO, Day 281

Hello.
I've just come to the conclusion (that I should've come up with days and days and days and weeks and months ago) that boys will never cease to confuse me.
I'm not even sure why. They're just confusing. *sighs & shakes head* Maybe someday I'll understand... maybe like, when I get to heaven. Maybe then. But then I won't need to understand so I'll never understand. YAY! hah.


This is a beautiful song.
Listen to it. I'm believing what it says. It's fantastic. And she has a gorgeous voice!


Annnnnd yeah. So today! Today... I got up late, got ready really fast, and left on time instead of late! WOAH! That never happens. Got to school, was helping Mom collate (I think that's the word/spelling that I want) copies and realized that I didn't print my homework off. OOPS. Uh yeah. So she had to teach, so I did my school stuff in Study Hall and whatnot.  So then once Mom was done teaching, I came home and printed my questions off. And came back. Read some Dave Ramsey (I LOVE HIM. In case you didn't know that). Ate lunch. Went to Lit class. Went to ACT prep. Came home. Babysat (which was nightmareish. He would not listen to me and kept sassing me. NOT fun. But the homework got done nonetheless). Came home&vented to Mom. Went and got my ticket for The Wizard of Oz at GHS! I love their musical theater program! It's fantastic. :)
Then came home and ate. Then babysat! Those kids were good. And I had Kayla-la to talk to, which was fun. I like her. :) And I got to see Cars for the first time!

And now everyone is gone. And I'm the last one downstairs. So I should get to NIPTO.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
 ¹ Ship your grain across the sea;
   after many days you may receive a return.
² Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
   you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

This section talks about investing in things. I'm taking a personal finance class this semester, and I'm learning lots about investing and saving and spending wisely. 

If you ship your "grain" (product) across the sea (... in a bank/company?), you might get something in return (interest! haha). 

It's saying to invest in many things because you don't know what's going to happen. I think investing in a few things is fine, as long as you're wise about what you're investing in. 

The thought just came to me that this investment could be time/energy. If you invest your time and energy into something, then you'll get something back. If you invest your time and energy into a lot of things, you'll get a bigger return for your labor. 

Boomsauce. 

 ³ If clouds are full of water,
   they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
   in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
   whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

There are some stunning revelations here. (That was sarcasm. In case you didn't notice.) If the clouds have water, they're going to rain on the earth. If a tree falls, it'll stay where it fell. 

And whoever daydreams and looks at the wind and clouds won't sow or reap. And that's a no-good deal right there!

 ⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,
   or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
   the Maker of all things.

We don't know where the wind is going to blow next. We understand how the body is formed in the mother's womb scientifically. But they had no idea. It was a miracle. (And I think every baby still is a miracle!)

But like we don't know where the wind will blow, or how they didn't know how a baby was formed, we can't fathom God's work. He made all things. (And the first thing that pops into my mind is "And he will make all things new. Revelation 21:5)

I'm getting goosebumps right now. Love it. :)

 ⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
   and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
   whether this or that,
   or whether both will do equally well.

Be busy. Get up and get goin' in the morning. Heh. Wow. That was... uhm. To me. Directly. I'm not very active in the morning. Maybe it's because I stay up until 11 or so writing blog posts... hahaha. I'm not going to blame my blog for my laziness. 

But still. Keep busy. In the morning and at night. You don't know what's going to be your success. Keep workin'!

And now, my dear readers, I go to bed. Like... pretty much every blog post ends. HAH. Yay me. Or sumfink.
G'night!

NIPTO, Day 267

Whew. Today. Has. Been. Slightly. Insane.

Got up. Got my bowl and what I thought was a spoon out and  poured my cereal and milk, lifted what I thought was a spoon, and discovered a fork. Bummer. That's kind of how I feel like the rest of my day went....

I went upstairs and started getting ready when I remembered that I still needed to print off my questions. So I go to print my questions and the printer is just spitting paper through. So I get Dad. And he fixes it. Or something. I think the printer was just on the fritz. Soooo that took up my 15 minutes of getting ready time. So I mostly finished getting ready and then ran around like a chicken with its head cut off getting my school stuff together, got in the car and drove to school and then got to school and put tables up in Mom's room. Then I went to study hall and put my makeup on in the computer's webcam. Oh yeah, I'm talented. hahaha. I talked to Carrie for a little bit... then it was time for classes to start and I went to study hall and read blogs and then read Civil Disobedience by Thoreau (it's way too long to be... enjoyable) annnnnd then I did a little bit of history... and then moved to Mom's room and did more history... did personal finance... cleaned up my stuff... ate lunch... went to Lit and talked about Uncle Tom's Cabin... went to ACT prep and talked about reading. Then we came home.  And I chillaxed for a while. Did some Spanish. Took my Physics test. Ate dinner. Cleaned up. And here I am.
I didn't have to babysit today. Which was super nice. Because I got a little bit more done than if I had to babysit. So that was good.

The 'rents have their small group tonight, so I'm babysitting for that. There are supposed to be 2 more kids coming, so Kayla-la is coming to help me babysit :) So that should be fun. I'll have someone "adult-ish" to talk to.
Annnnd people should be here any minute, so I'll finish this after they leave :)

-about 5 hours elapse-

Alrighty. Everyone is gone. Finally. Not that I don't like those people. But it's late.
Babysitting was good! Having Kayla-la was a lifesaver because having an extra pair of hands and eyes is fantastic! We got to talk too, so that was good :)
We came upstairs after they were done and people were figuring things out and Justin&Laura figured out that they locked their keys in the car... sooooo they were here until about 11:30. They ended up taking our car so Justin could take Laura&Emerson home and then come back with keys and get their car. So everything worked out. But it took some time!
And now I'm here.
So. NIPTO.


Ecclesiastes 3:9-22

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

The author of Ecclesiastes repeats himself kind of a lot. He asks the same questions and states the same things. But when someone repeats themselves, it's usually important. The author tells how he's seen this burden that's been placed on the human race by God. He's also seen how God has made everything beautiful in its own time. Then he says something that's been coming up a lot in my life: He has also set eternity in the human heart... Wow. That's... intense. We're supposed to be living for eternity. Yet (there's always a FANBOYS in there! haha), no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. It's too big!


¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

This person knew that you can't do anything better than to be happy and do good while you live. Each person may eat and drink and find satisfaction in their work. That's God's gift to us. Everything that God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to God's work and nothing can be taken away from his work. He makes it like that so that people will fear him. There's not enough healthy fear of God these days... *sigh*


 ¹⁵ Whatever is has already been,
   and what will be has been before;
   and God will call the past to account.
 ¹⁶ And I saw something else under the sun:
   In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
   in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
Whatever is has already been. And what will be has been before. Interesting: God will call the past to account. He doesn't let things go unnoticed that have happened in the past. Something that the author noticed was that on earth there was wickedness in the place of judgement and justice. Sad.


 ¹⁷ I said to myself,
   “God will bring into judgment
   both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
   a time to judge every deed.”
But God will judge both the righteous and the wicked. There will come a time when every single thing, good and bad, will be taken into account and will be judged.


 ¹⁸ I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. ¹⁹ Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. ²⁰ All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

God tests us. He tests us to see that we're... like... animals. Okayyyy. Reading on: the fate of the human race is the same as every other race: death. We all breathe the same air. We don't really have that much of an advantage over animals. Huh. Because everything is meaningless. Everyone goes to the same place. We all come from dust and go back to dust. Who knows where our spirits go when we die? 


 ²² So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
So the author saw that there was nothing better than to enjoy the work that you do, because that's what you're supposed to do. That's your lot. Who can tell you what's going to happen after your life? No one. Live the life you have today and live it to the full.






And with that, I'm going to live my life to the full by going to sleep. Because, once again, it's late.
I hope someone gets something out of my blog... If no one else, it keeps me accountable! 267 days of blogging every day. I'm pretty proud of myself! :)

On that note, goodnight! 

NIPTO, Day 264

Hey y'aaaaaall.

I'm in a good mood right now. I'm listening to the music from the end of Monk.... glorious music that I haven't heard for a longg time. And I just edited some pictures and am working on a project a little bit... :) I love editing.

Alrighty. My day today. It was... crazy. Just a litle bit. Got up early. Did school. Babysat Zakk, Derek, Emily, and Hailey. They're adorable. I got to sit with Hailey on my lap and read for about an hour. She was asleep. It was very peaceful.

Then I came home and checked facebook a bit and then babysat for Nate. We played football. I'm actually getting to be decent at throwing a football. Even if my arm hurts a little bit the next day. (Yes, I am a wimp!)

Then I came home and... did I don't know what. We ate dinner... I helped Mom clean up, and then we watched Nancy Drew and I edited some pictures... and now we're watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Definitely a good movie! :) (Even if both of my parents fell asleep. Awwww they're cute... awwww they just woke up. hahaha)

I worked on a little bit of a project that I was just "issued." It was fun. I think it turned out well. (It was a banner for a website that a friend is working on.)

So now I finish watching Cloudy W/ a Chance of Meatballs annd then do NIPTO.
That was a cute movie! And I got my initial project done and sent back to issuer. (I'll get comments back tomorrow/what he wants tweaked, etc.)
NIPTO!
Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
¹² Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
       and also madness and folly.
       What more can the king's successor do
       than what has already been done?


So this king has everything he could ever want. But he's still realizing that it's worth nothing. So he starts to think about wisdom. And madness. And folly. He asks what the king's successor can do that hasn't already been done.


 ¹³ I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
       just as light is better than darkness. 

He saw something somewhat profound, yet incredibly simple. Wisdom is better than folly. Just like light is better than darkness. 
Light is associated with good, dark with bad. Wisdom=light=good, folly=dark=bad.
Simple as that! haha


 ¹⁴ The wise man has eyes in his head,
       while the fool walks in the darkness;
       but I came to realize
       that the same fate overtakes them both.


A wise person has eyes and uses them. A fool has eyes but doesn't use them. Keeps them shut, actually. But then the author realized that the same thing happens to both of them... hm. I wonder what that is...


 ¹⁵ Then I thought in my heart,
       "The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
       What then do I gain by being wise?"
       I said in my heart,
       "This too is meaningless."
 ¹⁶ For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
       in days to come both will be forgotten.
       Like the fool, the wise man too must die!


The author thought "Huh. I'm going to become a fool. What am I gaining by being wise? Nothing. This too is meaningless." 
Mannnnnn. This person is depressed! 
But: the wise person and the fool will both be forgotten. Both people will die. And one might have a slightly longer legacy than the other, but in the end, they're both forgotten.
Bummer.




I feel like I keep ending these with "bummer." That's a bummer.
Because once again, ladies and gentlemen, it's late and I need to go to bed.
I get to sleep in tomorrow.... lovely.
And I get to dress up for Halloween! YAY! (Nerd Herder, here I come! ( Here is my Nerd Herd badge!) (Sorry, Kate. I'm not going to be a M&M with whipped cream on top. Even if you offered me $5. Susan agreed that you should give me at least $10. HAH!) Sorry 'bout that. Insideish joke. :)
A'ight. I'm done here.
Goooooodnight people who read my blog!

NIPTO, Day 210

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
Today was fantastic.

We did music at church today and I sang! Just sang. No bass. It was really fun!
Annnd we just kinda hung out after church for a while, and then we came home, ate lunch...  not sure what we did after that... then we went on a walk and then I hijacked Kayt and we sat on the porch and talked and she texted her boyfriend... then I came home and we went to Kent and Mom and I babysat for Brooklynn (2ish), Carter(4ish), Madalyn(9monthsish), and Mason(6months). Suuuch cute kids. All really good kids too :)
Thennnnn all the parents came and picked up the kids and I got to hold baby Micah! He's two and a half weeks old and is simply adorable!
Then we trekked home and ate eggs and bacon (we were hungry!) annnd CAKE! Yum. Yeah.
Annnnd. Caught up with Katie a little bit. She's home for Labor Day. But not the weekend. Just Labor Day :)

Tomorrow a few of the Karen girls are coming over... and I think we're going to do some homework help. It's going to be pretty chill.
No school tomorrow. I'm actually kind of bummed. I have all my homework done and it's not even due until next Monday! Oh well. :) I get to go to BoW on Wednesday again :)
I like my schedule this year. And I'm really excited for dance to start! It's going to be a good school year.

NIPTO. Or a video. Video!
The Call. Regina Spektor. Fantastic! Love this song. My cousin did a cover of it that I'm going to listen to when I'm done listening to the original. :)


Okay. Now NIPTO.
Acts 23:1-11

 ¹Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." ²At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
Paul was being questioned by the Sanhedrin and Paul just told them that he felt like he had done what he needed to do and had a clear conscience. (I can always spell conscience because it's a con-science ;))
The high priest guy ordered the people around Paul to smack him. And then Paul told them that God would smite them. I mean... uh... strike them for judging without following the laws they were judging in the first place. 
They were breaking the law by commanding the people to hit Paul. Wow. Reprimand to the X-Treme. 


 ⁴Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?"
 ⁵Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'"
The people around him were amazed that he would talk to the high priest like that, but the fact of the matter was that Paul didn't know that that was the high priest. I think they really should've kept Paul better informed!


 ⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." ⁷When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
Paul knew that some people in the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and some were Pharisees. And Paul himself was a Pharisee, his father was a Pharisee. He was on trial because he had a belief. This weekend while Hannah's been home, she'll randomly ask me "What do you believe?" And I'll respond with something like "God" or "that smiles have more power than we could ever imagine." 
People get in an uproar when you believe in definites. No matter what they are, really. If it's definite, it can cause commotion.
And when Paul said that he believed something, everyone got into arguments. The Pharisees and Sadducees believed different things about resurrection and other subjects. So everyone was divided.


 ⁹There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" ¹⁰The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
There was a huge commotion and some people were for Paul and others were against him. 
Things got so crazy and so violent that they had to take Paul away.


 ¹¹The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."
And then God told Paul that he needed to do the same thing in Rome that he had just done.
I'd be freaked out, but God said "Take courage!" That's one reason to not be freaked out. When God gives you a command like that, it's important to follow it. Believe that God will do what is best and will protect you. 




The end.

Now I'm listening to another Regina Spektor song. I like it too. So I'll post it too. :D


Adios! Hope you had a good Sunday! Enjoy your day tomorrow :)

NIPTO, Day 207

Whew.
Another long day... over.

Got up, went for a walk, took a shower, did school stuff, ate lunch/watched an old episode of Chuck, did more school, played the piano for a while, went to babysit, came home, read a book on my bed, ate dinner, went over to Angie's and held a baby, fed a baby, burped a baby, and put the baby to bed. It was Hailey, if you were wondering.

Now I'm sleepy... So. NIPTO.
Acts 21:27-36 (You must think I'm lazy... 10ish verses?!? Madness... or tiredness!)
²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." ²⁹(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)


A'ight. So these guys were in the process of being purified. I'm guessing that's what the 7 days were for. But a few guys saw Paul at the temple and went out to stir up some trouble.  They were a-hootin' and a-hollerin' that Paul was the one that taught all men everywhere (shocker!) and that he was the one who defiled the temple by brining Greeks into it. They were just assuming that Paul had taken the one guy that they had seen with him into the temple. 

 ³⁰The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Everyone got involved and they were coming at him from all directions. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple. They shut the gates of the temple. No riots inside, I guess.

While these crazy people were trying to kill Paul, news of the "uprising'" got to the commander of the Roman troops. So he took some officers and soldiers and went down to the crowd. When the crowd saw them, they stopped beating Paul.

 ³³The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. ³⁵When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!"

The commander asked Paul what he had done. Then he ordered him to be bound. And then he asked him who he was and what he had done that got everyone in an uproar.

Someone from the crowd started shouting, and then a bunch of people started shouting. The commander couldn't hear, so he ordered Paul to be taken to the barracks. By the time Paul got there, the mob was so big and so intent on getting to Paul that the soldiers had to carry Paul.

The crowd kept on shouting...

Tune in tomorrow for the...exciting conclusion? 

I'm so tired that I'm not even going to go copy my signature. BOOYAH! Take that tiredness!

You're fantastic. The end.

Abby

NIPTO, Day 198

OH. My. (Starry eyed surprise).


Yeah. Sooooo. I am super duper tired right now. I babysat from 8-5 today.
He slept for the first hour. Then he watched TV for a while. And then we... went outside and played some basketball... and did a bunch of stuff.
The most memorable thing was making cookies today.
We came down to my house (he lives just up the street) to make chocolate chip cookies!
Soo.... we're making the cookies and we're putting everything in them... and I saw three "1 tsp"s in a row on the recipe. So I put in 1 tsp of baking soda, 1tsp of baking powder, and 1 tsp of salt. The last tsp was supposed to be vanilla. NOT baking powder. Heh. That was my first mistake.
So I go over the rest of the recipe (after putting in everything else that we needed... almost.) and called it good. So I put the cookies on the sheet and into the oven. Annnnd we wait for a little bit. Then I turn on the light in the oven and look at them and there is a HUGE pool of cookie... not dough on the cookie sheet. And I'm like... UHHHHHH. WHAT? And Meme asked "Did you put in the flour?" Me: Uhhhhh no. OOPS.
So we put in flour and they were fine. The baking powder didn't really affect them that much. They were just a little... fluffier than usual. :)

I'm guessing that I'll never forget to put FLOUR in my cookies again! But they were good cookies. So it didn't really matter!

That was basically my day. Babysitting. *yawn* I'm tired. Like I've said before.
I chilled on the computer and then ate dinner with the fam. They went on a walk &I took a shower.
Now we're listening to Dad read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The end of it. Hurrah! =P

It's fantastic. And there was no way I could blog through it! But I can put stuff in my planner! Football games, soccer games, babysitting, BoW, dance, Urban Vision, etc. There's a lot of stuff on my calendar! It's pretty crazy.

NIPTO!

Acts 18:1-17
¹After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ²There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. ⁴Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.


Again with the traveling! They basically travel everywhere in Asia Minor... or something. He met this guy named Aquila&his wife Priscilla. They were in Corinth because the current emperor made everyone leave Rome. So Paul went to see him, and since they were all three (both? I don't know what Priscilla did) tent-makers, he stayed with them and worked with them. And every sabbath he would go out to the synagogue and talk&reason with the Jews&Greeks there.





 ⁵When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

Silas&Timothy came and joined him from Macedonia. When they came, Paul stopped his tent-making and was completely immersed in preaching to the Jews that Jesus was really Christ. But, of course, the Jews opposed Paul and were abusive. He kind of cleared himself of blame. Because they were horrible to him.


 ⁷Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

Paul left the synagogue where the people were being abusive and went to the house next door. To the house of Titus Justus. He believed in God. Hurrah! He talked, apparently, to the synagogue ruler (HEAD HONCHO!) and he&his household believed in God and a lot of the people who heard him speak in general were baptized. 

 ⁹One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. ¹⁰For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." ¹¹So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Paul was sleeping and God gave him a vision/spoke to him. I think dreams are somewhere that we might underestimate God's presence. But he can be as much in a dream as in real, day-to-day, life!
God encouraged Paul to not be afraid and to persevere because GOD was going to protect him. His people in the city would protect Paul. So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half and taught the people the Bible!

12While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. 13"This man," they charged, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law."
  ¹⁴Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. ¹⁵But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things." ¹⁶So he had them ejected from the court.¹⁷Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.
This guy, Gallio was part of the judicial panel in Achaia. And a bunch of the Jews attacked Paul and took him into court. Their charge against him was that he was "persuading the people to worship GOD (of all people!) in ways contrary to the law." Incredible!

So Paul's about to make his defense when Gallio tells them that since it's about their own personal religious rules, and isn't a complaint about a misdemeanor or crime that they should settle it themselves. He kind of copped out, but I don't blame him. It wasn't really his job to settle religious matters...
He's a smart guy. He had them removed from the courth. Then they all went to the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio wasn't really bothered by that.
Did the guy not have a conscience? Or something! Kind of crazy. I get him copping out of the case, but to ignore someone being beaten in front of the court? A little... ridiculous.




G'bye!

P.S. Do you like my new layout? It kinda sorta took forever to figure out. The stupid new blogger template designer makes it impossible to have a background from a third party... *sigh*
So you have to go with the other stuff that they give you.
P.P.S. The end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is FANTASTIC! I can't wait for these movies :)