It's been awhile.

I haven't posted a blog in a long time, so I decided I'd go ahead and post one haha. I'm honestly not sure what to write..so bear with me. I don't know if this is going to be serious or funny. We'll see!

I'm sitting here watching The Bounty Hunter, and I'm very unimpressed. Not a bad plotline, but I really am tired of not being able to find a movie, or TV show, without inappropriateness. I've been very convicted the past few months about the things I let into my mind, especially TV and movies. I'm not totally sure if I'm being too strict on myself, but I'd rather be too strict than not strict enough. I've almost gotten to the point that when I hear a "bad" word, or a sexual innuendo, I immediately turn it off. I've never been a huge TV person, but I was into a few shows like Glee and The Secret Life of an American Teenager(which is a stupid show, anyway. I don't know why I thought it was so interesting back in the day), but more and more I see how shows like those are just wrapped up in Satan-ness. It didn't take long after I stopped watching those shows to not even have a want to watch them anymore. God works in funny ways haha.

What I'm REALLY tired of is that even Disney shows and Nick shows have all these hidden messages that you see more and more the older you get. It's a bit ridiculous I think. The world has gotten obsessed with sin and Satan is just ecstatic about it I'm sure. I recently heard a sermon about the Devil being REAL and more here than ever, waiting to attack, and boy oh boy was he(Clayton King) right!! I turn on TV and see a commercial break with women almost naked(Job 31:1-HATE IT STARVE IT OUTSMART IT) and bad words spewing out.. honestly? I can't even flip through channels during commercial breaks and find family-safe stuff. I'm scared to see what's gonna be out there by the time I have kids. They'll definitely be watching old movies all the time haha! Poor kids.

Anywho, just a little speal of mine that I've been meaning to get out of my head for awhile. I just looked up at a friend's TV right now and saw girls in bras and underwear and boys licking their stomachs to get a shotglass from in between their breasts. Wondeful, right? On the oh so popular show House. Oh boy...

Day 14:Non-fictional Book

I really don't know what to put.. I've read some really awesome theological books by awesome theologians like Clayton King, Voddie Baucham Jr, etc. But I have to narrow it down... so I will choose Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. This book, a long with all of his other books, is pretty amazing. It really describes Christianity and Jesus and how to be more than a "mere Christian." I would highly reccomend it to any Christian :)

Day 13:Fictional Book

I'm super tired and I don't feel like typing much so this isn't gonna be detailed... Soo my favorite fictional book would have to be Redeeming Love by Francine RIvers. This book is awesome... I know Sarah and Jolina put it as their favorite book a couple weeks ago, and their reviews were more elaborate so check their blogs out haha its an amazing book!!

Day 12:Whatever tickles my fancy

Sorry its a day late...
1. I'm at one of my old best friends house. woo!
2. I love the podcast. Can't wait for the next ones!
3. I am so tired that I'm wide awake. I need a day to just sleep. But that's not happening anytime soon.
4. Crossroads is Sunday!! I am super duper excited.
5. I waste a lot of gas. I can't wait till I move over here haha.
6. My phone is probably going to die by the end of the night.
7. I have my phone charger with me, but I'm too lazy to plug it in.
8. I stopped writing this 7 or 8 hours ago, but now im finishing it.
9. I just got to Jolina's house after a fun night at the Durdens :)
10. I don't want to go home tomorrow. I have to pack for crossroads and clean my room/bathroom because my parents are moving my bedroom this weekend :(

The End.

Day 11: A Recent photo of Me

So I was sitting next to Sarah when we decided to just take a picture of ourselves for this one. Its pretty recent, specifically this morning. haha here it is! :)

Day 10: A photo of me taken over ten years ago

So, the only picture I have on my computer/facebook of me is this one.. haha its from kindergarten with our teachers assistant and my friend Jake!



Funny story actually. Ms Tammy, the assistant, added me on facebook a few months ago. I had no idea she would still remember me by name! After I added her, she tagged Jake and I in this photo haha!

TO KYLE AND EMILEY!!

I just looked on facebook and saw that it is yalls two year anniversary, so HAPPY ANIVERSARY!
I love y'all! :)

Day 9:A photo I Took

I took this photo before we went to state with part of my wonderful sax section :)
That's all. haha!

Day 8: A Photo that makes you angry/sad

Today, I'm posting a photo that makes me sad ish. haha I was looking through pictures on my facebook, and I came across the pictures from marching season of my junior year. Wow! I for real had some good times that fall. All of the pictures in this time frame made me "sad," because I miss it! But I am going to post two of them, not all of them haha.



first real game? haha and the johns. i miss them and times like this! :)



first time i REALLY hung out with clay kids, the start of an awesome football season. love them and miss them!

Day 7:Photo(s) that Make you SMILE! haha

So like everyone else, there is no way I could choose one photo haha so be ready for lots. I'll explain each one and why they make me smile :)




so this picture is everyone who went to state solo and ensemble. it pretty much wraps up every band event from the past 4 years, i love it! haha


new york!! these are 3 of my best friends in the middle of timessquare. i love them, and new york! haha


new york again!! haha this is kim, tnia, and corey(our tour guide and one of my parents' good friends), in a cab haha we got lucky because we chilled with corey for a litle bit, and he got us a cab. too bad it wasnt cash cab haha


sonpower! these are the seniors and kit, br randall, and mrs dee at our last sonpower.


senior recognition day.. there were many pictures i couldve chosen for this day, but this is by far my favorite only because of kits silly face!


seniors in band at our last competition. i love this kids!



we all loveee this picture haha it came out perfect, even with sarahs funny face haha


fsu! this picture just makes smile, idk why haha



its blurry, but i love it. i love these girls too death, and we were all dressed up for homecoming :)



john hinkley and samm, these two at the time were two of my greatest friends. i love them to death, but this picture does make me miss john haha


st auggie!! this was such a fun night :)

Day 6: Whatever tickles my fancy.

First of all, whoever came up with that saying must have been on drugs. In fact..I'm going to go look up how that saying came about right now. haha..... All I found is that it originated in the 1750s in England, and it originally had a more vulgar meaning. Awesome haha. I think I like whatever tickles your pickle much better. Probably only because I'm obsessed with Dr Suess and rhyming and tickle and pickle rhyme. haha!
Anyways, I'm taking Sarahs idea and doing a list of ten random things, because I don't know what tickles my fancy haha.

1. I'm eating instant oatmeal, even though Kit's going to feed us breakfast in an hour haha. Its peach flavored!:)
2. Were going to the Safehouse today for missions day. Woo!
3. I still have to finish registering for classes.
4. I really wish I was going away for college, and I honestly don't think anyone understands how bad I want that. haha oh well..next year hopefully!
5. I miss my nephew.
6. I'm so ready for crossroads!
7. I guess were going to have make Kyle not blog all during Crossroads since we won't be there? haha
8. Like Sarah, I'm so hoping Kit doesn't get Mickey D's for breakfast. Chikfila please?
9. I'm going to Chikfila for dinner tonight. I've had chikfila everyday for a week and a half.
10. I'm officially addicted to Chikfila. My brother(Brad) would be super proud.
11.(just for fun) I'm going to text Brad now. haha

woo for that! haha

Day 5:Favorite Quote

This one's a hard one haha. I have so many awesome Bible verses, CS Lewis, John Piper, James Tealy, Voddie Baucham, Clayton King, Matt Orth, etc quotes to choose from that I've always loved. But I'm gonna have to stick with a CS Lewis one, just because its on my facebook box thing. haha

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."

Pretty awesome right? Its straight forward, to the point. I actually did a one page paper on this quote for my senior portfolio in english this year, and my teacher said because of it he is going to start going to church again,preferably a Protestant church.(he hasn't been since high school, and that was a rare happening..Catholic btw) Oh. and I have nothing against Catholic churches, thats just what he said haha. Anywho, I went into a lot of detail on this quote, but it did end up getting super hard because this quote doesn't need much explaining haha. There's no possible way you can make it dark outside by writing darkness on the wall.. right? CS Lewis is pointing out that that is EQUAL to trying to diminish Gods glory by not worshiping Him. As much as I don't worship Him by putting other things in front of Him, He's still glorious beyond comparison. It doesnt matter what I do, He's GOD.

Day 4: Favorite Book

Okay so this one is definitely a hands down easy peasy one haha. My all time favorite book is for sure the Bible. I know it sounds like a sunday school answer, but I really couldnt let my self put down anything else. Not only is the BIble my life manuel that comes in handy literally everyday, its my most prized possesion. I just recently bought a new Bible because my old one is getting too young for me(make sense? haha) After literally months of research and questioning others for opinions and such, I finally decided to get the ESV Study Bible, and after almost a month with it, I am so glad I made that decision. Yes, it was super expensive, but God is so good and I only paid 20 bucks of the total price beause I had gift cards from special people. Praise the Lord! haha
SO back to the point, the Bible will always be my favorite book because I can read that thing over and over and over and over, EVERY day of my life, and never get tired of it! Theres no other book like that in this world. And as an added bonus(haha not really though), it has the BEST advice ever given. If you don't agree because you can't understand your Bible or you don't think it fits with this culture today, check out any study Bible. They'll tell you whats up and get your head around every thing in its awesome covers.

Day 3: Favorite TV Show

Well, since I rarely watch tv these days, my favorite show is gonna be an old one, haha. The two current shows I DO watch are Secret Life of an American Teenager and Glee(which are TRASH according to Kit haha!), and I watch those on Hulu. And I would never say theyre my favorite shows, there's too much drama haha. Soo my favorite show is (drumroll? haha)...

TIED between The Cosby Show and Fresh Prince of BelAir.

Best shows ever made in my opinion. Oh, and I love the OLD Disney and Nick shows, not all that new crap. I'm talking about AHH Real Monsters, All That, Doug, Ren and Stimpy, etc. Those are good, too. haha

Day 2: Favorite Movie

Okay, there is no possible way I can name my all time favorite movie. I have about 20 running through my head right now haha. BUT I guess I can make a list :)
These are my top movies, in no order, just what comes to my head :)

Forrest Gump
Life is Beautiful(La vita é bella)
The Water Boy
The Chronicles of Narnia
Mr Deeds
Anger Management
Big Daddy
50 First Dates
The Best Years of Our Lives
Toy Story
Finding Nemo
Its a Wonderful Life
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Saving Private Ryan
The Wizard of Oz
The Lion King
Life of Brian
The Princess Bride
An American in Paris
Casablanca

Woo! I bet I'm forgetting some, too haha oh well, I love all these movies and would watch them over and over and over again if I could haha.

Day 1:Favorite

A few friends and I(yay proper grammer! haha) are doing this 30 day blogging game thing haha sounds fun to me, so here's day 1:favorite song!
I've been sitting here trying to think of just one song to choose..and I honestly have no idea! So, I decided I'm going to go to itunes and click shuffle, and whatever comes up first will be my favorite song for today, haha!
OK..the first song that came up is a Taylor Swift song. No thanks! haha let's try again :)
OH here's a good one! Second Chance by Hillsong.
This song is all about God giving us that second chance. His awesome grace has allowed us to LIVE, and Jesus gave His life just so we can do that. One of my favorite lyrics from this song is "On You I threw my life, casting all my fears aside..how can greater love ever possibly exist?" Its amazing to me how I can just literally throw my life on God, and He will take care of it. It really does wipe all my fears away, leaving Him the only thing I have to rely on, and He has total and complete control over everything..what can be greater than that?






You called my name
Reached out Your hand
Restored my life
And I was redeemed
The moment You entered my life

Amazing grace
Christ gave that day
My life was changed
When from my shoulders
Fell the weight of my sin

So it's with everything I am
I reach out for Your hand
The hope for change
The second chance I've gained

On You I throw my life
Casting all my fears aside
How could greater love than this
Ever possibly exist

Consume my thoughts
As I rest in You
I'm now in love
With a Saviour
Bearing the marks of His love

So I'll wait upon You now
With my hands released to You
Where a little faith's enough
To see mountains lift and move

And I'll wait upon You now
Dedicated to Your will
To this love that will remain
A love that never fails

honestly

I'm really starting to see more and more how often people are not honest with themselves and the people around them. They put on a face because they think no one cares, and who can blame them? I've asked God to really open my heart to what people of the Church are REALLY doing, the real stuff, not the fake junk, and boy oh boy has He shown me. To be totally and completely honest, which is what this blog is about, it breaks my heart to pieces. I see people leaving others out constantly..for no reason. I see teenage girls who are hurting so much get pushed to the ground because they don't feel like they can trust anyone. I see boys who need to be a part of something worthwhile, but get turned off as soon as they walk in the door. I'm tired of seeing countless high school kids not have a chance to really fee God's awesome love and compassion. I've developed a passion for high schoolers and I want so badly to reach out to them. I feel like high school was my most vulnerable years so far, I was ready to sway whatever way. I was there with the friends who got off track, some have ran back to God, some havent yet. It hurts so bad to know that I had countless chances to share Christ's amazingness throughout high school, and I refused. It hurts to know that my testimony didn't show for Him until the tail end of high school. Yet it encourages me to no end to see my fellow seniors getting saved one by one, including our vice president the same night as graduation. I want teens to be honest, and I have a longing for every teenager in the world to see God's for real love, and not the fake crap thats radiating from the Church. Don't take it the wrong way..there ARE Christians who show the genuine love for Him to all around them, and they are what kept me going through the years, so now its my turn to step up to the plate and let Jesus be a Light to those around me. With my passion for high school teens to know Christ, I am praying that God opens up awesome opportunities for me throughout college, and I trust that He will show me His Will! :)

PS I think I was supposed to throw out a shout out to trevor? haha so here it is!:)

First Blog? haha

So this reminds me of the xanga days.. anyone remember? haha i would post almost everyday but i was like..whats, 11? haha and then myspace took over :) Now.. where to start?? oh this is gonna be fun. I guess i can throw a shout out to Melinda, Sarah, Joshua, and Jolina! hahaha love yall! This is hard to do at the beginning of the day I must say.
I'll just have to begin with funny little stories I have encountered the past week and a half in the small town of Cookeville! Melinda and I were big time craving ice cream one night(no, were not prego!). so Melindas mom got up and said "Well, Walgreens is a 24 hour store, and I'll drive y'all there if I can stay in the car.." at 1:30 in the AM! hahaha probably the best night so far:) OH, and I can't forget when we were at Standing Stone Park(beautiful if any of you decide to take a vacay in Cookeville), and Melinda stepped onto a rock and fel.. hahahha its only funny because she didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised :)
I think one of the funniest things was for sure last night watching Twilight......wow. That's all I have to say about that.

I'm sure there are many more memories we have had..including RJs comments that do not make any sense at all haha.
So that is all for now, maybe I will update on today tonight..? I don't know, I'll have to get used to this whole blog thing hahah :)