Water and Fire

Let me start at the begining of my day. My whole family was baptized this morning. It was so amazing to be baptized with your whole family. Being baptized was always something that I wanted to do but never really got around to it. And I am so glad that I hadn't done it before because it wouldnt have ment as much as it did now. I have a really close relationship with God and that made it so special.

Dont worry, there is a better picture coming... but this is all that I have right now.

This is Mr. Haglund. Mr. Haglund baptized me and my whole family! It was such an honor. Mr. Haglund really has changed my life in so many ways and I will always be thankful that God put him in my life. I got to know Mr. Haglund through his wife. She was my Awana leader for 5-6 grade girls.  I LOVED Mrs. Haglund. She was so fun to be around I just loved everything about her... I still do! Then, when I left 5-6 grade Awana and went into Jr. High Awana, I got to meet her husband. He was not the leader of the group but he was always there to help.  I didnt really know him that well my 7th grade year. Then, 8th grade year he was the leader. He gave his testimony which all revolved around the verses Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways remember Him and He will make your path straight"

These verses and the story that Mr. Haglund told me changed my life. I realized that I was not trusting God with my whole life and I needed to. It is something I will never fully master, becuase I am human. But I am sure leaps and bounds further along then I was before I heard this message. If you ever have the chance to listen to Mr. Haglunds tesimony, listen.... it can change your life. Mr. Haglund has been a role model for me in so many ways. He really showed me what it looked like to fully live for God. I have never met someone as in love with God as Mr. Haglund. Everything that he does is for God. Mr. Haglund taught me how to actually read my bible and get something out of it. I dont think that Mr. Haglund will fully understand how much he changed my life and how thankful I am for it. THANK YOU MR. HAGLUND!

After we were done being baptized we jung around our church for a little and talked to some people.  All of the sudden I saw Emily dart to a side of the room. I turned around and saw our friends the CARLSONS! I was so surprized to see them there! They tried to see us be baptized, but they missed it by about 10 min. Bummer. Anyway, we all went out to Mexican food (I drove half of the way there... thank you very much!). Alex told us at the end that he was "comfortably full" at the end of the meal. I had never heard anyone say that they were comfortably full before and Alex was the last person I would have expected to say it.

Then, on our way home, I saw this pillar of smoke rising from somewhere near by. We drove by and found out that the fire department was buring down an old building for practice. We knew that this was going to be happening, we just didnt know when.  I have never seen flames so high! It was so fun to stand there watching these GINORMOUS flames shoot into the sky and feel the heat of it. When the walls would fall down and hit the wet cement, it made a sharp crack sound that made me jump everytime. I love hanging out around a fire, the smell, sound, and feel of it all is just amazing. When ever we burn stuff in the back yard I am always out there making my own little fire and enjoying it all.

So, overall, this day was perfect, watching a ginormous building being burnt to the ground, being baptized, and being able to drive. Ahhh.... :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yup... today was the day that I turned 15! I had an amazing day!

Lets start with the most important... MY DRIVERS PERMIT! AHHHHH! So exciting... I can't even tell you how excited I was to get my drivers permit.

The Department of Licensing.... GREAT place for people watching...

AT LAST! I drove some of the way home. No one died, so I guess that is a good thing.

Then, after coming home from getting the permit, we opened presents! My favorite gift that I got was a North Face jacket. And I love it! It is so warm and fuzzy and just awesome. Thanks mom and dad!

Later on I had 4 friends over for cake and just hanging out.

Me, Madison, Ilana, Sarah and Karli... and my best friend... Costco Chocolate cake!

Thank you God for giving me 15 years of life! That is a gift that some people never get to have. Being 14 was amazing, I would do it again if I could. It was the year that I grew so close to God thanks to some helpers at my church. Like I have mentioned before, God has really changed my life, and I will always be thankful for that. He has given me some amazing parents who know Him, siblings that are my best friends, friends at school that believe in Him and make me laugh, and most of all salvation from His son! It is all pretty amazing that I get to have all of it... makes me feel pretty special!

From the begining, I loved wearing pink fuzzy clothes!

If you can, read the note that Collin wrote about me in the picture. Pretty funny!

Kaisha and Collin are 2 of my favorite people. They are my cousins, in case you didn't know. They always make me laugh and I love hanging out with them. They are the ones who introduced me to 24, so that basically says that they are a major part in my life... :) As you can see, we have been "besties" (I hate that word and I make fun of it a lot) from the very beginning.

If you want to read my mom's blog about my birthday just click here.

Thanks to everyone who made this day special!

I can breathe again!

Well, finals are over! And I made it through them! And... I am going to be finishing the semester with a GPA of 4.0! SOO HAPPY! I have mentioned in other posts that I was freaked out about finals, but now they are over and I feel like I can breathe again and my heart beat is back to normal! Being nervous and worried are not feelings I enjoy having.... at all!

So, today is a happy day, and if you want to make my day better PLEASE COMMENT! Comments are amazing, they are a reassurance that you are not just talking to yourself... which is how blogging feels sometimes. 

This has nothing to do with the post... but it makes me smile!

A Mirror Artist

I would like to introduce you to my friend. He is a professional mirror artist. Yes, that may be an occupation you have not heard of, but that is only because no one is skilled enough to do the job. Anyway, his name is Alex. He has been doing this mirror drawing thing for.... well not very long. My friends and I were privileged enough to have a tour of his drawing room. 

He drew himself... he couldnt believe how good his own drawing was!

...gasp...

The artist busy while working on making another amazing creation

We were still in awe to see the amazing creation!

FUN!... and finals.

Well, where to begin? How about the icky new first....

FINALS! EWWWWW! I am a little bit freaked out about finals. I dont have a final in every class, I dont think that my teachers are gonna kill me on these finals, I just dont know what to expect. And if you know me, I am not one that is fond of doing something and not knowing what it is going to be like. I like to have a plan of what it is going to be like and what I am going to do.  I have no clue what finals will be like, all that I know is the schedule.

So, now onto the fun part! Last night I went over to my friend Madison's house. To "study". ya right.... Well, we actually did get some stuff done. Like our Spanish, World History (some) and I got started on an essay.  But we were also goofing off, and talking about weird stuff. We went to Panda Express for dinner, and then went to a basketball game at NTHS. NTHS was against Timberline, so the game was packed! We lost, by 2 points, but it was so close and really fun to go to.  I sat with all of my band friends, cause people in band just rock.  After the game we went to Coldstone! YEA!

When you go to Coldstone, make sure that you get a guy named David to make your ice cream. The last 3 times I have been to Coldstone, David has made my ice cream, and he always gives you a size bigger then what you asked for, but you still just pay for the size you asked for.  It is pretty awesome.  I dont know David, I just know that he likes to give people lots of ice cream!

We returned to her house, and hung out, ate, talked, looked on facebook at people that we knew, and studied. And then she said that I HAD to watch a Harry Potter movie. I hadn't seen one, and she was in shock and demanded that we watch one.  We began to watch it, and about 15 min. into the movie we were both asleep.  That means that we went to bed at 11:15.... is that not the lamest thing ever?

This is the only picture that I got out of the whole evening... lame.

Thanks for the fun night Madison!

Crocs

Just another day where I promised myself to blog.

Hmm.... what to blog about?

How about something that reminds me of summer, because I am so hungry for summer!

Crocs. Crocs are definately something that remind me of summer. In case you live in a cave and dont know what crocs are, let me inform you. Crocs= amazingly comfortable shoes that are made of some sort of foam.

That is the best definition that I can come up with.

Most of my friends think that Crocs are gross and ugly and just look weird, but I dont really care. I think that Crocs are about the most comfortable shoes out there. I wear them all the time in the summer. And when it come to color... the brighter the better. My last pair of Crocs were BRIGHT pink. They rocked.

Sad story, my Crocs died last summer, cause the back strap broke from me wearing them so much. It was a very sad day, and now I have to get new ones.

In fact, I wore them so much that I had tan circles on the tops of my feet. Crazy!

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

     Today, my family went to go see the Bodies Exhibit in Seattle. If you want to go to their website, just click here.

 I was kind of freaked out to go. And to tell you the truth, it is a little overwhelming when you first walk in that door. I was grossed out at first, but after walking around for a little bit, you get use to it and are able to appreciate it all.

The one thing that I thought of was, "Wow! My God is an amazing creator!" The verses that were stuck in my head were from Psalms 139:13-14.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well."

That verse was "printed" out on every body there. The way that the muscle were "knit" together was fascinating. God made us so special; so beautifully from the inside out, and today, I got to see the inside. Like I said, some of the stuff there was a little scary and gross, but when you just got over that, it was fascinating. I would go again if I had the chance.  It takes a while to realize that these are actual muscles! CRAZINESS!

There was one part of the exhibit where they had a human body but it was just all of the veins. Although it was just the veins, you could see the frame of the person perfectly. You could see their nose, mouth, finers, toes, knees, lungs....the list goes on and on.

is that not awesome?

There was one section that was pretty cool too, I didnt want to go in this section, but my mom said I should. It showed you what a baby look like while it is still developing. At 5 weeks, you could see the mouth, and nose, and feet, and arms, and it was a little human being that was not even the size of a penny. It showed the baby at ten weeks, all the bones and features something can have at ten weeks is pretty amazing! It blew my mind that God knew me before that stage. He knew me before I my parents knew me. He was the first one to know me. And He knows me better than anybody else. One other thing that I thought about while in this section was how sad abortion is. These amazing little people are not just a bunch of cells, they are actual people. Sorry if this is against what you believe, but it is what I believe.

10 weeks

OH! And, fun fact, did you know.... that every pack of cigerettes takes 3 hours and 40 minutes of your life. That is not the time that it takes to smoke the pack, it is how much time is taken from your life because of health issues. Pretty sad... and I saw a smokers lungs and a healthy lung the only thing I have to say is... DONT SMOKE!

After leaving there, our family went to the food court, and it was very hard to eat after going to that exhibit.

Then we walked around down town and went to some cool kitchen shop.

Now I am back home, blogging, and thinking about having to go to school tomorrow... ugh.

OH! HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY!

The one thing I HATE!!!!

If you know me well, this post is full of stuff you already know. However, if you dont know me well... prepare to be amazed.

There is one thing you should know about me... I HATE styrofoam. Not just, dislike, but absolutely down and dirty HATE styrofoam! UGH! I hate the sound ( scraping it again your finger nails, or just rubbing it against anything!) the feel, the look, the smell (oh wait.... styrofoam doesnt really have a smell...)! JUST EVERYTHING!

Whenever we go to a restraunt and they give us a take-out box, I REFUSE to hold that silly styrofoam take-out box. It is one of the only things I am extremely picky about. Sometimes we will have styrofoam stuff in the garage and Thomas gets a kick out of carrying it around and rubbing his finger nails down it while walking behind me. Makes me cringe just thinking about it!

And whoever thought of styrofoam.... well.... I would love to have a talk with that person and say..." WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?" Well, apparently, he/she wasnt thinking when they made styrofoam.

Here is a horrible picture of the horrible.... thing. (cringe)

It sends a chill up my spine. No joke.

Now this.... is too much. First of all, who in their right mind would carve styrofoam and dare to hear that sound of it being cut. THEN, who would sit in a styrofoam couch? And who has the time to carve a couch made of styrofoam? I dont know...

     The worst thing, is when you have styrofoam cups or plates. If something is served on a styrofoam plate... sometimes I cant eat the food. And I hate explaining all of this cause it makes me sound like a cranky, fussy, picky person, and that is not who I am. This is just one thing that drives me NUTS! And then, if you have to drink out of styrofoam....YUCK! Our church has styrofoam cups and it drives me crazy....

     And because this post was one that will probably will give all of your night-mares... here is a nice picture.

SOOO much that I love about this picture.

1. MARINERS GAME!

2. Sunshine ( I am trying to be patient for warmer weather)

3. I am with 2 of my favorite people. Lauren, (on the left) is my private dance teacher. She has literally taken the roll of a big sister for me. I have always wanted an older sibbling, and she filled that spot. She is one of the main reasons I love dance. (sorry, that was off topic!)

Anyway, I hope that that picture above has cleared your mind of the horrible things that you have witnessed in this post. Sorry for ruining your Friday with this post filled with.....styrofoam...

Things that I love

Today is another one of those days where I told myself that I would blog about something today. Didn't really care what it was, just something. And becuase breaking a promise to yourself is not something I am fond of doing, here is my post about something.

Here are a list of things I absolutly LOVE!

Seeing my cousins

Watching 24 and Cheering on the amazing Jack Bauer

Playing with the webcam on our computer

Sunny Days

Yes, I know that this does not look like the definition of a sunny day, but this picture was taken while we were on vacation, which reminds me of sunny days....

Taking cool pictures

Sunsets

Lewis!

The Biggest Loser.... IT IS ON TONIGHT @ 8:00 on nbc

"Victory pose" Pictures

Dance

     Well, for right now, thats about all that I can think of, but thats okay. And to my readers (which I am sure is few) sorry for my completly random posts.

Vroom Vroom...

Today, is a big day for me. Something absolutly amazing has occured on January 9, 2010. Something that will change my life forever. (was that not completley dramatic?)

Today... my mom signed me up for..... (drum roll please).... DRIVERS ED!

I am so excited! I start on February 2. I have wanted to drive scence I was really little, and now...  I GET TO!

Oh my goodness..... today, is a good day!

And this is a picture of my dream car... are they not the cutest cars on the planet?

IT IS BACK!

     One of my favorite shows, The Biggest Loser, is back! A new group of people begin their journey of changing their lives for the better and getting healthy! So, for however long the season is... Sherry, Ashley, O'Neal, Sunshine, Sam, Koli, Patti, Stephanie, Lance, Melissa, John, Cheryl, Daris, Miggy, Migdalia, Cherita, Victoria, Darrell, Andrea, Michael, and Maria will be my buddies. I will cheer them on, be inspired by their accomplishments, and tell them to stop crying. It is kinda funny, sitting their watching them go through these ridicolously hard workouts, and me saying, " Oh, stop your crying and get on with it!" I have to say, sometimes I get tired of the people crying and throwing up and having a mental break-down.... but that is part of the process of them changing. So far, my favorite is Victoria. Although she has to work out at home, ( this is very hard to explain, so if you are wondering what I am talking about, just to watch the episode on the website!) from what I saw of her, she seemed very determined and wanting to be healthy so badly. I hope she comes back VICTORIous! ( oh goodness am i Funny! GET IT! VICTORY and VICTORIOUS?! haha)

     So, I am back to having Tuesday being a late night and waking up on Wednessday exhasted, but it is so worth it!

A New Favorite Verse

     I think I may have just found my new favorite verse... one of my friends posted it as his status on facebook.

Jeremiah 29:11 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.

Isn't that a great one? I love this verse for a number of reasons. The first is that it is just another assurance that God knows EVERYTHING that has gone on, is going on, and will go on. He knows the struggles, the happy times, the sad times, the times where we are stretched, or pushed to our limits. He knows everything, and most importantly, He planned it, and will never give us more then we can handle. Secondly, he will NEVER give us something that will hurt us. He loves us and He wants the best for us, he wants to give us a future!

I JUST LOVE THIS VERSE! Ahh... just made my day!

And because a blog post is not fun to read without a picture... here is just a random one.

A pretty flower... in my grandma's back yard! Ahhh... can't wait for sunny days to come!

My Puppy Dog

Well, I promised that I would blog about SOMETHING today. Didn't really care about what it would be about, just try to blog about anything today! I thought about blogging about going back to school after break, but why on earth would I want to write about such a horrible topic? Just kidding, today was a great day.. good to see my friends again. ANYWAY... I decided I would introduce you to my dog!

     I am sure most of you have met her. Her name is Annie, she is a farm collie, which just means that she is not a full breed collie, more of a collie mutt. She is 3 years old and will be turning 4 in March. We have loved having this energetic ball of furr in our lives. She is my first dog. Dogs are great animals cause they love you no matter what, they dont care how you look, they dont care if you are crying or laughing like crazy, they dont care if you havent paid attention to them for a few days, they always come to to you so excited that you are there, they dont care how mad you get at them... they are just everything a friend SHOULD be!

     Annie has little things about her that just make us laugh, like how she chases the sprinklers, or will always run to the SAME CORNER of the yard everytime you tap on a window,or how she loves pulling us on scooters. She is not the most obedient dog in the world, but we love her, and she loves us!

A New Year!

Let me start out saying.... WELCOME 2010! I am so excited to see what this new year brings. The challenges, the memories, growing closer in my relationship with God... all of it is so exciting!

Like any other New Year Eve, we spent it with our friends the Carlsons. We had a great time, like usual! Without them coming over, it seems like New Years Eve would just be another day, nothing special. We had cheese burgers for dinner, and Mrs. Carlson made this amazing dessert, I am not sure what it was called, but it was GOOD! We played Guesstures (charades), and played out in the rain!

Let me explain this picture... So, Alex and I use to have a REALLY hard time thinking of something to do whenever they came over. So one day, we both decided that we didnt really have anything to do, so we would play Don't Break the Ice. And now, it is like a tradition; when the Carlsons get together with the Arends, Alex and I will play Don't Break the Ice. The game itself is not a "fun" game, but the things we end up talking about while playing the game are what make it fun. We get very competitive, and try to figure out ways to knock down the most ice-cubes in one tap of the hammer, it is just a silly game that always keeps us entertained! Yes, it may be a stupid thing to do, but we always have fun playing it, and thats all that matters!

This is just a picture of Brenna and I at some point in the night!

Emily, Me, Brenna, and Alex COULD NOT wait until it was time to eat dessert!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now this is something that I saw on a different blog and I thought it sounded like fun, so this is a 2009 preview!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you had never done before?

High School! Being a freshman at NTHS is something I had never done before, and it is something I will never get to repeat!

2. Did you keep your New Years Resolutions? And will you make more?

Last year, I really wanted to have a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And I am so happy that I can say that I have worked hard on that and I can see Jesus activly working in my life more then ever! With the help of some leaders at my church and through AWANA, they have taught me HOW to read my bible and actally get something out of it, and God provided the perfect opportunites for me to trust Him and get to know Him! And my resolution for this year.... hmmm..... I would say that it would be about the same thing, continue to know my Savior and incorporate Him into my life more and more.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thank the Lord, NO!

5. What places have you visited?

Ahhh.... Lake Entiat with the Carlsons. We get to go there again with them this July! :)

Couldn't find a picture of the house we stayed at, so here is a picture of the 6 of us at Blue Berry Hill!

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Oooo! This is a good one. Hmmm.... a drivers permit! This year I get to take drivers ed! YIPPEE!

7. What date in 2009 will be etched in your memory and why?

September 9, 2009.

The first day of High School. I was a wreck that day. I was so nervous and scared cause I knew nobody at that High School. It was such a scary and exciting day! I really had to trust God that He would provide friends for me. And, of course, He did!

8. What was your biggest achievment?

Again, High School. I am telling you, it is very scary to go into a place where everybody has their friends and you dont have any. However, I met a bunch of girls that were very welcoming to have me in their group and I am extremely thankful for that!

9. Did I suffer any injuries os illness in 2009?

Nope!

10. What was the best thing you bought?

I didnt buy it, but my parents did! And that would be my new iPod Touch! I LOVE IT!

11. Where did most of your money go?

I don't really have money, so it couldnt go anywhere. OH! My mom moved amuch of the money inmy bacnk account towards college... does that count?

12. What song will remind you of 2009?

I have no clue!

13. What do you wish you could have done more of?

Baking, I can never really bring myself to doing it, but when I do, I LOVE IT!

14. What do you wish you could have done less of?

Worrying about silly things that would be worked out in time.

 Worrying is such a waste of time, in my opinion, however I spent alot of time doing it last year.

15. What was your favorite TV program?

24. My cousins Kaisha and Collin introduced me to this wonderful show, now I am hooked, and believed that I have gotten my family hooked also! However, Biggest Loser, is a very close 2nd. Biggest Loser starts again on the 5th!

16. What was the best book you read in 2009?

I didnt read alot this year, but I did read "Julia Millan and the Chappel of the Chimes". This book has not yet been published, but I knew the author! So I got to read the book and and give him some ideas! That is what made this book so fun to read! I felt so special knowing an author! I mean, come on, how many of you know an author? My mom was good friends with him in High School, thats how we know him!

Emily and I with Michael, THE AUTHOR!

17. What was your favorite movie of the year?

Hands down: The Blind Side. If you haven't seen it... GO!

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you turning?

I turned 14 in 2009. I had a party with some friends over.

19. What pollitical issue did you strugle with this year?

None. I will say though, that it was very cool to see a black man as our President!

20. Who was the best person you met?

Like I said before, I got to actually know what it feels like to have a personaly relationship with Jesus Christ this past year. So I would say, that Jesus is the best person I met this year. Ya, I knew Him before, but now like I do now. He is a friend to me now, not just someone that they talked about in church!

So, Happy 2010, lets hope that its a good one!