So...

So I got my hair cut. I like it. Nice and light for the summer. Woohoo. :P

So I wasn't exactly sure what to tip at the salon. Anyone have any suggestions? I've heard somewhere between 10-15%...but I don't know if that's still reasonable or not.

So my efforts at work which I elaborated on in this post paid off. I got a thank you note on the brag board. (This is a big deal, considering there have only been two notes on the brag board for the past couple months.) It makes me very happy.

So we're going away tomorrow for a week. I'm very excited. I'm pretty much packed already.

So I have a ton of schoolwork to do before we leave still, and I'm going to get at it. Because I most likely won't have internet while I'm away, have a great week and I'll ttyl! Thanks for reading!

I Took Your Place

I got this as a forward, and thought I'd share. Enjoy. :)

One day, a man went to visit a church. He got there early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up and the driver got out and said,"I always park there! You took my place!" The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That's my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday School, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, "That's where I always sit! You took my place!" The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still He said nothing. Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?" The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, "I took your place."

Pretty powerful, eh? It really reminds me of this Bible verse. Mm. Definitely stuff to think about. So I'll leave you with that. :) Thanks for reading.

This and That

I'm definitely not an every-day blogger anymore. Sorry folks.

I had a nice weekend. I made some money, spent time with God, and had some family time.

I like the music in the movie "The Notebook". I have not seen the movie, but I heard the music was really good, and got a couple of the songs. The main title is so pretty...just piano and quiet and relaxing. Mmm. No idea if the movie is any good, but the music certainly is. (Anyone seen it?)

I'm having trouble with a certain person at my work. It's tough. Our personalities just don't mesh well I guess, and she's done a number of frustrating things involving me. She's also one of the managers. I try to be as nice as humanly possible, and genuinely respectful, though, so I figure I can't do much else. I'm also trying to figure out what my summer is going to be like in re: to work because Pier 1 is certainly not going to be able to give me enough hours. Hopefully I have enough time to find something other than Wendy's. Lol.

I decided to graduate at HIGHday. I'm not doing the big long expensive dress thing, we're going a little less formal. :)

I worked yesterday 3-9. I spent approximately 2.5 hours of that cleaning our cashstand. In other words, there was dirt, grime, and garbage in and on top of everything, so I cleaned it. I took absolutely everything out of the cashstand too. I got home and I was covered in Pier 1 dust/dirt. Ew. It wasgood times, though. Hopefully this will up my standings with the manager I talked about above. I also had a mini-debate with a friend about homeschooling vs. public school. Only we didn't get to finish. Ah, well.

I don't work again for quite some time. I am very excited about this. Too much Pier 1 isn't good for you. Not to mention I'm sure the fumes in that store can do things to you. :P

I need to get world issues module done today, so I'm out. Ttyl! and thanks for reading!

Updates

I honestly don't have much news. No funny stories, and no amazing information. Other than that I finished my final exam on Thursday night. The exam went well, due to the fact that the review package he gave us a week earlier was the actual exam. He's like, "Be sure you know this well. This is a pretty good indication of what's going to be on the exam." I leaned over to the person who sits with me and said, "I'd laugh if this was the acutal exam right here." And lo and behold, we get the exam and I'm like, "Now this is ironic." Lol. I've never had this happen before, but let me tell you, I like it.

Oh, and I am leaving for holidays in 6 days. I'm SO excited. I can't wait for a break. Mmm... relaxation here I come.

And now I must clean my room and the bathrooms and get ready for a 8 hour shift at work. :) Thanks for reading!

A Beautiful Day

It was absolutely beautiful out today. I mean, it was a good 20 degrees outside, and a good 25 in my house. I went for a walk. I went biking. I wanted to be outside all day. The last thing I wanted to be doing was studying for my night school exam that is scheduled for 7:00pm tomorrow. But hey, I hunkered (I absolutely love that word) down and got some studying done, and now I am free to sit at my computer, soak my feet, smell the fresh spring air through my open window, and listen to Josh Groban. Mmm.

Anyways, I don't really have much to say other than that I'm so thankful for spring. Such a breath of fresh air (no pun intended). I love it.

So, with that, I leave you. And if didn't get outside today, I honestly pity you. It was gorgeous.

Question for You

I have been thinking about this for a while now, and I still can't really come up with a good answer. It originally formulated in my mind at night school, where I heard about 5 students say they had grown up in a solid Christian home but have since disregarded their parents teaching and beliefs.

What makes people do this? Is it teachers? Bad experiences? Arguments against Christianity that sound great until you think about them? What is it?

Feel free to post your thoughts, I'd love to hear.

Easter Thoughts

I have had a lot of thoughts mulling around in my head this weekend. I've been thinking about my relationship with God, what he did for me years ago, etc. I wanted to write blog about it, but I can't really put my thoughts into words.

Because music really speaks to me, I thought I'd share one of the songs that really spoke to me this weekend. It's called All for Love by Hillsong. Goes like this:

All for love the Father gave
For only love could make a way
All for love the heavens cried
For love was crucified

Oh how many times have I broken Your heart
But still You forgive
If only I ask
And how many times have You heard me pray
Draw near to me

Everything I need is You
My beginning, my forever
Everything I need is You

Let me sing all for love
I will join the angels song
Ever holy is the Lord
King of Glory
King of all

All for a love a Saviour prayed
Abba Father have Your way
Though they know not what they do
Let the Cross draw man to You

It's a really beautiful song, and really is exactly where I'm at. It's amazing and so breathtaking to think that no matter what I've done God is still there for me. If I had been the only one on earth when he was ready to die, he would have died for me. It makes me speechless.

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ~ Romans 5:7-8

Message translation:

"We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."

Work Today

So I learned a few things at work today. Wanna hear? Sure you do. :)

1. People aren't always the brightest things on the planet.

2. While 10-12-year-old boys puff out their chests and smirk to look cool in front of you, they'll skip around when you're not looking.

3. My work is breaking a lot of safety laws. Oops.

4. Some people are INCREDIBLY indecisive. I know someone will comment about this, so I figure I might as well say it myself. I'm really indecisive too. I couldn't decide which balloons to pick for my mom's party. Okay. That's out. Now, here is an exchange I had at work today (M = Me, C = Customer)

M: Hi there, all set?
C: Just a minute, I have to go get a few more things
*10 minutes later, C comes back*
C: Okay, can you ring this stuff through and tell me how much it is?
Apparently taking half off $9 is difficult
M: Sure
*I tell her the price*
C: Okay, that's good. I'll take this [candle holder] too.
M: Great
*I ring it all through*
C: So what's the subtotal?
M: $90 (or something close to that)
C: Well, I don't know, maybe I'll take only 2 of those bowls.
M: Okay (this isn't that unusual, people are indecisive at my work)
C: Okay, how much does that come to now?
M: $80.45
C: Hm. You know what? I think I'll just leave the other two bowls altogether.
I would like to note that each time she changed her mind I had to void that item, and ring in what she wanted a second time.
M: Sure. *Puts the bowls to the side and voids them on the register* Is that everything?
C: Hm. You know, you're going to hate me, (No, I'm just going to laugh at you on my blog) but I think I'm going to leave 2 of those plates as well.
M: *Gives weird look to other associate while trying to conceal it* Okay, no problem.
C: Thanks.
M: Here you go. Have a nice day!
C: Thanks, you too!
*Customer leaves the store*
M + S (other associate): burst out laughing

Okay, so maybe my job is boring and this is only amusing to people who work at Pier 1. But seriously, it took her about 20 minutes to check out. Ah well, I got to laugh about it on my blog, and now all you can laugh at it. Or me for posting it. Whatever.

Oh, and on a side note, Gwyneth Paltrow didn't name her son Orange (c'mon, it goes with Apple!), but Moses. I guess he won't be deprived of a normal (or as my night school teacher would say - normative) life afterall.

Thanks for reading, g'night all!

Where I'm At

So for those of you who knew, my mom's surprise party went off nicely. She was surprised, she had fun, and she liked the baloons. All in all, a success. :)

Afterwards I got a chance to catch up with some people I haven't talked to in a while, which was nice too. One of them was Mr. H, and we got talking about my plans for next year, and then we got talking about Christianity. I was talking to him about the stuff I talked about in this post. I miss our talks and youth group lessons at Faith with Mr. and Mrs. H SO much, you have no idea. Anyways, I was basically talking to him about how I find it hard to really step out and talk about Christianity because I'm not that great at explaining it. I don't want to make Christianity sound dumb just because I'm not good at explaining my faith. Does anyone else feel this way? (Yes, I talked about it in my post a couple days ago, but I thought I'd mention it again). I can explain how Jesus died on the cross for our sins fine to a 4 or 5 year old, but explaining or "proving" my faith to someone my age or older? Not so much.

Anyways, Mr. H was saying that really, all we need to be sure of is that Jesus said it. He was here. He told people what to write in the Bible. It's his words. Well, technically you might say it's God's word, but God and Jesus are the same, so let's not get technical. So yeah. As long as we're sure of that, and stand on that, really, we don't need to be afraid of what others think or say. And yes, I know this is all basic stuff, but I think we need (at least I know I do) to be reminded of it now and then. They can choose to believe us, and by watching our lives, hopefully they will see that God is real in us.

So anyways, all this to say that I am so ready for University, but at the same time, I feel like I'm about to step into an ocean that I have no knowledge of, when I've been living in a pond my whole life. I know that's an incredibly cliche analogy, but bear with me here. It's an odd feeling, and I'm nervous, but people keep telling me to get and stay strong in my faith, and I'll be fine. I want to stay rooted and really grow in God this summer so that when I step out into that ocean of the "unknown", I'll be ready. I also hope to surround myself with people in my position as soon as I get to University. C4C anyone? Hehe.

Anyways, that's just sort of where I'm at right now. Thanks for reading!

A Song for You

I have a new song addiction. In fact, I can't get enough of Casting Crowns in general right now. I especially like "Who I am". Sarah sung it in church on Sunday and (like always) did an amazing job of it. Go listen, it's a good song. :)

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.

I am yours.
I am yours.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

I am yours.
I am yours.

Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cause I am yours.
I am yours.

Christianity

I am realizing more and more that Christians need to step out. We need to be the best scientists, the best movie-makers, the best athletes. We can't settle for mediocre, we need to step out and be the best we can be.

You may be wondering where this is coming from. I mean, it sounds pretty obvious. But hey, it's hard to find Christian articles on scientific issues (I think, anyways). I mean, it's hard to refute people who are spouting off scientific facts about evolution and God and religion. Just last night in class we were talking about the world in 100 years. Just to put it in perspective, we were talking about cloning, chips in our brains, robots, aliens, death, religion...the whole works. And even though I knew I didn't agree with stuff that we were talking about, I didn't have a good response.

At one point, my teacher said, "What if science someday explains away God?" Now obviously this can't happen. I mean, there are so many holes in evolution, and the Bible is proven historical by some secular scientists and stuff, but really, I don't know a whole lot about refuting people who are so opinionated. I guess I'm just not good at explaining christianity, or proving my beliefs with science. Not that God can be explained by science, at all... that's where faith comes in. At the same time, there is historical and scientific evidence that points strait to God and the Bible, so if we can explain that to people properly, then we should. As much as I'd like to speak up in a classroom setting like that though, I never know what to say, and so I usually stay quiet so I don't make a fool of myself, but also because I don't want to make Christianity look dumb either. I think sometimes non-Christians don't think Christianity is valid because certain Christians can't explain it properly and end up making it sound fake, or dumb. I don't know, maybe that's just me.

Does anyone know about books that are out there (and I'm talking about good books) that help with any of this? Christian scientists who have refuted evolution (and other hot topics) scientifically? I know books are out there, I just don't have much knowledge about where to find them.

And so it begins again...

So I tried to be sneaky and start up another blog without anyone finding it (so I could organize myself and get it started before officially opening it) but it seems that someone *cough* not naming any names found it before I was ready! So, I guess this is the official opening of my new blog. There will probably be significant changes to come as I don't like it yet. But yeah, I'll hopefully post more on here than on the MSN spaces one. :)

Adios! And thanks for visiting!