As I'm sitting here studying (and changing poopy diapers, feeding cake to Coleman while he watches Batman, and trying to keep curious little Ruby out of trouble), I came across this quote from a Florentine historian who was describing the Renaissance artist, Filippo Brunelleschi. I liked it, so I thought I'd share it with you (:

"Nature has created many men who are small and insignificant in appearance but who are endowed with spirits so full of greatness and hearts of such boundless courage that they have no peace until they undertake difficult and almost impossible tasks and bring them into completion, to the astonishment of those who witness them."

-Giorgio Vasari 

Hey you. Yeah, you. This is for you.

I believe in your victory.

They got a hold of the Mac again..these kids are so strange.

Ninjas.

Saturday 10.02.10

This Saturday I went to my little sibling's belt promotion for their karate class. Honestly, it's a little intimidating. Every time I go to one of these things, I am continually frightened by how BA these kids are.

My suggestion: don't make the young ones angry.

Especially not my siblings. Seeing as they will both probably be black belts in about a year and a half, you probably will want to start trying to get on their good side now.

Luckily, I'll be off at college by that time, so I won't be subjected to their mad ninja skills.

Friday 10.01.10

Yeah, there's really not a whole lot to say about my day.  Or my picture.  This is one of those times you'll just get a picture with no explanation behind it (that will probably be the case more often than not; I'm a junior in high school, so my life really isn't interesting enough to talk about). 

I'm not much of a writer, in case you haven't noticed.  I'm not very good at accurately expressing my feelings, either.  Usually, my writing is just a jumbled mess of something that came falling out of my head and I never give myself time to try to make it coherent.

Even when I say I'm not going to say anything, I end up rambling.  Like now. (rolls eyes)

Oh yeah, and just in case you were wondering: this is a picture of my room..well, part of it.

Stop, smell the roses. Talk to God while you're at it, too.

Thursday 09.30.10

As I grabbed my breakfast and headed to the computer to check my emails this morning, I looked out my window and couldn't help notice how beautiful it was outside. So, instead of sitting my butt in front of the screen, I took myself, my plate of cheesy eggs, and my hot cup of coffee out on the front porch to enjoy the cool air. It was a different way to start my morning. Wonderful, but different. I wasn't thinking about everything I needed to get done today, I was't stressing out about difficult situations, and I wasn't worrying about my upcoming tests. It was just me and God.

It's been a while since I just talked to God. Sure, I pray all the time, "God, guide me through the day. Bless this person. Protect that person. Give me patience. Help me pass this test. Etc." But it can all seem so demanding sometimes. I'm talking about sitting down and conversing with Him. Not throwing all your needs on Him and then getting on with your day, but actually taking the time to hear what He's got to say for once. It was a really cool, to say the least. I knew He was there, I could feel Him working in my heart.

For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. I knew that He was working. Something about just sitting there enjoying His creation led me to realize that I do not have to worry. He can control how fast the grass grows, whether or not the birds will find food, or if it will be hot or cool, like it was this morning. If He manages all that, why do I worry so much? It's irrational, really. He's got this. I have nothing to fear. 

What's humbling is, it's not that He has to manage my life. It's not an obligation for Him to protect me, to guide me, or to give me a purpose. He does it because He wants to, because He loves me. He likes me. Me. God likes me.

That fact blows my mind more than anything else in the world.

Dead Shoes.

Wednesday 09.29.10

Here is a lovely example of what your shoes should look like while you dance, and what your shoes will look like when you need a new pair. Laura has long passed the point of needing a new pair. (Her legs are the white ones in case you were wondering. You know, with the shoes that have no support and could snap her ankle at any moment.) She got them back in August when she and I went out of town to dance with Alabama Dance Theatre. Aaand they're already dead. This girl spends way too much time dancing. I'm not sure if she ever does anything else, actually. It's a little scary. But I love her to death. Therefore, I beg you, Laura: get a new pair. You're going to kill yourself.

For all you who don't have a clue why I'm incessantly rambling on like an idiot about a pair of shoes, let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up: when you see a girl walking down the street wearing 6 inch stiletto's, your initial thought is, "just watch, she's going to snap her ankle any second.." Now imagine her walking down the street in those stiletto's.. but without the heel. Yes, they'd support her arch, which would stabilize her ankle, but she'd still need an immense amount of strength in her ankles to keep from breaking them. What if the arch of the stiletto lost its stability? Well, then you're really screwed. Just like my dear friend, Laura.

If I'm still making no sense, then forgive me for this rant. I'm done.

PS, if none of you caught my Princess Bride reference, you clearly haven't watched it enough. Drop whatever activity you had planned tonight, order a pizza and watch that movie.

Pronto.

Photo Update (:

Tuesday 09.28.10

My 14 year old brother had a Boy Scout function last night that my family went to (I went for the food). Conveniently, it's located in the Cove, which is probably my favourite part of town. As soon as I got a chance, I slipped outside to longboard a bit.

First, I haven't longboarded since spring break. You have no idea how good it felt to be back on Betty (in case you don't know me very well, I have a tendency to name all of my belongings).

Second, have you been outside in the past two days?! It's like God finally fixed the AC or something. It is beeeeautifuuuul.

Anyway, after a while, my other little brother found me longboarding outside and wanted to give it a go. So I got to have a bit of bonding time with that little dude teaching him how to longboard. He's pretty much a beast at it.

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Monday 09.27.10

After a horrifically grueling night of dance (insert sarcasm: dance was ridiculously unchallenging due to a sub teacher that belongs teaching five year olds...asdfghjkl), my friend, Val, came over to study with me. We both plan on taking the CPT for Gulf Coast within the next few weeks so we figured we'd study together and help each other out.

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Sunday 09.26.10

Due to some inconvenient schedule changes in Victoria's classes, she is now a bit behind in math class, so she has a crap load of homework she has to catch up on. Plus, her teacher randomly decided to go Africa for two weeks, which didn't help her out much either. So here she sits: at a table in the back room of our church before Burning House, recruiting every engineer, doctor, scientist, any sort of math whiz, or anyone in general she could find who could help her figure out her geometry. I'm pretty sure all of Eastgate had attempted to assist her by the end of the night.