Most random post ever posted

Guys, this post is going to be super random. Just letting you know beforehand.

I finally got around to reading a Nicholas Sparks book! It's been on my reading list for the longest time.  Have you guys read any of his books? Let me know what you think of  him, please. :)
I read "A Walk To Remember" on Tuesday aaaand actually wasn't super impressed.  I really wanted to be, but it just wasn't happening for me. Ha! I felt like it was kind of sappy and the character's romance wasn't believable. One thing I did appreciate though, was reading about the place the main character lived. I wasn't aware that Sparks lives here (N.C.) so it was kind of a nice suprise. I'm not a southerner by birth or nature, but I have lived in the south most of my life so little things about it make me roll my eyes and smile. ;)

So sorry if that is one of your favorite books! I guess I'm weird and would rather read a book that has more than just romance in it. I really like action/mystery/adventure/humor/romance all packed together.  Thus, the reason why "Les Miserables" is turning out to be one of my all-time favorite books. I'm almost finished reading it...if I can just stop getting side tracked...

Speaking of getting side tracked, here's my current reading pile. Yeah, I know. And I'm basically a few pages/chapters into each book. (P.S. Like the cover for the top book? Yea? Me too. Yep.)

What has been on your playlist recently? I've been listening to as much of John William's music as possible. I tell you, that man is a genius. I really like the 'Lincoln' soundtrack. It's not overpowering or epic or anything, but it's soft and beautiful. I really enjoy listening to it. (The movie was well done too. :))

So, I'm graduating next year. It's so weird. On the one hand, I feel like it's about time and yet on the other hand, I don't know if I'm there yet! I still feel like I'm 12 sometimes...ha!

I just really love Marion Cotillard's outfit in this photo. Actually, I love all the outfits she wears in the movie. And I really like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A lot. He's like, my favorite. (Didn't I tell you this would be a random post?)

                                         Ok, it was fun checking in with you guys! I really need to do so more often! XD

                                         Oh, last thing... WHO'S GOING TO SEE THE HOBBIT THIS WEEK?!?!?

musique amour

 "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”- Victor Hugo

photo: pinterest via bridal musings

Have you ever wondered what music will be like in heaven? Because heaven is perfect and filled with God's glory, the music must be perfect as well. I wonder what that sounds like. Sometimes I think the music down here couldn't possibly be any better.

photo: pinterest via soyouthinkyoucansee.tumbler.com

"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music." - Shakespeare

books and things

i recently discovered that i actually really like love books. i'm not sure what happened, but one day i woke up and was like:

          (i love memes. i go to the "humor" page on pinterest and laugh at these like an idiot. it's fun)

anyway, i'm currently reading "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. it took a while for me to really get into it, but once i got past book 2, i couldn't stop reading. in fact, i'm not sure why i'm sitting here blogging instead of reading. oh wait, it's because i care about you guys. yep, that's it.

i picked "Les Mis" to read because, one, it's a classic and two, THE MOVIE IS COMING OUT ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND RUSSELL CROWE IS IN IT AND I'M SO EXCITED...CAN YOU TELL?!?!?!
i'm just really excited, ok? i love music. i love movies. and, i love books. Les Miserables is all those things packed into one potentiality beautiful, amazing, epic package with some of my favorite actors. because you know, i'm a big fan of Russell Crowe and everyone else. and please don't get me started on Amanda Seyfried... i just love that girl! if you haven't seen the trailer, here 

so, hopefully the movie will be good. judging by the trailer, i'm pretty sure it will be. i mean, it won't be as good as the book, but it is a movie so, that's just kind of a given here.

oh, do you like my penguin socks?  i think they're crazy, which to me means awesome.

 






happy weekend, you guys! here's some advice: cozy up with a big, soft blanket, drink coffee, gaze out the window and drink in all that Autumn beauty and listen to Josh Groban. yes, yes. ;)

heroes that are super

lets just take a moment and talk about superheroes because they are...well, super. my favorite superhero of all time is Batman, but he is too fantastic to mention in this post. he might make all these other guys look almost silly, and that wouldn't be fair, would it?

so last week i finally saw "The Avengers" and, of course, i loved it. my favorite avenger? Thor. why? He is such a rock star.

                       
 I mean, he literally fights like a rock star. my favorite thing about Thor though, besides his sweet, and yet masculine personality, is his hair. seriously. long hair is has been my favorite from ever since i can remember. to me, it is SO manly.
 it seemed like in "The Avengers", Thor just kept getting smashed and/or left out. ha! (Poor guy)

my other favorite avenger is Iron Man. who doesn't like him, anyway? he has all the best quotes in the movie. i can't even tell you. just go watch the movie.

call me old-fashioned, (get it?!?) but captain America will always have a little spot in my heart. his hair is short, yes, but i still think he is great. he is just a sweetheart...in a manly way. plus he is just a good, clean man and that is quite admirable.
also, CAPTAIN AMERICA FOR PRESIDENT.

ok, that's really all. thanks for taking the time to read a goofy post about superheroes. now you should go watch the avengers... ha! ;)

will you pray with me?

I'm sitting here waiting for my iPod to finish updating ios6. (I'm kind of impatient. Ha!) i figured now would be a good time to write about something that's been on my heart recently.

the other day i found out that my friend, whom i love very much, (who had previously made a statement of faith in Christ) is not a true believer. my friend told me this and expressed a feeling of uncertainty about Christianity and God, explaining they wanted to believe it for themselves--not just pretend. on the one hand, i'm thankful that they are being honest. i'd so much rather have one be in admittance about their unsaved state, than just go with the flow pretending to be a christian. on the other hand though, my heart is broken. i've know this person for most of my life. for almost half of their life, they've said they were saved.

this is not the first time i've seen someone turn away from the path of Christ.  i've know individuals who i have looked up to as godly examples who end up cheating on their spouse and being unrepentant.
no matter how many times i see this, my heart hurts just the same. how could one know of the truth of Christ and His work on the cross and not be broken inside and moved to repentance by it? how could one's heart not be filled with love for THE One who gave His life for us? i don't understand. i'm thankful i don't understand. it is only because of Christ that i don't understand not loving Him. it's because of Christ i have love, true love in my heart. i'm not better than these people. i'm not less of a sinner. it's only by His grace that my eyes and heart were opened to the saving knowledge of Jesus and the joy He brings.

so how do i handle myself around my friend? i feel like i need to use all my time witnessing to this person. i don't know why people spend their time watching movies, reading books or even just eating while something so serious, so deep is going on in my friend's heart. i have to remember that this person's salvation is not up to me. i am called to be a witness and spread the gospel, but it's God who saves! i'm supposed to witness to others for God's glory. He will work His perfect and sovereign plan.

in the meantime, i tell my friend about Jesus. i love him. i pray for grace that i will be a good witness. i pray for patience and humility. i pray God will save my friend. will you pray with me?


Romans 10:17 "...So then faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of God."

a story of grace

When I was 7 years old, I had a nightmare I'll never forget. I woke up sweating and shaking. I can still remember the feeling of uncertainty that pulled me into a deep sense of fear. The nightmare I had woken up from involved two close relatives of our family who had both passed on; one just after I was born, the other only a few months ago. To the best of my knowledge, neither of them had known Christ. In my dream, these two relatives were pleading with me to be ready and know where I would spend my eternity. I was so frightened by this. Death in any form had always scared me, so I'd never put much thought into my own future death. It was that night I realized that someday, for sure and certain, I was going to die. I knew where I wanted to go, but deep inside I knew I wouldn't get there.
Ever since I can remember, my parents have been faithful to teach me and my siblings about Christ and what He did on the cross. I knew about God. I knew Jesus died for people's sins. I knew it, but I had yet to come to understand it. It wasn't alive in my heart; I didn't believe.
Sitting there in my bed I was fearing death, yearning for hope and aching within my soul for certainty. I saw my need for Christ. I was a sinner in need of His grace. God then brought to my mind Acts 16:31 which says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." In Acts 16, Paul was taking to the jailer who wanted to be saved. Those words meant the same thing that night in my bed as they did to the jailer so long ago. Jesus opened my eyes that night and saved me. I had found what I was searching for all along, wether I'd known I was searching or not. The Lord didn't have to reveal Himself to me...I didn't (and still don't) deserve salvation, but He chose to grant it to me.
Ever since He adopted me into His family 9 years ago, He has always, always been by my side loving me, teaching me, guiding me and being a faithful and gracious Savior. I want to live my life to honor Him. He is beautiful. He is my everything. I love Him and strive to love Him more everyday in word, deed and heart. Psalm 34:8


P.S. Dear people, I know I promised you guys more pictures of our trip and I will post those, but it's just been on my heart to write out my testimony. Thanks for taking the time to read it; I hope it wasn't too painful for you. I know I'm not the best writer, as I've mentioned before...*cringes*. Haha ;)

Trip to Virgina {Part 1}

 Last week, we went on a vacation of sorts. Our friends, Jessica and Stephen, were getting married in Blacksberg Virgina, so we planned an epic camping trip in Lexington, V.A. just a few days before the wedding. We love to camp. All of us--even me, although I'm not so huge on the spider part of camping. (Ok, so maybe I detest spiders and scream every time I see one..) Anyway, we haven't been camping for years so it was very exciting to be doing it again! (And this time, withOUT a crib or stroller!)

 

I made a vlog for you all after we had set up camp on the first day. Against my better judgement, I'm posting it for you... *cringes* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAC0hSdRWpg&feature=plcp

 Enjoy? XD

 Lexington was incredibly interesting! We all love history and Lexington had so much to see and do that was historic. Hannah is a little obsessed with the 1860's so, needless to say, she was thrilled to get to see places that her heroes (Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson) lived and taught.

 Our first stop was General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's house he lived in with Anna, his wife. (I've always thought it was kind of funny that people call him "stonewall". I mean, if I say "Thomas Jackson", people have to think twice before they know who I'm talking about. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like, his name was Thomas...not Stonewall... Ok, I'm kind of rambling...)

           It was a *cough* very unique tour of his house. (I think that's all I'll say on the subject. XD) But it was a nice house... and fun to see. I've always admired the Jacksons. They were sweet believers and a good example. (I've also heard they were happy people. I know I would have gotten along well with them. ha! :))

                                                           Yes, yes and yes. XD

                                                  Lunch time!!! LOL. hey, I love my family.

 Aaand, we toured VMI! (Virgina Military Institute) This was one of my favorite things we did. It is so beautiful there--the architecture and everything. They filmed some scenes from the movie 'Gods and Generals' at VMI so naturally, I was very excited to see it!

Meet Stonewall's horse, Little Sorrel. They stuffed it and put it on display in a museum at VMI. It kind of weirds me out a bit. Haha.

                                       The cannons--'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke' and 'John'. haha! :)


 Later, I'll post some more pictures from our trip, which include, a beautiful farm, a rehearsal, a wedding, and just some randomness! :)

In other news, I'm going to change the title of this blog to 'Life's a happy song' inspired by the song with the same title from the latest muppets movie. What do you think? :)

The Other Pictures Link Up!

It's me again! (Yes, I know--2 blog posts in one day! Crazy!)
So, the lovely Mrs. Lynnette Kraft is having a link up over at her blog . The idea is to post some *unique* photos on your blog that you might not normally post. I had a lot of fun looking through our collection of photos...we have plenty of crazy ones, trust me! But I'll just post a few here. (I'm having trouble with the layout of things. Yes, I'm technically challenged!)

This one is just...awkward!

             







             I suppose I just make faces like this!

                             








                    You can just guess.

I guess they don't like being with each other! (Just kidding! They love each other very much. I think the unhappy faces are due to the fact they are being forced to take pictures! )

                        
                              



               No comment.








I hope you enjoyed these pictures and that they made you laugh. Or chuckle. Or giggle. Or at least smile! :) Thanks for reading. Much Love!

Mother's Day Video

I know this is a little late, but I thought you'd all like to see the video we made for our Mom in honor of Mothers' Day. (We being my siblings and I) It's kind of patchy, but it is the first video we have made all together. The dialogue in the beginning is a bit convoluted. But in our defense, Hannah (who was filming the video), told us to talk nonsense because she thought she was going to mute it in the final cut. She didn't, but fortunately we were able to get a scene out of it all that *kind of* made sense! I hate seeing myself in videos. I don't feel normal at all, so I can't believe my siblings got me to do this! haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoy watching it! (And feel free to tell me what you think! :))

Jo really, really enjoyed playing with Micaiah's BB gun! (We had a rather hard time getting it from him!)

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for reading! (And watching! ;))

Treasuring the 3 Stooges & more

Monday started out like one of those lazy days where no matter what you do, you don't feel like you accomplished much at all. Because Dad is a Pastor, we have always taken our Mondays off instead of Saturdays. (Dad's day off is Monday). So normally on monday we do whatever needs to be done around the house and find some way to have fun together. (Not that it takes anything to have fun with my family--just being together is fun!)


So last Monday we just did a bunch of random things (I won't mention them all here because I don't want to bore you.) and finally left the house around 6 P.M. To go shopping. When we got to Wal-Mart, we kind of split up--I went to the gardening section with a few of my younger siblings & Mom. The little guys were tripping over each other, knocking things down, hop-skipping, unintentionally getting in people's way and overall just acting stooge-like. I'll admit, I was starting to get very frustrated with them!

 Then it hit me...one day I won't get to shop with them. One day they won't be little anymore and I'm sure I'll miss these days at least a tiny bit. So for now, while the younger ones are skipping through life, I'll treasure the time I have to watch them...be an older sister to them and be their friend. Oh the things you learn at Wal-Mart! ;)









Yesterday we were running errands and while mom was in a thrift store (I love thrift stores so much, I don't let myself go in if I don't have a specific need because I know I'll end up spending money I shouldn't. Ha!) I took a couple videos for you guys! I'll post them for you all when YouTube lets me. (I'm currently having technical difficulties. haha)









Today I listened to Carrie Underwood's new CD 'Blown Away' in it's entirety. I (no, I'm not going to say I was blown away. ha!) enjoyed it! Carrie is really the only country artist I listen to because I love her voice and her music isn't too country...more like country/rock. Anyway, I have the title song stuck in my head. I liked when Carrie Underwood sang it on Idol the other week, but I think the recorded version is best. Do you all like country music? ;)
Thanks so much for reading! Hope you all are having a fantastic week!

A Whole Lot of Randomness

I'm sitting here watching Mission: Impossible 4 with my family (even though we just watched it last week) We are some serious Mission: Impossible/Tom Cruise fans here! Ha! Have you all seen this movie? What did you think? I really like it, although I think the 3rd movie is my favorite in the series.

Last week I made a dress. I needed a formal spring dress but one that wasn't too fancy. Here are some pictures...

Have you listened to the Jonas Brothers? They are awesome & I'm not afraid to say so. Haha! I was kind of
aware if them when they were the happening thing, but I never really paid much attention to them until now. :P They are pretty great though! And their TV show 'JONAS' from a few years ago? So awesome! Also, the band 'Lifehouse' is really great. I've really been enjoying their album 'No Name Face'.

I'm trying to be a better blogger in the way I write, the things I write about and how often I blog. So hopefully you'll hear more from me very soon. :)
That's all for now...Thanks for reading. I hope you all have a great week!

Downton Abbey Fever--do you have it yet? Because....

 I do. Ha! I only started watching the series a few weeks ago when season 2 first aired. My sister and I downloaded season one off itunes and watched it in less than a week. At first I was like, "What. A series about some rich family and their servants?" But when I started watching it I got hooked. The music is beautiful, the character development is excellent, the storyline is quite interesting, the costumes are b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l, and the cast is perfect! (The other week I tweeted Hugh Bonneville...and he actually TWEETED ME BACK. Wowwww.... It made my month. ;))

 Aw, I just like this photo. hehe So cute. Plus, I love Mary's dress and necklace. Gorgeous!!

 So after watching it for a while, I got majorly inspired to sew SOMETHING. So I made a dress.
The dress I made was basically modeled after Sybil's dress in this photo. The sleeves are shorter for lack of fabric. And the collar is a bit different but considering the fact I've never sewn a dress without a pattern before, I think it's all good. ;)

For some reason I keep thinking "The Waltons" when I look at my dress. Haha! I'm not sure why. What do you think? :)








This is Hannah's lovely dress. I'll tell you a secret - She made the lace part out of a tablecloth. I think it works perfectly, though!










 The conclusion to this post is as follows: If you haven't seen Downton Abbey, go watch it. (you can watch season 2 for free here-http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/ ) , also, have a great weekend and thanks for reading my little blog! :)