God Help the Outcast (or lower class)

Or... "God Help Us Help the People in Need."

I want to read this book!

I watched the movie a few months back.

Then, I put the book on hold at the library.

(it's a popular one)

Then, I picked it up a few weeks later.

THEN, I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO READ THIS BOOK!

yeah...

I was too busy with school, and the 3 weeks went by way too quickly. :(

Sad day.

Today, I put it on hold again. If I was smart, I would have done that at the beginning of this wonderful Christmas break... but.... I didn't. So now I'm paying the price. Maybe I'll go to Barnes&Noble to enjoy the wonderfulness of that place and hope they have that book or another good one to read.

p.s. i loved reading this book.

.::sad, but good::.

{safe haven by nicholas sparks}

merry Christ-mas to all and to all a goodnight

I loveeeeee the Christmas season.

Joy and cheer seem to flow out of people more easily. :))

snow.hotcocoa.family.cookies.brightlights.

candycanes.evergreens.caroling.cheer.cozysocks

parties.warmcoffee.ornaments.

What's not to like?

But we must must remember Him.

..............

JESUS

Baby Jesus

He is why we celebrate.

He is why we should be full of joy and cheer.

He is the reason for the season.

He did it all for us.

happy birthday to the

wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, & prince of peace.

{isaiah 9:6}

Rumor has it

I have been trying to educate myself in the blogging world.

Yes, trying.

Trying very hard.

I didn't know what a favicon was until 15 minutes ago. Do you know what one of those is?? You probably do. And you've probably known what one is for a year or 2. Ok, I did know what they were, only thing is, I didn't know what they were called. Favicon, that's their name.

(For those of you who don't know what one is, I'll tell you. It's the little tiny picture that appears next to a website url.) there you go... : )

And..... it took me 2 hours, no 3 or 4 hours, to figure out how to make a simple little button with a code for people to put on their blogs. That's just not right if you ask me.

But after ALL that, I am 1) very proud of myself AND 2) in awe of the blogs I see. People put a lot of work into them. Codes for this and that. Codes, codes, codes.

here it is(!!!):

+

<a href="http://www.arosewithhappiness.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6571231829_6bc9ee6eed_m.jpg" width="125" height="125" /></a>

=
big happy face.

Button up!

It's cold outside.

(ha ha ha...)

And while I'm at it, I'll tell you the story behind this little picture. It was taken in '09 (i think) while living in Germany (i know). My friends and I did a fun little photo shoot in our German village, Huetschenhausen. We dressed up in skirts and cowboy boots and grabbed a couple umbrellas then headed out to brave the cloudy (almost rainy) weather.

Saturday&Sunday

Between the studying, reviewing, and writing, I found some time to have fun.

On Saturday, I played Ultimate with some friends.

We played hard.

We played well.

We sweat a lot.

...because where I live, 70 and sunny is HOT.

{Especially for the month of September}

Haha.

--------------------

On Sunday, the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda, Africa came to our church! They are orphaned kids who love Jesus very much! A small fraction of them come to America and put on shows at different churches. They sing and dance, and they have the audience sing and dance too. :) :) :) I love love loved it! It was IMPOSSIBLE to not smile back at them when they flashed their radiant smiles. :) They make me want to pack up my bags and move there right now!

My Friend and I got pictures with a few of them :D

{the little girl in the front with me is eight years old and her name is Ellen}

Praise the Lord for these wonderful kids!!

Here's a mini promo video:

http://vimeo.com/watoto/beautifulafrica

My Pinky Purple Room and HW

I have homework galore.

My professors are wonderful people, but they like to give their students homework over the weekend. Especially my A&P (anatomy and physiology) teacher.

-Read/take notes for chapters 1, 2, and 3.

-Memorize the body regions (there are about 50) for a quiz.

-Read the lab for Monday.

-And of course review lecture notes.

This whole morning has been spent reading and studying A&P. I will be jumping up and down if I get an A in that class. And I would drop dead in shock if a 4.0 was in reach. You have to get 97% or above to receive a 4.0.

So, I needed a quick break from school (and cramming my brain with info). Here are some pictures of artsy stuff on my walls.

{painted this summer in my art class. Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.}

Please excuse my un-made bed. My wave of pictures gives me something to look at all the time. Most of the things up there are pictures of/with friends, places I've been, and things I've seen.

I would go back to my homework, but I'm meeting with friends to play Ultimate Frisbee.

Side Note: If there is one thing you need to know about me, it's that...

I L-O-V-E ULTIMATE!! : )

I'm backkkk

After a long summa break, I would like to welcome you all back to my blog :))

I hope to blog more about my life and maybe share some stories from this summer.

I have loved this summer SO much, but all good things must come to an end at some point. A few highlights from the past months:

-5 credits from a 5 week art class :D

-visiting amazing friends in Colorado.

-amazing friends from Maryland came to visit us!

-road tripping to California for some SAILING!

-youth group went camping, hiking and whitewater kayaking :)

-Ultimate Frisbee (x8)!!

-Eating mounds of fresh snap peas, green beans, tomatoes, and blueberries from our garden.

And, who knew you could get tan in the cloudy state of Washington. It is possible though! :-)

Wish me luck on my first day a school. It won't just be a new quarter, but a whole new year! I hope my brain is capable of memorizing again. (It has been hibernating all summer...)

Peace out <3

Buying things from garages.

Today is the semiannual garage sale for our cute little town. Because this only happen twice a year {and the fact that we live in Washington}, this event carries on... shine or RAIN! :)

Yes, it did rain. It rained last time too. But you know what? Contrary to poplar belief, humans don't melt! I know! How strange. ;)

I bought a few things... :D

Some flip-flops :) $1

Two Old Navy cardigans- $1 each.

And a tank top with a pink lace rose on the side. $1

I also purchased a few shirts and a pair of puma shoes that may or may not fit haha

I think it was a productive day of garage sale hopping ;) I spent a total of $7-8! That's a steal :)

Side note: my mom bought a pair of Keen shoes that fit me and two of my brothers for $3!!

{they just went to Cabela's, and Cabela's sells them for $94! Good thing she didn't buy them there.}

Turquoise Flowers

The other day I made some flowers out of scrap felt that was in a box in the garage.

I was pretty happy with how they turned out seeing as I hadn't made anything like them before.

(The yellow dots are just beads sewn on with thread.)

It's hard to tell from the picture, but all three are a different shade of blue, turquoise, or gray blue.

They can slip onto a thin object such as a headband, safety pin, or bobby pin.

{Safety pin}

{bobby pin}

Socialite Skirt

Lately, I've been checking out other interesting blogs.

One of them is Elle Apparel.

And let me just tell you, she is amazing with a sewing machine!

She is so creative too!

Today through June 2nd, she is having a GIVEAWAY! She'll custom make a socialite skirt for the winner! How cool is that?! : )

Check her out:

the key to happiness...

...is achieved by putting one's faith in Christ Jesus.

"a happy heart makes the face cheerful..." proverbs 15:13

make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

:)

A girl with a striped hat.

[In between the chemistry homework...]

I guess I've never worn this hat when Lucy has been around.

I put it on today, and she totally freaked out! She walked into my room to say hello, but she took one glance at the thing on top of my head and started growling and howling at it haha :) Silly dog.

It's just a fedora hat.

Anyways...

She got use to it quite quickly.

Blessed

A wise guy once said, "I am suffering with satisfaction."

I can say the same thing right now. :) I am suffering with satisfaction.

The Lord is blessing me with good grades, babysitting opportunities, places to serve at church, and chances to help people at school.

I like having a sense of purpose, and I love serving/being helpful.

Thank you, Lord!

I want to be Your hands and feet.

:)

Earthly Poverty

I want to help kids like this one...

To be at the poverty line in the United States, a family of four's annual income is $22,000.

The GDP per capita in Somalia (in 2008) was $600. That's the AVERAGE annual income!

>>six hundred dollars<<

That is $21,400 less than America's impoverished families.

How would you like earning less than $2 a day?

I don't want to sound rude, but some people spend double that much on a simple Starbucks drink every. single. day.

*********************

It may be hard to swallow this next fact:

"The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."

-Jesus (Mark 14:7)

It's hard for ME to swallow that verse. I'm glad I have a opportunity to "help them any time I want", but the first part of the verse is heartbreaking and discouraging. The poor will ALWAYS be with us. Without God's help it can feel overwhelming; there is nothing we can do to erase "poorness". Sometimes I wish the government knew this. They might stop trying to create that perfect formula that puts an end to poverty. It's good to help those in need, don't get me wrong, but I feel like companies/governments are overly optimistic about the future of wiping out poverty.

**********************

We are able to go into the world and spread the good news, though. We are able to tell these people about a place that is full of riches, full of love, and full of perfection. And for us humans, this place doesn't cost a penny.

It is a gift.

When these people hear about a six star hotel, the best atmosphere, and the best Ruler is all for free (and able to be enjoyed forever), well,

they can either accept it or not. My thought is, if they are able to even fathom a place like heaven, they would accept it and become overjoyed. Because everything on this earth comes with a price tag: either money or time, it's hard to believe that we don't have to pay millions to stay a night or two. Heaven's ticket did come with a price tag though; thankfully, we mere humans didn't have to pay for it. We couldn't. We're not perfect. Jesus is. And He paid.

How can you look into his eyes and not feel compassionate?

I have a few goals regarding this topic. And when I don't particularly want to (or don't feel like it) all I have to do is remind myself of the rhetorical & silent question in my head:

What truly matters in this life? Think about it. What really matters?

Ok, so here are some goals:

1. Save, save, save up money and give it to the poor.

2. live and work at an orphanage (one of my dreams that I've had for a good amount of years now)

3. Be able to see smiles on these children's beautiful faces.

Hanger/shelf

I saw this really cute coat hanger/shelf on Etsy.com.

I forgot how much it cost, but I believe it was between 30-40 dollars (plus shipping)!

Crazy, huh?

I'm not a carpenter or anything, but this thing looks super easy to make.

And I suspect those materials aren't worth more than $10 :)

We are family

All my brothers (and no sister) and me :D

Call me a nerd

But I'm warning you now,

I'm not that smart.

Oh the joys of Organic Chemistry...

Overwhelmed

with school.

I understand how blessed I am to be able to get educated at college... for free :)
But sometimes, just sometimes, it is a blessing I don't like the pleasure of holding.

I ended up dropping the two computer classes the third day of this quarter. They were only 1 credit each, but nevertheless, 2 credits. So, now I'm only taking sociology, chemistry, and communications (16 credits). All three of these classes are the types of classes that don't have very many due dates or tests; therefore, procrastination can be an issue. I'm trying my best to stay on top of it all, though. :)

I just need to ask God for His strength and preserve through it all.

************************************************

Just a side note. It felt like this today. Please go away 38 degree weather!

I'm really ready for spring... or summer.

;)

Until next time.

Spring Break

For the first half of Spring Break, I was not sick! :) My family and I took a road trip all along the peninsula part of Washington.

:)

Road trips are amazing!

& Lucy came with us! :)

We stopped at the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park

Very very very green

I felt as if I were inhaling only clean fresh O2 (Until I saw someone smoking)

& the city of Port Angeles and Forks. They even had Twilight Tours haha.

You would think that you would see teen girls with their moms all over the city of Forks... being obsessed and all, but nooo!

The only people I saw were 5 or 6 male Indians (not Native Americans) in the age category of 20-30 years. hahahaha ;)

It was kinda weird actually. The city must become more busy when it's not sunny and/or during the Twilight hours... I'm not very interested in finding out though...

Onto the next AND final destination (besides home):

Pacific Beach, WA

God's creation is so beautiful!

My two younger brothers were uber excited about the ocean!

They were both born in Hawaii, but they don't remember it very well.

Lucy got really dirty/sandy...

So we put her in a plastic bag for the drive back to the cabin.

:)

And when we got to the cabin, we gave her a bath and cut most of her fur off. She looks like a mini (white) lion now. Or a hyena.

Until next time.

Cough cough

For those of you who don't know, being sick is not fun.

Out of the blue, I became really sick on Wednesday. Like really sick. Really quickly. Within 3 hours, I went from feeling ok to a 102 point something fever. I don't usually get sick (thankfully), but when I do, it's bad.

-Coughing

-102 Fahrenheit fever (for 2 days)

-painful coughing

-headache

-back and neck hurt/achy

My throat hurts every time I cough, so I try not to cough. But it's hard not to cough when your body makes you cough. Thankfully, cough drops are helping and so is cough medicine, but my throat still hurts. So, I drink water... lots of water.

I have already learned my lesson about drinking water when my throat starts to hurt. :)

A few years ago, I insisted that not drinking water [for my sore throat] was the best way to go. But my sore throat just got worse and worse. I probably didn't eat or drink for 2-3 days (not a good thing to do). Anyways, I ended up going to the ER because of dehydration. They hooked me up to a IV, and I was completely miserable. I absolutely hate IVs or giving blood. Every time I have to do that stuff, I start sweating and start seeing spots, AND almost black out... not fun at all :( Anyways, when the water started going into my wrist (that is where the nurse found a vein- it took her awhile because my veins were really small or something), I could feel the water spreading up my arm and throughout my body... such a weird feeling. haha I don't remember exactly how much water I ended up getting, but it was a lot (maybe two and a half liters).

Lesson Learned: Every time I have the slightest sore throat coming on, drink tons of water :) It works.

So for the past few days, I've just been spending 95% of my time on the couch or in my bed... drinking water or sleeping or watching movies/shows.

In some ways it's nice to be sick during Spring Break, and in other ways it's not. I have minimal responsibilities right now, but I did have a list of things to do before the break ended. I probably won't get as much done as I wanted to. Oh well.

Cough. cough. cough. cough. cough.

Until next time.

Productivity.

Productive is a word I can use to describe my days off Facebook and on Spring Break.

On Wednesday I finished my second quarter of college, and survived ;) I had a Biology and English final. All the tests in biology are scantron based; therefore, it doesn't take too long for the teacher to grade. So that same day my final grade was known. I walked to my teachers office before my next class, and he looked at the records on his computer and told me I got a 94.4%=3.9. Man, that was way too close to a 4.0 (95%+). If I would have gotten 1 or 2 more answers correct on a test or quiz, it probably would have bumped my grade up just enough. How disappointing... He also told me that I had the highest grade in the class! Haha. So I kind of have mixed feelings about that grade. I should have asked him if he could of given me a 4.0, because I had the highest grade... oops.

I had some time to kill, so I walked to the gym at school :) At around 11:30 I headed back to my next class...

English's final was just a paper to turn in :) No in-class essay :D We handed in our papers to him in a addressed and stamped envelope, so that he could mail our papers back and send us our final grade.

And then I was D-O-N-E!

No more school until March 28th. Finals were on Wed, Thurs, and Fri, but both of mine were on Wednesday! Yay, 2 more days of break :)

So, now I'm on Spring Break!

On Thursday, I drove Nate to his final that morning. I wanted to drive him, because I like forcing myself to get up (then I don't feel as if I'm "wasting the day away"). :)

So I dropped him off and went to the gym again. It's a little smaller than the one on post, but if you get there at 7:50am during finals week... NO ONE IS THERE! :) Well, except one person at the desk ha. After that, my mom sent me to the commissary; I used a ton of coupons that my mom had given me:) and I actually lost the shopping list :\ Thankfully I was pretty much done by then. So I was checking out and everything... the African American cashier was scanning all the coupons, and at the end she said, "You saved $13 dollars! You go girl!" Haha I love it :) She was SO nice too! I admire people that always seem cheery and joyful.

:)

By the way, it was St. Patrick's Day that day too, So I made pancakes with green sprinkles for lunch :) And then I babysat our neighbors for a bit.

For dinner I made this 6 strand braided bread. I used the bread maker to make the dough but cooked it in the oven. I added rosemary, some garlic and herbs. The house smelled so good :) The 6 strand thing may sound hard, but it really isn't. I learned to do it from youtube ;) The bread

went with our corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

:)

After dinner my mom and two younger siblings went to a movie on base: Tangled. It is CRAZY how cheap the tickets are there. $7 for 4 people! You cannot beat that. It was such a cute movie :) But I think my favorite part was listening to all the dads laugh throughout the movie :)

Well, needless to say, my first full day of break wasn't exactly a "break". But it was a break from school :)

It was busy, but no deadlines were put in place (thankfully)... which made me happy.

Until next time.