Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Eight Blessings

    

    Top o' the day to y'all!!!
    Happy almost spring! (So excited for spring!)
    So, y'all's probably wondering why my post this week is titled "Eight Blessings." Not only have their been more then eight blessings in my whole 17 years, but eight specific blessings that I will always have, remember, and see. My siblings.
    Almost every time I go out, or our whole family goes out for the day, people ask us, "How many kids do you have?", "Wow, they must be a handful!".
    Of course we answer politely, but after a while...yeah. 
    Nine kids all together, but eight siblings for me, and probably, besides my parents, the best friends that I will ever have. 
     I can never express how much I love my siblings, and am always amazed of the things they do. They're goofy, smart, kind, loving, optimistic, etc. Anything that makes a sibling, all wrapped in a package with a big bow. 
    We do have our squabbles, fights, and nagging, which is basically all the same thing, but, you get the idea. Even if we disagree, we're all good in the end. 
     I have four brothers, and four sisters, and wouldn't want to trade them for any other pairs of siblings.
     One of my favorite memories was of my first little sis, Selah. Before she was born, it was just me and my three younger brothers, Michael, Elisha and Cainan. Of course I had a blast with them, but in time, I wanted a little sister. I was about six at the time, and had dreams and goals to teach her. Ballet was the big one. I LOVED ballet, and I still do. About a year ago, I got to take intermediate ballet lessons, and both my little sisters, Selah and Avalon, got to share that dream with me, as it was their dreams too. 
     I never remembered this, but my mother told me that I wanted to name Selah 'George Washington', which is funny, because six years later, was when I had my George Washington craze, and it has never left. Favorite president, favorite figure in history...yeah. 
     Anyways, I was super excited when I found out that the new baby was a girl. And soon, a few years later, another baby girl was born, miss Avalon Grace. And then, years later, my brother Liam, and my two little sister Kynthia and Brenna were born. It was like a giant rush of siblings coming one after another after Selah's birth. I never DREAMED that I would be a sister of EIGHT siblings! 
      But, there have been some times where I said things to my friends about my siblings that I regret, and I try to make it up to my siblings as an apology for all those hurtful things. And when my friends ask me if my siblings ever annoy me, I smile and say, "At times, but I love them still." Because it's true. I love them so much that the annoying things that we all do, just go away in the end. Every sibling in every family does it. We're not set apart as the "special" children, we're just special in each other's eyes. 
      But, things may get different soon, as I'm getting older. I'll be 18 in January, and from then on, I'm not a child in the house anymore. I'm a full adult. Which also makes me different in my siblings eyes. Of course, we will still have our fun, sibling behavior, and all that fun, but I know that somewhere, they're going to stop a moment, and think, "Oh, right, she's an adult." Which, makes me afraid that I may be different for them. Soon, I may be out of the house more often, driving, doing adult things, managing money, and soon be engaged. Just thinking of it reminds me of Elsa from 'Frozen.' Always feeling different, even around her sister, and that might soon be me. But, the little princes and princesses still think of me as their sister, and even if I am an adult, the sisterhood doesn't change. And each of them will go through the same stage in life. Everyone does.
      I'm hoping that this year will be full of blessings and life for my little siblings. I want them to grow, accept life, be joyful, make fun messes for memories, and love Jesus. 
      I love each of my siblings, and forever will.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Future Home Inspirations

    (Photographer Victoria Johnson)

   Morning y'all!
   Spring's almost here, and I am super pumped for it!
   These past few weeks, I have gathered some inspirational ideas for how I want to decorate my bathroom counter, and my future home as a housewife. I've gathered photos from Pinterest and ideas from one of my favorite makeup artists on YouTube, Charisma Star.
    
****     https://www.facebook.com/Charisma-Star-TV-745027195590348/ ****

    I've been recently watching her Get Ready With Me videos, and I always noticed the cute candles that she has along her bathtub edge, and the sweet flower vases that she has on the counter. And the adorable mason jars that she keeps all her makeup brushes in.
    I was inspired by them, and decided to do something similar for my own bathroom, but a little at a time, to see how I personally wanted to decorate and design my bathroom. For the mason jars, I was thinking of hot gluing some cute lace around the top for a little decoration, and use some white or pink glass pebbles on the bottom of the jar for a cute color.
     I also noticed she had other different candles all around her house. I was inspired by that idea also, and already have a few scents that I enjoy, such as vanilla bean, pumpkin, apple pie...basically, anything that is sweet!
    The inspirations brought me to a conversation I had this morning  with my Mom. I told her how I wanted to have candles and vases of flowers all around my house, in random places. I told her how excited and anxious I was to start off my future home.
     What was really funny, in one of the subjects in the conversation, I talked about how a few years ago, I felt like I needed to wait until I was 20 before I got married. I wanted to start dating at 19, because I felt that 18 was too young for me. But what I discovered earlier this morning was, it wasn't me having to wait until I was 20 to get married, it was just God telling me to slow down, and wait for a few years, to have me grow a little, before I had the idea of a future house, and having the thought of dating. We all started laughing when my brother asked me if I wanted to get married at 18, instead of waiting another two years...and I said "Yes!"
      It's funny how it all changed in just a few years. I remembered being afraid to date, and even nervous around boys for that matter. I still am a little shy, but when a conversation starts, I don't feel so nervous.
      But, I'm getting off track.
      Another inspiration that I found for my future home was the bohemian style. I love anything bohemian, and have a whole board dedicated to it on Pinterest.
       I was scrolling through Pinterest for bohemian house ideas, and I discovered an adorable back porch. It had bohemian pillows and blankets spread out every where, white Christmas lights, or fairy lights, around the edge, and mason jar lanterns hanging from the ceiling. It gave me ideas for how I wanted my own back porch to look like. I also thought, since I love astronomy, I could have a little corner for a telescope and writing table to take notes on, but bohemian styled, such as candles on the table, and draping  cute vines around the telescope for decoration.
       I am super excited for the future that God has for me, and I can hardly wait to start it!
       Love y'all!
       Happy Spring!!!!!

(Here are a few more links to Charisma Star.)

****    
**** https://twitter.com/CharismaStarTv
  
    https://www.instagram.com/charismastar/

    https://www.youtube.com/user/charismastar ****

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Favorite Bible Verse Joshua 1:9

 
""Have I not commanded you?
      Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.""
      About a year ago, when I was in ballet, I struggled with a certain dance move that I could not achieve...the pirouette. And I still have a hard time getting it down, just for fun.
       I got to the point where I was almost to the point of giving up, because the move was so hard.
       I came home one night after practice, and decided that I should look up a Bible verse, just a random one. I always loved the idea of when God would bring out a special Bible verse for the person in trouble. And I really needed encouragement. I was getting encouragement from my teacher, but I wanted something that would last. I flipped open my Bible, and sure enough, Joshua 1:9 was the first verse that I saw.
       I was so excited, that I told everyone I knew about this verse, because it wasn't just for me, it was for those struggling in the time of need in their lives.
       A few months ago, I had a heartbroken friend, who even without telling me, I knew she was in pain. I quickly flipped open my notebook, and wrote down that verse, the first verse that popped into my head, the verse that I always will remember. It blessed her so much.  
       Even to this day, whenever there is struggling, pain, or fear, that verse pops into my head, and I feel a wave of peace wash over me from God's Holy Spirit.
        I have many friends and family who are struggling, everyone does. It's no fun to be in a rut of pain and fear. I was in a deep rut with those two for a long time, and recently am healing from it, remembering that verse every time.
        I wanted to share this verse, because no matter where you are, whatever situation you're in, relationship, or rut, "do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."