Individually Strong. Together Unbreakable.

This last weekend, I had the privilege to go on an 8th grade retreat with my class at my school. It was amazing. and not necessarily because I had a blast (to be perfectly honest with you, it was kinda boring :P ) It was awesome, though, because of the spiritual aspect. After two of the girls led us in worship, our Principal asked if any of the students wanted to say something encouraging or give their testimony. So a boy in my class gets up and tells his testimony. I could honestly feel the power of God sweeping through that room. Then someone else gets up and tells their story. Then someone else. it was amazing! Even I went up there and said something *hopefully* encouraging. At the end of the night ( this went from 8:45 till 12ish!) I think over 90% of the class had gone up there! :) It was AMAZING! :) Let me tell you - it got pretty emotional. Some of these kids have been through a LOT.
But I sensed the unity in this class for the first time. Everyone was leaning on each other and comforting those who were crying (which was virtually everyone). I had never seen any unity in this class before. There are groups, clicks, couples, but really no unity. But my eyes were definitely opened that night . Anyways, I should go, but I just wanted to share my amazing experience with whoever reads this blog :) Here is our verse, mission statement, and motto for next year (we voted on them on the retreat) :)

• Verse: Ecclesiastes 4:12 - Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three stands is not quickly broken.
• Mission Statement: We strive to trust in God, trust in others, and trust in ourselves.
• Motto: Individually strong, together unbreakable.
  

Madison Jayne :)

Like most people in this insane world, I have a best friend. and I love her to death. But when I moved, she didn't move with me. Which was a major problem. You see, Maddie still lives in Nebraska, but I live in Oklahoma. And let's just say we don't get to see each other enough. In fact, since I've moved over 10 months ago, we've only seen each other once. But anyways. I would tell a million stories and inside jokes, but no one reading it would understand any of them. haha...So I just thought I'd tell the world that I love Madison Jayne and that I miss her very very very much! :)

Movie Review: The Blind Side

I thought that the movie "The Blind Side" was an amazing movie. It was one of my all-time favorite movies. I thought it had some good christian morals, for being a 'new' Hollywood video. This movie wasn't even made by Christians, so I was shocked when they were reading Bible verses and playing Christian music! But I think the overall story was amazing :) This is such an awesome real story, and I'm glad they made a movie about it :)
By the way, I would watch this movie again in a heart beat!

Moving

My family moves a lot because my dad is in the military. It can sometimes be really really difficult, but sometimes be really cool :) For instance, I got to live in Okinawa, Japan, for 3 years! We loved it there! My house was a block away from the East China Sea, and because we were homeschooled, we went down to the ocean to go snorkeling a lot! Also, my family lived in Nebraska. And although that may sound really boring, we met some awesome people :) We went to a small Christian school there, and I made some amazing friends. But moving can also be really hard -- emotionally and physically. This last summer, my family moved from Nebraska (we had been there for 4 years) to Oklahoma. Like I said before, I had some awesome friends, and it was incredibly hard to say goodbye to them. Then when we got here, I didn't know anyone my own age.
When you move within the country, the Air Force gives you a choice to either move yourself (they actually pay you!) or they will move for you. We thought it was a good idea to move ourselves considering it was only a 7 hour trip. And although we had a lot of fun and got paid for it, it was hard. We started packing in May around the same time my brother was graduating from HS. It was crazy at our house. We were trying to get ready for a graduation party and trying to pack ourselves! It was also hectic because our school was moving into their new building, so we were trying to help them and we had to pack up my mom's classroom (she was a drama teacher, so we had to pack all of the costumes and other junk). But I think looking back on it, we wouldn't do it any other way! Although it was a crazy hectic, we had crazy fun! :)
Every time we move, I just think God is teaching me to rely on his love and strength, and not other people's :) Although it's hard, I know that the testing of my faith develops perseverance (James 1:1-8) :)

P.S. I'm glad my dad knows how to drive a semi-truck! :)

Movie Review: Wall-E

I'll probably be doing some movie reviews on here -- and here's the first one. If you're reading this, I would appreciate your input :) Anyways. Here's the first review on Wall-E.
I saw Wall-E when it first came out, but didn't really think much of it. Recently my 7th hour Media Class watched the movie while our teacher was out of town. And the more and more I thought about it, the more I disliked the movie and the movie's implications. It strongly implied that the whole world should 'go green' or we'll all get overrun by garbage and have to leave the earth. Also, it may just be me, but I don't like movies that predict the future. No one REALLY knows what's going to happen - except God, of course :) But back to my original thought. I thought the movie also implied that humans are irresponsible and lazy. Don't get me wrong. I think that a lot of people are, without doubt, irresponsible and lazy. but this movie basically said that ALL people are SOOOO irresponsible and lazy that they let their trash take over the world! I was actually quite shocked when I discovered this and not necessarily in a good way, either! Sure, the story line with Eve and Wall-E falling in love is cute, but seriously?! It's not like ALL movies don't have people falling in love. Anyways. If you haven't seen the movie, I don't think it's worth watching. If you have, it's not worth watching again.

The Animals

Some of the most important things in my life are my pets. And as stupid as this sounds, it's true. I have 2 horses, one dog, one cat, and my younger sister has 2 birds and a rabbit. As far as the birds and rabbit go, I could honestly careless. I like an animal that will do tricks, not pee on you, and won't just fly away :P But I love my horses, dog, and cat. So I'll tell you a little story from each of them :)

• Boomer - We got Boomer this summer when we moved here. He's fat, kinda lazy, but an amazing horse :) He's really nice to people, but he's a butt when it comes to poor Sooner :( Let's just say that his favorite pastime is nipping Sooner's rear end :P

• Sooner - We got him the same time we got Boomer -- they've been together since birth. He's a little bit younger than Boomer, and he's definitely most frisky. He has scars all over his rear end from Boomer biting it, but I try extra hard to be nice to Sooner :) Don't tell anyone, but he's my favorite;)

• Scout - He's our dog, a 4 1/2 year old sheltie that already has arthritis. It's pretty pathetic, but we still love him :) He's my boy -- He got me through a lot this Summer when we moved and I'm super thankful for him :) There will be pictures of him up on here very soon :)

• Thomas - He's our cat from Japan. He's fat, and likes to sleep, but he's not lazy :)He's small for a cat, but I think he's beautiful - I'll post pictures of him someday too :)

Anyways. Those are my boys, and I love them to death :) I hope to someday get another dog, but we "have too many pets" -- (only because Kari has 3 of her own :P )

The FIRST post :)

Short. Sweet. Simple.
That's what makes a good blog post. I've read a lot of blogs, but my favorite definitely aren't the ones that are stretched out to the ends of this earth. So I'll try to keep this as short as possible. Especially because I have a *certain* older sister of mine who is begging me to get on this dumb computer :)
I've never really blogged before, although I do like writing - just not enough to make it my profession someday. Anyways. about me. I have 3 siblings. My older brother, Kyle, who's in college somewhere in Wisconsin, my older sister, Kelly, who's a junior in HS (she's going to the same school I am), and my younger sister, Kari, who's in that horrible stage of dramatic 5th grade. I've been blessed with 2 amazing parents who are still married after 19 some years - which is a rarity nowadays :) My dad is a Chaplain in the Air Force and my Mom is a teacher at the big Christian School that I go to. I move a lot because of my dad's job, but I'll write about the stories from all of those moves later :)
That's my family. The people who I live with everyday, the people I eat with. The people I love <3 I'm entirely blessed by my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ to have these people in my life :)