chilly day

I was at home all day today with a cold; hoping that, if I rested, I would be well and ready for the weekend by tomorrow. It's never good to have a cold, sometimes it's good timing, but never fun. I'll just have to pray for a good night's rest, and a healthy body for tomorrow. :)

heartfelt thinking

Don't you have those days where you think you know what God wants you to do, then He puts you in a situation that makes you re-think what you're supposed to do? That has been going on with me for the past month or so.

Society is HARSH on pre-teen and teenage girls about dating as young as possible; and no matter how hard you try to avoid the subject, it seems to follow you wherever you go. It's in movies, books, TV; anywhere you go, the pressure of dating and relationships are there.

Yes, God did create us with romance and passion; He thought of it! Yet He made it for us to enjoy with our spouse, not for random one night hot flings. Every time I have a weak moment, longing for someone to love (besides my family), I just remember that God created dating for finding your future spouse. When you love someone, a little bit of your heart and soul connect with that special someone. That's why all these girls go away heart broken after these dating relationships don't work out. Little pieces of their heart and soul are being taken away.

When it comes to my love life, I don't have to worry. I know that God already has that special someone for me. He's the Author of romance and love and He knows what's best for me; and that alone is enough.

If you haven't read "When God Writes Your Love Story" by Eric and Leslie Ludy, then you NEED to run down to the Parable and get it. Whether you're married or single, younger or older, dated a ton of guys or never dated at all, this book applies to you. It will change your dating relationship and your relationship with God for the better. Eric and Leslie also have books based more on marriage for you couples. Please look at their books, they really are amazing.

cozy day

I love the rain! It gives me time to myself to think about all the things going on in my life. Yet it was a lazy day today. Went to school, came home at 9:45am, did more school, painted some figurines, hung out with the Chezum fam, and made dinner. Now it's time for a warm bath, some hot cocoa and some good ol' tv. :)

sweet things

OK, I have no idea why, but lately I have been craving anything sweet! Yesterday, I found myself eating a dot every time I came into my bedroom! I finally stopped walking and said, "Enough! I need vegetables!" So I got myself a Superfood Juice by Odwalla. If you haven't tried Odwalla and you're looking for a fast, delicious way to get your day's worth of serving's of fruits and veggies, then you NEED to go to the store whenever you can, and buy some! It's amazing! The Superfood Juice may look and sound a little weird, but trust me, YOU WILL LOVE IT! My Dad likes it, and that alone is saying something. :)

So, that's my healthy tip of the day (now for the unhealthy). If you are in the mood for sweet (or you would just like to treat yourself) go down to Carlocks Bakery in Los Osos. ALL the sweets there are amazing (most definitly worth the drive)! You will not be dissapointed. :)

thankful

My Mom and I went the Food 4 Less tonight after worship practice. As we went from isle to isle, I saw a little girl holding her father's hand; the girl had what appeared to be down's syndrome. Once they went down another isle, I thought to myself, "I am so selfish, thinking I have an awful disability. She must be so sad."

As we unloaded the groceries into the car, I saw the girl and her father again; they had parked next to us. I went towards them on my way to the kart drop-off. As we passed, I smiled at her wondering if she would see. She gave me the sweetest smile I have seen in a long time. I thought, "Wow. Even with her disability, she still has such a happy, warm feeling radiating off of her."

God shows His blessings in such small ways; like a smile. I love it. :)

wonderful surprise!

As I lay in my bed this morning, I thought, "Let's see; going to go babysit, go to farmers, and o yeah, have to go to the orthodontist." For those of you who have had braces, you know the endless fun going to the orthodontist can be. Yet you knew you had to go. So, I got in the car, Sissy took me to Dr D, and I went inside thinking, 'Another day of people poking at my mouth, yay."

About an hour and a half later, I walk out of that same office with...*drum role*...NO MORE BRACES!!! That's right! A year and a half earlier than the doctor said! HUGE surprise! Pictures coming shortly! Thank you, thank you, thank you God! Just another BIG blessing to be thankful for. :)

prayer time

Tonight, we had some girl's small group time at youth group. Always good when the girls get together to chat-up God and His word. :)

unexpected visitor

We had an unexpected visitor this morning: a black bumble bee! For about 30min, I "attempted" to catch and release the bee; but to no avail. Then who should come to my rescue?: Sissy! She shoved the bee right out the window! I was impressed. Interesting way to start off the morning. :)

the little loves of my life

After a whole 3 weeks, I finally had a long awaited babysitting with the Leonard boys (I was deprived)! If you haven't met these boys, you haven't experienced love at it's fullest. A jedi fight with Matty and a cuddle with David will brighten anyone's day. :)


Today was also my first night back at Awana! It's always so much fun; and my kids?: AMAZING!! They are so kind and well behaved, the best group I've had in a long time. I also drove home for the first time at night! I'm happy to report no people (or animals) were run over, and the car made it in one piece! Pretty good if I do say so myself. :)

Realizing hope, my life part 3

For a while, I had those questions going over and over in my head. I was so wrapped up in my own problems again, and how I would fix them, that I never stopped to think that God could take hold of the wheel and plan my life for me. I always thought I had to do things on my own (except killing the spiders in the bathtub...or anywhere in the house). I never thought how God could play a major role in my life. Over time I realized He would get me where I NEEDED to be, not necessarily where I WANTED to be.

God really does have a way to get your attention. In my case, it's my back. I know now that if I didn't have my scoliosis, my relationship with God would be WAY different. I would most definitely be more focused on myself than
Him...and that scares me.



Now, I'm not sure how much curvature I have; and to tell you the truth, I don't care all that much. Some days are definitely harder than others, but God has put amazing people in my life that give me the support and love I need. Sometimes I don't even want to talk about scoliosis, yet other times, I want to share my whole life story to those around me. I want to let people know that there is a God who's there and He has a plan for you. He knows when you struggle, and He wants to reach out and hold you. He will never stop pursuing you. He loves you even more than you can imagine.



I thank God everyday for the blessings He has given me. I hope by you learning more about me each day, you will realize the love He has for you; and the simple blessings He has given you. :)

Getting there, my life part 2

After that night, I felt emotionally a lot better. Yet I still longed for that miracle healing other people received.
Well, that healing never came, and I continued to live my life the best I could. And although the physical healing never came, an emotional healing began. I started to feel happier and blessed for the things i did and didn't have. God was giving me reason to live.



OK, you know how when you're a kid, you want to become a actress or police man? I wanted to become a dolphin trainer! I loved dolphins (I still do to this day)! I wanted to learn everything there was to them. They fascinated me! I wanted to pursue this career until about the age of 13, after I went through Seaworld's trainer for a day program. I discovered there's about a 1 in 300,000 chance I would be selected to work as a trainer, and you have to be in top physical condition. So, God helped me open my eyes to other options (that turned out to be not too far from the original). I've decided to major in marine biology up in Monterey and work at the aquarium up there. My family has been members there since 1992 (when I was born). My friend Evelyn made a good point when we were up there a few days ago, "You know this place better than the back of your own hand!". It's true! I don't really know what the back of my hand looks like, lol. :) Just another little blessing I thought i'd let you in on. :)


At about the age of 10, I had a BIG growth spirt; and at the same time, my brace was too small. So I went from about 15 degrees to about 60, again. I felt awful. I thought, "Just as I was better, I get even worse." Now that I was older, I was more subconscious about the way I looked. How hard is it to find a shirt that looks good and fits? Let's see...I find about 1 blouse (that's not a t-shirt) out of 40 trips to different stores. It's depressing. Anyways, after about a year, we found an orthopedist who was based in Louisiana that came to San Diego twice a year. So we checked him out. It ended up working really well! His brace made a 20 degree difference overnight. Only problem was it would go back to the original curvature if I took it off. Yet we stuck with the program, and it seemed to work for the first year! We sent in the brace every 3 months to get the air pads in the brace re-filled, and everything was hunky dory. Until after a year, we took the trip to San Diego to find no one at the office. It was empty. No word on what happened, just gone. We came home to discover that the orthopedist had been sued. I didn't know what to think. We had spent so much money on this program, and it just drops in one day? I felt mad, sad, dissapointed, every emotion you could thing of, I was feeling at that moment. What were we going to do now? How much hope do I have left for God? Am I going to live to be 20, or is my heart going to suddenly stop from the pulling and pushing of my body against itself? I had so many questions that I thought would never be answered.

Here's the scoop, my life part 1

Alrighty then, I guess I should share a little bit about myself. :)

When I was 4 years old, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. For those of you who don't have PHD's, scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side, and may also be rotated (in my case, it is). It is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. On an x-ray, the spine of an individual with a typical scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line (mine is an "S"). OK, I don't talk that way, I just like how Wikipedia summed it up. :) Anyways, as you can imagine, being a vivacious and spunky 4 year old I DID NOT want to stay inside with a fiberglass brace squeezing my little chubby body for 16 hours straight. So, at first, I didn't wear it nearly as long as the doctor said I should (I wore it about...8-10 hours). So I paid the price. After the next few check ups, it was getting worse. My degree of curvature went from about 40 degrees to about 60. Yeah, not good. My parents, being the loving amazing parents they are, disciplined me like every good parent should do (and now that I'm older, I grately appreciate and understand why they did). So I started wearing it more. And as I started to get older, I started to get a little sadder each day. The brace wasn't working. It was keeping the scoliosis from getting worse (which was great), but it wasn't helping with the actual curvature. I was getting no where. I started to feel sick easily eating curtain foods, which made eating out a little harder. :) Kids in private school picked on me a little, but I didn't mind that much. One thing that got to me was watching the 700 Club when I was about 8. Every episode, Pat would pray for all the people with physical ailments. I started to pray too, but I never recieved a miracle healing that other people on the show would get. I started to feel really down, like God wasn't hearing me, or that I wasn't worth it. Deep down I knew He loved me, but it just felt worthless to hope anymore. I remember one night after watching 700 Club, like usual nothing happened. So I said good night to everyone, and before I even closed my door, I started to cry. I couldn't take it. Being so hopeless for so long got to me. I prayed, "God why?! Why did you have to give me this?! I'm sick and tired of it! I'm not normal, I can't eat normally, I can't do the things normal kids do! Why?! Why?!" I cried myself to sleep that night, repeating the word "why" over and over. I didn't know what to do.

1st time blogger!

Hey Everyone! :)
I am really excited about having my very own blog, yet I'm also a little confused. If you have any suggestions on "how to make your blog amazing", feel free to share! :)