Busy Life she Led

"She was a swimmer, says the swimsuit
hung to dry on every available doorknob;
a dedicated one too, says the medals and ribbons
displayed on her bulletin board and a Christian girl,
says the opened Bible by her bedside
and a cross round her neck;
but not a fashion guru says the numerous sweatshirts
lined throughout the closet with her comfy jeans.

She lived with her parents says the house
kept clean aside from her unkempt room
constantly a disaster area, and she had a brother,
says the baseball themed room down the hall.
Friends were important, says the pictures in the frames
and her phone constantly in reach just in case the needed her.
And a creative girl says the craft supplies in her room.
A caring one says anybody who knows her well.

She loves listening to her music, says her iPod
and radio constantly playing. A busy life she led
says the dusty TV and lost remote in her room
no time to just sit down and watch the screen.
And the ones she loves? Supporting her 100 percent.
She wants her memories to last forever
says the photo albums and scrapbooks lining her shelves.
She was unique and confident, they say."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

At camp this past summer after devo one night we had a one-on-one type convo thing with another girl in our cabin. Considering there was only 6 girls and 2 counselors in our cabin, we all got really really close. The girl I had my devo with had a total "life story" as I would call it, and I kinda listened in shock as she told me what all she was going through. It really put my life into perspective.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to see how she was doing, like really doing. Not like the "hey, how are you" "i'm good, how are you" "i'm good" kinda conversations. I facebook messaged her tellin' her I was praying for her and asking how everything was going. This was like 2 weeks ago. I never got a reply back until today. I was sitting at JV Districts timing and my phone decided to go c-r-a-z-y. Well I get my facebook messages forwarded to my phone, and so when she replied it came through in like 10 different texts that had to be pieced together. I wasn't able to do it right then because I was trying to time and do the time-board and time-sheet and going through piecing together text messages wasn't going to happen.

When I got home today I immediately went to read her message, and was once again in total shock. She was going through a lot, but at one point she said something similar to 'as much as I don't like him, God calls us to love everybody, including our enemies' and she had put part of the "love is patient, love is kind" verse in her message. I was in disbelief, she was going through so much but she was still able to see what God wanted her to do.

Next time I want to get mad at somebody, or yell, or do whatever I feel like to somebody I don't like or don't get along with, I'm going to remember what my friend from camp said, and that God calls us to love everybody. Not just our friends, but everybody.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." --1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Sweet and Sour

How can one day be so "sweet" and "sour" at the same time?

SWEET: Swimming is going okay, taper means super easy practices and getting out early. We get extra long time to take a shower and get ready in the morning, which is always something to be happy about. The cat-fight Halie and I had this morning was fun; hair dryers, loud music, Kidz-Bop, yelling and screaming were all included and made this morning's locker room entertainment semi-interesting while it lasted. There is only 5 more morning practices till districts, also a "sweet" thing. Bible Study was amazing last night with the dog-pile at the end. I'm even starting to understand the comparisons between Star Wars and Christianity. Oh, and to finish off the "sweets" I got my braces off yesterday!

SOUR: Which happens to lead to the "sours". They were off for a total of maybe 3 minutes, and then I got them put BACK on. And now my mouth hurts and I'm really hungry but it hurts to eat. Been living on apple juice it seems. Took 15 minutes to eat a single pop-tart this morning.. SOO frustrating! Let's see, school is killing me; pre-cal makes no sense whatsoever. Well, it makes sense I guess, but makes no sense in comparison to life. What the focuses of a ellipse are.. yeah, I'm PRETTY sure I'm going to use that everyday for the rest of my life. And physics is just dumb. And we're writing this English essay, um yeah, not workin' out too well. Homework is piling up, which means the hours of sleep are dwindling down.

Now, for the ultimate "sour" of today. Somebody put "sweet and sour" sauce all over the back-end of my truck today! They even put it in piles under my tires so that I had to drive through it to get out of the parking lot. When you're already havin' a rotten day, that is just exactly what you wanna see when you get to your truck. It's all cleaned out now though, but still, who would do that? SOO frustrating!!

Now off to do homework then go to swim practice then come home and do some more homework. Then sleep! Hopefully today gets "sweeter" instead of "sourer"

ClayClay

"The angels are always near to those who are grieving, to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God."

It's been 3 months Clay, but you will never leave our hearts. We miss you buddy.

Here's a video I made full of pictures other people had forwarded me.

"The more boys I meet, the more I love my dog" --Carrie Underwood

There's a line in the Carrie Underwood song The More Boys I Meet that goes like this, " and the more boys I meet the more I love my dog". And it's SOOO true! I love my amazing puppy :)

It was a gorgeous sunshine-y day outside this afternoon so after driving home loving the radio turned up and the windows rolled down, I took my puppy outside for some Kylie-KJ time. It was SO awesome! We ran and rolled in the grass and I took pictures.






Hope ya'll can get out and enjoy the warm, sunshine-filled, God given, beautiful day today! OH, and the sunset's have been GORGEOUS lately too :)

Is it really 4:15 and I'm done with my homework??

I don't believe this. The clock on my computer says 4:16. And my homework is done?? I didn't even get home early, I stayed and talked with Denise for a little while after school. And I enjoyed the drive home from school with the wind blowing through my hair and KSBJ blaring (not too too loud though.. :)).I didn't rush through my homework either. I've ate a snack, messed around on facebook, twiddled with a blog thing. But, I'm d-o-n-e with my homework! It's miraculous.

Typically I get done with my homework around like 10:30 or 11 once I get home with swimming. Never, ever before. I guess it helps when I'm ahead in apush, didn't have pre-cal because we had a test on Friday, and did physics in class. But still, I'm d-o-n-e!!

Going to help Daddy with dinner or just chill, then go to swim practice (first night of taper = excitement!!!). Probably re-painting my nails after practice tonight then going to bed early and taking advantage of this no-homework business!!

Hmm... I just realized I have to have 1/2 a page of "doodling" done for art tomorrow. Oh well, that's mindless homework. I'll take that anyday! (And can totally do that while listening to the radio tonight while lying in bed!, not bad at all :))

Swimmin for that little girl

I'm going on my 14th year competitively swimming. It's been my whole life for quite some time. I've always loved it, how else could I have put up with it for over 4/5 of my life? Things have started changing though, and I'm not loving it like I used to. I've really been debating whether or not I'll even swim for Cy-Falls next year.

I hate that I don't love the sport like I used to. I remember when I'd rather be at swim practice than with friends, when I'd be upset if I missed a practice, when all I wanted to do was swim. I honestly loved it.

I love the silence as the starter says "take your mark", and how the second the beep goes off, it erupts with noise again. I love the calmness of a flip turn compared to the mad rush the second you break the surface. I love how you spend so much time with your team, that you honestly become a family. I love the way you can dislike your coach so much for the 2 hours and 15 minutes you are in the water, but love them to death the second you finish warm down. I love the feeling after you take off your goggles and cap and dunk your head, and realizing you are done. I love the way you feel after you finished a really hard practice, and know that you did it. But I don't love to swim like I used to.

This season has been a long one, and a not so pleasant one either. High school swimming has kinda burned me out, which is a real bummer. That's why I'm debating what my plans are for next year. I'll definitely swim Team YES, I don't know how I couldn't, but as for high school swimming, it's up in the air.

Districts are just around the corner, literally. 12 more days, I think. The planning has already begun: pasta dinner, breakfast the morning of, decorations for the pool, food for the meet excreta excreta. We're so close to being done.

So as much as I wanna say to myself "it's just one day then you're done. The day doesn't really matter anyway. Just don't care about it, and it'll all be over", I just can't. I don't quit something I start. I've put in too much time and dealt with too much since practice started in September. I'm not giving up now. I'm going to go to districts, swim my heart out and do my best. Giving it 110%, and not swimming halfheartedly (I thought about saying what Coach Denny would say here, but figured it's not too appropriate, HA!).

There's this quote I found a long time ago. There are two versions I like:

"I swim for that little 5 year old girl who jumped in the water on her first day of practice and forgot to bring her heart back out with her after-wards"

"Somewhere behind the hours of practice, the coaches who've pushed you, and the swimmer you've become, there is the little girl who fell in love with the sport and never looked back. . . Swim for HER!!"

So that's what I'm doing. Swimming for that little girl that fell in love with the sport when she was only three.