September Adventures

Bringing the waterproof camera of course.:)

Some of my dad's birthday cake.YUM.

I adore this paint I got for free, thanks to Katie.

A stormy Friday night that inspired me.

I tried to use my sunglasses as a filter.meh...

Patrick and Ty, looking classy.:D

Brooke and Patrick.

Some of Downtown during Erin's senior photoshoot.

A helicopter during a football game.

A picture of my yard I took while studying.

A flower acquired during an adventure at the park. It looks like the one from Horton Hears A Who. :)

Here is us at the park.Ty, Brooke, Jackie, Sydney, me, and Patrick. We got lunch after church and had a picnic at the park. And yes, we are on a dragonfly. (Photo by Lauren!)

I decided it would be a good idea to take a picture via sunroof. Yes.

Emma, hanging out

Mirror pics.:)

The girls a-working hard at math.

View from football stadium!

I got these leggings and they are like leg sweaters.<3 br="br">

Homecoming, Take Two?

The gang:Patrick, me, Katie, Hailey, Amanda, Sarah, Michelle.

Stud. I love this picture!:D

Inside joke we remembered to do, NER POSE!

Hailey and Amanda, they were dates to the dance.:)

Patrick smirking as Sarah, Michelle, and Katie laugh.

Michelle & Sarah, also dates.:)

This was the second homecoming I attended this year. This was the one at my school, which was themed This Is It (Michael Jackson). It was fun. Patrick and I were the only boy-girl couple in our group. My friends assumed they wouldn't get asked, so they just had fun asking each other.:) We ate some yummy  food, went to the football game, won, and went to the dance. It was a fantastic night.:)

How are you today?:)

Chasing The Storm

I believe in the rain.I believe in the wind too. I believe in thunder and lightning and dark clouds. Since last Friday night, I believe that storms are good.

Friday was a bad day.Almost everything that could go wrong, did. It started out with waking up late and rushing off to school in a hurry. I didn’t get a chance to talk with my counselor about my future plans for college like the rest of the seniors did, which disappointed me.
From then on, I began to worry greatly about my future, seeing as I had no clue what I want to do with my life. I don’t know where I want to go to college or what classes to take . With many of my friends making grand plans of becoming nurses,going to great, big schools far away, and having a general inkling of what they want to become, I feel like an idiot when I still can’t say what I want to be.

I carried this worry with me throughout the school day, and it weighed me down lower and lower to the ground as I walked into my home. I was wasting my time on Tumblr when all of a sudden, the lights were gone.My computer lit the room, but I shut it down anyway. I walked to the living room where my mom and brother were searching for a flashlight. I lit a candle in my room and my mom soon announced that she and my brother would be going for a little drive to a place with power because my brother was scared of the dark. So they left and I was alone in the storm. Alone, but not lonely. I feel at peace when I’m home alone.

I sat at my window and watched the storm by candlelight as it passed. The rain fell in sheets of differing intensities and the trees danced before me as the leaves fled off into the street. I didn’t have enough light to do my homework, so I got this unfamiliar push to start filming with my Nikon. So I did. I love to take pictures and even if I’m in pain, photography can be a great release. I began to tell the camera of all my fears and growing panic about my non-existent future plans. About how I can’t afford college and where I would even go. To document my feeling at this time and during other hard times.

As I was rambling on, I paused to look out at the storm. When I did, I saw that it had stopped raining. Of all the leaves on the tree, not one was moving in this quiet moment. I felt that I was not alone and knew that through this, God was trying to tell me something. Then I remembered something I had read in my Bible earlier that week. “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Then in a huge rush of a wind inside me and the beating of my heart, I realized that it didn’t matter what I was or wasn’t planning, it was what He was planning. All I need to do is look for God and truly take time to be still, even when storms like I had seen and felt that day were raging. I saw the words “Just take it one day at a time”, flash across my mind. I had the answer I was looking for. I didn’t know that the answer I needed was not to be found in a college or career path. And I am so thankful for that. And all of this happened because of a really bad Friday.

So yes, I believe that storms are good. It brought me to surrender the control I thought I had over my life. I feel that my deepest gladness is when I am with other people, especially working with children. I have no idea where God will take me with that passion, or with my passion of capturing mere seconds of life with my camera. But I do know that it will be very, very good. Now, I am along for the ride, to chase the storm.


[This is an essay I wrote for my Composition class and I thought I would share it with you.Props if you made it this far, majorly.You are awesome:)]

Rolling on a River

Matt trying to lie own and relax in the van. He's just too tall.

Yay, we got the flat tire off!:D

Nothing better than being serenaded by Izzey on the highway (sarcasm)

Fire:)

Cool smoke.

Emilee is beautiful.(Photos of her by Isaac/Izzey)

Deflating the air mattress is a team sport.

Mallory and Ivy under the waterfall!

Titanic!:D

Getting ready to push off!

Marilyn and Megan!

Lauren being happy.:)

Buying "protection" with cherry Twizzlers

The float tip was so fun and went a LOT smoother than last year. I hope you have gone canoeing before with good friends, and if you haven't, I hope you do someday.:)

Homecoming 2012!

This is our whole group! We looked spiffy.

Lauren and I's dates left us for each other.(Not really, best friends do that sometimes.) :)

Lauren and Isaac, the couple from this post.

Matt and Jordan!

Patrick and I. He wore a bow tie. Major win.:)

Of course, we made more weird faces than "normal" ones.

=D

Me and Jordan, fellow seniors and guests to this dance.

Lauren and I, fellow guests and wearers of one-shouldered red dresses.

Sydney and Austin!

All the girls (or grrrs) Courtney, Me, Sydney, Lauren, and Jordan!

And all the boiiis, being their natural selves. Patrick, Matt, Austin, Isaac, and Danny.=D

Sydney and I, fellow seniors.:)

These are some of my best-est friends. I had a fun time taking pictures with them,(My dad gets credit for most of these) eating out at a fancy restaurant (Bacon wrapped shrimp, er.mer.GERSH), and dancing like a dork with them. Not pictured is Melissa and Ty, who couldn't come for pictures, but they both looked snazzy too. :)

After we went out for ice cream, and went to Sydney's to watch the lovely 1st episode of Sherlock. I got home at about 1:30 a.m., but it was a fun night. This wasn't my school's homecoming, but I look forward to going to that one with Patrick too. :)

I think I may start planning posts better and expect a new post soon! Hope your October will be full of fun, leaves, and pumpkin flavored things.<3 p="p">