HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY JULIAN! 

You awesome nephew you...

turn that frown upside down!

Yes, I just used that expression, sue me. 

I just thought I'd throw that in there for free. I found it on facebook....


If there are three things that make me happy, they are 1. The Gospel, 2. Music, specifically Men singing a Capella, and 3. Tea. Sure there are a million and three more, but those are definitely at the top. Let's start with the first.

1. The Gospel! I'm just gonna give it to ya straight. First of all God IS....Second of all, God is HOLY, aka perfect, without fault, set apart. He created us out of LOVE. We are SINNERS, aka not-perfect, full of faults, wordly. God tells us not to sin, we do it anyways. Since we sinned we can't get to God or heaven. EVER. Not by ourselves anyways. So what did God do? He knew this was gonna happen. He sent his son, JESUS. Why? Because he LOVES us. He sent his HOLY son, JESUS (I already explained holy) to DIE on the cross, a horrible death, in OUR PLACE. So that we wouldn't have to be punished for our sin. God sent his wrath on Jesus. The price had to be payed, why? Remember, God is HOLY, meaning he is JUST, and sin must be punished. If we were to have our punishment, we would die. THE END...........

NOT

 GOOD News Flash. He didn't. He punished Jesus instead, here's the best part, HE DIDNT STAY DEAD! Jesus defeated death, rose back from the grave and went back home to heaven, where he is preparing a place for us. Did you read that? A place FOR US! in HEAVEN! Where we will get to be with God FOREVER. Now if that amazing story doesn't make you want to leap for joy...I'll pray for you. :D

By GRACE we have been SAVED

2. MUSIC! specifically men singing A Capella. aka A Capella boy bands (thats for you a.) So I was on Pandora the other day listening to my Ingrid Michaelson/Jack Johnson station, just chillin along, when Straight No Chaser came on, an A Capella band of all men. It was an "I'm yours/Over the Rainbow" mash. I wanted to dance, cry, leap for joy, marry them, anything, all at once. It was so beautiful. Here's my favorite so far.

 

Wasn't that beautiful? Look them up, they do a bunch of great songs

3. Tea. when I say Tea, I'm thinking, "steaming hot cup of," not "southern sweet." For some reason there is nothing else that I enjoy as much as a good cup of tea. Ice cream is a close second. I could go on for ever but I don't want to bore you to tears. Let's just say that I'm always in the mood for tea. The reason being there are SO MANY different kinds. If I want to relax, I drink an herbal, like peppermint or chamomile. If I want a little jolt to get me moving, lemon ginger or chai, If I ate a ton of pizza and want to feel better about myself, I drink some green tea. That isn't the best part though, the best part is all the different combinations of tea.

These are teas that I bought at the Renaissance Festival. The one on the left is called Renaissance tea and the one on the right is called Tudors tea. Both use totally different herbs, from peppermint to anise (the stuff they put in pumpernickel bread!) But they are both crazy good.




Now that I consider myself a real tea drinker, I want to start making my own blends and seeig how they turn out. whatever the case, no matter what kind, hot or iced (but not super sweet), tea makes me happy, or happier at least.

If you don't have something that keeps you going when times are hard, or life is just plain boring/depressing, I suggest you find it. When I read my Bible, drink some tea, or listen to music, my life suddenly seems a lot better than I thought. :)

praises!

I have a really awesome friend. Her name is katie and this is her blog. http://www.katethegreattakesthebait.blogspot.com/.
About two weeks or so ago she started this 10,00 reasons to praise God movement which I think is really cool. I'm not going to go into detail, that's what the link is for. I just wanted to tell you all of one that has to do with my blog.

Flavors!

If there is one thing we can thank God for is flavors.Like my pastor put it, God always gives us what we need and MUCH MORE. He could just give us gray tasteless paste that has all the nutrients we need for survival, but He doesn't. He has literally given us a whole world full of all different flavors. That, my friends, is one of the biggies on my list of praises. If you have other things to praise God about (which we do! Just start with your five senses), post them on her blog! Or here, I'll do it for you! I know she'd love to read them and add them to the list. Well that's all for tonight. I'm off to drink new tea! I'll let ya know if it's any good.

I do believe in...

Fairies????? Okay, maybe they aren't real, but that isn't really the point is it?


              It's about time I share with you the best book I've read, movie I've seen, and idea I've heard. EVER. The book? Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. The movie? Peter Pan, Well honestly I like the one with Jeremy Sumpter and Jason Isaacs the best. The idea? That it is possible to never grow up.

 

poster for the play I saw

I wasn't really  fan of Peter Pan (ha, that rhymed) until I saw the movie "Finding Neverland" which is the story of how Barrie came to write Peter Pan. I read the book because of the movie and loved it. Then I saw the movie Peter Pan (2003) and was hooked. (Oh man, I promise I'm not doing it on purpose). I've even seen it as a play, the way it was originally written. I've wondered why it didn't attract me when I was younger, and I figure it's because little kids don't care as much about growing up, and they don't think about it. So when a "grown up" or someone in the process, like me, hears a story of someone who never grew up, it fascinates them. Nowadays I feel like I'm growing up too fast, that life is coming at me and I have to be "responsible." However, Peter Pan isn't just about never growing up, to me it's about keeping the inner kid in you forever. At least, I think that's what Barrie meant it to be. Sure that sounds a little cliché, but when you think about it, how cool is that? Being a responsible adult, but still having fun like a kid. That means when you go "out" with your grown up friends, all responsible with the paying and the driving, you can still catch fireflies when you come home and admire them. It means taking notice of the little things in life and enjoying them, like a ladybug crawling on your window while you're paying the bills or when your friend accidentally makes a funny face (because now that we are all grown up, we aren't supposed to make silly faces on purpose). So when I say there aren't really fairies, that's the grown up in me talking, but that doesn't mean you can't pretend they exist. Peter's life was one big pretend, it's part of being a kid. There is something sad about Peter Pan, and the "narrator" mentions it in the book. It's the fact that Peter never grows up, so he will never experience all that comes with it, like family. Oh he has the lost boys, and they're grand, but even they grow up and leave Neverland. Peter has the bliss of forgetting those he loses, but when we look at it, it's quite tragic, no father or future sons. So take heart! It's not all bad growing up, it's just part of the fun. Just don't forget you can still  have fun while it's happening. J. M. Barrie and Wendy Darling did. Now I'm a huge fan. I've read the book several times, have the movie practically memorized, and thanks to my good friend Taylor, have an awesome "lost boys" shirt. When I think of England, I think of the Darlings, when I go to cubbies, of course the Lost Boys come to mind,  when walk in the walk the woods, I think of Neverland. So go ahead, enjoy whatever stage of life you're in, they all have their moments, but don't be like a fairy and only have room for one moment/feeling at a time.