30 Random Facts

So, this 7th grade girl tagged me in a note on Facebook that had 30 random facts about herself and I was told to do it too and tag 30 people. I really don't want to put it on Facebook and annoy people with tagging 30 of them, so I figure my blog is a good place to list off my life instead. Here goes nothing...!

1. I make A LOT of lists. Have you noticed?
2. I think I could very well live at my church. Jesus, friends, family, large kitchen...
3. Jesus is the only thing/person I live for. There's nothing else worth breathing for.
4. Reading is one of the only tangible things that gets my through life. Without fictional worlds, I couldn't survive the real one.
5. If I could write for the rest of my life and not have to have any other responsibilities, I would be set. Write, write, write.
6. Music is what I need. Silence is SO not okay.
7. The awkward little toe next to my pinky toe is oddly disfigured.
8. I'm always hungry. It's a curse.
9. Ice cream makes the world go 'round
10. I've been to 5 other countries besides the US: England (briefly), The Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, and Kenya
11. VRBC Kenya trip 2010: most epic mission trip of my LIFE. I love all of you guys.
12. I love middle schoolers. They're great.
13. Llamas are my favorite animal.
14. I'm a horrible dancer. So, naturally, I do it all the time.
15. I secretly wish that I have superpowers.
16. I get hooked on book series all too easily.
17. Some of my favorite people are fictional.
18. I find my life funny. Life is so much better when you think about how funny it is.
19. I'm a Facebook addict. It's embarrassing.
20. Math is not my friend. Never has and never will.
21. Texas A&M is my DREAM school. I love it. GIG 'EM.
22. The first Whataburger was on my great-grandfather's property.
23. I recently found out that my grandfather was kind of a spy.
24. I'm allergic to Opti-Free contact solution.
25. My skype username, blog name, and Twitter name are all the same.
26. Bugs don't scare me--if I can squish it, I'm okay. However, snakes terrify me.
27. I LOVE THE TEXAS RANGERS. Life-long fan. What can I say?
28. Chinese food is my favorite.
29. My favorite song right now is "All of Creation" by MercyMe
30. I make lots of strange noises and say the word "janky" a lot.

Thar ya goe.

So take me out to the ballgame...

Can I just say one thing before I launch into the meat of the post?



I've been a Rangers fan since I was probably seven years old. I remember going to that ballpark as a dorky little kid. And this season and last year's season, I followed them almost relentlessly. No, I'm not a bandwagon fan. No, I didn't get sucked up into the excitement just to have something exciting in my life. I have loved, do love, and will always love the Rangers. Just thought I'd clear that up for ya. Now here's my rant re WORLD SERIES 2010.



CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? THE TEXAS RANGERS ARE THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS (beat the spankees to do it...no big deal or anything...) AND ARE HEADED TO THEIR FIRST EVER WORLD SERIES.



Ohhhhhhh my goodness. And not only are the Rangers going, but I got to see the game that sent them to the World Series. Yes, all you other fans (real fans, not bandwagon ones), I was there. At the Ballpark in Arlington. Here's a list of what made the game the most epic game in all of Ranger history to date:



1. It was raining. Now, I know that doesn't SOUND like a bunch of fun, but talk about an experience! I'm sitting next to my brother and mom in my Josh Hamilton t-shirt, jeans, and Pine Cove hat and the rain is coming down. So. Epic.
2. There were these extremely drunk guys. I can't lie--I have a weird obsession with watching drunk people because of the endless entertainment they provide. One of them walked past me several times and always had to hold onto my shoulder so he wouldn't fall. Once he stepped on my foot and apologized multiple times. Another time he just patted my arm. Awkward. The best though, was when he just stood up and started going, "Beeeeeeeeeeeer, beeeeeeeer, BEER, BEER, BEER!" Tanner and I just kind of looked at each other and laughed. Drunk people make events that much better due to their hilariousness.
3. Pine Cove was represented! I took a picture with PC staffers and am now in the running to possibly win a free Winterfest! Exciting. And I saw one of my old counselors and hugged her. Good times.
4. The only homer was scored by your boy Nelly Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz.
5. The yanks messed up AGAIN and walked Josh Hamilton. Then big bad Vlad gets up and knocks the ball way into the outfield. Josh Hamilton and I think Nelly score. The yanks had a bad habit of intentionally walking people and then getting into trouble because of it. Nicely done, Joe Girardi. Way to plan.
6. Words do not express how happy I was when Alex Rodriguez (who I call A-Roid) was booed mercilessly whenever his name was called. He is basically hated in Texas. When my mom asked, I told her that I'd rather kiss Vlad Guerrero than A-Roid. That's saying something. The best thing ever though? Top of the ninth. 2 outs. A-Roid is up to bat. The Rangers' kid closer, Neftali Feliz, is pitching. The count is 1 ball and 2 strikes. The potential last pitch is thrown. Roid swings...and misses. Still playing with kids, A-Roid? Muahahaha.
7. DOG PILE ON THE MOUND. Of course, Benjie gets there first, basically attacking Feliz, and then the whole Rangers team jumps on everyone. Craziest thing ever. The stands are going NUTS. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs. Fireworks are going off. Confetti is everywhere. It was deafening. I'm almost crying. My real boys of fall were going to the World Series for the first time ever.
8. Josh Hamilton won the American League MVP. When he was interviewed, the first thing out of his mouth was "I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Naturally, almost the whole stadium went crazy again. I was nearing tears again. He talked about how tight the team was. And, for those of you who don't know Hamilton's amazing story, here's a quick recap: he was majorly into drugs and alcohol. Then he was kicked out of the MLB. Then he got cleaned up and accepted Christ. Now he's the American League MVP. So the Rangers, to honor Hamilton's recovery, shook up bottles of Mountain Dew instead of alcohol and sprayed it everywhere. How cool is that team?

So, it was the best game of my life. Ever. I'll remember it FOREVER. Epic beyond words.

Word to Cliff Lee:
Please, please, PLEASE do not go to New York. Do not play for the Yankees. The Rangers can (and, if they do what's smart, will) pay for you. You're closer to your family based in Arkansas than you've ever been. I'm sure you heard, but the Yankees' cheating Nick Swisher had a very explictive-filled statement about you. You really want to play with that? Honestly? Yeah, the Yankees are good. But they're also hated by just about everyone who isn't a Yankees fan. That's a lot of people. And think about your fans. Think about Texas. It's taken you to a World Series. Think about how much of a unit your team is. The Rangers have it all. They have speed, hitters, catchers, and they need to keep their solid weapon: you. So, Cliff Lee, after this season, you'll need to make a choice. Imagine if money weren't an issue. Would you rather stick with the Rangers (close to home, a great team, coherent unit, etc) or play for the Yankees (nasty, cheating, hated, etc)? The age of the Yankees is ending. It's time for a new champion. A Texas-sized champion.

So, baseball fans, here are my last few thoughts of the night: keep your claws up, your antlers on, prepare for the World Series, and GO RANGERS.

Jesus>Frankenstein

Yeah, I'm supposed to be reading Frankenstein right now. And, for all you literarily (yes, I realize that "literarily" is not a word) ignorant people out there, Frankenstein was the DUDE who made the monster, who was pretty much only referred to as "The Creature". Frankenstein=scientist. Creature=green thing with the block head. Anyway, that's my old English lit soapbox. I'll get off of it now.

So, sort of in the same area of old English, every time I hear this hymn, I want to write it down. So it's written down about three or four times in different notebooks. The first line is always the one that makes me smile. Here's the song:
I hear the Savior say
'Thy strength indeed is small; child of weakness, watch and pray, find in me thine all-in-all'
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
(a few more verses)
Bridge: Oh praise the ONE who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead (repeat lotsa times)

The first few lines, about the Savior calling me weak and small, somehow never loses it's "WOW" factor for me. I've always loved that line. And for me it's this...

I'm one of those people who likes to pretend she can do pretty much anything regardless of what might be intended for her. I'm not really so much a go-getter as I am a "Oh yeah, I can do that. Easy." kind of person. It's a pride thing. I think that I can do everything all by myself. So when I'm told that my strength is small and that I'm weak, you would think that it wouldn't really go over all too well. But I weirdly like that phrase. Maybe because it ends with redemption. "Find in me thine all-in-all."

Of course, I have to watch and pray before I can go anywhere with my small strength. Watching implies waiting. Waiting means I need patience. Patience is not something that I'm overflowing with. And I do pray--like all the time. It's almost as natural as breathing. And I'm really glad that God doesn't get tired of me and my constant talking. I pray for things like patience but mostly I just...talk to God. About my life, about my friends' lives, about all my book angst, about church, about school, telling him that my stomach monster is demanding more food (I'm convinced that when I eat, I have a small monster in my stomach, named Robert, who eats everything so that's why I'm always hungry.)

Praying? Easy, schmeasy. Watching? Eh, not so much. I want to find my everything in Christ so that He can provide His strength so I won't be a "child of weakness" but that leads me back to the whole patience issue. Kind of a vicious cycle when you get down to it. I owe Christ so much more than my life, but since that's pretty much all I've got to give, that's what He gets. Most of the time. When I'm not being controlling. Which I have a tendency to be.

But regardless of my control and patience problems, He paid my ransom. Sin held me at gunpoint and Christ staked out and eventually got me from my chains. My debt to Him is unpayable because He picked me up and will one day carry me home. How do you repay someone after they save your life? Especially if that someone already has everything? You don't. Not fully. You give your life to them if you're really dedicated. If you really mean it when you say "Thank you".

Why save us? He loves us. That's pretty much the only reason. So I'm forever His. What else can I possibly be?

"And we are His portion and He is our pride. Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes. If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking."

Oh, hello angst. Welcome back to my brain.

Today is the end of October 14th, 2010. Two days ago, Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero came out. Yes, I bought it the day of. Except my reading was a little delayed because I grabbed the old debit card so I had to go back home and get the new one and come back and get my book. Barnes and Noble is kind of out of the way but I will literally go through any lengths to get my hands on a book that I want. Except for maybe give away my first born child. Depends on the book, I guess.

Totally kidding.

Anyway, when I got home, I basically holed myself up in my room for the duration of the day. Well, I had to watch the Rangers game (that rant will come in a post probably tomorrow) and eat dinner. But I still got a solid 150 pages into the book. On Wednesday, I got about 3/4ths of the way. My mom got mad at me because I wouldn't talk to her and just wanted to read. Sorry for being literate, Mom! I'm so misunderstood. Ugh.

But today, I finished it. I'm rather proud of myself actually. I figured out so much! Yay for being an attentive reader! Hopefully I can apply those skills to Frankenstein.

This is going to be an extreme spoiler post. If you have an interest in the book(s) whatsoever, DO NOT READ. Holly and Alex, if you're reading this and haven't finished the book yet, leave now.

Here's a nice list of events of the book and my reaction to them:
1. Leo, son o' Hephaestus (the god of the forges), was witty, smart, cunning, and the comic relief. He was everything and more that I expected him to be. He's a human torch--both immune to fire and can create it from his very fingers. I thought that was pretty dang awesome.
2. Piper, daughter of...Aphrodite. GASP! She is sooooo not the glitzy girly type at all. She's strong and smart and sassy. A vital part of being part of an earth-saving quest. She had her great funnies too, like how she named the zit on her nose Bob. So amusing. Her big problem though? Her dad has been captured. And the only way she can get him back is by having Leo and Jason killed. She gets her dad back and the boys live, but they almost don't. Scary, scary stuff.
3. Jason. Hot, amazing, totally confused, Jason. He had no memory because it was stolen by a goddess. Things would come back to him though. Things that were true about the gods but he put them in a Roman perspective, calling the gods by their Roman names, as opposed to their Greek ones. Oh, and another thing about Jason? His sister, Thalia, is a MAJOR player in the first Olympians series. Except she is a daughter of Zeus. He is a daughter of Jupiter. No difference? Oh yes there is.
4. The gods have both Greek and Roman forms. Greek gods liked to meddle with humanity. They're more personal and more involved in their demigod's lives. Roman gods are all about discipline and strength. Basically, Thalia and Jason's mom was first swooned by Zeus and all his earthly involvement. And then again by Jupiter and all his formality. Jason and Thalia were seperated because they couldn't live together when their dads were the same but different. Supre confusing, I know. But apparently Greek and Roman demigods have a bloody past. And Jason and Thalia are going to be major players in bridging the gap.
5. Hera. Or Juno, her Roman name. She took Jason's memory. And plopped him in Camp Half-Blood--the Greek demigod camp. He knows he doesn't belong there. And Hera keeps appearing to him, telling him to save her. And he does. But she also sort of brings back the bane of Olympus on accident. Whoops. Well done, Queen of Olympus.
6. The big, inevitable danger? Giants. GIANT giants. Being released from the Underworld. Because of Mother Earth, Gaea. She has been "asleep" for eons and is stirring. In ancient mythology, after Kronos was defeated, there was another almost-collapse of Olympus. It was because Gaea, Earth essentially, was revolting against the gods. She created the giants, each with a job to destroy one of the gods. The only way the gods won was because demigod and god joined forces. Now, because Kronos has been destroyed, the part two of Operation: Destroy Olympus is going down.
7. So what about Jason? Why the memory swipe? Remember how I said there were Greek demigods and Roman demigods? Hera plucked Jason out of his Roman demigod camp and placed him at the Greek one to hopefully bring the two sets of demigods together. But it can't be a one-sided deal, right? Someone from our beloved Camp Half-Blood must go to the Roman one. Someone that I read about and practically watched grow up (in a fictional sort of way) had had their memory erased and was now in the Roman camp.

And that someone was Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus in the last go-around.

Can I just boast and tell you that I called it? I SO called that exchange. Just like I called how it was Gaea who was the source of the problems. Just like I called how Thalia and Jason were siblings. So, I win. Except not really. But kind of.


Dear Angst,

I haven't missed you but make yourself at home. You'll be in the back of my mind until NEXT October, when the next book comes out. And I predict that it will be from the Roman camp's perspective, with Percy being your puzzle. Of course, I'll already know everything about him--but that just might make it more frustrating. But I can pretty much guarentee that it will center around Percy. So you can run and tell that, homeboy, homeboy, home, home, homeboy.

Miracles don't always have to include walking on water.

You would think by the time that I hit 18 (almost 19) years of age, I would have figured out that God is in complete and absolute control of my life and knows EXACTLY what is going to happen to me, when it will happen, how I'll be taken care of, and so on and so forth. But every time some milestone in my life (and not necessary what many people would constitute as a "milestone") occurs and I'm just like "Wow! Thanks, God!", I am totally surprised that something worked out that I wasted so much time worrying about. The only way I can define these crazy occurances would to be putting them under the catagory of "miracle".

Don't worry; I have an example to cover this new epiphany.

I'm over a year older than most of the people in my grade and even older than a lot of people in the grade above me. So I've kind of gravitated to the older grade, the class of 2010. That's where I put all my social marbles, if you will. I hung out with them on the weekends, we had sleepovers, sat next to each other during football games, etc. They were my confidants and my best friends. Well, all throughout junior year, I was torn. I knew that I would be socially inept when August rolled around and everyone who I hung out with moved away to start a new chapter of their lives. I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible because I knew that I had a limited amount of it. But then again, I had to think about the future of where I'll be in a year with no super close friend(s) to be with on Friday nights. And it stressed me out to no end.

Let's get deep here, shall we?

I would sit in my room and cry because I was sick to my stomach about not having a social life my senior year of high school. In June, my friends graduated but I still had the summer with most of them. Then everyone left...and I felt more alone than I've ever felt in my life. So I poured into the middle school ministries both in my church and in the community, hoping that God could occupy my mind with befriending and loving them so I wouldn't be able to think about my own looming problems. In a way, my middle school ministry was simply a selfish distraction to pull me away from my stressful world. But it has quickly turned into something way more noble and God-honoring than that. And I'm embarrassed about my initial intentions.

But all of that has changed.

Firstly, God used middle school ministry to get me closer to people my age who were also leaders. Don't get me wrong--I love the middle schoolers. They are so wonderful and full of energy and just straight up hilarious. But the leaders I have been put with have also pulled me into a fellowship ministry that we can embrace together. We can praise God and work with those in the younger grades. Can it get any better?

Secondly, God has taken on a role of the wise old man for me. He's shaking his finger at me, saying, "I told you! You should've listened to me! I said everything was going to be okay and that you didn't need to worry! But did you worry anyway? Yes! So here's me chastizing you for not having complete faith in me! But it's still okay. I still love you. And I'm going to make that so obvious that there's no way you can call yourself a follower of me and not see it." My social life, to sound shallow, is ten times more than it was last year. Every weekend for the past 7 weeks has had SOME activity with friends. Godly friends. Friends who I turn to when I'm stuck and need advice.

Friday night I was going to get food from a local restaurant for my sister, my mom, and me. I was just planning on staying home that night because I had the SAT in the morning and no one had called or texted me to see if we wanted to do anything. So I get in my car and about halfway to the restaurant, I checked my phone and had a missed call from a semi-good friend of mine. She didn't leave a message and the call was just 10 minutes ago, so I called her back. She wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with her and another one of our newer friends and try out this new yogurt place. Of course, I said yes and that I'd call her after I'd eaten dinner.

This song came on the radio right after I hung up. Here are part of the lyrics of the chorus: "God's got his hand on you so never get up hope; you're gonna do great things--I already know." I kid you not--on 121's access road, I started crying. All the wasted time worrying last year was all for not because God's hand is on me because it never left me. I'd just forgotten it was there. And forgetting that will lead to losing hope. And when I lose hope...well, you end up sitting in your room alone because you feel like "all" of your friends just took their diplomas, packed up, and bailed on you.

And even though I know that isn't true and I still frequently talk to all of my collegiate friends, it was MORE than a blessing to know that God already planned for this to happen for me; it's a miracle. It was just His way of reminding me that He was there. Always.

"You called and you SHOUTED. Broke through my deafness. Now I'm breathin' in, breathin' out; I'm alive again. You shattered my DARKNESS. Washed away my blindness. Now I'm breathin' in, breathin' out. I'm alive again." --Alive Again by Matt Maher

These are a few of my favorite things...

I feel like being really optimistic right now. So here's a nice list of everything that makes me feel happy.

1. Friends
2. Puppies (cornball, I know. But they're so dang cute!)
3. Baseball
4. Football
5. Days that are sunny with a high of 75 (thank you, Relient K)
6. Rainy days (I'm kind of quirky, okay?)
7. Long weekends
8. Sleeping in
9. Meaningful conversations
10. Being a total goofball
11. No-commericial Mondays on 106.1 Kiss FM
12. Worship time at 180
13. Laughing until my stomach and back hurt
14. When the Yankees lose
15. Sonic Happy Hour
16. Texas A&M University
17. Making people laugh
18. Being quirky
19. Lazy summer days
20. My church
21. Staying in touch with friends
22. Writing. Writing, writing, writing.
23. Facebook (I'm a social butterfly)
24. Funny things
25. When people hiccup only once very loudly
26. When people "like" my Facebook status
27. Riding my bike
28. Pine Cove
29. Singing (Yes, I'm a terrible singer. I do it anyway.)
30. The Texas Rangers
31. Iamsecond.com (Look it up--I dare you.)
32. Being a student teacher with one of my favorite people
33. BOOKS. (I'm OBSESSED with books.)
34. New books
35. TYPING IN ALL CAPS
36. Having long conversations that floooooow
37. Not being a good flirter
38. Friday nights
39. Coke-a-Cola
40. Witty friends
41. Classes with good people in them
42. Baked goods
43. Ending lists on awkward numbers.

Hope you enjoyed that. :)

I don't want anything left

So, here's something that I've wanted to blog about before but just sort of forgot about it. Sorry. But here it is now...

At the Disciple Now weekend my church does every year, someone made the point that they want to get to Heaven and say "God, I used everything that you gave me to glorify You." That struck an extreme chord with me. I mean, I really liked it. A lot. And found it really interesting and challenging.

Imagine if you did EVERYTHING to glorify God. Everything between breathing to driving to talking to people to your hobbies. If I did everything I could to praise God, I would act soooo differently than how I do now. For example, I hate it when people pass me when I drive. It drives me nuts. I can't lie--I normally go about five over the speed limit. Sometimes more. So when people zoom past me, they're over ten at least. And I always secretly hope that there's a cop close by. Most of time there isn't. So, as my revenge on these people for passing me, I get as close as possible at the next stop sign or stop light behind them, just to make them mad. It's rude, I know. But that's just what I do. And it is NOT God-honoring by any means.

On the flipside, if everything I wrote praised God, it would be one of two things: super impactful or super corny. Now, I feel like my writing is somewhere in the middle. Verging on corny but could also help someone--even if that someone is myself. Some people have made awesome careers on writing about their faith. Donald Miller and Francine Rivers, to name just two. I doubt I'll be anything like them, but you never know. But I also realize that I don't have to write about God to glorify Him. I can just not have questionable stuff in my books. No inappropriate scenes or innuendos. No bad language. No questionable scenarios. Mention my love of God in the "About the Author" section. It's simply a matter of keeping it clean but also keeping it modern and relevant. It's a challenge but I would be praising my God with my talent for writing.

All aspects of my life should be dedicated to the Lord. But they're not. Unfortunately. I'm still praying that I can use everything I've got to praise the one who should be praised. I want to stand in front of Him with my arms out and say, "I used it all for you. I've got nothing left."