"Ma Nature's lyrical with her yearly miracle...spring, spring, spring!!!"

....Okay, maybe not. But a girl can dream, right? This morning I woke up all comfy cozy in bed, and there was so much light coming in through my curtains that I thought for sure it was a sunny, spring-like day...my heart was warmed at the thought. A smile lit my face, as I was filled with thoughts of bright green grass, and warm breezes, and the smell of sunshine...I joyously hopped out of bed, ran to the windows, tore open the curtains and...

four inches of snow. Figures.

So I needed some springy inspiration today.

I cannot wait for the vibrant colors,

bare feet (or socked feet) on nice cool grass,

ice cream!! in a cone, of course ;)

comfy park benches on cool days,

dandelions that make me think of Belle,

green, green, green,

the world blooming into life again,

wearing skirts!,

reading outside again,

cozy golden-warm days,

the smell of lilacs,

God's incredible artwork,

warmth!,

magical, beautiful, wonderful days.

I know a lot of people who every year say something along the lines of "I'm moving to Florida!! I'm done with the snow!"

And while the snow can get tiresome as it piles up more and more by the minute...I'd never want to live in any other climate. Because without the dreariness of winter, there'd be no spring to look forward to...and what would life be without that?

:)

By the way...can any of you name what musical the title is from? If you can, I'll love you forever. But let's face it. I kind of already do ;D

why I don't read paranormal books anymore. (or watch anything spooky or violent).

~the following is a blog post from a blog I had for a short while before this one; this post is from March 18, 2010~

Dear Pastor “….”,

Well, my purpose for messaging you is that I wanted to tell you about the past couple of days in my life. During your sermon on Sunday, I found myself feeling very convicted...you see, for the past few years, I have been one of those teenage girls who was crazed about Twilight, and any book even remotely like it. For the past few months, I've been working to get closer to God: i've been praying and reading my Bible more than I ever have before, and I've really been feeling His presence in my life. And for a while now, i've just been ignoring just how much I was into those kinds of things: vampires, werewolves, the works. I've just ignored it, told myself "I don't believe in it, so its ok". But this past Sunday, I truly believe i felt God speaking to me, telling me that i need to not have those things in my life; that they were taking away from what i could have with Him. So, after i got home, i went though my bookshelves, filled some boxes. The next day after i got home from school, Emily and I went out to the backyard and had ourselves a little bonfire (don't worry, we were careful about it). She got rid of the few things that she felt weren't right, and i burned a total of 71 books. :) at first i thought, "why not just throw them away?" but then Emily and I both realized, why allow them to get into the hands of someone else? I told a friend about how we did this and she responded with "you do realize that you burned like, hundreds of dollars worth of books, don't you?" i simply nodded and smiled, and explained how i wasn't worried about the money at all....money is so...insignificant in the big scheme of things. i know that i did the right thing, and i must say: its an extremely refreshing feeling to know that those things; those somewhat simple items that really do send whispers of darkness into the minds of all who read them, whether those people realize it or not; those things no longer have a place in my life. Or at least not a place that i'm willing to give them.

I wanted to share this with you, and just let you know that God has truly been working in my life these past few months, and i'm so thankful for it. :)

-Lauren

This is a letter I sent to the pastor of our church just a few weeks ago. Basically, it’s a response to the sermon he’d preached earlier that week on “God in the Home”. He had a list of 7 things that hinder God in your home…somewhere down the list was the phrase “Occult Practices”; in the description of this point was “books and movies that glorify” the things that pertain to the occult: vampires, witchcraft, werewolves, etc… I believe you know where this is going ;). So, here are my thoughts on all of this; and a bit of further explanation:

Vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches…these things just don’t fit into the same picture as Jesus Christ. No. Not even Edward and Bella. I know! Le gasp! “But Edward’s a good vampire! He hates himself just for being a vampire!” Yes. And hey, kudos to him for that. I’m not being anti-Edward. I’m being anti-vampire. Twilight is a huge abnormality when it comes to the vampire image. In fact, I don’t know that I can think of any other story with a vampire whose goodness compares to that of Edward Cullen. No, besides this sparkly Romeo, every other image of a vampire that pops into my head (and unfortunately, there are far too many of these images) is just…horrible. When Twilight is taken out of the equation, the romance and happy moments disappear; all that’s left are images of darkness, the crimson red of blood, terrible ear-piercing screams…

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have these…lovely…things in my head if not for Twilight. I know, I know: “But Twilight has none of that!” No, it doesn’t. But to a 13 year old girl, it makes the whole idea of vampires seem glamorous: beauty that lasts forever, love that literally lasts for all of eternity…. For me, Twlight led to other things. Movies, books. Anne Rice, for example. Ah. Anne Rice. I actually still, to this day, get nauseous when I think back on reading The Vampire Lestat, which thankfully is the only Anne Rice novel I’ve read; I still feel disturbed by it today, 3 years after reading it.

Twilight began my own personal fascination with books that were based around anything occult-like; before Twilight, I was strictly a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants girl. But alas, at that 7th grade book-fair, the book with the somewhat odd cover made its way into my hands…thus beginning my journey of the next few years through dozens and dozens of books that really did nothing good for me.

What’s the point of this big rant about Twilight, you ask? Well, Twilight seems to be the one book that no one understands why I’d get rid of it. Well. As silly as it sounds, I can honestly look back and see for myself that that one single book has had a nice little impact on my life. And no. Not in a good way. My including Twilight and the rest of its series in that burnpile that day is really more of a symbolic thing for me, rather than an “I hate you Edward Cullen!! BURN!!!” thing. It’s me saying, “This is the best way I can think of to show that I really am letting go of this stuff: by getting rid of the real main source of it all. I’m ready.”

Ready for what? Ready to turn my eyes, my mind, my heart from these bits of darkness, however small they might’ve been, and give my all to focusing on my Lord and Savior. Yes, we may have been the ones flicking the switch on the lighter that day, but it was all for Him, and all orchestrated by Him.

We are to be lights in the darkness, not participants in it. Vampires, werewolves, all of these things….they are not things from God. I mean, obviously. There is no place for them in a heart that belongs to Christ; there is no longer a place for them in my life. I’m walking on sunshine now, baby ;)

“The Voice of Truth says THIS is for my glory. Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth” –Casting Crowns

~end that post~

Okay. So. As you've now heard, about 2 years ago, I made the decision (or rather God made the decision for me) that I would no longer read books or watch movies that had anything to do with the occult. No vampires, no werewolves, none of that. And also, a lot of fantasy was thrown out that day as well: fairies, witchcraft, all that jazz. And now, these were all just "normal" books, the ones you see when you walk past the young adult section in the book store. Harry Potter. ("You burned Harry Potter?? I'm unfollowing you!") Twilight. Anne Rice. The works. I went along my bookshelf, and just knew which books I had to get rid of; even ones I didn't really think matched the criteria of what I was removing from my room. But alas, the whole idea was to get rid of the things that do not honor God. And I believe that he was right there with me that day as I got rid of those books; like I said, certain ones I'd have never thought would be on the list...were. I remember running my hands along the bookshelf, and when I came across one of "the ones", it was like there was a stirring in my spirit. I truly don't know if I've ever felt God speak so strongly to me as I did that day.

But along with the books, any spook movies and shows went out the door that day, too. No more crime shows, no more bump-in-the-night anything.

And I believe that since that day, no matter where my relationship with God has been, that stirring in my spirit has stayed with me. I can see a movie preview, I can see just the cover of a book, and I know that there's something evil involved.

"Evil? Isn't that a bit extreme?"
Mark Driscoll, a pastor from I-don't-know-where said in one of his sermons (that was about Twilight) something along the lines of, "If you took someone from the Old Testament and dropped them into our world, they would easily see how demonic our culture is."

We're just so desensitized that we don't see it. All of those occult creatures who are without excuse evil just hang out on our bookshelves all day. So what if that guy on TV just brutally murdered that other guy? No big deal, right? So what if the book Mockingjay ends with a mass of children getting murdered. . .the books are good, so who cares?

When I went through my bookshelf, my copy of the Hunger Games had been lent out to a friend. So I didn't get the chance that day to consider it, or to ultimately get rid of it. But now that I've read all three of the books, now that I know what's hidden inside of their pages...one more series to the pile.
And I cringe every time I see another person saying how much they "love" those books.

I'm sure some of you are reading this, and thinking it's extreme. Maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from more if I tell you that I am a reader. I get very, very into what I read. I am a visual reader. And I've got a good memory. So that horror movie I saw four years ago? Still in my head. That creepy book I read in the fourth grade? Still in my head. Things stick with me. Especially books.

I love how my pastor put it..."don't give Satan a foothold."
For me, reading those books, and watching things that were scary or violence-oriented were footholds. And I gave them to the Lord.

I love you guys, my dear followers. And I can't believe I haven't shared this with you yet, since it's something I feel strongly about; it's something I've battled with my own family about! I know it's not something that people understand...in fact, only a few people I know have understood. I've gotten into quite a few arguments about it, in fact. But it's what the Lord has called me to do, and I do my best to listen.

Oh, and on a side note: Yes, I still watch the Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Disney movies. (You wouldn't believe the argument that ensued from that one!)

Note: my keyword is "glorify". What does this book/movie glorify? Does it glorify God? Does it glorify vampires? Witchcraft? Does it glorify murder?
In my opinion, a war movie with violence is different than a show like Criminal Minds, or CSI, that has violence.

Anyways. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. That may work better than trying to explain each and every particular ;)

That's like, sooo pinteresting! ;)

"I am allowed to date now...but Mom's gotta go on the dates with me."

Oh my word. And then, they show the mother walking up to the dinner table, asking the boy (the date) if he washed his hands, and then smelling them to check.

Okay, first of all EW.

Second of all, oh my goodness. Too much.

Talking about the show Wife Swap by the way. There was something creepy and bloody on the TV (so uncalled for) and I somewhat spazzed and put on the first thing that seemed somewhat normal.

Ha. As if.

Anyways, so today's Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!! Wooot. I've got an hour window left. We'll see if it takes an hour for me to get it all finished :P

★So, so precious.
★Lol!!
★Do this some day, I shall.
★Really? If only, if only...
★I dream of the day when I find someone else who knows the Gilmores as well as I do, so that when I reference the things they say and do (as I do about 10,000 times a day), they'll understand. Maybe even giggle a bit. Ah, I can dream.
★She is so stunning. And Once Upon a Time is seriously my dream show. It's pure magic. But the good kind, of course ;)
★Gianna Jessen, an abortion survivor, said something along the lines of "I was a female in the womb...where was MY choice?"The issue of abortion has been weighing very heavily upon my heart and mind lately...I'm sure partly because I worked with a girl who I'm now Facebook friends with who is a very radical feminist, who's been posting constantly about "women's rights" and the new subject of pre-abortion ultrasounds...she only encourages me to be even more pro-life, if such a thing were possible.But that's a different post, for a different time. :)
★Think, think, think...
★I may have ended up with a negative view on that movie...but those words get me every time.
★
★"There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."
★Turning a closet into a reading nook. I absolutely adore this idea.
★*ponders for a moment what it would be like to be ridiculously wealthy and to have the ability to go wherever you want, whenever you want, at whatever cost*Moment over. That's okay though. I think it'd be so special to be able to go somewhere like Ireland with your husband, or a good friend...you know, save up, make plans, do it all the old fashioned way ;)
★This is fantastic. :)
★I cannot wait.
★It's like a disease.
★
★

Finished with 20 minutes to spare ;D
my Pinterest

Kitties are too cute. And oh! A (fun) little tag! :)

So Shamarah at I Shall Not be Moved, and Sweetpea at project foto have both tagged me in this lovely little tag! And the cool thing was that I actually enjoyed doing it ;) Even if it took forever :)

The Rules:

1) Post these rules.

2) Post 11 random things about yourself

3) Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post

4) Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer

5) Go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged

6) No cop-outs in the tagging section like, "If you are reading this" or "if you follow me". You have to legitimately tag people!

My 11 random things:

1. Cadbury cream eggs are my absolute favorite Easter candy. Mmmmmm!

2. My biggest pet peeve lately: if one person mentions some sort of malady they have, and the person they're talking to like, tries to outdo it with their own malady. For example: Person 1: "I've got the worst headache!" Person 2: "My head's been killing me all day". Not so big a deal, right? But if it's every single time, it gets on my nerves to the point where I just want to scream.

...

Glad I got that off my chest ;)

3. I really hate exercising. I hate to not exercise, because it makes me feel better, but I hate the actual work involved in exercising. Ha.

4. I've been crazy against "lol" now for years. But all of a sudden, typing "lol" makes me giggle! So I've been using it more often ;) And if you know me, you know that when I type "lol", it's at least a little bit sarcastic :)

5. Finding other bloggers on Facebook and Pinterest makes me ridiculously happy. It's just so neat!! I love you guys, you know ;)

6. I've been gradually collecting all the Disney movies on DVD...and at this point, I'm only missing like, 4 of the original classics. (Broken VHS player=frantic Disney-less me)

7. When I'm around people who act like Eeyore, I automatically get sillier and cheerier and happier. I've actually noticed that it's something I can't even help. It's like my defense to ya'll trying to bring me down, you know? ;)

8. When I was little, I was obsessed with all animal prints, especially leopard print. My Nana even got me this weird high-heel shoe chair that was leopard print :o And I'm not even going to mention the snakeskin vest I paraded around town wearing...*cough*

9. I really, really enjoy having blue eyes.

10. I don't know why...but I associate Mary Poppins with some level of scariness in my mind. As in, "Feed the Birds" just came on on Pandora, and I've got that nauseous feeling I get when I think about the wicked witch of the west in Wizard of Oz. *shiver*

11. Lately, I've been a little bit obsessive about keeping track of names for my future children. See, now that I work in a doctor's office, and there are people constantly coming and going, and tons of people whose files I am filing, I'm hearing lotsa names! There are some very good ones ;) I already know what my first daughter's name will be...but that's a secret for now :)

Questions from Sweetpea:

1. What is the one place you would most love to visit?

~Ireland!

2. What is the best book(s) you have ever read?
~Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. Never has a book impacted me as that one has. So, so powerful, and wonderfully written.

3. a thing you CANNOT STAND about guys.

~Hmmm. Well...I guess it depends. Because not all guys are the same, that's for sure. And there's not really one "in general" thing that I can't stand (or at least I can't think of it right now). But as far as individuals go, there's always something to find, if you so wish ;) But other than that, I mean, there are things some guys do that I can't stand; such as being in a different relationship every other week, things like that.

4. Your favorite nail color? On others and on yourself

~I'm a big fan of purple. But lately, I've not been painting my nails too much. So much work :P

5. What's one thing you've always wanted to do...but didn't?

~Watch Indiana Jones. And Star Wars. I've seen neither. Bits and pieces of both of course, but never the whole way through ;)

6. How much water do you drink?

~A ton. It's pretty much all I drink. Ever since I went to the Dominican, where I really learned to appreciate my water; not only because it's somewhat difficult to get in some places there, but because in 105 degree heat, your water is what keeps you from passing out! Ever since we came back from our trip, my water bottle has become my constant companion. It's habit now that I drink a ridiculous amount every day ;)

7. You know that Jesus loves you? And that he died for you?

~Yes ma'am, I do :)

8. What are the most interesting living arrangements you've had?

~Well, five years ago this May, we had a housefire. We live across the street from my Nana and Pap, and so that night, our whole family (all 6 of us) crammed into her basement on air mattresses that all deflated by morning, which was extra sucky because the floor was freezing.

But anyways, then we lived in the house next door that had been empty for a while because the previous family had moved to NC and hadn't been able to sell it, and so they let us rent it while our house was getting fixed back up.

So living in the house next door was probably the most interesting ;)

9. Bath or shower?

~Shower.

10. Whyyy is "legit" such an overused word?

~Haha! Um. Because it's like this weird trend that just randomly started. And trends are so "cool". ;)

11. How do you feel about nowadays technology?

~I think it's very useful. But at the same time, it's a bit bothersome. Relationships aren't what they once were, and that's something that bothers me a bit. But at the same time, things like Facebook are fabulous for keeping in touch with people you otherwise wouldn't have continued to speak to. But then it makes me wonder, if your relationship with that person was meant to end when it sort of did, but Facebook is the reason it's been sustained, is that right? Or not?

...I'm totally babbling over this that makes probably no sense to ya'll. Oh well ;)

MY 11 questions for you!

1. If you could spend one day with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would you spend it with?

2. What is your current favorite song?

3. What's your favorite summer activity, big or small?

4. Let's say you get a cat. A really cute, really fluffy, really adorable cat. What do you name it?

5. If you could own one exotic animal, with the guarantee that it wouldn't eat you, or trample you, or some other tragic thing...what would it be?

6. Who is the scariest movie villain?

7. Did you like Aurora's dress more when it was pink, or when it was blue?

8. Who inspires you most, whether they be famous or non-famous?

9. Would you rather sit down with a good book, or sit down all comfy cozy with the laptop and read blogs, pin stuff, Facebook creep, etc...?

10. Absolute favorite Disney character? (See, everything comes back to Disney with me ;))

11. What is one of your favorite quotes?

And I hereby tag:

The Director

Jamie Joyce

Julia

Aramanthine

Elisha

Emily Sacra

Riah

Sam

Amanda

But let's be real. If you want to do this tag, please, go ahead. I just didn't want to break the rules! ;)

Well, blogger pals, I'm off to sweet dreams of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

Buenas noches :D

Kitty bids thee farewell ;)

Worth every minute.

I know I've shared this before, but I'll share it again and again until all 149 of you have seen it.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that really matter."

~Martin Luther King Jr.~

I got an early birthday present today...

Eeep! Ah, I'm so happy <3

And now, when he (hopefully) comes to Pittsburgh next year to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers...I can go see him. Because I've got the jersey!! Woooohooo!

who is your prince charming?

When you think "Prince Charming", who comes to mind?

Maybe it's Prince Philip, brave and courageous, who'll do anything to get his girl.

Maybe it's James, who is handsome and, well... charming. ;)

Possibly, Prince Eric. He's okay. He's got good hair. ;)

Maybe it's a guy straight out of a fairytale, someone who seems hardly real.

Could be Austin Ames, from a Cinderella Story...*so good*

Or perhaps, your perfect idea of Prince Charming is Flynn Rider: the one who sacrifices his own life for his princess.

Now we're getting somewhere.

For quite some time now, I've longed for my "prince charming". (6 years old, anyone?).

It all began with watching Sailor Moon find her prince...and from there, I was hooked.

There's something in us girls that just wants to be so fully loved, so fully wanted. I don't know about guys, but we girls all seem to have this in common: we're waiting for Prince Charming to come along and whisk us away to his castle in a far off land; we're waiting for that powerful love that takes our breath away. We're waiting for our very best friend in all the world; someone we can tell every little thought to...someone we can laugh with, cry with, be silent with, be talkative with, be silly with, be serious with.

We have this powerful desire. This feeling that there's a missing link, a missing puzzle piece and we're waiting to find it.

Well, I discovered not so very long ago, that yes, there is a missing link, a missing puzzle piece. Half of my heart truly was missing, and there is a God-given longing within me to find that other half.

But I won't find it in any man. No earthly prince will ever be able to wholly fill that emptiness within me.

You see, that emptiness, those missing pieces, that desire to love and be loved can only be filled by the one who made me; by the Prince that has already come, and has been waiting for me to find Him.

What greater love story is there?

Jesus came to this awful world, and took my place on the cross, so that he could have me for eternity. He doesn't give up on me. He doesn't walk away when things get hard, or when I disappoint him. He is incredibly patient with me, and listens to my ramblings, and is always there to pick me up. He protects me even when I don't know it. He passionately loves me in a way that is impossible for me to wrap my mind around. He is jealous for me.

The thing is, my head knows all of these things...but what of my heart?

See, I'm still learning. Though this faith isn't new to me, and I've known Christ for years now, my relationship with him has had infinite ups and downs. He is always constant, but I'm ridiculous when it comes to my side of the relationship. And as far as Prince Charming goes, let's be honest. My very human self longs for a man I can touch and hold, whose quirks I can learn, and whose face I can memorize.

*sigh*

But I am so grateful that God has protected me from men (sounds funny, eh?). I know with all my heart that were a man to enter my life right now, with my relationship with God the way it is, this man would quickly become as an idol in my life. He would come before the Lord in my life...I would worship the ground he walks on, and he would consume my thoughts.

I'm so thankful that God's timing is not the same thing as my timing. You've no idea.

I realize what a gift years of singleness are (and I'm definitely not old enough to be worrying about my single status, yet ;)) and I realize that I need to be using these years to the fullest, to really get to know and love the Lord with everything in me.

Because He is that missing piece of me...He is my real Prince who's already come and rescued me. And he rescues me daily. Hourly, even.

And one of these days, he's gonna come take me to his castle in the sky where we shall live happily ever after. ;)

Be encouraged, my girls. You are his beloved.