I'm Forgiven.

I recently heard this beautiful song on KSBJ, called Forgiven by Sanctus Real. It totally hit home. Sometimes I think I hold on to the bad things that I've done, and I have a hard time forgiving myself, and letting it go. But this song is so beautiful- it reminds me that it's Jesus who paid the price for my sins, that He's forgiven every "big" and "small" sin I've committed- and I know that once and for all-

I'm forgiven.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVjKrmvYYQ&feature=related

^^ Check it out.

A Little Catch Up and A Message to My Followers!

I love life. I really do. Every day is a gift in of itself. I mean, some days aren't so great, and sometimes I make mistakes. But I get to learn from those mistakes, and I get to keep going. And that is such a blessing.

When I think about how God chose me to be His follower.. I just can't believe it. I mean, I get glimpses of myself as a Christian and it's bad. So I can't imagine how He could see the good in me to choose me to love Him and know Him. I'm not sure if this is making a whole lot of sense.. I am just so happy that I know Jesus as my personal Savior and that I have the privilege of spending the rest of my life growing in faith and spreading what I know.

So, things have been busy.

And guess what!

I'm fifteen. :)

Yep, last Tuesday. Haha, I listened to Fifteen by Taylor Swift on the way to school that morning. :)) It was a pretty "smashing" day. (Haha am I so weird for loving that word?) My friends were so sweet.. they were so nice and gave me some pretty awesome gifts. Like, my good friend Megan (Who just had her sweet sixteen party!) gave me this blowing bubble kit because she knows I love doing that (Haha!) and this big pack of "everlasting" gobstoppers. (My favorite candy). But mostly.. I got lots.. and LOTS of candy and sweets! Haha, I could NOTT eat it all. I had a pretty good day... and I finally got a pair of Sperry's! Haha, I love them.. they have flowers on them. (I've been wanting Sperry's for ages!)

Unfortunately, most of the pictures we took have gone "missing." I sure hope we find them! But here are some we do still have...

You can sort of see my Sperrys to the left. :)

My awesome vanilla-raspberry cake. Haha, we had to throw it away today because it was too old to eat! :(
So it's not the best picture of me, but this another birthday gift! It's going to my dress for Choir Banquet.

So, something I've realized..

When I first started blogging, it was basically just for me. I love to write, and I had just recently gotten into computer, and I thought it would be cool if I kept another (less personal) account of my life. (My diary is the personal version) ;). I had no idea what followers were when I first made this. lol. And, while it's not a huge amount, I have followers! And I guess that makes me happy. :) So, since I do, I figure I'd let you guys out there that have some spare time in your day to read what I write some things about me.

1. Jesus is my everything. I love Him with all of my heart, have accepted him into my life, and can't imagine living a single second without Him!

2. I love cold showers.

3. While some people's favorite color changes constantly, my favorite season changes constantly. Usually whatever season it is, is my favorite. :)

4. My favorite colors are yellow and purple. (But not together) :)

5. I love to take pictures.

6. I used to love sucking on ice.

7. I love watching movies.

8. When I was a little girl, all I wanted was to sing and act. I still love those things, but I don't think that's what I'll end up doing. But who knows;)

9. I love, love, LOVE people. Basically, I love meeting new people and figuring out different personalities, and making friends!

10. I want to be a missionary. :)

11. I love asian people. I know that probably sounds weird, but I do. lol

12. Give me chocolate and I will love you;)

13. While I admit Taylor Lautner is clearlyyy hot, I'm not obsessed with him.

14. I love to smile.

15. The smell of chlorine is AWESOME. I love, love, love it. It's my favorite smell. (Ashley, if you're reading this, when I read that you love chlorine too, I thought that was so awesome!)

16. Music makes me happy.

17. I write letters to my future husband.

18. I embarrass myself a lot. Seriously. It's almost a daily ordeal. lol

19. I love giving oral reports. Last year when I took Speech, it was my favorite class! And in 8th Grade Awards, I actually got an award for best speech maker! Haha, on one of my speech's, I got a 99.. one point off for making too many jokes while talking! :)

20. I love playing sports.

21. I'm not afraid to get my hair messed up;)

22. I love dresses.

23. I usually always have my nails painted. (But I've never had them "done")

24. I'm 5'0. And I've stopped growing. Pretty short.. and that's okay! :)

25. I get cravings of fruit.

:) Hope to get to know all you followers out there!

Spring Break Reunion!

Well, Spring Break is almost over. :( Only one and a half more days, and I'm back into school! But, the week was pretty amazing! I had tons of fun, and one of the best parts was seeing my best friend, Ifrah! We haven't seen each other since the last day of Jr. High, since we went to different high schools. It. Was. A. Blast!

Ifrah and I! :)

We went iceskating:) And, amazingly, I only fell down three times! She fell down twice. This is tennn times better than the last time I went ice skating... I can't count how many times I found my face covered in ice!

Yeah, we get pretty goofy. :D

Then we went to one of my absolute favorite restaurants!

Ifrah is one of those friends I won't ever forget to thank God for. I'm so, SO grateful that He brought such a wonderful person into my life! And it was really nice seeing her again, after almost a year. :)

Letting Go of Do's and Don'ts

A couple Sundays ago the lesson was all about how some of us Christians get really caught up in the whole "Do's and Don'ts For Christianity." I remember thinking that I was like that, that I tried to hard to do the "christian" things I'm supposed to do, and stay away from the tempting things I find myself wanting to do. What my teacher said next surprised me.

He told us to stop living on that list, to stop focusing on what we should and should not do. He said just to love Jesus. That we should just give every part of ourself over to Him. To pour our heart and soul into a passionate relationship with Him, and let Him guide us through everything we say and do. When we do that, we don't need to be so focused on doing this and doing that because we won't want to do those things, and we will want to serve Him and follow His will when we're, well, in love with Him.

Of course- there are still some things I want to do that are wrong. But I'm human and not perfect, and I'm going to be working on my relationship with my Heavenly Father for the rest of my life.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that with all of you because it has definitely helped me in my day-to-day life, and I hope it helps yours:)

Are You Different?

Different.

Some people choose not to be.

Some people spend all their time dressing like others, talking like others, and acting like others.

And then what?

And then they've lost themself. They've lost that special thing that makes them them.

Then they're unhappy.

Because they're never good enough.

Never like that other person.

But what if...

What if you stopped wearing that because other people wear it?

What if you started wearing what you want to wear?

What if you stopped talking like that because your best friend talks like that?

What if you started talking in a way thats pleasing to Jesus Christ?

What if you stopped doing that because everyone else is doing that?

What if you started doing something else? Something you want to do. Something good.

What if you started being different?

Started being yourself.