Keeping Christ in Christmas for God knows how long

Everyone knows what time of year it is. Shopping frenzies, tree decorating, gift giving, baking bonanzas, but do people REALLY know what time of year it is, or have we all lost sight of the big picture? Christmas really started one day a long (LONG) time ago in that manger where Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was born. It was were the hope for us sinners started; the first Christmas miracle.

I feel that this time of year is often more stressful due to the commercialized holiday when it should really be more celebratory since it's when we remember this miracle! If we say we are so thankful for Jesus' birth, then why do we often find ourselves getting caught up in the shopper's hype?

It doesn't matter how well you know Santa Claus (or Buddy the elf) he can't give you the best present ever because God already has. He sent His Son into the world to SAVE us, and He did this because He loves us, no matter what. I think that's a pretty good reason to be happy this time of year (and any other time of year for that matter).

So let us not forget to keep Christ in Christmas, no matter how many shopping sprees you have, how many cookies are baking in your oven, or how many presents are wrapped under your tree. Always remember that we celebrate His birth on this amazing day.

Luke 1:29-38 NIV

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

³⁴"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^{a]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God."

³⁸"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

"When I Say I Am a Christian" By: Carol Wimmer

Everyone knows the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Well I'm reading Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christian Teen Talk. I haven't gotten too far into it yet, but there was introductory poem I really liked. As I was reading this, I felt that it's pretty much exactly how I feel when I say that I'm a Christian. I don't think I'm going to reflect on it too much, because it is pretty long, and it's pretty self explanatory. So here it is:

When I Say I Am a Christian:

When I say, "I am a Christian"

I'm not shouting, "I am saved."

I'm whispering "I was lost!"

That is why I chose His way.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble

Needing God to be my guide.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak

And pray for strength to carry on.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed

And cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I'm not claiming to be perfect.

My flaws are too visible

But God believes I'm worth it.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I still feel the sting of pain.

I have my share of heartaches

Which is why I seek His name.

When I say, "I am a Christian,"

I do not wish to judge.

I have no authority

I only know I'm loved.

iLove iTunes

Well, let me start off with an apology for my complete lack of posting. See, here's my problem with that: I always have a lot to blog about, but never actually come on the computer and blog. So I'm going to try and get back into the blogging world, really, I will...anyway, here's what I feel like blogging about tonight *drum roll please*

If I were ever to name myself a shopaholic it would be due to the fact I buy so much on iTunes. I can spend $60 in iTunes cards in about 2 hours. The thing I like about iTunes is that when you purchase a CD, it give you recommendations on other CDs you may like, according to what you just bought. So you may see my problem. I go to iTunes, ready to buy a CD I want, and then it recommends another CD, so I click on the recommendation, preview the CD, like it so much I have to buy it, have a new favorite artist and have reason to get more iTunes cards. If they use the recommendations as a way to get more money out of people, it sure works on me! But I also see it as a way to listen to artists I haven't heard of before and actually end up liking. Like right now, I'm listening to a band called "Pocket Full of Rocks". I never would have heard of them if not for this recommendation, and now I can't stop listening to them. Another thing I really like about this: I'm learning that I'm REALLY into Christian music, but I'm not aware of too many artists of that genre. So when I buy something on iTunes that is Christian music, it will tell me what else is out there that I might like, which I think is really awesome. So if you're ever using iTunes, always check the recommendations, because they are really good most of the time. The End.

AC/DC Concert

So Monday night I found out I was going to see AC/DC, which was Tuesday night. I've always loved AC/DC and was super excited. The concert was at Gillette Stadium and it couldn't have been any better. When they played Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, the crowd went crazy, you could look into the crowd and see thousands of fists pumping along in excitement. It's incredible to watch Angus Young, a man older than my parents, play the guitar so flawlessly, granted he was covered in sweat by the third song, but it's amazing that his fingers didn't fall right off. From fireworks, to big bells, to cannons, to confetti, to light shows, this concert had everything it needed to be probably one of the best concerts Gillette Stadium has ever seen. Even David Spade and Chris Rock were there!

Off to Mississippi

So I'm going to Mississippi with a group of people from my church next week to help rebuild some houses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and I'm wicked excited. I went last year and I think it's really cool that I get the chance to go back, and continue to help some people out that really need it. A few years back when Katrina actually hit the Gulf Coast, I remember watching the news or telethons and other tv specials that would show all these hart breaking pictures and interviews of what was going on down there and I remember thinking "all i want to do is help these people". I thought about how I would feel if something like that happened to me and it made me want to just do whatever I could to help them. Last year I got the chance to go down there, and it was one of the greatest experiences ever. The fact that we can go down there and not only help them, but share God's love throughout it all is a really special thing. As Christians, we're supposed to help out our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, whether they are stangers or not. There was still a good amount of damage when I went last year, but it is getting better, and that's the good part. When I go back down next week, I just hope to help a few people, share God's love and hope, and learn more and grow in my realationship with Him. Our team of 18 needs prayer during this week, please pray that we stay safe, and the God uses us in many amazing ways.
I'll certainly have a post about the trip when I get back...

The Loss of a Musical Genius

We are all upset to hear about the unsuspected passing of Michael Jackson- Pop King. When you hear the name Michael Jackson, you think "Thriller" "Billy Jean" "Beat It" and much more. No other artist can compete with his record sales. The music today's generation is inspired by Jackson, and wouldn't be the same without him. His impact on the world of culture will forever be remembered. I was in the car and a radio station was playing only songs of Jackson, saying "we are celebrating musical genious." TV news and entertainment stations are COVERED with Jackson's story and the latest up-to-date news. Fans cry out at the loss of this legend, everyone will be reliving their youth, and learning more about Jackson over the next few days, and we should remember him as a good soul whose talents were like no other. My prayers and good thoughts are with Jackson's family and friends during this difficult time.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson - You will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

Summer Vacation

So I know I haven't blogged anything in a while but now that I am done with school until September I will have a chance to update this thing a lot more! Along with all the sleep that come with summer, I'm excited to be able to do a lot of things I always want to do during the school year, like reading books. All sorts of books from a to z. If anyone knows of ANY good books that you recommend, let me know, I'll put it at the top of my list. This summer I'm also taking the opportunity to be a CIT (Counsellor In Training) at Camp Wilmot in New Hampshire. It's for 2 weeks...I've never been gone for more than a week, so it will be a very new and exciting experience for me and I can't wait! I'm also going on a mission trip with my church to Mississippi to help people who's houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina a few years ago which I'm also pumped about. Then there's the usual summer activities such as, goofing off with friends, VBS, sleeping, swimming, tannig, reading, jammin out with my guitar, oh and that AP Biology summer work I have to do...that'll all be my "fun in the sun" summer...CAN'T WAIT!

Praise Him!

I notice a lot of the time when we pray to God we like to ask him for stuff: healing a loved one, keeping people safe, a good grade, security. It's great to ask him for this, to ask for help and guidance in our lives, but shouldn't we praise him a little more? Whenever something goes wrong we might say "Aw God why did you do that!" or "I think God must be out to get me" Do we ever praise him enough? Is there ever enough praise we can give him? The God that sent his Son into the world to save all of man from their sins, the God that provides us with unconditional love forever and always, the God that always forgives you when you sin (cause face it, we're all sinners). Is there ever enough praise we send his way, like "Oh God thank you for this day!" or "God thank you for your love!".

In Exodus 15 Moses and the Israelites sang a song to God, proclaiming their praise and love for him.
"I'm singing my heart out to God-what a victory! He pitched horse and rider into the sea. God is my strength, God is my song, and yes! God is my salvation. This is the kind of God I have and I'm telling the world!"
-The Message

How amazing is that? "I'm singing my heart out to God-what a victory!" The joy they get in saying "Hey God is my everything and I lift his name up in the highest praise!" To be able to praise God is a great thing! To show him that we love him so much for everything he has done and yet to do is rewarding, however you do it. There is a song I really like that's sung by Mandisa (I'm not sure who originally wrote it) and it's called Shackles. The chorus is:

"Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise You
I just wanna praise You
You broke the chains, now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise You
I'm gonna praise You"

So Let's show our love for God and PRAISE him. Shout it out! Because he is always there, through the dark and through the storms, he is always there. And that my friends, is something worth praising.

Confirming the Confirmation

I'm getting confirmed at my church on Sunday. Confirmed can be such a big word though, open to interpretation, so I'm going to talk about what being confirmed means to me. Not only does it mean that I'm becoming a member of the church I've attended my entire life and the church my mom and aunts and uncles attended and my grandparents attended, but it's something much more exciting than that. To confirm something means to make it definite, to set it in stone if you will. I'm confirming that Jesus, the Savior who died for every one's sins, is indeed my savior and that I've accepted Him in my heart and will follow Him forever. This whole confirmation is more than a process, it is a journey, a new step in my faith, digging deeper into a relationship with the Lord. When I stand up there Sunday, scared out of my mind to be reading my personal statement with the eyes of the entire congregation on me and my fellow confirmands, I can be comforted by the fact that I'm making it official that my heart is committed to God, that He is happy that I have made the decision to follow Him and have faith in Him. It will be a day of celebration to be able to stand in front of my church and say "ya I AM a follower of God, I love Him, have faith in Him, and I choose to follow Him as long as I live...and then some"

Vacation has FINALLY come!

What's better than a beautiful sunny day around 70 degrees? School vacation, that's what. The time period between February vacation and April vacation is the longest time of all, with only having 1 day off in between. After working and working, a break has finally come! Maybe now, with all this free time I'll have during the week I can update this blog more often?
Ah well I'm off to kick off this break with a nice relaxing time sunning it up on the deck :-D>-< (that was my poor attempt at a cyber-stick figure!)

And Then There Were 9...

American Idol has a different theme each week, this week it happened to be Motown week. Over all the contestants did pretty well...here's my opinion:

Best of the night:
Adam- He surprised us all with a cleaned-up look and a tender song that wowed everyone. Definitely a leader in the competition

Allison- She may be 16, but boy can she sing! Her rendition of "Papa was a rolling stone" was fantastic!

Matt- He actually reminds me of Justin Timberlake a lot. I thought he did really well this week and saw no reason for him being the the bottom 3

They didn't shine, but they can still sing:
Lil- I agree with Smokey when he said that Lil could sing the phonebook because it's true, she has a voice! Her song choice Tuesday night however, wasn't up to par

Kris- Reminds me a lot of Jason Maraz. He can really sing, and would sound good on the radio, I just don't know if he could win the competition

On thin ice:
Anoop(dawg)- Anoop wasn't great, he just wasn't. I'll give him another 2-3 weeks before we say "bye bye"

Danny- Usually Danny does a really good job, he had an off night with a not so impressive song choice. Hopefully he'll do better next week, because he is one guy that will make it far in the competition.

GO HOME NOW!:
Scott- He give the same thing every week, all of his songs sound the same...bad. He isn't really worth anything the competition except a pity vote, sorry to say, but it's absolutely true. He just needs to leave and make room for the singers.

Megan- The only reason she's in the competition still is because she is attractive. Her voice is "unique", I'll give her that much, but it's still not good. She did horribly Tuesday night and it shocked me to see her safe...come on America really? try voting for some good singers.

Michael- I agree with what Simon said about Michael only being in the competition, not actually being competition, or whatever he said. He did do really well on Wednesday and should have been saved though, I'll give him that. He really did need to go though.

Well, that's all my American Idol chatter for now

Have YOU caught the Twilight Fever?

*Just to prove my point, as I was typing this, my mom yelled at me from the hallway "Twilight starts in 5 minutes!"*

So, in case you haven't heard about Twilight, it's the first book in a series of 4 books by Stephanie Meyer. For the most part it's a really good series...they made the first book into a movie and the second book is being made into a movie now.
But all this hype about Twilight is just giving me a headache. People are making it better than it is. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the series, and the film-makers did a fantastic job with the movie (especially since books are always hard to make into a movie), but fans are taking it to a whole new level. Personally, I don't see why you have to stand in line at your local movie/book selling place to buy a movie that you can simply get it at a reasonable hour...I don't know, that's just my opinion...

Advice:
- read the books...then see the movie
-As I always say: Like the books, hate the fan club

Well that's all for now

Is Spring Here YET?!?!

So, I am a huge fan of winter, mainly because of the snow. It always looks so pretty, and it's really fun to play in, but enough is enough! Sunday was beautiful; warm, sunny, happy, then yesterday it snowed and it's back to cold gross weather again. There has been soo much snow (and I think we'll be in school until the end of June now) not to mention the cold weather without snow is just plain upsetting. I want my spring time!!! Warm, tree climbing, nice walk, tee-shirt weather....let's hope it comes SOON

God's Masterpiece

So I'm sure all of you know who Jordin Sparks is. In case you don't know, she was the season 6 winner of American Idol, and put out a self-titled album that has some chart topping hits on it. One song that slides under the radar that I want to talk about is her song titled "God Loves Ugly." Since I'm sure a lot of folks haven't heard the song before, I'll sum it up for you: Basically Jordin has been told that she's not pretty or special and it affects the way she sees herself and reflects her insecurities. The chorus goes on to say the God loves ugly and takes ugly to turn it into something beautiful. When I first listened to this song I thought to myself "wow, that's kind of a downer" but after actually listening to the song you hear that she finds comfort in God, and God gives us strength to believe in ourselves, and once we're happy and comfortable with who we are then other people will see that confidence and see the beauty that God sees. Relating to this subject, I want to talk about a video I saw on a retreat last month. It was called "God's Chisel" and talked about how God is always "chiseling" us to ultimately be great reflections of Jesus. In the video, there were two guys. One played the role of God, and the other played the role of a guy, let's call him Tim (I think that was his name). God took a chisel and cut off all the parts in Tim's life that needed to be chiseled, such as pride and greed. After God hit him with the chisel even slowly, Tim would shout out in pain saying "Ouch God, that hurts, just give me time, let's take a break." Whenever the guys says it's too painful, or he needs a break, God would say "it's more painful for me." God wants to chisel away the areas in our life that, frankly, are junk. This chiseling is a life long process and is painful. God loves us so much and He knows how hard it is for us to change and when we hurt, God hurts. God doesn't want us or anybody else calling ourselves "junk" because He made each and every person, and God doesn't make mistakes, you are His masterpiece. He doesn't like it when you think of yourself as ugly, because He doesn't see that, as Sparks says in her song. So what areas in your life can God chisel? Will you allow Him to perform this chiseling process? Know that no matter what God loves you, and you are His masterpiece.

Life is a Dance Floor, and God is the DJ

So your at a party dancing the night away, but who's controlling what music you dance to? The DJ, right? He controls how fast or slow you go, whether you stop, start, sometimes he'll play your favorite song, sometimes your least favorite song.
Let's turn this into an analogy, shall we? Just for kicks, lets compare the dance floor to life. Free to do whatever you feel like doing. Sometimes in life, your having the time of your life (like dancing to the electric slide or the Thriller dance). Then sometimes, life can just drag by, or be a little boring (like the slow dancing). Everything that we do in life is controlled by God, He is our DJ. He brings us joy, comforts us, guides us, gives us strength. He has a plan for every single one of us. If we let Him into our lives, He will show us the way to have a great eternal life.
Listen to God's "music" (advice, I guess would be a good word) and He promises great things. I'm going to quote a song by Rihanna that I suppose can tie together this analogy: "Let the bass from the speakers run through your sneakers/move both your feet and run to the beat" In other words: Listen and watch for what God has in store for you, accept Him, and follow through!

I'd love to hear any one's opinions on my little analogy, so speak up!

The #1 way to feel like a little kid again is...

GO SLEDDING!

That's right, sledding is the classic winter past time for children of any age, from 1-100! Me and some friends went sledding today, keep in mind that I haven't been sledding since I was like 8. Boy, was it fun! The wind in your face, the bumpy ride down hill, then as you are at the end of the hill, you find yourself screaming "again! again! again!" over and over. So if you're ever bored during the winter time, grab some gloves, take a sled, pick up your camera, and go sledding!

Good Afternoon Mr.President

Well it's official, Barack Obama is the new president of the United States of America. While some may think he is too inexperienced to lead our country, others are inspired by his story, words, and promises. So inspired that thousands of followers went down to the nation's capital to have a first hand wittiness of the swearing in ceremony. If you didn't watch the inauguration, then, well, you should probably read tomorrow's paper, or youtube it because it was actually very interesting. It's great to see that the transfer of power can be made so peacefully. In his speech, President Obama talked a lot about fixing all the problems we have now with the economy and all. Boy, I wish him the best of luck with that because it'll sure be interesting to see what he does there. It's funny when you think that this morning we had Bush as our president and now Obama, it should feel different, don't you think? You can certainly tell that things are different with our country in general when 40-50 years ago racism was common, and King was fighting for African American right, and now, in 2009, the 44th president of the United States of America is a black man. It shows how our country is maturing and is becoming more open minded.
President Obama has a long, hard road ahead of him, coming into office with all of these hard times, and being expected to fix them since he promised change in his campaign speech. I pray that God will give Obama the strength and wisdom he needs to lead America, and that America will be positively affected by his "changes."
Today is a day for the history books, I hope you will all remember where you were when President Obama took office.

Metallica

The lights go off, the room booms with chants and cheers from the die-hard fans. The spotlights go on and BANG! the band that everyone has been waiting for has arrived.
Metallica put on one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. They came out rockin' with "That was just your life", the first song off their newest album "Death Magnetic". Along with the song came a phenomenal light show, with beams of lights in various colors streaming all over the place. The band brought a full force of energy to Boston that night, it was truly the show to be at. As if a light show wasn't enough to get the fans going, when they performed "The end of the line" they brought some incredible pyrotechnics.
You know you have a hit band when the audience is screaming along right there with the band. Throughout the whole stadium, you could see head bangers, arm pumpers, hands clapping, people jumping and most importantly, fans singing along to their favorite songs. It was as if the music was hypnotic and the fans pumped their arms in unison throughout almost the entire show (I wonder how they feel today).
Mteallica's sold out show was full of energized, loud, powerful music that really gave the fans a night to remember.
I've been to a lot of great concerts and I must say that Metallica makes the top 3.

Parlez-vous en francais?

Translation: Do you speak French?
My answer: NO!

I started taking French when I was in 8th grade. I though it would be fun and cool to learn the language, boy was I wrong. I'm now in French 3, and the teacher speaks French the majority of the time. Example: In the mornings we'll sit down and she'll ask questions (in French) and expect someone to 1. Know what the heck she's asking, and 2. Be able to answer her (IN FRENCH). Blank stares and confused faces sweep across the room. No one ever knows what she's saying, and she won't tell us what she is asking until the victim has made a complete fool out of themselves. We may be in a high level of French, but that doesn't mean we can fluently speak the crazy language!!! The common answer to any question in that class is either "uhhhhhh" or "je ne sais pas!" (meaning: I don't know!)
She also like to speak French when she's teaching a new lesson. How are we supposed to know what she is talking about when we can't even understand what she is saying?!?!? Seriously folks, this is just absurd! But I have to admit that despite the confusion, it's a great language to learn. I always enjoy spicing up daily conversation with random French words, even if I don't know what I'm saying haha.

Well, that was my little rant of the day, now after a long stressful week of midterms, it is finally TIME FOR BED!

The Start of a New Season

Kelly Clarkson. Ruben Studdard. Fantasia Barrino. Carrie Underwood. Taylor Hicks Jordin Sparks. David Cook. All of these singers have one thing in common; they all got their start on the infamous American Idol. Whether you love A.I. or hate it, the show finds some incredible talent. Who finds the talent, you ask? Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and new judge Kara DioGuardi. DioGuardi is pretty much a legend in the music industry. She is a songwriter who's songs have appeared on more than 100 million records. Artists including (but not limited to) Pink, Sanntana, Britney Spears, Jewl, The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and many many more. Only two episodes into season 8 and she has already proven herself more than qualified to help guide and criticize the contestants. DioGuardi makes a great addition to the panel. You have Randy Jackson, the chill judge that *nicely* speaks the truth (dawg). Then there's Paula Abdul, despite her kindness towards the contestants, the audience is always questioning everything she says and does. Who could forget the bearer of bad news, Simon Cowell. He's the judge everyone loves to hate, always saying the truth, no matter how harsh it may sound.
During the premiere week, I noticed they didn't show as many terrible auditions as they usually do. I am so thankful for that because honestly, the joke auditions are just a waste of time to watch, and you can barely stand to listen to half of them. If I am going to watch the whole American Idol process, then I want to see some talent, not the losers who couldn't make it.
I think this season will bring a lot of talent, more talent than last season at least. It will be exciting to see how America will vote this year, will it be based off of talent, or just another popularity contest. Let's have fun watching step by step as America turns an "average joe" into an American Idol!

Resisting Temptation

I recently read Genesis 2 and 3. The chapters about Adam and Eve, and they're decision to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree God told them not to eat from. When God found out about this, he confronted them. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the persuasive serpent. As with all bad choices, consequences were upon them. One of the consequences: increased pains in child birth (thanks Eve, that's great, really).

This story has a few lessons. One: When you do something bad, there will always be a consequence, like being grounded, or having detention, or getting in trouble with your boss at work. Lesson two: Our bad decisions can affect other people, just like Eve's consequence of child birth pain, our consequences can affect our friends and family. Like if someone cheats on a kid's test, both would get in trouble. Or if your talking in class, you and the person you wanted to talk to would probably get yelled at. Even if you and a sibling were fighting, I bet you'd both get yelled at from Mom and Dad. Lesson three: We need to resist temptation! Resisting temptation can be very hard sometimes. Just like with Adam and Eve. They had a huge garden of fruit to eat, but they fell into the devil's temptation and decided to eat the fruit. Satan wants us to doubt God's motives, to think his rules are too unfair. Eve fell for it. Just as with Eve, we find daily temptations. Whether it's teenagers being tempted with drugs, alcohol, sex, gossip, or so many of the other thing teenagers come across at high school; or adults, thinking "Gee it can't hurt to run that red light, no one's watching" or something like that. Satan wants you to believe that doing all these things are good. God tells us that Satan is wrong, all these things are not good for us, and wants us to listen to Him, not Satan. Temptation is difficult because we, as sinners, are faced with it constantly, we feel it inside us all the time. But when we listen to God's word, have faith in him, and decide to make the right decisions, God is happy, and by resisting temptation, we have less consequences and are happier.

New Year's Resolutions

When people think about a new year, they usually think about resolutions. Whether it's losing weight, quitting smoking, being more organized, what ever floats your boat. About 98% of Americans don't stick to their resolutions. I think that after a while, it just becomes a hassle, or they get tired of it. So we should pick resolutions we like, one that we can think about and say "ya I'm really passionate about this, I'm not going to give up." If you are really passionate about something then your probably not going to give it up as fast.
I've been thinking about what I want my new year's resolution to be. I wanted one that was realistic. Challenging, but not impossible. One that I was going to be absolutely passionate about and really want to stick with it. For my new year's resolution, I've decided to read the Bible in 1 year. I've gotten together with some people from my church, and together we can encourage each other to really make this new year's resolution a great one.

Tips:

• Make it possible
• FUN
• Make sure it's something you really want to do
• Support-Why not put a group of friends together for guidance and encouragement?
• Don't give up! It may be hard at first, but stick with it and it'll become a routine thing.

If you haven't already made a resolution but still want to then no worries! I mean come on, we're only 6 days into the year! You can do it!

So. What's your new year's resolution?

You can never have too much of something

So. Would you like to know what really REALLY bothers me? I'll tell you! When you misplace something, you search ALL over for it, can't find it, replace it, then as soon as you got the item replaced...the original item has been found!
A few days ago when my cell phone was low in battery I thought to myself "OH I better go get my charger and find my phone" Sounds easy right? Well, let me tell you, it wasn't all too easy! I searched my room, the kitchen, the living room, the basement, my moms car...the charger was no where to be found! I swear I looked EVERYWHERE! But no. It wasn't anywhere, I could tell you that the thing grew legs and walked away! So today since my mom was going out I gave her some money to buy me a new charger...she did and everything was well. BUT! (and there's always a but) I was getting some candy out of a big bag with stuff that I got for Christmas (I am now having a candy overload) so, I look in the bag to get my candy and would anyone like to guess what I found? Well don't ya know I found my charger just chillin in there! I know I searched that bag for my charger before hand and it wasn't there...it's like the crazy thing just appeared there, a nice little slap in the face!
Well, now I have 2 chargers...hopefully I won't misplace them both at the same time!!! I guess you really can't have too much of something

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer

"Imagine a young boy who has never had a home. His only possessions are the old torn clothes he carries in a paper bag.His only world is isolation and fear. Although this young boy has been rescued from his alcoholic mother, the real hurt is just beginning-he has no place to call home." (From the back cover of The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer)

So over the past few days I've been reading The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer for a book report at school. I like this book a lot so I figured I would share a little review of it.
The Lost Boy is a sequel to A Child Called "It." The book is about author, Pelzer, and how he was brutally abused as a child. Now, A Child Called "It" mainly talks about the abuse he went through and how he tried to survive as a young child. The Lost Boy is more about what happened after he was taken out of his home and put into foster care. He goes from home to home, struggling to find a place he can call his home. He also has to deal with all of his emotions after being abused and struggles with how to deal with those emotions, and fitting in. Dave is truly an outcast. Both of these book are extremely interesting, detailed, real, and inspiring for any reader. If you read The Lost Boy, or A Child Called "It" then I would really like to know what your thoughts are on it. Personally, I think it's an inspiring book that really opened my eyes see to how lucky I am, and how grateful I am that I have a family that loves and cares for me, I don't have to struggle to survive or find food.

Well, I'm off to write a book report...oh the excitement is overwhelming!

Times are a Changin'

I've been thinking about how technology has changed so much over the years. Seriously, it wasn't too too long ago when everyone was listening to cassettes instead of CDs, my cousin was telling me how she recently went and bought someone a cassette of God only knows what rapper, and I was thinking "wow. A cassette. I haven't even seen one of those things in years!" And last night I was talking to my grandmother who just recently went and saw Marley & Me, her first movie in 40 years! She says to me "Jordain, it's been 40 years since I've been to the movies, and it'll be another 40 years until I go see another one, they are so different now!" And she of course went on to say how it was so loud and the seats were uncomfotable, etc., etc. I've also been thinking about how much we really do depend on technology. When the ice storm happened a few weeks ago, a lot of people lost power. I was at my home for maybe 2 hours in the dark, no t.v., no music, no computer (or internet), no way to cook, no phone, cell phone dead. I think I just about went crazy until my aunt came and picked me up. It amazes me how people lost power through that storm for hours...even weeks and we were just at kind of a loss as to what to do. While way way way back in the day there was no t.v., music, phones, cars, stoves, or anything and they got along just fine. I sometimes wonder when people started depending on technology for everything and forgot about how we never used to have that, they couldn't call someone up on the phone or email someone whenever they pleased, they had to walk to see someone if you want to go back farther, then they had to make their own fire to cook, and hunt for food....boy times are a changin' and it'll be interesting to see what 2009 will bring us.