Butterfly

4ever

2009-11-02T16:16:00.003-05:00

Well I have a very good excuse as to why I have not posted in so long. For starters, I had been studying for my ACT test for over a month and finally took the test on October 24! I must say I am so happy to have it done already. Now I am excited to get my results!

Second, I have had on and off illnesses for two and a half weeks. It started with a small head cold (stuffy nose, sore throat, a small cough) and I had it for a bit over a week, then I got better for a while and then got almost the same cold all over again for a bit and got better and then I had the flu! Must of caught it while my immune system was still down from the other colds. Fortunately God healed me in three days (sounds familiar to another story?) and I am feeling much better today!

Other things that have been happening are a bit more exciting than my sickness. :)
I went to the Masquerade Ball a couple weekends ago with two of my best friends! I had sooo much fun! I would post pics but then you would see my face....

Anyways, I just want you all to know that we serve a WONDERFUL GOD WHO LOVES US SOOO MUCH! Sure we will have struggles and heartache but God will get us through it all!

Luv,
Butterfly

God, prayer, discernment, college!

2009-10-08T11:09:00.002-04:00

So you may be able to guess what I am going to talk about in this post just from my title. I know I have talked about college before but now being a senior in High School its a BIG subject in my life!

Last night I attended a College Night program to get a feel for what kind of colleges I could go to in the area where I live. Some of it was kinda depressing because I found out that if I do want to be a Pharmacist (like a FOR SURE thing... still lots of prayer going on at home) I will have to go to a University and let me tell ya they are not exactly affordable (we are talking between $16-27,000 a year!!!).

Shortly after I had arrived (I went with my wonderfully supportive father who gave me a lot of good advice of what colleges to talk to) a young woman walked up to me and my dad and asked me if she could have a couple minutes of my time.
I said OK thinking she was going to tell me something about a college she is representing but she had nothing to do with colleges.
She asked me if I could be a Christmas season model for Ambercrombie and Fitch! Now for those of you who may not know me very well, I do not support or purchase items from Ambercrombie and Fitch for several reasons, the biggest being that they have very inappropriate advertising.
I kindly told her that I am not interested and she told me that if I changed my mind, I could come in to any of their stores to sign up (like that would ever happen!).
If she had been working for American Eagle or Kohls or even JcPenneys I would have been more interested but definitely NOT for Ambercrombie and Fitch!
I was flattered though. Its funny too because my friend Nicole was just telling me the other day at LW that I could be a model too! lol
I don't think God has modeling in my future though. Besides, how can I be a light in the world as a model?

Well back to colleges.
I found out that no colleges in my state (at least that I know of) have a program to be a Pharmacist Technician so right now its either full in or nothing.
I did find out that if I do go to a college to be a pharmacist, their are 3 schools to choose from that would be best (all three are universities... go figure) one of which I would never attend just because they don't have a good reputation for their campus.
At least that narrows it down to two. One is in the heart of a not so safe city... scary thought. I am definitely leaning towards the last college which is an hour drive from where I live. The good news is that they are a bit less expensive than the others and they have a four year bachelors program to be a Pharmacist (i would list the names of the specific colleges but for safety purposes I prefer not to do so).

Since I have a 3.0 GPA I would get a scholarship of a few thousand dollars for that alone, and I can get another few thousand dollars bumped off if I score well on my ACT test on October 24 (please pray that I do well!).

But we are still talking around approximately $10-14,000 a year for college tuition!
More good news is that sometimes, pharmacy stores like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid provide a special scholarship program where if you promise to work for them for so many years after you complete your college education, they will help you pay for your tuition!

As great as that is I still need lots of prayer that I will have discernment in choosing what to do for my college education. I am not even sure yet if it is God's will that I do become a Pharmacist.

I think not knowing God's plans is the hardest part of figuring out what to do because for me, I want God's will to be done in my life. I want to take a path that will glorify God's name, a path that will let His light shine in me!
Please pray that I will see what God's plan is for me. He may reveal the plan to me in a few weeks or maybe not until next year but as long as I find peace in my decision, I will know it is His will, not just mine.

Thanks for your prayers!
Blessings,
Butterfly

I wanted to share this from Patriotpost.com! Too good to not read!

2009-10-05T13:49:00.004-04:00

POLITICAL FUTURES
"On Friday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to award the 2016 Summer Games to Rio de Janeiro. As you now know, not only was Chicago not chosen to host the 2016 games, but it was the first city knocked out in voting for the four cities still in the running.

In addition to the U.S. and Rio the other two were Tokyo (which came in 3rd) and Madrid (2nd). ... [T]he Olympic story completely buried the news that unemployment ticked up to 9.8 percent and is likely on its way to the magic 10 percent mark. ... [T]his was not an embarrassment for Chicago -- only one city was going to get the 2016 Olympics.

It was not an embarrassment for the United States -- Brazil is still a pretty good ally. ... It is a personal embarrassment for Barack Obama because he truly believed, or was told, or both, that if he showed up personally to make the final pitch, the IOC would not be able to deny Chicago the Games. Because he is B-A-R-A-C-K O-B-A-M-A the President of All the World! ... The Myth of Obama met the Reality of Obama. Obama lost." --political analyst Rich Galen

~Butterfly

A while

2009-10-02T12:43:00.005-04:00

OK so I know its been a while since my last post but at least I didn't wait two months again! lol

Well summer is officially over.... SO SAD! I will miss wearing shorts and flip-flops and playing outside in the sunshine. At least we enjoyed the warm weather while it lasted. Now is the time for warm cider and donuts! Cider Mills are sooo fun! As a matter of fact I am going next Monday with my LW friends. We are going to have cider and donuts, scrapbook and do a devotion together and possibly go on a hayride through the apple orchard!

Oh some new happenings:

We sponge painted the hallway and some of the kitchen walls upstairs last Tuesday! The best part is it only took about 3 hours!

We will probably be getting new carpeting in the hall and living room upstairs sometime before Christmas (we hope!).

I got a brand new car!!!! NO I AM JUST KIDDING! But I wish I had! (still trying to convince my parents to let me get a license.... JK about that too!) lol

Well I have been really blessed with lots of babysitting jobs lately. Last month I made a bit over $200 so it was a pretty good month for me. Next summer I will definitely try to get a good summer job so I can save more and pay for my car and insurance!

If you think of me while reading this post (which you should because it is mostly about me) or any other time could you please pray that God will give me wisdom and discernment in what college I should go to or if His plan for me is to go to college! I am so in the dark right now. It is not easy being 17 and not knowing what I am doing next fall!

Oh and I am taking my ACT test on October 24! If you think of me pray that I will get a good score and not get nervous (kinda hard to think straight when your stomach is topsy-turvy!).

Thanks for the prayers (and comments!),
Blessings,
Butterfly

P.S. Here are some flower power pics:

sunflower pic from Mackinaw

The last of the red roses

Forever

2009-09-14T19:37:00.018-04:00

I know its been forever since I posted last and I am sorry. I have been so busy but having lots of fun at the same time!

Some highlights are the Fall Festival we went to a couple weekends ago and the biggest highlight is when we went to Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island last week. We left early Tuesday morning and we were back at nearly midnight on Thursday! We had sooo much fun! The first day we arrived at about 2pm ( we had a break for lunch at Culver's, btw Culver's has the BEST burgers ON EARTH!!!!) We checked into our hotel and God blessed us so great because we were able to get a TWO bedroom suite for only $78 a night!!!! I didn't take any pics of the room though but it was right on the water/beach! As soon as we got our room we locked up the van after I grabbed my camera and went straight to the beach! Here are a couple pics I took on the beach:

beach views!

After being on the beach for a couple hours, we drove to Darrow's (one of our fav restaurants in Mackinaw) and had a delicious meal. My dad had there beef n gravy meal with mashed potatoes and stuffing, my brother and I split a country style sandwich and my mom and sister split the same thing. AJ just ate bits a pieces of everyone's food (mostly my dad's mashed potatoes). :)

When we finished dinner, we went to the Mackinaw Mall Crossings and just relaxed and walked around. At about 8ish we went back to our hotel, put on our swimsuits and we all went swimming in the huge pool (wish I had pics of it but I couldn't take my camera in there or it probably wouldn't be working right now.... lol).

After swimming for an hour or so we went back to our rooms and took turns using the shower. Now although the two bedroom suite had three beds (a king for my parents and two queens for us 3 kids to share... AJ was in his portable pack n play bed) since my sister and I didn't really have a choice we shared on of the beds so my brother got his own! Well let me tell you my sister does not sleep still!!!! She roles around about every 15 minutes and is constantly kicking, yes I said kicking her legs around the bed so just guess who took all the kicking! ME! The first night I was probably kicked in the back (you don't think I would sleep facing the kung fu girl do ya) at least a dozen times the first night and every now and then I would have to move her legs off of my legs! The craziest part is she didn't have a clue what she did to me while she was asleep! lol

Lets just say I didn't look forward to going back to bed Wednesday night! lol

Well on Wednesday we ate the complimentary breakfast at the hotel and then were off the the ferry dock to get to the island! We were all very excited! AJ liked the ferry ride and I liked taking tons of pics along the way! Here are some of the pics I took:

Horse drawn carriage on the island (above and below).

Fort views

The dock!

Once we were on the island, we decided to go to Fort Michillimackinac first. My mom was a bit nervous some of the time that AJ was gonna fall over the wall or something but after we got to the center of the fort (where there are no cliffs and high falling points) she was just fine. I still am amazed to think of how many people lived in that fort and more amazed at the lifestyle they had over a century ago.

Well we worked up quite an appetite with all that walking and learning so we went to a Deli shop on the corner of the street and we shared two rather huge sub sandwiches. My brother (the older one) made a huge mistake by simply throwing a tiny crumb of bread into the lawn in front of where we were sitting and less than 1 second later a million seagulls were all around us. Now at first we were rather worried of being attacked for our food (I was mostly concerned that one of those obnoxious creatures were gonna poo in my clean hair!) but AJ came to the rescue and had more fun than you'd think chasing the seagulls around in the grass. :)

After eating we strolled down the street and looked at the beautiful homes and then we turned direction for all the fudge shops and gift stores.
We bought 3 lbs of fudge from Joanns Fudge Shop because they had a special buy 2 get 1 free. It was definitely better than May's, Murdicks and Ruby's fudge!

Then to go with our fudge (and to warm us up a bit since it was a smidgen cool out) I bought some Starbucks coffee (just plain decaf since all my fav foo-foo drinks were so expensive) for my mom and I to share and let me tell ya, no better combination than fudge and Starbucks coffee!

While looking in the shops I put on my sale scopes and found a great long sleeve t-shirt that was on clearance for just $11 and I liked it the instant I saw it! So of course I bought it! lol I will post pics of it later!

Well sadly, after so much fun on the island, we had to leave at 6pm for the last ferry ride back to the city. We ate dinner at the pastie shop and then went into the Crossings Mall. We looked in almost all the shops we hadn't seen the day before and in Devon's fudge shop I bought a hot chocolate for us all to share (they were kind enough to put it into two cups so I shared mine with my sister and my mom shared hers with my brother). Then once dusk settled in, we saw the Mackinaw Laser Lights show! After that we went to bed at the hotel because we were exhausted.

Thursday was our last day so we did everything we could that day. We went to Mill Creek and did the zip line and eagle bridge walk (soooooo much fun), watched the mill presentation (I will post that video and pictures shortly below this) and took a nature walk. Then we went to Mama Mia's Pizza for lunch because on Thursdays its 1/2 off any pizza day! After we devoured our delicious pizza and looked in the museum upstairs we went to Fort Mackinac. Here are some pics:

All in all, we had a wonderful time in Mackinaw! God blessed us with good weather and He kept us safe there and back.

Post more later,

Butterfly

Our Week of FUN

2009-08-23T15:22:00.009-04:00

Okay so remember when I told you all last week that we were going to Cedar Point and the Zoo and to a beach? Well it didn't exactly happen as originally planned... but we still did the fun stuff. Let me tell ya we had an AMAZING week! God blessed us so much!

On Monday, we just relaxed at home and had fun as a family.

On Tuesday (we were originally going to Cedar Point but it was raining in Ohio) my dad planned a big surprise for us. My mom knew but my brothers, sister and I had no idea. We started guessing parks we know of and other fun places but we were way off! My dad surprised us and took us to the Tigers game! It was sooo much fun (even though the Tigers didn't win)! We had a blast! Even AJ liked it!

On Wednesday, we went to the Zoo. That was also lots of fun! Here are some pics:
This polar bear was kinda funny sitting on top of the aquatic tunnel! lol

These kangaroos were trying to keep cool from the hot sun! It was about 85 degrees out!

This lion was huge! And we could hear him gently roaring. It was pretty cool and AJ really thought it was awesome! :)

On Thursday my mom had to go to work so we stayed home and just cleaned the house, played outside, and hung out with family.

On Friday........ drum roll please.............................. we went to........................................... CEDAR POINT!!!!!!!!!!!! It was soooo fun! I went on at least 20 rides! We rode on

The Iron Dragon (3 times),

Blue Streak (4 or 5 times I can't remember),

Gemini (3 times),

Corkscrew (once),

Wildcat (once),

the Pirate Ship (once),

Disaster Transport (twice!) and many more!!! My sister and I named ourselves the Triple S (same seat sisters) because we went on almost every ride sitting next to each other!

Other rides we went on were the Convertible Cars (i rode by myself the first time in a pink convertible and the second time with AJ in a purple convertible. We also rode the old fashioned cars, the race horse carousel (2 times) and other fun stuff we could all do like the high swings!

I haven't downloaded the pics from my camera yet so when I get a chance I will post some from Cedar Point.

Post more later!!!

Blessings,

Butterfly

Hey

2009-08-14T13:52:00.003-04:00

I know I haven't posted in forever but I have a good reason! Our Internet was down for almost a whole week! I was so upset! Well now I can finally tell ya some new highlights of my life! : )

For starters, I have had a few extra babysitting jobs the past week or so. August 5, I babysat for three hours and made $30! Praise God! I need to save all the money I can get from babysitting for a car and college! It wasn't easy money though because I was watching four children but they are really great kids.

Wednesday evening (still the 5th of Aug.) I went with my friend Kelsey to her church for a talk on Purity and how to prepare for marriage and what to do with your single years. Some of the topics I already knew about but other things he said I had never even thought of. I know that for young ladies you should not tempt your brothers in Christ to sin by dressing immodestly. The world tells girls that if you look good, dress good but it doesn't mean you have to dress inappropriately. And for guys he said it is good to have a job, a strong relationship with God and a plan for your future before you try to start finding a wife. I really enjoyed it.

Another highlight for this month is going to happen next week! My dad has a week off from work so we are going to a few really fun places!

For starters, on Tuesday we a going to *drum roll please* ............................ CEDAR POINT! If you have never heard of Cedar Point it is an amusement park with roller coasters, shows and lots of other fun stuff. We haven't been there in 3 years so I am really excited!

Wednesday we are going to go to a beach up North but its not that far from where I live.

Friday we are going to the Zoo and then Friday night my BFF is spending the night to watch Monk and Psych with my family and me! I am soo looking forward to all these fun things!

Oh last night my dad and I went shopping to Kohls together (my fav place to shop) and when we first walked in the doors we saw our neighbor and her daughter Kelsey (the same Kelsey that I went to the purity talk with.) The best part was I found some really good deals!

I got a pair of those soffe shorts just for pj wear.

I bought this dress (it looks short but it is actually almost to my knees) for just $6 but mine is a cute green (try to picture it green):

And I bought a really cute bag that I will have to take a picture of to show you later cuz I gotta go! I will post more soon!

Blessings,

Butterfly

Long time no see...

2009-08-03T20:51:00.013-04:00

Well I know its taken me nearly FOREVER to get this out! This will be an update on (if i can remember everything) the past two weeks.... let me see. For starters, July 24 was Little Women at my friend Nicki's house. We went to a pool/water slide and had a huge blast! I wish I could post pics but I can't cuz of safety purposes. : P

Anywho, the day after that (it was a Saturday) we went out to a restaurant to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. We ordered two gourmet pizza's, one veggie and one cheese and pepperoni. After the late lunch, we came back to my house (my grandma, aunt, cousins and my family) and we just hung out and chatted for a bit. My cousins are both girls and are 6 and 9 (soon to be 10) so they mostly play with my little sister.

Saturday evening, I babysat for my mom's cousin and I watched her two kids (a fun 5 year old boy and a darling 3 year old girl!) They were so much fun. I made them dinner, we played outside (they both have their own little battery cars to drive), drew lots of pics with chalk and then headed in for bath time. I always bring a shirt to change into during bath time because they always get me wet! lol Its lots of fun though. After their bath, they get to watch one kid show (they looove scooby-doo) and then they both pick out what stories they want me to read. Then I tuck them both in bed, turn on their classical music in the boom box in the hall and they eventually fall asleep (i usually get them in bed between 8:30-9 but they normally fall asleep closer to 9:30ish). Its a lot of work but hey, I enjoy it! I have always loved kids from any age.

Well on Sunday, we went to a picnic in the park. It was actually a church picnic. I liked it alot. They played music, had burgers and hotdogs and brownies and cookies and juice and well you get the picture. I actually ran into my friend's friend that i had met a few times before there. She attends the church we have recently been visiting! : )

Monday I had my BFFWILLAS (best friend forever who i love like a sister) over and we scrapbooked and watched re-runs of Monk together. We snacked on some awesome duoz cheese crackers (very addicting... ) and enjoyed each others company. She could only stay for a couple hours cuz she had to get home to help clean her house (i know how that is... lol).

Tuesday draws a blank.... as does Wednesday...... Thursday my dad took me to an empty parking lot after dinner and I practiced driving for 1/2 an hour. I did really well.

Friday morning, since I wasn't babysitting my mom, baby brother and I went out to breakfast together at Big Boy's and then went to garage sales together! We had some lovely quality time.

Saturday my family and I all went out to garage sales together. I will have to post pics of what I bought but for now I will tell ya. I bought a pair of American Eagle flats for $2, a college messenger style bag thats lime green for $2 and 22 sheets of scrapbooking stickers for $2!!!!!!
I know... I am an amazing shopper! lol

After garage sales, we bought some fried chicken and went up to a park to eat picnic style. AJ loooved the park so much that he cried when we had to go home.
That evening I babysat again for my mom's cousin. It was the exact same routine except the kids had already eaten dinner.

Yesterday we went to the Henry Ford Estate birthday party for their 146th birthday! They had cupcakes, pizza, subs, pickles on a stick and other snacks and almost everything was just a dollar or so. Okay so here is something super cool! At the back of the estate, there is a small waterfall (pic below):

Well when they turn down the water, there are stepping stones right across the top:

So my dad, brother and I crossed!!!! I am the one in the yellow top below:

Since I was wearing flip-flops I went halfway across barefoot (i thought it was better footing for me that way) and went the other half across and back in my flip-flops (i was feeling much braver then). I am so glad I did go because you just feel like you have made a huge accomplishment once you make it back! lol

Today, we did house cleaning, watered the garden and flowers (we actually do this everyday), I helped my brother clean the kitchen (it was more like he helped me because I did most of the work) lol. But we are giving him a break today because last night we took a family bike ride up to a park that's a mile away and he fell of his bike and kinda twisted his ankle a bit so he has to go easy for a couple days anyway.

Now I just want to say...... I AM SO BLESSED! THE LORD HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO ME AND MY FAMILY AND I PRAISE HIM FOR EVERYTHING I HAVE. I learned an important lesson that I will never forget; When something good happens, its a blessing. When something bad happens, it's a blessing in disguise! I made that up all by myself because I found it to be true once or twice.

Blessings,

Butterfly

Anniversary

2009-07-16T11:26:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone,

Today is my parents 21st Anniversary! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! It is amazing to think that 21 years ago from this date was my parents wedding!

Well to go with the theme of weddings/anniversaries, I decided to list all the great purity books by age groups (like from age 10-18+).

The first Purity Book I ever read was "The Princess and The Kiss" be Jennie Bishop. It is actually a book and a study to do with just your mom or with a group of girls and their mom's. I would recommend to do this study from ages 10-14. It's simple enough for a 10 year old to grasp but goes on to a level great for up to 14 year olds. I did "The Princess and The Kiss" when I was 13-14 and did the pledge for Purity at a ceremony we had a year later. It is a wonderful study and I really enjoyed it.

Next is a wonderfully amazing book by Sarah Mally titled, "Before You Meet Prince Charming". I love this book so very much. I would recommend ages 12+ for this book. I like how Sarah covers all the most important parts of keeping pure like not just physically but emotionally and mentally pure also. In each chapter, it begins with the story of a princess and then does a discussion of what obstacle of purity the princess faced that day. It also gives great testimonials of girls who choose to keep pure and a couple stories that make girls realize they want to keep pure to protect not just their kiss but their heart too.

Then comes a much more in depth book by Joshua Harris, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". It is a bit of an older book, written in 1997 but it still totally applies the same to life today. I would say that you should be at least 15 to read this book and still just let your parents check it out first to be sure its OK for you. More mature girls can take the book and read it at 14 but be sure your mom or dad overlook it first. Joshua talks about his past mistakes and how he has asked God for forgiveness and how he has changed so dramatically. He tells stories that are true to help you relate to the book (especially if you are in a public school). Joshua tells how God revealed to him that you don't need a boyfriend/girlfriend to make you happy and fit in. God wants you to use your single years to live for him. Sarah's book "Before you meet prince charming" also talks a lot about using your younger years for serving God (not that you stop serving God when you get married but you can do a lot more when you don't have other commitments or things to think about... like a job for instance).

You can also check out some other purity books that I personally haven't read yet but plan to read in the near future:

"Wait For Me" by Rebecca St. James

"Authentic Beauty" by Leslie Ludy

"The Ten Commandments of Dating" by Ben Young (I personally am not going to date, I am going to court but I may check out this book later in the future.)

You can find a lot of other books on purity in your local Family Christian Store or even online.

Bless and Be Blessed,
Butterfly

The Homeschool kids who can't do anything (like the public school that is)

2009-07-16T10:53:00.003-04:00

Sing to the tune of the "Pirates who don't do anything" (from Veggie Tales)! Personally... I LOVE IT! LOL : )

We are the homeschool kids who can't do anything
We just stay at home and do our work
And if you ask us to do anything
We'll just tell youWe can't do anything.

Well, I can't pass notes in math classand
I've never bought my school lunch
and I've never had my homework eaten by the family dog
and I've never had a hall pass
and I've never owned a locker
and I've never had detention after school.

We are the homeschool kids
who can't do anything
We just stay at home
and do our work
And if you ask us to do anything
We'll just tell you
We can't do anything.

Well, I've never been suspended
and I've never missed the school bus
and I've never got a fat lip from the bully in the hall
and I've never seen the school nurse
and I've never slapped erasers
and I've never had detention after school.

We are the homeschool kids
who can't do anything
We just stay at home and do our work
And if you ask us to do anything
We'll just tell you
We can't do anything.

Well, I've never changed for P.E.
and I've never had a swirlie
and I've never had a teacher that I didn't like at all
and I've never had supply lists
and I've never answered roll call
and I've never had detention after school.

We are the homeschool kids
who can't do anything
We just stay at home and do our work
And if you ask us to do anything
We'll just tell youWe can't do anything.

But we've often taken field trips
and we go to school in pj's
and we often do our work while sitting on our favorite couch
and we finish school by lunchtime
and we find our books on ebay
and we don't have any homework after school!! The End!

Have a awesome day,
Butterfly

Oh my...

2009-06-25T23:08:00.009-04:00

word. I can hardly believe how long its been since I posted. You are probably actually happy to know that I can't remember EVERYTHING that happened the last few weeks or you would spend 10 years trying to read how long the post would be! LOL

Well I will fill you in on a couple of the highlights to make it not so long. First, school is officially done for this year. I choose (all by myself!) to do French this Summer (shocking since most kids think they don't need to think about school for 100 days)! : P

Anyhoot, there was a crazy happening a little over a week ago, it was nice out so I had the window next to the very computer I am typing at open. My dad was sitting on our front porch and we had just the glass front door closed (the big door as my family calls it was open). Well anyways, it was all peaceful and calm until...... WAM! A crazy bird flew right into the glass door! It scared me (i was typing an email and nearly jumped out of my seat!) and my dad cuz I heard him saw "what on earth" and I can tell you what on earth... it was a bird with no brains! lol

Another thing about birds is a couple weeks ago we knew of a nest in the gutter right above our doorstep. A few days later, a baby bird was dead on our doorstep. I was soo sad to open our front big door and see the poor little birdy. : (

Well its time for happier news now! Last weekend was the local Independence Festival in my town and of course me and my family went. There was elephant ears, corn dogs, ice cream, kettle corn, you name it and it was there. I wanted to buy everything and just pig out but I didn't buy anything because everything was outrageously priced. It was $5 for an elephant ear (if you think its an actual ear of an elephant... you are crazy. it is a type of pastry and they are deep friend so technically they are really bad for you. I haven't had one in many many years!).

Well in the evening, every year they have fireworks sooo.... I took a video and some pics to share with you all!!!! Yeaaaa!

If you think this is amazing, that's nothing compared to what my Lord, God my Savior can do for you! I will never forget the song "My God is so great"! It was one of my favorites as a young little girl. We sang it in Sunday School almost every week.

Well of course I have done the one thing almost all teen girls enjoy doing.............. shopping!

I will show you what I got below:

This dress was on sale from $36 dollars to $14.99 and I had a coupon so I got it for $12.40! I just really wanted a dress I can wear any day rather than strictly for Sunday best. I really just got into the habit of wearing dresses and skirts more often. I have been wearing babydoll tops for a long while though. I don't like skin suction tight clothing. If I can't wear it with Jesus then I can't wear it at all!
This blue tank top was only $4.99 so I got it in blue (as shown above) and in pink. I have suddenly taken a liking to pink. I realized that blues, pinks/purples, greens and yellows look really good on blonds so those are now my fave colors! They are such summery and happy colors too! I don't like dark blues but light blues are really pretty.

Well I really need to get to bed now! Its 11:36! I am sooo tired and I need sleep before I babysit four darling children in the morning. If you have never read my blog before, I will do a quick name/age for ya. Noah/age 6, Marina/age 4, Summer/age 3 and little Selah/7months.

I hope you all have a good nights rest and that you will bless and be blessed!

In God's love,

Butterfly

Bubble Burst

2009-06-04T12:36:00.004-04:00

Well friends,

My hope bubble has burst.

My big news is that I applied for a job at a local movie theater and I called the other day to speak with the hiring manager (just so ya know, he is NEVER there when I call and I called at least 5 times in the past 3 days) so I ended up speaking with a assistant manager and I told him of my application and me wondering if I will be hired or not and he said chances are not because most of the positions for staff are filled! I took comfort in knowing that this HAS to be for a reason.
Now here is a crazy twist to it all! My mom got a call on Tuesday (the day I was told I wasn't going to get the job) from the owner/manager of a Tea House not far from our house and my mom's best friend works there and referred her for a job opening to be a waitress!
She had the interview yesterday and was hired! My mom starts her training tomorrow at 11 AND guess who is training her??? HER BFF WHO WORKS THERE! She is so excited and I really am happy for my mom but it just makes me feel a bit worse that I didn't get a job. Pray for me that I will have patience and that God will guide me. I know that God has a reason for me not getting that job. There is a plan and purpose developing but I just don't know what it is yet. Well I have to go and finish up some school work. TTYL

Blessings,
Butterfly

Hello

2009-06-02T12:27:00.004-04:00

Bonjour readers and friends,
I realize that I have not posted in over 2 weeks and I have several reasons why.
First, I have taken up quite a few extra babysitting jobs the past couple weeks.
Second, my grandfather from the other side of the USA has taken a trip to visit us this past week. I am sad because today is his last day visiting us! : (
Third, I have been trying like crazy to finish my history book so the school year will officially be done!!! lol

I am going to share some BIG news with you all sometime soon I hope. I can't tell you just yet in case something goes wrong but I am praying it will work out.
I hope you have enough sense to eliminate some obvious things that are not my big news (like getting married or something crazy like that) but it is a big thing for me right now and I hope to share the news soon (a lot of hope in this paragraph huh?) lol

Well I will tell you some of the fun things we have done the last week;
Last Monday around 4:30ish, we got a call from my grandpa telling us he was finally in town! YEA!!!! He came over on Tuesday with my Aunt and cousins (he is staying at my aunt's house because she is the only relative with a guest bedroom) around 2:30 and the instant he was out of the car I ran like crazy to be the first to give him a hug! It sounds silly coming from a 17 year old but I do some crazy things OK. : )
We shared pictures and had snacks together and they stayed for dinner (we ordered Pad Thai and pizza for the kids... i had both hehehe).
They had to leave at about 7 because my aunt lives an hour away and my cousins had to get in bed for school the next morning.
My grandpa came back to our house in his truck on Wednesday morning and he had breakfast with us around 9am (my aunt works on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so he visited us on all these days last week). We left our house after cleaning and getting our stuff together and went to the chiropractor where my aunt works. We all had adjustments and then left to go to Costco. Now one thing I always like about Costco is the samples but for some reason they only had three (granola, Lipton diet drinks and some kind of noodle thingy) and I didn't really like any. We bought groceries for dinner and then came back to our house. We had chicken, mashed potatoes and Cole slaw for dinner. YUM! I like chicken a LOT! Grandpa had to get back to my aunts at about 7ish because I think we tired him out with our go-go lifestyle! LOL
On Thursday, nobody came to visit but my family went to a local museum. It was lots of fun. I will have to see if I have any good pics to share with ya later.
Friday, I went to babysit for Amy in the morning so I missed my grandpa (and pancake breakfast!) but when my dad came to pick me up from Amy's EVERYONE (my family and grandpa) was in our van. I asked where we were going and my mom said garage sales! I said YAY!!! Let me tell you I find most of my clothes in clearance racks at Kohls or at garage sales. You get amazing deals (like my new American Eagle t-shirt for a quarter!)! I will post pics of all my new clothes soon.
Well anyways, we went to garage sales for almost 2 hours and then came home because my baby brother really needed a nap! Well he was very happy once he laid his precious head on his bed.
While baby was sleeping we shared more pictures and just talked and played games.
Saturday, grandpa went up north a bit to see a old friend of his so we didn't get to visit. So since we had free time, my mom, my brother and I took off for more garage sales! I got several good deals but no clothes in the morning. We came home so my mom could put baby to sleep and then just me and my parents went while my other siblings stayed home. After one dud (we call garage sales that have only junk duds or bobs... don't ask why... we just do) we hit a garage sale that had a lot of clothes my size. The one problem was that most of her skirts were short-skirts but two were longer so I bought those and I bought a really cute cami that will be nice for summer and it matches one of the skirts! The next sale had roller coaster tycoon for 25 cents so I bought that for my brother and me and the one after that had my American Eagle t-shirt and a sweater. We hit more sales after those but I didn't buy anything except a dress for a dollar.
Sunday, we went to church and sat with my aunt, uncle and grandpa (my cousins were in Sunday school). After church, we went out to eat at a cute Greek restaurant for lunch. I split a gyro with my mom and it was sooooo good! If you like Olga's you would love gyros (its not pronounced gyro but instead is pronounced yur-o)!
After that we went downtown and strolled a park and did a bit of window shopping. If we hadn't been so full, we might have bought ice cream but we were too full!
Monday, my grandpa came over for breakfast (we had scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast) and after breakfast we played Yahtzee. Surprisingly, I actually god a Yahtzee (if you don't know what a Yahtzee is, its when you roll 5 die and all of them are the same number... its really hard)!
Today, my grandpa is coming over for the last time at about 3 with my aunt and cousins.We will probably take lots of pictures so I am wearing one of my new shirts today.
Well I will post more later (and hopefully the BIG news)!

Blessings,
Butterfly

Hey

2009-05-17T13:49:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone,

So what do you think of my new blog template? Since someone stole my original background (you know who you are) lol! No its ok cuz I was planning on changing it anyways. So tell me what ya think. This template may only last a month or so since Summer is around the corner I will have something more sunny and warm in a few weeks.

How have ya'll been? I am still praying about my career options and God's will for my life. Stay posted or check my blog in two years to find out what my life career will be! lol

So I am going to fill you in a bit about my week.
Monday, I did lots of school work and went babysitting early afternoon.
Tuesday, I am so sad that my mom and my Beth Moore Bible study is over! I looked forward to that every Tuesday! : (
Wednesday, I began looking forward to Thursday!
Thursday, was..... GARAGE SALE WEEK! We didn't have a garage sale ourselves but we went to lots of garage sales in subs around us. I bought a cute American Eagle t-shirt (plain blue) and I bought a dress but then returned it because when I looked it over it had snags and a couple tears in the back! I went back to the lady who sold it to me and said that I wanted my money back! lol I also babysat in the afternoon Thursday!
Friday, babysat in the morning and drew faces on balloons with the girls. Then we did a tad bit more garage sale shopping from 2-3ish.
Saturday, in the morning we made HOMEMADE FRENCH TOAST!!! It was sooooo good! I loved it but i was so full afterwards. In the afternoon, I went to the local high school to babysitt 14 girls in the cafeteria for their dance concert. I did it with my friend Katelyn and we both made $20 dollars!
I just want to tell you all I am sooo blessed! I had four babysitting jobs this week and made almost $100! I know I could make a lot more from a summer job though so I am still pursuing possible summer jobs.

Thanks for stopping in! I will post more interesting stuff later today or tomorrow.

Until l8r,
Butterfly

Prayer and thinking

2009-05-13T19:06:00.002-04:00

Hey blogging friends,

I have a prayer request for you all. I am trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up (technically, I will be a legal adult in less than a year!) and I am constantly finding myself on my knees asking God what He wants me to do. I am thinking of being a Pharmacist because that is a job I would enjoy because I would be able to socialize with people, make a good income, and its a career that will always be needed so its a secure job. I am also thinking of being a dental hygienist... i am not sure how well i would do with cleaning peoples teeth without getting sick! I am sure I could tough it out but I may pass out in the middle of the cleaning! lol JK!
So if you all could pray for God to give me wisdom and guidance so that my life may be lived for His will alone.

While I was thinking of this... a thought popped in my mind that my future spouse is probably having the same battle of wondering what he wants to do for a career (unless he is a couple years older than me....) so I prayed for my future spouse. Then I thought of all my homeschool and blogging friends (you all who read my blog : ) and prayed for you to have guidance too!

Oh and I wanted to share this story with you that was inspired by a post on Tunafish's blog:

One Sunday, a pastor was telling a story to the congregation that went like this:
A few years ago, a father told his son they were going to go fishing on Saturday. His son asked him if his friend could come too. His father thought it may not be a good idea because his son was still growing in the Lord and his friend isn't a Christian but he couldn't help saying yes to get a huge grin on his son's face. That Saturday, they left early in the morning. They got into the father's boat and went out to the middle of the lake. The sun slowly began hiding behind the clouds and it became gloomy and rainy very quickly. The father was about to begin rowing back for shore when some heavy tides began coming towards their small boat. Both the boys only 13 or so began to panic. They tried to stay on the boat but as a large wind came, a huge wave knocked both boys out of the boat and into the raging water. The father immediately realized this and saw that both boys were a good 10 feet apart and knew that with the one rope he had, he could only save one boy! He prayer a desperate prayer to God saying, "Why must I have to make such a painful choice!" The father let out a shout saying, "Son! I love you so much!" and sent the rope flying towards his son's friend. He pulled the boy safely on the boat but by the time he was through, his son was no where to be found. The waters calmed in a couple hours and while it still rained, the father made the long row back to shore. He drove like crazy to his house and called a search party to try and find his son only to have them find his body on the shore a couple days later. The father had a hard time accepting his son's death but eventually saw the benefits when his son's friend asked him to pray with him. His son's friend gave his life to Christ and promised to live for God from then on and he has.

While the preacher was still talking, a teen boy in the front row asked, "Preacher, how do you know this guy is truly saved? Who told you this story anyway?"

The preacher smiled at the boy and said tenderly, "I know this story is true because I am the boy who was saved. My friends father saved me instead of his own son because he knew that one day, he will see him again. I am standing here to tell you that this is just like how God gave his son for not just one boy but for all of mankind!"

Isn't that a great story! I cry every time I think about what Jesus went through so we could be saved and have eternal life with God. Amazing Grace!

Blessings,
Butterfly

Bonjour!

2009-05-07T21:28:00.003-04:00

Bonjour readers,

I apologize for not posting in sooo long (6 DAYS!!! OH NO)! I really have been meaning to get on but its a matter of will power to say to myself, "I know its nice outside but just take 30 minutes to turn on the PC and whip up a post for your blog" but I kept telling that little thought, just a few more minutes of sun and then I will go in. A lot of good that did huh? LOL
(Guy readers will want to skip to the next paragraph unless you enjoy reading about tanning and hair and beauty stuff.)

Due to already having an olive complexion (i am a bit Italian you know...) I do look a bit tan already but I honestly don't try to tan. It just happens when I am outside reading on the porch and let me tell you it doesn't take much for me to tan either. My hair has also gone a shade or so lighter from all the sunshine and it is so pretty! : )

OK now to the more important things of life... ME! No, I am just kidding ya'll!
So you all have not been telling me what to post about. Do you want crafts, recipes, more journal entries (just talking about my daily life happenings) or something else??? Please tell me so I can post what YOU WANT to read!

If you want to know about beauty products (not make-up, just cleansers and stuff) then you will enjoy the next paragraph. If you want a really good (and I mean REALLY GOOD) body exfoliater try this super duper easy recipe: 1 cup of olive oil and 1-2 tablespoons of sea salt (you can use regular salt but sea salt is better). I used it a couple weeks ago in the shower and when I came out my skin was just about as soft as my baby brothers!
Now if you want to buy the best facial cleanser, you will want Alba Botanical Pineapple Enzyme Facial Cleanser! You can order it and other health items on vitacost.com for discount prices or you can find it at your local store (they have it at Better Health, CVS and a few other stores). It smells really good and doesn't dry out your face.
If you want a great body lotion that isn't greasy and makes your skin really soft try Alba Botanical Coconut Milk Body Cream. It smells sooo good and works great.

OK so now, I will tell a bit about the happenings of last week.
Last Saturday, we went to a Green Festival in a nearby city and it was fun but we didn't enjoy all the go green folks. Did you know that the fluorescent lights that everyone says are so green and great have mercury inside and that if you were to break one in your home, you would have to replace your carpeting and do a 15 step procedure to remove the bulb from your house and into a glass jar and then drive it to your local dump!!! It is nuts I tell you!
Just about everyone at the green festival was trying to sell them... go figure.
Well besides that it was a fun thing for our family because we tried some salsa (don't know what selling salsa has to do with going green but at least it was yummy) and we actually bought some because it was so good.
Sunday, we went to church and the sermon was on parenting. It was funny because the pastor said that some kids question their parents when leaving for college and ask, "Why should I leave all this?" and the pastor said the parents would say, "BECAUSE ITS NOT YOURS!" lol I just love it! Fortunately my parents actually are pushing me towards online college to avoid the costs like gas, dorm life, and college costs (online college is a lot cheaper). I am not sure so we are still praying about it.
Monday was the first day that I started my annual walking day. I go out every weekday at 7:30am and walk around our cul-de-sac for usually 30-40 minutes. I just love walking and talking with God in the morning. Its such a peaceful way to exercise.
Tuesday was the day we mowed the lawn for the first time this year and trust me... it needed it! lol My dad is actually the one who mowed so I just swept the driveway but I will probably mow quite a few times this summer. Did I ever tell you all of the time I mowed last summer and got more than 50 mosquito bites! I am not lying friends... its 100% true.
Wednesday was the beginning of my "womanly week" so I actually didn't go walking but stayed in bed until about 10ish reading my school books. My mom is sooo awesome! She brought me a bowl of one of my favorite cereals with cut strawberries on top for breakfast. THANKS MOM!!!
Today was a rainy day so I should have posted earlier but I was actually gone quite a bit today. This morning, we went to our city hall to pray at the polls and guess what... we were the only ones there! We guessed that everyone had come earlier since it was about 11am when we got there. Then I went grocery shopping with my mom. It is always so fun running in the rain and it gives you motivation to run faster towards the building too. lol
I did get almost all my homework done today even though I wasn't home all day. The only one I didn't complete was my history reading but I can do a bit extra tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, I am babysitting in the morning and I can't wait to see my girls! They are such sweet little girls and the last few weeks I have been babysitting they have been giving me hugs goodbye! : )
Well I need to get to bed so I have energy for the day ahead!

Blessings,
Butterfly

Hi

2009-05-01T17:24:00.003-04:00

Hey readers,

Sorry I have been gone soooo long but things have been busy and it seems like every time I try to post something, my mom or my siblings or someone will need me for something or I have to leave but anyways, at least I am posting now! : )
Well I have several things to tell you about. First, last Saturday was the Home school Spring Formal (home school version of Prom) and it was a lot of fun. I wish I could show you pics but due to privacy I am not allowed. I may be able to crop a pic of me and just show my dress without showing my face (Off with my head! lol).
Second, on Sunday, we had an explosion in our house... no one was injured thankfully. Well here is what happened, my mom was heating roast beef in what she thought was a heat safe tempura glass container and it was bubbling something crazy so she turned the heat off to let it cool. Well about 2 minutes later, it was sooo hot that the glass container literally jumped about half a foot in the air and landed on the left side of the stove top (it had been on the far right) and it shattered glass EVERYWHERE! I praise God that no one had glass wounds although my dad did step on a small piece of glass (really tiny so no real injury) but it was a big mess to clean.
Third, I am searching desperately for a job for this Summer to earn extra cash for college (if I am going... still praying about it) and my car that I am going to buy next year (praying about that too). I tried Borders near me but they prefer people who are 18 and older so that wasn't going to work. I don't want to work in a grocery store because it would not be that great on a resume or college application. I was thinking a waitress but all the restaurants nearby are not hiring and prefer people with prior experience! I would be a great cashier because I am very sociable (why do you think my blog name is social butterfly : )
Well that is something to pray about so if you think of me, pray about that.
Oh I have to tell ya the funnest thing ever! On Wednesday at Baskin Robbins they had a special for 31 cent ice cream cones! My family and I were excited because we usually buy ice cream in the store because its more economical but we don't all like the same flavors so to choose which flavors we wanted was a treat for us.
Lastly, yesterday was the beginning of the first sub wide garage sales in my city. I enjoy garage sailing sooo much because you get really great deals. I bought four purses (all under $1 each) and two tops for $1! Yes and they are sooo cute! I will post pics of my goods later. Well I have to go see what my siblings are up to since my folks went out but I will post more later!

Blessings,
Butterfly

Here is my memory verse for today:
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Laminin

2009-04-22T14:23:00.003-04:00

This is a pretty neat story and an interesting thing that few of us know. I received this in a email and had to share it with you all. It's brief, so please read. (FROM A CHRISTIAN DOCTOR)

A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio... And I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned.... But I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway.

He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is... How He spoke the universe into being... How He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire.. . Etc. Etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder.

At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) ....

And I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking.... 'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???' Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!!It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin.

Here is how Wikipedia describes them: 'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see.... Laminins are what hold us together.... LITERALLY.. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell.

Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what they LOOKED LIKE..But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)....Here is what the structure of laminin looks like... AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it.... If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see....

Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing.The glue that holds us together.... ALL of us.... Is in the shape of the cross.

Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible And invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;All things were created by him and for him.He is before all things, and in him All things HOLD TOGETHER. 'Colossians 1:15-17Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool. Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together... One cell to another... By the cross. You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything Other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam breathed his first breath!!

That is just waaaay cool! I love it!!!!!

Butterfly

Earth Day : P

2009-04-22T10:44:00.005-04:00

So today is Earth Day and I think it is weird. It seems very paganistic to me. See Earth Day is a day to pretty much "worship" the Earth/Mother Earth and that is what pagans and Indians did (the Mayans and Aztecs and other Indian tribes).
Also, the politicians who are trying to get us Americans to notice earth day are hypocrites.
They tell us to cut back and save energy and they are the ones with huge homes with high electric bills and flying around in expensive jets!
I have to say that I do support Gov. Sarah Palin because she has conservative values and wants to get oil from Alaska so America doesn't have to continue declining into greater debt. So what if a few caribou have to migrate! If we produce our own oil (which we should have done decades ago) then we wouldn't rely on terrorists in the middle east to supply it for us.
If John McCain had won the election, this country would be in a better condition.
Oh and here is something we should all add to our prayer lists: Hillary Clinton is trying to get President Obama to pass a law saying that no one should have the right to home school. If she and other politicians get their way, we will no longer be able to home school and by law will have to attend public schools!
It would be a good thing in the sense that the public schools would have droves of Christian kids flooding into the public schools but bad because they would be taking away mothers rights to teach her children.
Pray my friends for God hears!

<3,
Butterfly

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." --Thomas Paine

Get Active

2009-04-21T23:03:00.003-04:00

Friends, when I say get active, I don't mean work out and exercise get active. I am referring to make a difference get active.
We teens, believe it or not, are the future and we can make a difference no matter how young. Make your voice be heard!
My heart weeps for our country as our leaders make unwise decisions. My friend Katelyn and I were discussing this topic earlier today on how President Obama is setting our nation up for destruction.
The only thing I can find true comfort in is love. Not just any love like romance but God's love for His children! He loves us sooo much that He sent His ONLY son that whosoever believes in Him shall have EVERLASTING life! That is a huge promise that only God, the Alpha and Omega can give and keep.
I was excited, even thrilled when I was finally able to have a chance to let my voice be heard at the TEA party rally last week.
The one thing all of us can and should do is pray. Not just a , "Dear God help our country. Amen" prayer but a REAL prayer like, "Lord God, you are a God who hears and answers prayer. Lord preserve our countries morals. Save us from this decline that President Obama is sending us."
Pray that God will save President Obama and if that is not possible, then may Obama be impeached! I can think of a few reasons for him to be impeached and I am not even an adult!
Friends, let YOUR voice be heard. Tell me what you think of all this.
Don't just brush it off and say someone else will deal with this because, "You may be here for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14).

Blessings,
Butterfly

End of last week and what is up this week

2009-04-20T12:13:00.009-04:00

Hey girls and guys,

So here is the download of the TEA party in my town. Obviously you know it was last Wednesday and if any of you saw the news, you know the news people (except Glenn Beck) lied by saying it was mostly housewives at the TEA parties! There were plenty of men, teen girls and guys and even some kids! It was actually my very first rally and I saw quite a few people I know from my home school group. Here are some pictures of all the people there:

It was actually a lot of fun rallying for American CHRISTIAN rights! We sang God Bless the USA and we said the Pledge Of Allegiance and we heard a couple speakers and one sounded like he was a Christian man! : )

Thursday, nothing special that I can remember.... oh well, on to Friday!

Friday was BEAUTIFUL outside! I went to babysit that morning and we were outside most of the time taking walks and playing on the kids swing set. If you could add the family I babysit for to your prayer list that would be great. They had to have Terminix treat their house for termites and when I was inside babysitting, they were all over the place. I felt so helpless with all those bugs crawling EVERYWHERE and Summer (3 years old) was scared of them so she kept calling for me with her little voice saying, "There is another one right there! Get it!" She wanted me to kill them for her and I did kill at least 50 but it was hard work with a 5 month old baby in my arms. I fixed the problem of Summer being scared by taking her to the TV room and letting the three older kids (Noah, Marina and Summer) watch a kid show while I fed the baby a bottle. I was pretty exhausted when I got home but it was so nice out that I just had to be outside. I was able to wear a short sleeve top and shorts! Yeaaaa! Well my grandma came to visit at about 2ish and she gave me a birthday card which contained birthday cash!! I saved most and spent some on a couple new belts that I really needed (the belt I was using was purchased 6 years ago... and it still fit! LOL I am not kidding! : )

Saturday, my family and I spent the whole day outside! It was sooo nice out and we had so much fun together. We went out to dinner at a place that specializes in roast beef so all of our meals contained roast beef. : P

Sunday was a gloomyish day (is gloomyish a word??) because there was no sunshine. Well we did of course go to church and the message was on Aliens.... weird, i know. Well it was actually about how women and men seem to be aliens to each other's worlds and how God created us to be different to benefit marraige and our compatability. I wouldn't know much about that though cuz I am obviously not married but I do observe a bit of how my parents deal with sticky situations so I have a bit of a clue.

Today, I have been doing lots of studying (a typical day includes 6-8 hours of schoolwork for me) and baking. Yes I baked a cranberry dessert for my mom's Lia Sophia party tonight. Lia Sophia is like Avon but instead of selling beauty products, they sell jewelry. Well I need to get going to I can finish my schoolwork (just my history and social studies) and then we need to tidy up the house for the party tonight. TTY all L! Leave a comment to support my blogging creativity! : )

Blessings and Joy,

Butterfly

P.S. For those of you who wanted to see pics of my dresses I got for my b-day, here they are!

The blue one is my fav, the green/black/white one is my second fav and I really like the last one because it flatters my figure and makes me look more sophisticated.

Three exciting and happy days

2009-04-15T13:37:00.003-04:00

Hey girls,

I hope your Easter was superb and delightful! I am going to tell you of the three funnest days I have experienced in April.

Lets start with April 12 (Easter). I woke up about 8:30am when my mom came in my room saying, "Happy Easter! Its time to wake up." I scurried to make my bed and joined my family in our living room to begin the search for out Easter baskets. Now I know what you may be thinking, "You still look for your Easter basket? Isn't that kiddy?" Well in a way it is but its a family tradition and its actually fun. And I had some of my favorite treats in my basket like Ferero Rocher chocolates! After everyone found their baskets, we ate a quick breakfast and got ready for church. The Easter service was lovely with extra singing and a great message.
To celebrate Easter, we ate at Famous Dave's because I had a birthday coupon (from signing up for the email club) for a free meal. I had ribs and fries (i know its not healthy but it was a special treat), my mom had chicken, my dad had ribs, my brother had pulled pork, and my sister had ribs. AJ ate a mix of sides (potatoes, green beans, french fries, etc...). You will be happy to know we had salads at home later.
After our delicious meal, we came back home and relaxed. I sat out front in my lawn chair reading my book Girl Talk... God Talk by Sally Miller. Unfortunately, none of our family was able to get together so we spent the day together taking walks and playing outside.

Monday WAS MY BIRTHDAY!!! I was soooo excited when I woke up! For breakfast, my mom made chocolate muffins! I enjoyed my delicious breakfast and then my mom and dad handed me my card. At first I was wondering where the gift was but I opened the card (which was beautiful) and inside my mom had written that my birthday gift is to go on a shopping spree with her to Kohls to buy some summer dresses for me! I was soooooo excited again because that is the one thing I have been wanting to buy for a while now. See I had only 2 dresses that fit and one was actually real short so I desperately wanted to get new dresses so when I read that my mom was going to take me dress shopping I couldn't help being as happy as I was! : )
I will post pictures of the dresses once I get a chance (hopefully before Saturday).
So after shopping, my family and I went bowling! I had called my friend Katelyn and invited her to come with us to celebrate my b-day and we all had a blast bowling together! Katelyn and I collected more gutter balls than we intended but we still had a great time! After bowling, Katelyn had to go home so we said our goodbyes and we went home. It was already almost 5pm when we got home so we had dinner which was Chinese food (sesame chicken, egg rolls, and egg drop soup)! I really like Chinese, Mexican, Italian and of course American food! I went to bed with very happy dreams and a full tummy. : )

Yesterday, I had Little Women at my house and it was sooo much fun.
I had made the dough for the cookies on my b-day before I had gone to bed so all I had to do was shape the cookies and bake them. Sounds easy right... wrong! Haman Hat cookies are supposed to be shaped almost like 3-D triangles but they always come out flat for me! : P
Well that only took about an hour and a half to complete but it was worth it! The cookies were sooo good! I had to hurry because after cookie baking and cleaning the kitchen, I was still in my pjs and I had less than an hour before my LW friends arrive! I did a quick hair fix and got dressed. Thankfully my room was already tidy.
I prepped the craft and got the devotion book out.
Just as I finished, my first friend arrived at the door at 12:58 (the Little Women meeting was to start at 1pm so it was perfect timing) and it was Tiffany. She was so sweet because she brought me a birthday gift! A couple minutes after she arrived, Allie and Jackie came. Then Olivia and Michelle. Sadly Nicole couldn't come because of other plans so we did miss her.
I let the girls choose what they wanted to do first and they all said craft so I took them into the kitchen and told them we were making homemade bath salts! Tiffany and a couple of the other girls agreed that it was the best craft in Little Women history (thanks Tiff!: )
The recipe is so easy. Its just 1 cup of epsom salt, 1 cup baking soda, a few drops of either lavendar oil or sweet orange oil and any food dye color you like. All the salts smelled great!
After making our salts, we did the devotion on Esther and it was cool because we read about how Esther had 12 months of beauty treatments before seeing the king and our bath salts are like our own beauty treatment to use at home. We then did a quiz on the book of Esther and afterwards, ate the cookies! Once we finished all I had planned, we still had about an hour of time left so we played a card game called Mafia! It is sooo fun! I will have to explain how you play another time because my fingers are getting sore from so much typing. After playing Mafia, we played another game called Sardines which I explained in a post a couple months ago that you can read. I was sad when everyone had to go but we had sooo much fun! Well that is all for now!

TTYL,
Butterfly

Happy Easter

2009-04-11T13:37:00.004-04:00

I am so sorry that its been so long since my last post! I will do my best to fill you in on the latest and greatest.

Biggest News: EASTER IS TOMORROW!

Big News: MY BIRTHDAY IS ON MONDAY!!!

Almost Big News: This upcoming Wednesday, throughout the country will be the national TEA party standing for Taxed Enough Already. My family is going to one in a city near us. You can look up more info about this and what cities near you are participating at http://www.teaparty.com/ .

Other News: Well I have had a busy but fun week.
Monday my friend Katelyn came over to visit and we watched College Road Trip together and then we chatted for almost an hour afterwards until her mom came by to pick her up.
Tuesday, I went out to eat at Mongolian Barbeque with my mom because I had a birthday coupon to get a free meal since my birthday is in a few days. The food was sooooo good!!! My mom and I went to our Beth Moore Bible study that evening and learned about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo.
Wednesday, my grandma came to visit us.
Oh I almost forgot! On April 2, I got my haircut! Nothing drastic, just a couple inches off the ends, layering, face-frame and she trimmed my side-swept bangs (the bangs needed to be cut the most!) LOL
After getting my haircut, we went out to eat with my grandma, great aunt, Aunt Tina and my cousins for my Aunt Tina's birthday! We had the vegetarian pizza and it was sooo yummy! : )

Back to this week now. Thursday was crazy because we did schoolwork and we tried to get yardwork done too because we had raking and thatching to do (I hate thatching so I just had to rake : )

GOOD FRIDAY was sunny out! Yeaaaa! I babysat Friday morning and I was exhausted when I got home because I watched all 4 kids since none of them were in school. So I had Noah (age 6), Marina (age 4), Summer (age 2), and Selah (5 months) and I am so happy that the kids are obedient and well mannered. I love them like family and they are so sweet. The girls are so adorable and when I had to go, they both wanted to give me a hug. It was so cute!
When I got home, my family and I ate lunch (grilled cheese and tomatoe soup! YUM!) and then we went to the summit to go swimming.
We had a good time swimming and my siblings love the pool. Especially AJ! He thinks its a giant bathtub filled with kids his size. : )
I was bummed because just after I had changed out of my swimsuit and into my clothes to get ready to leave, my friend Shannon was just getting in the pool! I wanted to go back in but I was too tired and everyone in my family was getting ready to leave.
Once we arrived back home, everyone took turns showering and then we ate dinner. We had a breaner (breakfast dinner) of waffles and sausage. AJ and I really like waffles! : )

Today, I woke up and sat in my bed and it was 7:30am! One thing kept running through my mind, "Where is my promise ring?" (weird thought to have when you wake up... lol)
When we had gone swimming yesterday, I had taken my silver promise ring off and put it in my swim bag but when I checked my bag this morning, it wasn't there. The first thought that came to my mind was that I had dropped it at the summit.
I ran for the phone and called the summit only to discover that no one had found any rings that matched my discription. I filed a missing report just in case they do find it. After I got off the phone, I prayed to God "Lord, why is my ring missing? Why just two days before my birthday? Lord, please let me find it."
God hears our prayers girls. Even our silly petty prayers like mine this morning. I decided to search my drawers and look through the clothes I had taken out of my swim bag and sure enough, tucked in my shorts that I had been in my swim bag was my promise ring! After placing it back onto my finger, I praised the Lord for hearing my prayers. I also called the summit to let them know that I had found my ring and to cancel the missing report and you know what, the nice man I spoke to said he was so glad I had found it! I told him I was happy too! : )
Well I hope this didn't bore you. Please leave a comment and tell me what you would like to read on my blog. I want to post what you want to read! : ) Thanks and have a HAPPY EASTER!

Blessings,
Butterfly

Been awhile

2009-03-28T20:52:00.004-04:00

Hey girls,

Sorry I was gone for so long! I kept meaning to post but kept forgetting or got busy! : P

Well I have good news..................... I got a super cute pair or American Eagle shoes on sale and with a coupon so I got them for only $15 (originally 23)!!! YEAA! Here is a pic although you may not care what they look like:

Well besides shoes, I have been doing other things.... *thinking*.... like..... oh my Japanese report for the International Dinner tomorrow evening and I made a special cookie recipe made in Israel during Purim when they celebrate the Jews victory over the Persians! Oh and if I hadn't already posted this (I am almost 100% sure I haven't so keep reading) there is an AMAZING book trilogy that you HAVE to just try reading! The author is a Christian named Ted Dekker and its called "The Martyr Series". The first book is called "Heaven's Wager" and its soooooo addictive and the suspense is gripping! All three books are incredible! You can probably get them at your local library. The second book, When Heaven Weeps, will need your parents approval if you are under age 13 only because of drug content but they are all Christian books and besides that are totally clean.

Besides books and shoes (two of my favorite things : P ) we have been enjoying the nice sunny weather where I live. I have been rollerblading and taking walks with my family. I really enjoy lovely weather! God has blessed us with several warm sunny days! : )

Well enough about me..... I want to hear from YOU! Tell me what you would like to read more of in my blog and I will do it! Do you want crafts, recipes, Bible studies, anything you like and I will try to add a few posts about it! Thanks for you comments and God bless!

Until next post,

Butterfly

First Day of Spring

2009-03-20T11:15:00.003-04:00

Hey Girls!!
I am soooo excited because today is...........................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................................................

...... *long dramatic pause*

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!!

YEAH!!!!!!!

Enjoy today is BEAUTIFUL sunshine and if you are having a gloomy weather day, pray for sunshine!!! God will bless ya with it before ya know it!

Blessings on you all,
Butterfly