Dancing Fools.

We were pretty much this good.
Pretty much...

This past week, Nick and I took salsa lessons at school. We don't know why we did, but we did. It was basic and nothing to complicated. The teacher went really slow and Nick and I mastered salsa dancing quickly. Friday night, we decided to go swing dancing. We showed up and there were three couples dancing and that was it. WHY WERE WE THERE? We felt so awkward and wanted to leave. Some of our friends from Illuminate showed up and so we decided to stay for a little. Eric & Sarah taught us how to swing dance. Nick and I were not very good. We are planning on going back so we can become masters. Even though we didn't know what we were doing, we had so much fun. I am so lucky, because I have the greatest dance partner ever. We love dancing. We are dancing fools.

Crazy about Jesus.

I know I've written about it before but I am not quite sure you understand how simply incredible Illuminate is. You see, it's a bunch of crazy high schoolers who are passionate about serving Jesus and truly want to go deep so that they can further understand the pure beauty of our King. I am so glad to be one of those crazy passionate people.

Jenny Foster. She is crazy. A very very GOOD crazy, but crazy. Tonight, after worship, she got up to close and exclaimed how excited she was about God. She was pumped and so excited because God is good. Jenny and I ended the night by planning a Jurassic Park themed prom and dancing like nobody's business.  See? She's crazy. Crazy about dancing dinos and crazy about Jesus.

Emily Chant. ( One of the leaders) She gave me a hug and it made me smile. She makes me smile. I love Emily Chant. She told me she is going to come to one of my classes. So together we decided she is going to be my exchange student from France who speaks NO english. She is a constant encourager and is so wonderful. She is also crazy about Jesus.

There are lots of other people at Illuminate that I love and they are all CRAZY ABOUT JESUS. Nick, Abby, Cade, Grace, and Sarah are just a few of the people that inspire me with the ways they are radically living for Jesus.

God is good. Because only a very good God would make something like Illuminate happen.

Blessed.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for....

Parents who are in love.

Funny siblings who don't take serious pictures

 

TWO new nephews

 

 A boyfriend who plays scrabble with my family.

 Turkish tea

[ Let's pray like this more often ]

Going into the weekend of Acquire the Fire, I did not have th best attitude. Many of my friends weren't going and I was overwhelmed with the challenge to connect with all the younger girls. Luckily, I roomed with three INCREDIBLE young ladies who were very easy to relate to. The trip had been good but nothing special. We were given the opportunity to pray in groups. We stood in a circle with four strangers. Kelsie, Susanna, Sarah, Josh and I were praying to our King with four people we had never met. Joel Johnson stood on the stage and prayed peace over all of us. Prayer is so so so powerful.

[ Let's pray like this more often. ]

illuminate.

A simple but true talk, 

singing songs to a mighty God, 

and incredible people, 

all played a big part in making my

 first night at illuminate memorable. 

For the first time in a long time,

 I left a youth event feeling full. 

The simplicity of the night made it so beautiful. 

The talk about prayer was easy to connect to 

and the band played songs with lyrics 

that were filled with truth. 

This is what youth group should look like.

Best Friends.

Today is the day that my best friend turns twenty-one. Now, We have not always been best friends. In fact, we haven't always been just friends. For the longest time, we were just sisters. We shared a room and were so different we didn't know how to function with each other. She was clean and I was a wreck.  

Moving to Montana was one of the best things that ever happened for me. One of the wonderful things that happened was Emily and I no longer had to share a room. We've become very close over the last three years and I love it. She is the most wonderful best friend. 

I am blessed to be best friends with Emily Keena.

Halloween.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

 I had a fabulous weekend. Nick was coming over ( always a good way to start off the weekend) and we needed something to do. Since Halloween was right around the corner, we figured it was necessary that we make Halloween cupcakes. We picked up some red velvet cupcake mix, orange and black frosting, and paper pumpkins and headed home.



Our cupcakes!

We decided to bake on the same night of game 7 of the World Series. It was terrible planning on our part cause we were extremely distracted from baking. The night started off incredibly cause well, we won. We're champions.

We finally finished up the cupcakes and began to decorate them using black and orange frosting. The frosting was not cooperating and it was taking much to long to decorate. We decided one dab of frosting would be enough for each cupcake. We topped them off with paper pumpkins and set them in decorative paper. We were too full from our Halloween pasta to eat any of our cupcakes.

 

 

He is a pro.

Saturday night we got a call from Matt, Nick's brother, and his girlfriend, Renee. They wanted to hit up the mall to walk around in our costumes. We voted for our favorite decorated pumpkins, shopped in a crafting store, took pictures, and called it a night. Nick came over after and we watched Chopped ( favorite food show ) with Emily and David. It was a perfect way to end the night.



 

Vicious

Halloween day came and we had no plans. We still needed to carve pumpkins so we decided to do so. We only had ten minutes to carve a pumpkin before all the trick-or-treaters came to our house. We wanted them to see our work so we rushed. Needless to say, our pumpkin had triangle eyes and a circle mouth. So creative. I know. We roasted our pumpkin seeds and were waiting them to finish. We started talking and kinda forgot about the seeds. We burnt them.  After handing out chocolate to skaters, pooh bear, and a little girl riding a purple horse, Nick left for guitar lessons and I decided to watch Castle with my wonderful family.

 Halloween was good this year, even though I didn't get lots of free candy.

The Halloween pasta we had for dinner.

The Sunshine State.

Party at Disney

She stood there holding a neon green sign that was decorated with palm trees and said "Welcome to Florida!". I made it. After a day filled with traveling, strange accents, an upset stomach, and confusing airports, I had finally made it into the arms of one of my best friends, Tess Carr. We had been counting down for weeks and I couldn't believe that I was really there. I was in Florida, with some of my favorite people in the world. I was reunited with the family that always fed me delicious food and constantly made me laugh. I had two strangely long tacos for dinner, and our time at the table was filled with lots of talking. Our conversation topics ranged from musicals, to rock climbing, to boyfriends. We finished up, thanked the funny waiter, and headed home. I walked into their gorgeous home and felt very very welcome.

The next morning we woke up nice and early to make our way to Sea World. We walked through underground tunnels and were surrounded by sharks. We got to pet sting rays and hear people get overly excited about discovering the color of pearls they were going to receive. We went on insane rides that took atrocious pictures of us in the moments where we were  about to, in the words of Rachel, "tee-tee ". We watched human-eating whales jump and dolphins do back flips and carry people on their noses. We were nearly attacked by colorful, flying birds as they flew too close to our heads. As you can see, the day was filled with MANY wild adventures. It was an incredible day.

So, This family? Well,  they spoil me. My week was filled with INCREDIBLE food, clean clothes and lots of hugs. Many mornings I woke up to fried eggs over easy, crispy bacon, and a bagel with butter. Mr. Carr is the man. We went to tons of restaurants I had never been to and I indulged in homemade ice cream, the best barbeque in the WORLD, and the most delicious mac and cheese I have ever consumed. Mama Denise also did my laundry. I was expecting extremely hot weather, so I only brought one pair of jeans. I soon found out, it was warm, but not hot. Mama D washed my jeans for me and dried them, IN THE DRYER! Let me explain, in my house, it takes to long to dry our jeans and uses lots of energy so we hang them up. Every time. But Mama D dried them for me in the dryer. Like I said, they spoiled me.

Miss Rachel Carr. Stunning. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was getting to know this stunning young lady better. Back in Montana we never really bonded. We saw each other often because I was always hanging around her fabulous sister, Tess. Rachel and I ate 5lbs of gummy bears together and did weird crafts together but we never REALLY talked. This week, we got to talk. We got to be around each other a lot and it was wonderful. I never knew how incredibly hilarious this girl was until this week. Rach and I decided we should ride front row at one of the rides at Sea World. The safety guy slipped a fast pass to my hot friend and told her its better in the back. Even though I always felt super ugly around her, having hot friends has its perks. I love Rachel Carr. I got to know her better then I ever had. It's official. We are friends. Good friends. We are no longer  "sister friends" but we are friends. 

More incredible things came during the week. For example, I FINALLY got to see my incredibly talented best friend act. She played the main character in A Wrinkle in Time and did an absolutely incredible job. This girl can act. She even kept a straight face after lots of hooting and hollering at her after she kissed a certain young fella. This young fella is a big fan of Tess. He got her balloons on her birthday, texts her often, and wrote "HONK I'M 18" on the back of her white suburban. After being in awe of the show, we went to lunch with one of her cast members, London. London is the funniest person I have ever met. Nuff said. The show was incredible and I fell in love with London and even more in love with Tess.

This is starting to get very very long so I am going to start summing things up. Saturday night we celebrated Tess's start to adulthood ( scary. ). People showed up the door with sparkly headbands and red lipstick. Flappers and mobsters flooded the candle lit house and were handed a champagne glass with their name written on it. I spent most of the night with Rachel and Josh. Two incredible people who laugh at everything I say. I like them. Tess was GORGEOUS. She wore a legit 1920s dress the belonged to her Great Grandmother and her locks were perfectly curled. Later that night, David, one of Tess's fabulous theater friends,  got shot and we were sent on a mission to find out who the murderer was. Tess, the birthday girl, was the one who shot the boy that has an angel voice.  We then had a mini concert played for us. Someone Like You, Lean on Me, and many other songs rung loudly through the house. I instantly got goose bumps and was inspired to take voice lessons. The night ended with a crazy game that required acting, which i am terrible at, so my team lost. Sorry team. 

I also had the chance to go to Disney World. Last time I went I was eight. So, I recently decided I need to go every eight years of my life. At Disney we watched mermaids sing, stuff explode, and  Tess Carr sing on a stage that looked just like the American Idol stage. This talented girl made it through many rounds of auditions and got the chance to sing in front of real judges and hundreds of people. She tried to get Rachel and I to audition. We said no cause there were way too many people. She replied " Calm down, It's only like four hundred people."  That's it. Only four hundred. CRAZY GIRL. While she was going through auditions, Rachel and I were busy riding the TOWER OF TERROR. It was incredible. We rode it over and over and over again. We were on an adrenaline high and never wanted the constant dropping to end. We were buzzed and life was good. 


The sunshine state was a wonderful place to be. The air was thick and warm and cool breezes felt wonderful again. The traffic was insane but gave us lots of time to talk and sing all of our favorite songs. The roller coasters were crazy and gave us an incredible high. The people were amazing. The family was welcoming and were outstandingly hospitable. I felt welcomed and they invited me to come back next summer. My week was incredible. The Carr family is VERY incredible. I am blessed to know such a wonderful and loving family.

Tess  & David

Sea World (:

Always gotta have at least one jumping picture.

Petting sting rays with Rach

Tower of Terror

wonderful.

After an extremely long week, it was comforting to know that I had finally made it to Friday. So let me start off by saying, happy Friday folks. We made it to the weekend. The day started off with a trip to Bagel Works for "Bagel Friday" with my family. Shortly after, I was faced with a chemistry test. Sick. My new friend, who also loves Phineas and Ferb, assured me i was prepared and gave me a pretest pep talk. Confident and happy to have a friend like him I pushed through and finished. Lucky for me, I had lunch with Nick Braaksma to look forward to. Lunch finally came after an uneventful morning of choir and psych. We made our way over to " The Rock". He got a bagel and i got apple juice. We took our time walking back cause there was no need to rush. On our way back we talked lots and found a rabbit that needed some love. It was perfect. The rest of the school day was long. I ate candy corn in study hall and listened to some Jon Rand. American Studies was spent watching a dumb movie and doodling.  As i said, long and boring. Finally the bell rang and school was out. I was on my way to find Nick. He was in need of a cardboard box and we were about to take a journey to a sketch dump yard to find one. I don't know about you, but i never would have thought that looking for a cardboard box big enough for a  6'2''  man to sleep in would be so great. We had to find the perfect box, you know, one with a window. We found one. Score. We made him some shades out of tape and loaded the washing machine box into the back of his car. We weren't done though. There were still old, broken down, school buses with chipped and faded yellow paint that needed to be checked out. On our way to the buses, we found couches that belong at the house of some old lady that has lots of cats. We walked over huge pipes, rusty wire, and things unknown to us to make it to the bus. To our surprise the bus was filled with stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. We left quickly, fearing someone lived there. Okay, so I guess nothing super exciting happened. To you I am sure it just seems like an average day. But for me? It was a wonderful day spent with a wonderful person.

beautiful people.

I have this sister, Emily. 
She's really cool.

I also have this brother, Andrew. 
He is equally cool.

 Lucky for me, they are beautiful people 
and
are natural models.