First time...

Today was my first time to film a football game for my high school. Was it stressful? Yes. Did I miss filming a play because I was distracted by the giant bows the cheerleaders wear in their hair? Well, I have the right to remain silent on that one, right?

School

Today I counted the number of sandwiches for a football team & took an office chair on a trip to the stadium concession stand. All before 9am.

New beginnings

Today I started my senior year of high school, as well as a slew of other things that go along with that. I honestly can't believe I'm so old. I'm extremely excited for what this year holds.

This is a picture I took of the clouds this morning on my way to school.

Fuzzy's

Once upon a time,
two families had an idea.
"Let's eat lunch together!"
"Great idea! Where shall we eat?"
"Hmm..Fuzzy's?"
"I was hoping you'd say that!"
By the time they left the establishment, everyone was full of yummy queso + good conversation.
And they lived happily ever after!
The end

Trashed

Today I threw away these flowers. My first flowers. They will always hold a special place in my heart. Does that sound lame? That's alright, because I'm lame.

Flowers, Glass, & Buildings - oh my!

This evening I went to the Dallas Arboretum's Chihuly Nights exhibit with my sisters. If you're ever in the Dallas area & you have the opportunity to go to the Dallas Arboretum, GO! It's very large, & very beautiful. If you can make it between now & November 5th, when the exhibit closes, then do it! It was absolutely lovely.

Noodles + Kid's Meals

A big vacation or present is always nice. My favorite things, though, seem to also be "everyday" things. Today I had two of those things: throwing noodles on the cabinet to see if they're ready & a kid's meal bag from Chick-Fil-A that doubled as a puppet! <3

I'm not a liar

I could lie. I could tell you that for me to have a quiet time every night for the last 30 nights has been easy.

But it hasn't. Some nights I barely make it through the passage before I let my eyelids close.

It's not easy. It's definitely been an adjustment for me. I used to journal nearly every night for a year & a half before getting tired of it. That was back in January. But, ever since camp, I've made sure to write about my day in addition to reading a chapter of the Bible each night.

It's not easy, but it's worth it.

Here's some cool images I've seen on Pinterest.

Source: godrite.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: yhwhloves.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: wonderful-things-in-your-law.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Rachel on Pinterest

Meow

How cute is he? A couple minutes before this picture, he walked up to me, so I put my phone down by his face. He proceeded to rub his face against my phone.

What cute, little weirdo cat I have.

The little things

Wanna know some fun, little facts about me? No? Too bad.
1) I love a clean + colorful desk.
2) I don't like muffins, much less blueberry ones. Yet my favorite candle is a blueberry muffin one. Go figure!
3) Just using my new, colorful pens almost made me want to actually start my required reading for the summer. Almost.

You're doing it wrong

I don't claim to know all there is to know about parking, but I think this is wrong.

Relaxing

Today involved:
- waking up earlier than usual
- looking for colleges (ugh)
- babysitting a sweet girl
- helping a friend buy artsy stuff (my FAVORITE kind of stuff)
- having dinner + listening to wise people (my FAVORITE kind of people)

"hay gurl"

He's either winking or twitching. Either way, it's still making me laugh.

I love...

I don't know whether it's the utter terror or the thrill, but I love roller coasters. Today I went to Six Flags with a dear friend. Some highlights:
- riding Batman in the front row for the first time. It's a totally different experience!
- riding Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast for the first time. Totally terrifyingly amazing!
- her being an encouragement to me over lunch as we talked about college, etc.

I'm really, really thankful for the people God has placed in my life.

Diligence

Like the rest of my generation, I'm a procrastinator. I don't like to work hard on things that don't interest me. Namely, school. Here's the shocker: I wish I had done better in school over the years. You see, I'm quickly approaching senior year. Ouch. I can't believe that. But we'll get to that another day.

What was I talking about? That's right, working hard. I wish I had realized that watching that one TV show would completely change whether or not I'd be admitted into my dream school. I haven't been denied, yet, but I fear I will.

That's where this verse from my quiet time two nights ago comes in.

"Diligent hands will rule,

but laziness ends in forced labor."

- Proverbs 12:24 

I'm pretty sure my first thought when I read it was something along the lines of, "Oh". I felt busted. I don't work diligently. At anything. ANYTHING. It's pathetic. So, while I know I'm a little too late to work diligently to get into my dream school, I know I can work diligently for whatever is next in my life.

Wow. That turned out to be a lot more serious than I intended. Oh, well.

Mr. Bojangles

How rude of me! I forgot to introduce this cutie to the blog. This is Mr. Bojangles. This is my dog. You can follow him on instagram or twitter @Mr____Bojangles. That's four underscores. I'm not kidding. He + our cats may or may not also have their own Facebook accounts. But we won't get into that, because that involves Farmville.

Anyway, here he is! Sometimes he does this cute thing with his lip where it gets caught on his gum, I guess. How cute!!

No, we didn't name him. Two years ago, my sister's roommate decided she wanted a dog. When she went online to look at them, she found this guy, & my sister said that if they were going to have a dog in their apartment, they had to get him because my sister has always wanted a cat named Mr. Bojangles. Long story short, they couldn't handle him, so he came to live with us! He's been the main source of our entertainment for years. We love him very, very much.

EVERYTHING IS INTERESTING.

"Everything has a value, provided it appears at the right place at the right time. It's a matter of recognizing that value, that quality, and then to transform it into something that can be used. If you come across something valuable and tuck it away in your metaphorical suitcase there's sure to come a moment when you can make use of it."

- Jurgen Bey

I'm a rebel

You read that right. Today I ate cake for breakfast, had Chick-Fil-A for the second time in four days, & wrote a Bible verse on my new planner. Sometimes I'm shocked by how many risks I take.

While cleaning my room...

Today I felt like cleaning. If you know me, you know that I'm not always in the mood to do that.

While cleaning my slightly messy, completely junky, bedroom, I found a giraffe head, a (paper) rat, weird art from two years ago, & a 5+ year-old movie stub.

Oh, & a lot of dust.

17

Today was another day of "firsts" for me:
- first day of the 17th year of my life
- first time eating chicken Alfredo pizza
- first time receiving flowers

I'm so thankful for the blessings God has given me. I'm talking to you, my family.

ps - the flowers are from my loving sister, not some punk. (;

Galveston: Day 2

Our second day in Galveston was jam-packed with a morning walk on the beach (which included that strange, pink thing), reading by the pool, eating amazing food at Landry's, & making a friend on a 10pm beach walk.

Galveston: Day 1

The very first place we went after we checked in to our condo was The Spot. We went for the first time in March, & came back this time because of the shrimp kisses + the ocean view.

On vacation

I'm currently on vacation. I tried to blog, but that involved a lot of zooming on my phone, which was incredibly frustrating. So, I'll just update when I get back.

Until then, the last two nights we've walked on the beach, which has been freaking awesome.