P.S.

I'll probably be doing a huge pictures-only blog post soon to summarize the past six months wherein I have not done a single blog post. Talk about something to look forward to! ;)

Hope

So I've been having a bit of a hard time lately--the last year or so, actually, but I won't go into the boring details--but I discovered these pictures a week or so ago [from weheartit], and they've really helped me cheer up, so I thought I'd share them.


This one makes me smile whenever I see it--I just love it. I actually changed the desktop background on my laptop for the first time in three years to make it this. It's a nice little reminder.

And this one I found, and I really liked the saying. It's something I've come to know for myself--that just because everything is really hard and being hopeful feels impossible sometimes, the difficult stuff won't last forever. Eventually--and at the exact perfect time--everything will turn out all right, and probably even better than I can think to hope for.


Hope everyone's having a happy new year! My top priority for this year: hope more and cry less. :D Hooray for goals!

Chagrin

Sam has shamed me into actually updating--something I've been putting off for about 2 months. He updated, and I didn't. What's the world coming to?

As a warning--I'm going to be back-posting so that posterity doesn't know what a slacker I am. You've been warned. Now look forward to the posts.

ADDED: Okay, the updating is complete. There are 9 posts altogether (unless I counted wrong, which is quite possible), and they start in May and go to now. And I realize that my life isn't really so interesting that you really care about where you can find descriptions of the last two months of it, but in case you do, there you go. XOXO

God Bless America

We are so proud to be American. We love this nation and everything it stands for. It was valiant men and women, our forefathers, who stood in defiance of what they knew to be ungodly and unjust, who sought better circumstances for their lives and their families. They sought the right to worship God according to their own dictates. They sought a land where they could raise up families unto God with the opportunity to be everything and anything that they could conceive in their hearts. This defiance was not spiteful severance from the lands that bore their own fathers, but rather a separation from the inequity of greed and selfishness ruled by the whims of the eternal Adversary, who is headless of all government except to the extent that it serves his maniacal purposes.

In glorious and bright opposition to the oppression of souls is the life and light of a loving God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The Great Divine Heavenly Father through His Holy Spirit and providence inspired individuals to seek new horizons with courage. It is only when we give up on ourselves and each other that we fail, and these individuals did not give up. From the pilgrims and explorers to the patriots and revolutionists that in controversy stood for what was right, men and women lived and died so we could have the luxury of true freedom. It really is our manifest destiny--"you can't stop it, neither can I"--even though we must earn it with valiance and courage. The heart soars to think of our heroes who signed the Deceleration of Independence, battled indifference and greed, left hearth and home to fight an impossible war. A government was founded that was backed by God, a constitution was formed, and dreams were as great as the frontiers ahead.

Over and over again we have fought for our liberties, our rights, and our land, so we could let freedom ring in our own hearts and in that of any who desired it. Despite the tyranny and schemes of evil at home and abroad, despite scandal, fear, mistakes, and uncertainty, still the emblems of freedom stand.

We know that God inspired our forefathers to till the perfect land for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored again to the earth, to remain ever after until the Son of God returns in His glory to revel himself to all the earth. Where else could a 14-year-old boy have such freedom of choice as to consider multiple religions, including the possibility of none being correct? God has blessed America to be the cradle of the Church of Jesus Christ. Where else could such a church be legally established in such times?

Thank God for good men and women who have led this nation through civil war and dispute, through two world wars, through a great economic depression and more recent recessions, through defending democracy amidst great controversy in Korea, in Vietnam, and in Iraq. Courage and mercy have led us, and they must continue to be our guides. God bless our veterans. Individuals will scheme, but we--the stewards of this land, the people--determine our destiny. "Our future is as bright as our faith." Our greatest enemies are pride, selfishness, apathy, and sloth. Our greatest allies are courage, industry, love, compassion, and faith.

Men and women have died for this cause, and so many more have day after day lived out their lives striving to fulfill the American dream of a happy, productive life. God bless this land and its good people. Let no soul forget who they are and what they can do with their voice, their heart, and their honest hard work.

Perversions, tyranny, oppressions, deceptions, and countless other enemies rear their ugly heads in the most beguiling ways, confusing good for wrong and evil for right, yet we will stand triumphant as we better ourselves as individuals. The greatest way we can improve our country is to improve ourselves. It is our duty to ourselves, our families, our spouses, our children, our neighbors, our parents, our noble forefathers, and our God to be all we can be as Americans or citizens of any nation on this earth. We are the future, and we must learn from the past. God bless America. Though there are corruptions and complications, our government works and has worked for the benefit of us the people for 233 years. It is the government of the people, by the people, for the people, and it can only fail if we as the people give up striving to make it succeed.

Our prayer is that goodness may reign from the mountains to the rivers to the plains to the coasts of this great land. Take a moment and consider the great nation in which you live and re- pledge your allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands--one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

"In God we Trust"

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

Fourth of July!

Can I just say that I love it when Independence Day is during the weekend, because it means I get a free day off of work?

Yesterday Sam and I celebrated not having to go into work by babysitting our friends' little girl, who's probably the cutest toddler in existence. I didn't get any pictures of our day with her because she was always on the go! Man, I didn't think she was ever going to run out of energy! We took her to the festival that was set up downtown, which was so much fun! There were a ton of booths to go shopping at and a stage for people to perform at and historical displays and carnival rides and all kinds of things. She got to run around to her heart's content on the grass, and by the time her parents met us she was out. Like, a little kid's balloon popped right by us, and she didn't even flinch. Chasing her around all day was probably the funnest thing I've done in a long time. I can't wait until I get to be a mom and have my own kids to chase around.

Then this morning we got up early (sort of) to find a spot to watch the 4th of July parade, which was really good. A lot of people set their stuff up for it last night and spent the night camped out on the sidewalks. Talk about dedication. This is about how dedicated I was:



Yes, I held down the fort from any usurping intruders who wanted to block our view. A very noble endeavor, one you can see I'm taking very seriously.

After the parade, Sam and I went back to the festival thing and walked around all the booths with some friends. He and his buddies did this cool thing where they were on a pole-bridge-thing and then had to try to knock each other off with padded sticks that were as big as they were. I wish I'd gotten a picture, but I wasn't thinking, I guess. It was pretty funny to watch, though. Sam went flying when he got knocked down. Giggle.

After hanging out for a while, Sam and I went to . . . Stadium of Fire!! Yes, yes we did. It was so cool. I'm so glad we spent the money and went. We had pretty good seats, too--on the east side of the stadium in one of the bottom sections, about 30 rows up.

This is the stage before it got any use.



One of the neatest things about it was that our section had chairs--like the kind you can rent so you're not just sitting on the backless bench, except they were like cheap plastic lawn chairs, only blue and little. It was so nice to have a seat back! And the section right next to us didn't have the seats, so Sam chose very well.

Here we are waiting and fooling around with the camera. As usual, my waiting involves a book.



The evening was so cool. I can't even think of how else to describe it. At the beginning 3 fighter jet-things from Hill Air Force Base flew over the stadium in formation, which was awesome, and then a ton of dancers tore it up on the field, and then SheDaisy performed. I know you can't distinguish them, but here they are.



They were really, really good. I didn't know most of their songs, but there were a few I recognized, which was fun. Then after SheDaisy finished, a group of fire dancers took the stage in the middle of the field, which was so, so, so cool. I mean, wow. They were flinging around the fire sticks and fire hula-hoops like they weren't on fire, and without hesitation, too. It was awesome. Sam took some pictures of them, but you can't really see anything, so I'm not going to post them.

Then the Jonas Brothers came on. And here is my confession: I like the Jonas Brothers. There. I said it. I, Holly, a girl of almost 23 years, am a big fan of the Jonas Brothers. Whew. I feel better with that confession out in the open.

So, with that said, the Jonas Brothers were amazing! They put on a really, really good show. I channeled my inner 13-year-old and sang along to all of the songs (well, the choruses of all the songs, since I only know 2 by heart) and danced and had a great time. Sam had a good time, too, but he plugged his ears pretty much the whole time. He's never been to that kind of concert before, so he was totally unprepared for how deafening and continuous the screams could be. I, however, have fond memories of being defeaned and of cheerfully adding to the din at *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys concerts, so it was like revisiting my middle school years. Poor Sam, though. I should have thought to bring him earplugs. Anyway, here are the Jonas Brothers.



I know, I know, you can't really see them. But it's still fun to post the pictures. The woman next to us, she had a camera that zoomed in so close than when Nick was playing the piano for "When You Look Me In The Eyes," you could see him like she'd been right next to him. Unfortunately, our camera is not that awesome, but if you really squint you can sort of tell who is who. Maybe.

So they were pretty awesome. Then came the fireworks, which were phenomenal. I loved it--the whole evening. Definitely, definitely worth the money. I'd go again in a heartbeat.

What a wonderful 4th of July. I can't think of one thing we could have done that would have made it more awesome. The bar's been set pretty high for next year, it seems.

Photography Night

For mutual tonight, we had a professional photographer teach the girls a little bit about photography and how to take good pictures. After explaining things like lighting, posture, posing, etc., to them, she unleashed them on the world outside.

Luckily, it was a nice day--which, considering the month of rain we've been having, is really saying something. While the girls were off snapping pictures, the photographer took individual portraits of each of the girls for free, and then a group shot of everyone, which was really nice of her to do. The girls all seemed to have a really good time, especially when they got to be the photographers. Being a leader, I got to be a model several times--sometimes without knowing it. I thought the pictures were funny, so I whipped them up into a collage for your viewing pleasure. Aren't my girls talented? I think they captured my true essence.

Rock Climbing

For mutual tonight we got to have a class activity instead of an activity group activity, so my adviser and I took the girls rock climbing. It was so much fun! Sam was nice enough to come as an additional expert, and he belayed the girls the whole night.

The girls all did so good! They were all brave enough to try and kept going when they got frustrated. It was a lot of fun. I hope we have the chance to do it again!

Anyway, here are the girls' exploits. P.S. These pictures were all taken with my phone. Pretty cool, huh? It takes good pictures. And P.P.S. I experimented with Picasa to make the collage. Fun, huh? I had fun, anyway.