Memento Vivere: May 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I'm Back!

Okay, Okay, Okay. I admit it. I have fallen out of blogland a little... but I'm coming back! I have been enjoying summer like crazy. I've been to the wonderful Lake Martin with my beautiful friends. I've been "tubing" and rope swinging and getting my tan on, and I could not be happier! I have also been enjoying making my own money and spending it immediately on nail polish, starbucks, and sundresses. :) I have an unhealthy addiction, I think. Real posts are coming soon, promise promise!!

The beautiful Lake Martin! :)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Good, Clean Fun

Today started out bright and early. I was sleeping pretty soundly when my dad called me to ask me if his driver's liscense was on the table. I said yes (not knowing if it was or not..) and promptly laid back down only to look at the clock and realize.. I had to be somewhere in an hour! One of my great friends had a spiffy idea to have a picnic at the park. I volunteered to bring chips, and I was pretty stoked to eat those Cheetos. My friend Mary, who was also coming to this picnic, lives right down the road. I called her to see if she was awake. Nothing. I texted her, still nothing. So I had the right mind to get on some tennis shoes (after a long overdue shower..) and march myself right down to her house and wake her up by beating on her window. I did it. But fortunately, her door was unlocked! I just made myself at home on her big squishy bed. She walked in and was not even surprised that I was there. Haha, how i love my friends. We made our way over to the park and we ate PB&J, Apples (that i cut pretty terribly..), Chips, and Coke. It was pretty great! We sat on a blanket and It was basically the best picnic ever. We finished that up with swinging on a big swing and wading in the stream. I didn't really want to get in the "leech infested water" but i eventually warmed up and kicked off my Aasics. The water felt soo good. I felt like a little kid. It started to sprinkle a little bit, so all 4 of us made our way back to home. I went with Mary to tackle the mess that we call her bathroom (which really was not as bad as she had made it out to be). After choking on bleach and doing some massive scrubbing, the bathroom was spotless! We then moved to the living room where we blasted Michael Buble and danced in our cool high socks. Oh, and Mary had the honors of cleaning up a hair ball :) I watched in amusement. haha. We were really hungry after all this hard work and dancing to a jazzy, pure, beautiful voice so we walked to my house to eat some pizza rolls. As soon as we got there, It started to rain. It was basically like God had this perfect day planned out just for us, and I am so grateful that I got to spend it like I did.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Take Heart.

Have you ever felt down and been almost inconsolable? Yes, I'm sure you have. How do you fix that? With Icecream, a movie, candy, retail therapy, friends? All of those things will suffice for me (I like them best when they are all together at once). I was blessed with lovely friends. Friends that will answer my desperate phone calls at 2 a.m., friends that will buy tons of candy and pizza and sit with each other and be happy. Although I love my friends more than any of them could ever encompass, there is a better remedy for my pain. I don't use this remedy enough, and I know it would make my life so much easier If it were my first choice. This remedy is the word of God. My preacher has always said (quite repetitively, I might add) that if you have a problem, the answer is in The Book, right there under your nose in writing. Sweet, Holy writing.

Just like every other person on this earth, I have my problems. Just about an hour ago, I was sitting on my bed asking God to help me out, to give me some words of comfort. He told me, "Why don't you pick up that dusty book on your dresser and crack it open?" With doubt in my mind and hurt in my heart, I went over to my dresser and stared at my Bible. I picked it up, sat on my bed, closed my eyes, and took a stab at it. I opened my Bible to find a blank page with one highlighted verse that read, "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

My friends, God is the ultimate comforter. He is strong, He is mighty, He is compassionate, He is loving, and He is better than all the icecream, retail therapy, pizza, and VH1 you could possibly consume.. EVER. Take my advice, dust off your Bible, and listen to your Father.

Screaming Children, Uno, and a Weiner Dog

From my previous post, you probably learned that my parents bought me a car. Its a navy blue '02 Jeep Laredo, and I love it. Even though it sort of smells like a bowling alley, and there's a huge cigar hole hidden under one of the Auburn Tigers floormats, It is already my baby. Since I love my car so much, when my parents told me that they wanted me to pay for the insurance, I didn't argue. My money has to come from somewhere... so I took up a babysitting job. I began that journey today bright and early at 8 a.m.

I arrived at my uncle's house (the kids i am babysitting are my cousins) and my cousin Sydney was already awake. And immediately, she wanted to make bubble gum. Apparently, my uncle made the not so wise choice of getting her a bubble gum making kit for Christmas. Lets just say.. I had a nice time cleaning up that mess. After that was over the youngest, Jack, woke up. Jack wanted to play Uno. After three games of pouting, screaming, and "YOU CHEATED", I wanted to get on the Barbie bike that was sitting in the garage and pedal away. But no, I couldn't pedal away because for one: I couldn't fit on the Barbie bike and I couldn't just abandon my own kin. As I was pondering this thought, I decided that a good way to shut them up would be to get them on the trampoline. That was a mistake. Lucky me got to show Jack how to do a backflip. I failed. I fell right through the springs on the trampoline, and got stabbed in the big toe by a nice little piece of petruding metal. As I limped insde with arguing children in tow, I was met at the door by the cutest thing I have ever seen. His name is Oscar, and he is the most precious weenie dog I have ever seen in my life. He immediately cheered me up. His fat body and his short little legs gave me a sense of optimism. At the end of this lovely experience, I had a swollen toe, a headache, 30 bucks, and a new friend. Good day? I think so.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

I'm Really Loving...

Purple nail polish. Especially on my toes. For some reason, I think it's really cool to have purple toes. This is O.P.I.'s Purple With a Purpose.

Elton John. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved Elton. But just recently, I got a car, and Its all I've been playing. My personal favorite has to be "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters."

Tyler Candles. My Dad and I got Mom one of these for Mother's Day and ever since, I've loved it. Sometimes I start feeling sneaky and I steal it and put it in my room. :) They are amazing, for lack of a better word. When lit for like 10 minutes, they smell up the whole house. They're a little pricey, but very much worth every penny.

Wooden Bracelets. This one doesn't even require an explanation. Look how cute it is!

SPRITE. I have actually always liked Sprite ever since I was little. It's the classic "make my tummy stop hurting" drink, and my sister used to always keep it in the house when she lived with us. But just recently, I have developed an addiction. I can never get enough, and I crave it as soon as I wake up. Unhealthy, maybe so. But delicious, Yessirrr.

Sleep. Summer is here, and that means nothing to do. And nothing to do = sleep. I know that sleep and I had issues when I was younger, but now I couldn't love it any more. Plus, Isn't this picture absolutely precious?

Friday, May 21, 2010

What Sweet Words..

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Let that settle in your heart for a minute. Did you just experience a sigh of relief? Me too.

SunnyDew, Sour Patch Kids, and Dancing in The Rain

Yesterday, my lovely friend Meg and I were contemplating what to do on the night of the last day of Freshman year. Of course, we wanted to celebrate. So, we decided that a few close friends would get together and just hang out. We were all instructed to bring one of our favorite food/drink items. When we all got to where we were spending the night, we put our things we brought on the kitchen counter. We ended up with a nice layout of the following: a two liter of Mountain Dew, SunnyD, two packs of Sour Patch Kids, Koolaid Powders, and Pickles. Now, I know that does not sound appetizing at all. But you would be surprised at what tastes good when you put it together. My friends and I decided that we would mix the SunnyD and the Mountian Dew together, and we created Sunnydew. It was amazing, for lack of a better word. After that problem was solved, we were faced with this issue: what to do with the remainders? Well, we dipped the pickles in the kool-aid powder and put a sour patch kid on top. Sounds like a cavity waiting to happen, doesn't it? Probably was, but it was delicious. A perfect explosion of sweet and sour. My personal favorite combo was a pickle with fruit punch Kool-Aid powder and a red Sour Patch Kid (this probably all sounds very disgusting, but you just can't understand until you try it). Soon after we had our fill of a nutricious dinner, it started to pour down rain. We were all pretty suger-rushed, so we decided to dance in it. It was phenomenal.

"Young people, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember you must give account to God for whatever you do." -Ecclesiastes 11:9

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Goodbye Business Tech, Hello Lemonade!

Well, today marks the end of my freshman year of highschool. We had exams today, and we were to leave school for the summer at 12:15 p.m. While I sat in my business tech class playing an intense game of Cubefield, I was itching to walk out of those doors and say "I am no longer at the bottom of the todem pole!!" And I did just that. I didn't scream it out, of course. I probably should have though.. just for the fun of it. Although my freshman year was not totally glamorous, It was one I will definitely always remember. God has shown me this year what I am called to do, and who I am called to be. I could not be happier with the way that things have turned out! My Dad has always said, "When God closes one door, he always opens another!" I have always had faith in that saying, but I have never truly applied it to my life before now. So many new doors have opened for me and I am honestly at a bittersweet turning point in my life. I cannot wait for the things that God has planned for me, and I will embrace all the trials that I have to face with a happy outlook and a Christ-like attitude. I had an amazing start to my summer today that included a pool, a golfcart, a trampoline, and some wonderful friends! I know that it will be an amazing summer, and I plan to savor every single minute of it with the people that I love. (I also must add that I am terribly excited to make lemonade and sit by the pool!)Today I left my freshman year behind and ventured into summer in a small town. Join me?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

And It Begins..

I've been following other people's blogs for who knows how long, but I was just recently inspired by my lovely friend, Erin, to start one myself. For starters, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Stephanie. I am a conniseur of all things domestic. I love The Lord, cooking, singing, dancing, acting, painting, and helping other people. You will also find over time that I have an almost unhealthy obesession with Hydrangeas, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Buble. I am currently a freshman in high school, but thank the Good Lord above.. tomorrow is my last day! The name of this blog is Memento Vivere. If I am not mistaken (which I really hope I'm not..) It means "Remember to Live" in Latin... or maybe Italian? I'm not sure.. some pretty foreign language. This phrase has always been of much significance to me because I am always busy with something, and I often forget how beautiful life really is and how much I should be savoring it, rather than hurrying it along. I am so excited to start this blog! I can only pray that I do it well. :)

Memento Vivere