Busy...

Only three weeks into the quarter, and I feel like it's already almost time for finals.  I can't believe how hard school suddenly became.  It's almost like the first two quarters were only practice for the real thing.  I'm glad this week is over though - eight quizzes over the period of four days was enough for me!

On the other hand I have managed to snag a few photos in between mountain loads of homework.  It's not photo-a-day, but at least I'm still taking photos. :)

Frisbee

 

 

 

"Are you ever going to take me for a walk?"

 

 

 

The Awana Grand Prix is coming up!

Libby's car

 

 

 

Timmy's car

 

 

 

Bleeding Heart

 

 

 

 More cherry blossoms



 My favorite photo so far...

Now the weekend is here, time to buckle down and catch up on schoolwork.

Tea is my close companion right now :)

Photos from Spring Break



I did miss several days, but added more than one photo on a few days.  I'm so glad it's spring - such a wonderful time of year!  I love watching how things come alive again after the winter.

 

3/20 

3/20    Spring is here!

3/21    Snow :)



3/21 

 

 

3/22    Preparing for bed

 



3/23    Sweet-and-sour chicken - a little bland the first night, but the meal improved

greatly after adding sesame oil, green onions, and ginger the next night.



3/23



3/24

 

 

3/24    Pepper

 3/25    View of the sunset from our back door

 

 3/26    One of the first cherry blossoms on our tree

 3/26    Lilac leaves

 

No pictures during 3/27-29 :(

 3/30    Full bloom

 3/30

3/31     Timothy recently started learning the guitar

 

 

3/31    Dessert from Easter dinner with friends

A Trip for Ice Cream

3/21

 

 

My sister and I took a trip to the local mall to try out the Coldstone ice cream.  We had a fun time looking at a few different stores, enjoying our ice cream, and walking in the rainy sunshine.  It was actually quite beautiful - I would have taken a picture if I hadn't been worried about my camera getting wet.  Altogether, we enjoyed our time together very much.  I'm so thankful for my sister, and the godly young woman she is becoming.

In the mall parking lot

 Libby's portion was much greater than what we had originally anticipated!

Coffee-flavored ice cream with crushed Heath Bar

 

 

 

 

A valiant attempt to demolish a gigantic waffle bowl!



3/6 - 3/20



March 6th - my brother Benjamin's 16th birthday

Scrumptious and beautiful cake - made by Mama

3/18   The end of Winter quarter!!!  Goodbye textbooks - you served me well.
Now onto new subjects!

 

3/19     Hello new textbooks!  Most of them arrived just today.

  I have a feeling I'm not going to enjoy Statistics :(

 

 

 

3/20     Staring soulfully out the window

 

 

 

3/20     Finally being able to see my desk after cleaning it

 

 

 

 

And just as a bonus, a clip of one of the songs I sang with the Symphonic Choir

from Edmonds Community College:  'For the Fallen'

If possible, watch in HD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Break!

I know I'm not very good at blogging (just take a look at the last six months - I've only posted ten times!)  But I want to give it a better shot during the next few weeks, since winter quarter finally ended today (Praise God!).  I probably won't be able to keep it up once school starts up again in April, but for the rest of March I want to post something every day.

One of the reasons for this is that I don't want to spend this spring break lounging around, doing whatever I want to do without structure or purpose.  The other reason is that I tend to procrastinate on things, so I have many small tasks that have piled up and need to get done.  Having a list published on my blog will hopefully help with a little accountability!  I've made a list of things I'd like to accomplish, and will check back at the end of the break to see how well (or badly) I've done in working through the list.  Some things are "want-to's" like spending more time practicing piano or crocheting, while others are "need-to's" such as cleaning my room from top to bottom, and working on taxes :(

Here's the list:

Need to do:

 

- Taxes
- Contact several friends
- Thank you notes

- Look for a potential nursing assistant job

- Prepare for the hymn-sing in October (this will be an ongoing project)
- Prepare wedding piano music for some upcoming weddings!

- Clean/organize my room from top to bottom!!! [And keep it that way :)]

- Sort out all of my loose papers that have collected over the last few months

Want to do:

 

- Blog/picture-a-day (therefore improving both my photography and writing skills!)

- Cook a nutritious dinner twice a week

- Practice the piano an hour a day

- Work on crocheting

 
School-related:
 
- Work ahead at Japanese
- Apply to scholarships/write scholarship essays

 

 Relationships:

 

- Daily time with God
- Go out to ice cream with Libby
- Begin reading/encouragement time w/ Libby
- Spending more time with and encouraging all my siblings
- Focus on honoring and obeying my parents
- Get together with friends

 Healthy Living:

 

- Go running/jogging every day
- Get in shape for the fitness class I'm taking next quarter :P
- Apply concepts from the recent nutrition class I took to my daily life
- Track diet/exercise

 

To Read:
 
- The Bible
- 'Don't Waste Your Life'  - John Piper
- 'War of Words'  - Douglas Bond

Let's see how many of these things I can get done during the next few weeks! 

 

Today, I was reminded of how amazing it is to be a Christian.  We as Christians have been given the opportunity to personally know the Creator God of the universe.  Our Creator -- who crafted the intricate workings of every living thing, fine-tuning them so that they function smoothly.  He, who is powerful above all things, made Himself to be a man, suffering pain, temptation, and death.

That death that He died was not only the most excruciating, physically painful death devised by man; but also full of emotional and spiritual torture as all the sins of the entire human race -- past, present, and future -- were placed upon Him.

Jesus died so that He could give God the glory by what was to be accomplished.  By His obedience, humble attitude, and sacrifice, sinners are given mercy and grace.   We are made free from the power that sin held over us, free from the punishment of sin, and free to begin a personal relationship with God.

Being given all of this, how can I not strive to the utmost of my ability to give God glory?  How can I focus on my own sinful desires when God has sacrificed and loved me so much, and when there are millions in this world who have refused or not been able to yet comprehend what a wonderful gift of grace and love they have been given?

I can no longer sit here, thumbs twiddling, accomplishing things only for my own purposes.  I am here for the purpose of giving God glory, and whether at home or at school, I must consciously and consistently make decisions that will aid in furthering God's kingdom.  How is this possible?  Not through my own strength, but through Christ alone.  Only with His strength and guidance can I even hope to bring Him glory.

Faithfulness

God has been so faithful to me, and yet I rarely step back and think about what he has done in my day-to-day life.  Yesterday, I decided to make a list of a few things that He has done over the last few days.  After looking over this list, I've realized that I need to do this more often -- probably every day.  Not only does this process help me remember where God has been working around me, but also helps me give God the glory, instead of clutching it all to myself.

God's Faithfulness

* Bringing up "Endure all things for the Gospel of Christ" when I was frustrated with problems at school the other night

* Encouraging me through godly friends and family

* Giving me peace

* Allowing me to make it to the bus on time, even giving me a seat!

* Helping me to love and know you more

* Bringing me back to your side whenever I fall

* Renewing joy in my heart as I walk more closely with You

* Allowing my Japanese and Choir classes to be a little easier, so that I can spend most of my time on Chemistry and Nutrition

I don't deserve any of this goodness.  I tend to keep so few of my promises.  Yet You, God, are always faithful -- no matter how far I have strayed.  Please keep me close to You, and give me strength to resist giving in to temptation.

 

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall!  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 

 

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Finals Week! (with a CNA test thrown in on Sunday)

Just a quick update on what's been going on in my life lately...

 Sunday morning: I don't know how I'm going to get through this week, let alone the next six hours of CNA testing...
 

Sunday night: Thank you God for giving me strength to make it through this day. Maybe I'll pass after all...but I have to wait two weeks to find out...

Monday: I haven't finished studying for this Chemistry final. I'm going to fail!

 Tuesday: That Chemistry final wasn't so bad. Now to work on my final English paper.

 Wednesday morning: I don't think I'm writing this essay correctly -- I can't do this!

 

Wednesday night: One. more. day. Maybe I can do this?

Without God's strength, I can do nothing. With His strength and in His will, I can do all things. Phil. 4:13

Another lesson in Perseverance

     Back in July, I was trying to figure out the perfect present for my younger brother, Timothy.  One evening, we watched a certain youtube video that the PianoGuys had made, featuring Jarrod Radnich playing the Pirates of the Carribean theme song.  Timothy was amazed and inspired by this rendition, and finally asked my parents to get him some Pirates of the Carribean music.

     After a little thinking, my parents and I decided to get him the sheet music composed by Jarrod Radnich.  We were pretty sure it would be too difficult for Timothy, but thought he would enjoy, and be able to actually play it someday.  On his birthday after receiving the sheet music, Timothy immediately sat down at the piano, trying to figure out the first few measures.

     Over the next few days, we would find him at the piano, striving diligently to be able to play the piece.  I sat down a few times to sight-read the music, but gave up after about five minutes.  Yet Timothy persevered, practicing every day until the rest of us finally got annoyed with the song and left the room every time he began to play it!

     It took him three months, but he learned it well enough to play for a group lesson in October.  Our piano teacher was surprised and happy with his progress, and that he had taken the initiative to learn such a difficult piece on his own!

 

     All of this to say that I have a lot to learn from my little brother.  His dedication and diligence to excel when it comes to piano practice has inspired me to do better in persevering when it comes to challenges in my own life.  Thank you God, for the lessons you teach me, even through my younger siblings!
 

A few lessons learned...

     Life has been busy.  Between taking classes at a local community college, teaching the grade-school children's group at church on Wednesday nights, getting my drivers license (finally!!!), and various other small (but very important) things, I haven't had much time to post.  But I have had the opportunity to grow and learn.

     One of things that I have learned over the last few months is how important it is to spend time walking with the Lord every day - no matter how behind I am in class, or how many other important things I have to do.  It's amazing just how quickly and easily my focus can slip away from glorifying God, and turn to glorifying my own selfish desires.  I've found that when I make a conscious effort to begin the day by praising God and studying His word, the rest of the day tends to go more smoothly.  That is not to say that nothing goes wrong!  I just have a different perspective on whatever happens, and try to see things from God's standpoint.

     I am very much enjoying the chemistry class I'm taking right now.  I have always thought that I would enjoy English class more than chemistry, but have found that the straight-forward answers in chemistry are more appealing to me than the critical thinking and mish-mash of ideas in English.  This is probably due to the fact that nearly all of the literary works and authors we are studying come from secular worldviews, some of which are blatantly against the Christian worldview.  Still, I've spent hours discussing what we're learning in class with my father and brother, and have learned several lessons in perseverance.  Even when it seems like nothing makes sense, and hours of intense reading and critical thinking lie a head, it is important to dive straight in and begin working somewhere.  Simply thinking about doing something difficult often makes the job seem quite a bit worse than what it actually is!    

Graduation

      I've been thinking about posting pictures of my graduation for a while, but didn't have the time until now.  My graduation was held on June 30th, 2012, and was a wonderful time of celebration and fun.  My cousins came up from Oregon to join us, and many other friends from church and other activities came as well.  My father, mother, and I all gave speeches, we sang a few of my favorite hymns, had a slideshow, and a reception afterward.  It was wonderful to see many people who had made an impact in my life all together in the same place, and to be able to share with them what God has been doing in my life.

     So without further ado, here are the pictures, courtesy of my cousin Rosie (her blog is My Life Through a Lens) who was kind enough to be the photographer for my graduation.  Thank you Rosie!




Before the graduation ceremony



AWANA display



Speech display




My award from STOA nationals (NITOC 2012)




Some of my photography and favorite books/curriculum

Waiting for it to begin...



Cousins!



Singing Hymns





Mama's speech





My graduation speech

The Reception