UGH

To start off, I'm going to say that you may disagree with what I'm about to write, but I'm not necessarily searching for anyone to agree or disagree with me (okay, maybe an agreement or two would be okay). Second of all, I try hard not to be surrounded by unnecessary negativity, but I figure if I just get it out (on a free space such as this blog that no one reads and I rarely update...EVER...) than I'll stop harboring it and just let it go. I also originally started writing this as a Facebook status but then realized that I didn't need to bother the Facebook world with such nonsense. There are much more important things than this to make you all read on Facebook.

So here it is:

I'd be perfectly okay (that's put very nicely!!!) if I NEVER listened to these individuals or groups (also put very nicely!) talk or sing or play music again:

Sara Barielles.

Zooey Deschanel.

(I EVEN WISH she wasn't a star in "Elf"...one of my favorite movies...so that I didn't have to hear her voice....also, go ahead and call me a hypocrite because the show is listed as a "favorite" of mine under shows I watch using Hulu...but "New Girl" sucks ass. haha. I'm only laughing because that's a funny phrase...and because I usually wouldn't say things like that...but....that's how serious I am. desperate times calls for...you know the phrase. haha.)

Ingird Michaelson.

Muchael Bublé.

Vampire Weekend.

Taylor Swift.

TAYLOR SWIFT.*

Please don't try to convince me otherwise and please don't ask me to give them another shot. I'm not out to debate this, just stating my thoughts. That's partly the reason this blog exists. Sooooo yep. Sorry if your feelings are hurt or if you have another opinion.

I'll probably be adding to this list, I just can't remember any more artists (artists? that's nice of me!) because I'm just so annoyed that Zooey Deschanel is all over my Facebook news feed because of that dumb video of that dumb song she sang about how she doesn't know what she's doing for New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve is over people. Stop it.

Okay:) ALL DONE. Sorry if you actually read this 'cause then you might think I'm a jerk!

*yes, I listed Taylor Swift twice because I really mean it.

Life Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury,pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

[Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi]

all this beauty...you might have to close your eyes!

I drove to Santa Barbara for a day and a half to visit my best friend....

The sky cried for hours upon hours, but then blessed us with the sun!

We adventured through the Botanic Gardens.

Leigh and Jacquelyn:)

kitties

here's what I learned about kitties today:

number one: don't expect kitties to follow you around outside just because they follow you around in your apartment.

number two: don't use your DARE bracelet from red ribbon week in elementary school as a collar for your kitty.

number three: don't use a jump rope as a leash for your kitty, she'll think it's a toy and try to either swat at it or eat it.

number four: kitties don't like to go on walks with a collar or leash or a human being. They prefer to fly solo when they're outside.

number five: bribing kitties with turkey doesn't always work.

number six: i still love kitties even if they don't like to follow rules....or me.

two things i love: this kitty and my man

Hiccups

We've all heard every line in the book about 'How to Cure Your Hiccups'. In fact, I bet we're all authors of our own novels about how to get rid of the hiccups and why our way works best. Hiccup remedies usually consist of drinking water, holding your breath, drinking water while holding your breath, or drinking water while holding your breath and doing some sort of upside down somersault. I hate the hiccups.

I got the hiccups today. If you know me well, you know that my hiccups are incredibly painful, last FOREVER, come in multiples throughout my day, and no home-remedy ever works to make them stop. Every once in a while I'll get the hiccups during class and random people I don't know slide water bottles across tables, suggesting I should drink some of their water to get rid of my hiccups. When I was in second grade, I had to sing "You've Got a Friend in Me" from ToyStory in front of the whole class...by myself...in spanish...while I had the hiccups. I hate the hiccups.

I decided that I today was the day that I was going to fool my hiccups through a common method used on younger siblings known as 'reverse psychology'. I convinced myself that if I told my hiccups that I loved them and wanted them to stay, that they'd leave. It didn't work. I then moved on to bigger and better ideas. I decided that I should use my hiccups as a form of talking with Jesus through prayer. After every hiccup, I prayed for someone new--whether it be whoever popped into my head at the moment, or whoever I saw as I was driving home from the beach, I prayed for them. To the man driving the blue cherokee, I prayed for you. To the woman pushing the shopping cart on Redondo Avenue, I prayed for you. To the man in the black shirt jaywalking, I prayed for you. Twice, actually. To the woman at the bus stop, I prayed for you. To Josh, I prayed for you. To my mom, I prayed for you. To my dad, I prayed for you. To my brother, I prayed for you. To leigh, nato, hyde, and mer, I prayed for you. To Jesse, I prayed for you. To Jesse's family, I prayed for you. To the man pulling out of the driveway in Signal Hill, I prayed for you. To Anthony, I prayed for you. To Christian, I prayed for you. To Tay, Kendall, and Lindsay, I prayed for you. To the two boys walking on the right side of the sidewalk and the woman walking her little dog, I prayed for you.

At first it seemed really funny...almost like a game...as if I had to think of something really good to pray about for a specific person. I quickly realized a few very valuable points--the first was that it didn't matter if I couldn't form words quickly enough or think of anything to say fast enough in time for the next hiccup to come, because that meant two things--1, that Jesus already knew how they needed to be prayed for, and 2, if I wasn't finished with my prayer by the time the next hiccup surfaced, that I was supposed to pray for them for one more hiccup. We could all use a little extra prayer. It also means that because my heart is in tune with Jesus' heart, He was able to give me the words to say in order to pray for a certain person's needs--I believe that for the people I prayed for who are strangers to me as well as those who I know well, Jesus not only gave me words to say, but also placed people who were in desperate need of prayer on my path and directly in my sight or into my mind. I believe that he sent me down Redondo Avenue for a purpose today--to pray for those I knew and those I saw. Today caused me to love the hiccups.

Speaking of loving hiccups...

Meet Hiccup and his dragon Toothless from 'How To Train Your Dragon'......also known as...

'The Cutest Movie in the World!!!'

It's a MUST-SEE!

Hearst Castle

There are two types of parents....

Those WITH Facebooks and those WITHOUT.

My parents have Facebooks.

My dad got back from a few days in New Jersey, and the first thing he says is.....

"Have you seen my Facebook yet?".

"No, dad, I don't check your Facebook on a daily basis!"

I checked it a few minutes later...and look what I found! He put up oldschool pictures of him and my mom...they're great!!! Moral of the story:

1. Your parents are cool if they have Facebooks!

2. Your parents are even more cool if they put of oldschool pictures of themselves on their Facebooks!

3. Don't be a little sarcastic brat when they ask you if you've seen their Facebook because you just might be missing out on something really sweet!

Here they are at Hearst Castle....love it.

Reunited!

I got to spend Sunday with my dear friend Lindsay. Our hearts are in tune with each other and the love of our Lord...it's such a beautiful friendship! I hadn't seen her in about two and a half months, so lindsay&tay time was definitely way past due! We drank gatorade, swam, and shared stories of our hearts from the things that had happened this summer. She's going back to North Carolina soon, the home of my favorite childhood memories and Montreat College, where she attends school. Thank you for being my friend Lindsay. You are precious to me and Our Father above! I love you!