Lock and Key

So, I am now in Huron, SD.

There's not really much here. Just your basics; Wal-mart, Subway, the oh so delicious but evil McDonald's, your local hole-in-the-wall Chinese buffet, and a DQ right across the street (just asking for trouble)...I must be hungry.

Other than that there's not much to do.

So, naturally when I don't have anything to do, I go outside and take pictures of whatever I think looks like it would make for a fun or interesting photo.

I took quite a few today and I was happy. I tend to get this, like, creativity craving; and photography usually helps to satisfy.

Today though, my mom came out with me. And you know what that means!

Oh, you don't?...awkward...

Well, it means I got to have a few pictures taken of myself. Which I enjoy. I'm kind of narcissistic like that.

And it was a sort of bonding time too. I also finally had someone, besides me, to be the subject of my pictures.

Then, I got to come home and edit! My favorite part. And then of course upload them to Facebook...I was born in the '90s, it's what I do.

But aside from narcissistic photography, addictive editing, and generation-Y common-knowledge uploading, I've pretty much been reading the entire time I've been here.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen.

It's pretty good so far. I mean, I pick it up almost every chance I get so it must be. At least to me.

I like it because the main character, Ruby, really just wants to be on her own and isn't too quick to trust anyone or get too comfortable anywhere. She's, in a sense, tough, I suppose. At least, she's anything but naive. I like her.

Some of my favorite quotes so far: "It's never something huge that changes everything, but instead the tiniest of details, irrevocably tweaking the balance of the universe while you're busy focusing on the big picture."

"Funny how a beautiful song could tell such an ugly story."

"That was the thing about being alone, in theory or in principle. Whatever happened --good, bad, or anywhere in between-- it was always, if nothing else, all your own."

"There's something obvious about emptiness, even when you try and convince yourself otherwise."

"Such simple, stupid things, and yet in the end, they were the true proof of a real life."

Yeah, from what I've read, I give it a thumbs up! But it's not over yet.

Now that I've been talking about it, I really want to go read some more. So I think that's exactly what I'll do.

And I'll be the poet that sings of your glory, and live what I sing everyday. (Psalm 61:8)

Your Everything.

Everything.
It means something different to everyone.
Think about it. Think about your everything. What does it consist of? Relationships; material possessions; the things you've seen, heard; the things in your life that you can touch and feel; the things that you can feel but can't physically touch...all of the above? What is your everything?

To be completely honest I often forget what mine is...

But whatever you consider your everything, think about what it'd be like without any of it. What it'd be like to have it, all right there within your grasp, and then wake up and it all be gone. What it'd be like to run out of time.
All the years, days, minutes you had with what's important to you, suddenly gone. Wasted. Insignificant.
Scary? Depressing? Alarming?

Then, the ironic thing is, we almost always blame it God. Whatever form of time shortage we experience; whatever degree of goodbye.
But, He's the one who gave us everything in the first place. We get angry with Him for taking the things we believe are ours away, when none of them were really ours to claim at all.
Without God we'd have nothing. And yet we commonly believe that without Him we'd somehow have more.

It's confusing sometimes. It really is..
Difficult to look past our pride and realize we only have to give up something to have our everything.

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won't leave you or forsake you. (1 Chronicles 28:20)

Trust, Live, Love.

Therefore, we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:6)

Now, there's some encouragement.

It's hard to believe sometimes that all you have to do is trust in this one thing, one being, and no one can touch you. Live the way you were meant to (which is the best for you, anyway) and you become, in a sense, invincible. Love everyone you encounter and simply soak up the blessings that are, in turn, placed upon you.

Sure it's hard sometimes but the only things you're giving up are the things that were leading you to a downfall anyway..

God's opinion is the only one that matters, and when you have that in mind throughout your life everything, literally, just falls into place. And regardless of what's going on around you, you're always..joyful. Always.

Hard to believe? Maybe. But is it true? Yes.

Being loved by Him whose opinion matters most gives us the security to risk loving too--even loving ourselves. (Gloria Gaither)

The Bieber

Welcome to my blog!

I'm going to start off my giving my Justin Bieber testimony. I know we all have one.
For those of you who didn't just exit the page the second you saw "Justin Bieber", thanks for staying and supporting me and all the others traumatized by The Bieber.

So, you either love Justin, or you hate him so much that you've become as obsessed with him as you would've been if you loved him. Either way, Bieber Fever is scarier than Swine Flu. I'm sure my experience was nothing compared to some other's. But it was life changing, never the less.

It all start with a song...
THAT song.
In case it's not already stuck in your head, let me be of assistance. "Baby baby baby oooh! Like, baby baby baby oooh! Like...etc."
Is it in there now? It's okay to admit it; the first step is acceptance.

Anyway, I hear that song and think:
Oh, how nice, another very repetitive main-stream song to drain the not-yet-developed minds of our children. Move over Miley, here comes...Justin? Well, I won't judge her. I mean, having a boy's name isn't much worse than cutting off the first letter of your childhood nickname and legally changing it to your real name, i.e. Miley.

Then I get home and, waddaya know, I'm humming this stinkin' song. I mean, Who has their first love at 13, honestly?? And even if you did you can't sing about it 3 years later like it's some "back when I was a boy.." story.
Annnywayy, as I was aimlessly wandering around humming this song, there it was. BAM! My first visual intake of The Beiber.

*Aaron Carter flashback*

My thoughts as I did a spit take into my innocent glass of water: But I could have sworn..and then..but...are you sure?? Positive? Have you run any tests? It's not just a bad haircut?..

Then began the stages.

Stage 1: Denial. Nah, no way. This is some new home version of punk'd. Cue Ashton!

Stage 2: Panic. It can't be! No! But, who's gonna be the next Miley?!?! Who will rot our children's brains now???

Stage 3: Anger. Seriously?! No, not seriously! Where's Ashton?! That kid, oooh that kid, is just a walking conspiracy!

Stage 4: Depression. Wow. I can't tell a boy from a girl anymore. Where did I go wrong? What a world, what a world.

Stage 5: Acceptance. Okay..so it's just a boy who's WAY delayed in hitting puberty..it's okay. It's not a government conspiracy to brainwash pre-teens and use them to form new branch of military for a fool proof surprise attack that no one would ever expect causing the enemy to hold fire with empathy as we slowly intrude and steal all their weapons. The puss-in-boots effect... And wouldja look at that! About 90% of the world's popuation is just as confused as I was! Phew.

Then I relaxed with the comforting assumption that once Justin hits puberty (which should be soon. If not, I recommend my doctor..), his career will come spiraling downward because he will no longer sound like a girl and all the irony will be gone. The end.

But seriously, folks. We don't know the kid so he's probably pretty cool. He can't be any lamer than I am. I mean I'm writing about him; that says something in favor of The Bieber, does it not?