My mom has always worked hard to let me know that I am loved and wanted. Having someone behind you like that who is always telling you how much potiential you have and how much you are capable of, well,  that really helps you find strength in difficult times.

1) What do you love to do in your free time?
 Explore the web and look up random things. You name it, from game theory and logic to recent movie, I will be online researching them (usually through Wikipedia)
I also love reading, networking with potienial friends, and creative writing.

2) What music helps you relax?
Ali Rogers, if you don't know who she is you should really look into her. Her music is so different than anything else i listen to. It's like soft pop meets folk music. When I listen to her music I think of twilight mountian and gentle rain. There is a sense of danger, like I am alone in the wilderness, mixed with an incredible sense of peace, like nothing will ever hurt me. It's like magic. It always make me think of God.

3) What movie did you enjoy recently?
I just watched Wall-e tonight and I thought it was so sweet :)

4) Who makes you laugh?
Boys usually. They aren't as afraid of looking silly like all the  girls my age. My twin is also really funny.

5) Where do you go/ do to recharge?
 I wish I had a better place to do that. My house has a really open floor plan so everyone can hear almost everything going on in the house. Sometimes the only thing I can do is blare my music to block it all out. I really like finding strange places to go to be alone, that way people don't come and bother me. Not that i don't love them or like being around them, don't get me wrong, because i do. It's just that sometimes I need "me time" so I can continue functioning. Otherwise i get a little.......cranky. I wish that wasn't the case but it is.

Let me think......

all the time

all day

everyday

as often as I can

I am almost in a constant state of reflection. I can't help it. If I have even one spare moment where my mind is free, I will instantly start reflecting. I meditate on the past, the present, and the future possibilites. Reflection is a good thing, but be warned, it is sometimes possible to be so involved in your thoughts and reflections that you even forget to live; so into figuring out your feelings that you actually stop feeling. I've been there and I am trying to improve this by giving reflecting a rest. Every now and then I have to tell my brain to shut up so I can stop and smell the roses, instead of just thinking about them.

I am learning to be less isolated and to depend more on friends. I am also learning how to balance my extremely compassionate nature with "tough love".  I am getting more involved in my faith and becoming more confindent in sharing it with people who I sense are searching for God, but just don't know it yet.

             My answer might be alot different from most of the answers people write on this site, but I am just going to go for it. It's a bit long, but I think it is worth reading. Even if you do not agree with it, it is interesting :)
           I look for God in the Holy Bible but it doesn't just stop there. After I have have had Daily Bread and filled myself up with His Word,  I look for God in the beautiful external world around me and in my own life's story.
             As I close my Bible, I stretch out on my bed, I close my eyes and I feel the soft sunshine coming through my lavendar curtains and kissing my cheek. I think to myself that it is not just the sun's warmth that make this moment beautiful.  The sun is trying to tell me something. It is saying, "God loves you, my precious child". When I go for a walk and the warm breeze intimately plays with the strands of my hair, I know it is really just trying to show me God soft, loving touch. The ocean reflects His beauty and the sky points to His vastness. All of the landscape around me whispers His name.
      I go home and open up one of my old notebooks. The words written there pierce my soul like daggers. The notebook contains some of the uglest most selfish thoughts I have ever written. Every page drips with hate and pain. As a tear drips down my face, I am reminded of who I used to be before I gave my heart to God, this twisted unhappy person. I give thanks to God for rescuing from what I was.  He loved me before I was lovable. He died for me and healed me of my sins before I even knew Him. He held my hands and picked me up when I fell back into my old selfish ways. He taught me to love and to put others before myself. I look at His perfect beauty and I still am amazing that He could love me, both who I was and who I am; for I still fall short daily.
       As I praise God, I can see the setting sun from my window. Looking at the splashes of amber, lavendar and pink, I realize that the day is almost spendt. But for some reason I am not sad. The beauty of the painted sky somehow takes away all the sting of the day's ending. I know that the sunset is also trying to tell me something. It is telling me that when I grow old and death finally takes me, there will be One waiting on the other side. Jesus will be there with open arms to take away the sting of death forever.  These are the things I hold sacred.


This is not my video and it is a little strange at first, but by the end it just blows you away :)

Simple and beautiful things always remind me that there is some good left in the world. When I am able to share this someone else and lift theirs spirits, the joy is even great. I feel like, not only is there something good still, but that I have a role in spreading it around.

            I would miss all the memories that my home holds. When I walk by the fire place I remember when I was little and I would play with my sister, making our plastic unicorns run along the mantle. When I walk past the dining room I look at the small place between the cabinet and the wall where I would always go when I needed a good cry.  As I sit in the basement I remember when my family and I all painted it together. Losing my home would be like losing my past.  The past is out of everyone's reach, but having my house burn down in a fire or something would make me fully realize it for the first time. It would be like losing my childhood. As long as I am here in my house, I can still remember and pretend that the things that I miss about my past aren't really gone. 
         Next year I will be going off to college and it saddens my heart to think of everything i'll miss. I grew up homeschooled and I am very close to my sisters. Even though I will only be fourty-five minutes away, I know that in my heart that I might as well be on the other side of the earth. I will never be as big a part of my sister's lives as I am now. I won't be able to continue living in the happy memories of my childhood. Part of me will die when I leave home.
          Despite this, I am still looking forward to next. There comes a time in everyone's life where the past just becomes dead weight and it stops you from living in the present. I will miss my sisters and I will still try to remain in contact with them, but I realize that it is time to branch off and start creating new memories. It's time to find a new home.

1) What gift(s) would you like to give the world?

The term "the world" is something so abstract that I can't even answer that question properly. I would like to give the world peace, love, financial secruity, and faith, but I know that i will not be able to do any of that this holiday season. But while i can't change the world, I know I can change the world for one little girl in Bangladesh.  That is why I sponsor her through Compassion. By sending a monthly check and letters, I know that i am making an impact on her life. The money gives her oppertunities, the letters teach her to dream. I recomend anyone reading this to start sponsoring a child through a charity this Christmas season. Sure, sometimes scraping the money together each month can be hard, but it is worth it. I can tell you that in my year and a half of sponsoring i have never regretted it.

2) What is the most unusual gift you have received?

One time at my youth group gife exchange, I got a quarter, duck tape, string, a christmas stock, and a cd bible. It was a little strange. My funny sister said that it was so I could kidnap someone and convert them to Christianity. (We were just joking). When i got home i saw the the cd bible holder was empty. When my sister found out she said that the person we would kiddnap would become an atheist instead. lol (If you don't think this is a little funny then you need to lighten up a little)


3) What do you like best about gift giving?

I like how it make everyone humble and grateful. All agruements stop and you can just feel the love in the room coming from everyone's smiling faces.

4) What gifts do you want for the holidays?

I had trouble making a christmas list this year. The only thing i have been able to come up with is a credit card.

5) When has a gift(s) made you feel warm and fuzzy inside?

       Only when the gift givers are in a good mood when they give me the gifts. If they are bickering when they do it, i feels hollow