Follow God - Every Day

oh, thursday

2012-02-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is me. Doing what I like to do.
And since I like to take pictures, I take pictures of what I like to do.

Basically - I put the abby in abnormal.
[chhheeeeessayyy]

it's okay to do that, right?

2012-02-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Usually around February is when I start to get a little weary of the weather, especially when all the snow is melted, the air is frigid, and no green is in sight.

The grass is a light shade of gold, the trees stand stark and leafless against the gray clouded sky.

So sometimes, sometimes, it's good to have a little bit of spring in the winter.

p.s.

new design up at abby's crafts. go check it out.

an ordinary utopia

2012-02-05T12:03:00.001-07:00

megan, jocee, lindsey, gracie, hayley, and I have teamed up to present you

an ordinary utopia.

Megan said it the best in this post, so I think I'll leave that to her.

Go check out the new blog and tell us what you think.

This is gonna be awesome, you guys.

So awesome.

p.s.
sorry about the large font above.
that's because my awesome blogging skills
aren't actually that awesome.

on: the last two weeks

2012-02-04T11:59:00.005-07:00

The calendar said my aunt stayed for two weeks, but I'm fairly certain it was only 2 days.

the cabin named ELK.

Sledding, ice skating, watching movies, staying up late, eating ample amounts of food, decorating the house, laughing together.

We had such a great time. And while two weeks seemed like a long time at first, I soon found out two weeks is barely anything at all.

We could spend two months and it still wouldn't be nearly enough.

where we went ice skating

Time really does fly when you're having fun.

p.s.

remember when I said something exciting is about to happen?

well, we're talking something really exciting.

and it's happening soon.

like, feb 5 soon.

which I just realized is tomorrow.

so it's pretty soon.

stay tuned, you guys.

you seriously don't wanna miss this.

so I'll stop now.

if you're good with that.

mccall, idaho - where everyday is an adventure!

2012-02-03T14:27:00.003-07:00

(please ignore the cheesiness in my post title. you just knew I had to do it.)

I was once again reminded my love for Idaho when we took an overnight trip to McCall. Ever since we moved here 4 years ago, I have not wanted to move back to the south. We did leave very close family/friends, including one really good friend which I haven't seen since we left. But it's so amazing to look out my window and see the snow covered mountains every day. And I take it for granted way too much.

We had tons of fun sledding in thigh-deep snow (yes thigh-deep. needless to say, we looked like weirdos hopping and falling in the snow. so glad I could put that image in your head.) and seeing all the ice sculptures people were carving around McCall.

Snow fell from the sky almost the entire time we were there.

Here I am bundled in a large winter coat/jacket/hat/boots/gloves, frantically covering my camera from the falling snow yelling "dad! it's getting wet! it's getting wet! dad! oh no! it's gonna die! it's gonna die!" or something like that.

the frozen lake. we walked across it.

Kendall: "are we almost done taking pictures of our reflections, cause I'm smiling at the people inside the store."

Funny it never crossed our minds that there were actual people on the other side of the window.

Make sure to come back so you can see all the other photos of our trip that you don't actually need to see.

p.s.
I got a formspring. I figured since I copy everything else megan does, why not this?
go ask me anything. except for my dislike for squirrels. I won't answer that.

an adventure shoot

2012-01-30T00:27:00.001-07:00

I have discovered my love for photographing people. I'm not the best at staging and posing and describing. But when they just do their thing. And when they look ridiculously good-looking when they do their thing. Then that's when I love taking photos of people.

Too bad I only know two people who don't actually mind when I shove a camera in their face.

I especially love when the people I'm taking pictures of is taking pictures. Something about having so many cameras in the area makes me extremely ~~excited~~ ~~fanatical~~ crazy.

And I especially love when the photograph is b&w. love.love.love.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but photos make me happy. very happy.

The ridiculously good-looking model here is my sister Mattie. Thanks, Mattie, for bearing with me while I say

"okay, stand right there. kaaayyy, now come forward, WAIT, okkayy NOW. now, come forward. wait, move just a tad to the right. the RIGHT. no! not back! okay, now back. ohhh... okay that's good. don't move. perfeectt... OHHHH my camera wasn't on."

p.s.

you're seeing pretty frequent posts here cause I'm scheduling um.

I know I said I probably wouldn't be posting too often.

but now I don't have to get my head bitten off.

so that's kinda good.

also - big announcement coming soon.

OH I'm so excited. ;)

handwritten

2012-01-28T07:00:00.003-07:00

Words fascinate me. Out of all the ways of communication, words flow the freest.

Not only do I like to use words, I like to read them.

You can travel the world without leaving your front door.

harry potter humor with megan // (doesn't she have gorgeous handwriting?)

You can learn what others are thinking and feeling.

Words on paper are sort of like an escape from reality for me. Not that I won't ever stumble across reality again.

But words let me take a rest from this life and travel in to another.

They let me recuperate sort of, so that when reality strikes, I'm ready to face it.

So what do you think - are words simply letters mashed together, or do they mean something to you?

a beautiful mess

2012-01-26T05:00:00.004-07:00

There's something magical about clicking the shutter on a camera. You can capture that perfect moment. Maybe it doesn't look like the perfect moment. Maybe the house is a mess, or the lighting isn't exactly how you wanted it. But maybe it feels like the perfect moment.

Life is so beautiful yet so hard. It is simple yet so complex. It is a fickle thing that doesn't usually make much sense to me.

Photography to me is capturing life. Not fake smiles, not perfect hair, not coordinating outfits. Not a clean house, not a "magazine kitchen", not spotless floors.

I've been known to fix everything up for a photo. To make it all look perfect.

To me photography is not fixing everything up for a photo.

To me photography is capturing the beauty of real life. The toys on the floor, the frosting smeared all over the counter tops from baking cookies, the dirty dishes in the sink. I don't want to remember the perfect life that we all pretended to have in front of the camera. I want to remember when life was great and not a care passed through my mind. And when life was hard, but we pulled through anyway.

I want to remember the times when nothing is perfect, but everything is right.

The times when my loved ones are laughing and talking, not smiling cheesy smiles for a picture.

The times when we're all in sweats and we don't care.

The times when we have flour smeared on our faces from cooking.

The photos that capture real life are far more beautiful than the picture-perfect moments, at least to me.

Sometimes I get so caught up in making everything perfect for a photo that the photo ends up looking fake and staged.

"picture perfect" is no longer in my vocabulary. Because pictures don't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

The photos I want to frame are the ones where everything is a mess. But a beautiful mess.

I have too much time on my hands...

2012-01-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

saw this quote on pinterst

a new day

2012-01-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm a big list maker. I write to-do lists for the next day every night before I go to sleep. For some reason my mind just thinks more clearly when I write everything down. Maybe it's because I have so many thought running through my head that to focus and sort through something as simple as what I need to get done that day is a little challenging for me.

So I make lists.

To-do lists especially help me. Sometimes just seeing that date up there on the top of my notebook reminding me it's a brand new day gets me motivated, and a little excited. All that happened yesterday is over now. No need to think about all the stupid things I did. It's a new day. And for that reason alone, I thank God.

(I also thank Him for a lot of other things too. Like: my family, home, dog, friends, snow, skiing, trees, donuts, hot chocolate, ice cream... etc.)

Let me know your thoughts - what's something weird or quirky you do?

a quick post with a quick pig

2012-01-20T23:55:00.001-07:00

I'm re-doing my faqs page. Have any questions you wanna ask?

p.s.

my aunt is coming and staying for two weeks. please don't bite my head off if I don't post very often during that time. ;)

also - I'm entering the photo in Mary Catherine's photo contest.

it's finally winter in idaho

2012-01-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

This morning mom ran in to my room yelling

"wow, wow! wowowowow! WOW"

Here's what she was wowing about:

SNOW.

They measured our driveway (before it got attacked with a snow shovel) and I think it was 6 1/2 inches.
Pretty good for a first real snow, I'd say.
Except we had to wait til the middle of January for it.

Oh and when I walked in my room this morning:

He does actually like snow (he hops in it..), but he's also our fire-hogger.

blue jeans and a jacket

2012-01-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

Every "fashion" post I do I always get lots of comments and good feedback. I'mma show you why I don't do them very often.

Nice, Abby.

Except here's one that did turn out:

HAH. But seriously these shoes are the most comfortable ever.

Too bad I can't wear them out of the house.

p.s.

I still do like to do outfit posts.

Even though I can't even match my shirt with my pants.

And I feel extremely awkward in front of the camera.

And I probably annoy you.

But that's okay cause I annoy a lot of people.

So I will probably still do them.

Even if all my posts turn out like above.

Oh and did anyone see the new profile picture?

Try taking me seriously when I leave a comment on your blog.

Ha.

pain

2012-01-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

A question many, many people have searched the answer for (but have yet to find it) is:

Why do we go through pain?

Why does God allow us to go through so much suffering and heartache? He loves us, right?

sooc

I don't have the answer to it. And I'm thinking no one else does either.

Why did the guy have to crash in to dad? Why couldn't God just make him pay attention? Why does he have to suffer for many months? Why did it have to happen at this time?

I don't know. But through the pain we are going through, I have found many joys. Many thoughts have comforted me, including one that kind of whacked me upside the head.
God knows exactly how we're feeling.

sooc

God went through more pain than any of us here on earth could imagine. He watched his Son being brutally killed on a cross (which was one of the most humiliating ways to die at that time). Not to save himself, but to save those who beat him and spit on him and mocked him. Those who made a crown of thorns to put on his head. Who hammered nails through his hands and feet.

And this Son wasn't one who deserved this pain at all. In fact, He never sinned even once.

sooc

Maybe the pain helps us to see just how great the joy is. Maybe pain helps us to learn things. Maybe God speaks to us through pain. Maybe I can't figure out why we have pain. But I do know that God will never leave us. I do know that He will walk by our side and whisper words of comfort.
I do know that one day we will be in a better place than this.

it can't be january

2012-01-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday to see white fluffy specks falling outside my window.

"It's snowing!" I yell.

I take out my school books and pull my snuggie tighter around me.

(us homeschoolers do school in snuggies, see.)

Later I take a jacket outside and watch the snow fall.

Snowflakes cling to my hair.

A light dusting comes in patches on the crisp grass and the tops of tree branches.

The clouds seem to groan as they sputter out the last of the snowflakes.

At least they tried.

photoshopped: the bird feeder

2012-01-08T19:36:00.001-07:00

sooc

I was going for a b&w vintage-ish feel.

What'dya think? Like the edit? Is the original more your thing?

Make sure to link up!

1. take a picture

2. edit it

3. post about it

4. link up over here

Don't have photoshop? There are tons of free editing systems like Gimp and Picnik.

Share your thoughts - should this be a series, or is it better off being an every-once-in-a-while post?

so I made a decision and I'm still trying to figure out if it was a good one

2012-01-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here are the words I never thought I'd say again:

I made a new blog.

Yes. I did.

A blog tracking my challenge of reading 100 books in a year.

I decided to forgo my book corner and start a whole new blog. It's easier to fit it all in a blog than on 1 page.

So you like books?

You might wanna follow me over there.

the 100 book challenge

(I stayed up last night watching the sorcerer's apprentice and designing the blog. not sure what I think about it yet...)

2012 Reading Challenge

Abby has

read 1 book toward her goal of 100 books.

hide

1 of 100 (1%)

view books

sunsets, reading, and peppermint cocoa

2012-01-03T00:23:00.003-07:00

That's been my life as of yesterday. My 6 year old sister got sick on Christmas Eve and, to all of our disappointment, got worse on Christmas day. Since then this ongoing sickness has been making it through the family and finally hit me yesterday.

I never did get around to posting about what I made my family/friends for Christmas. Maybe I'll post pictures of the gifts I made my family since they're still in the house. It might be up on my craft blog within a few days.

Or sometime in March. Or something.

So I sit here reading A Voice in the Wind while drinking hot chocolate, wondering if I'll ever get used to the fact that it's 2012.

5 things that might help you a little

2012-01-02T15:08:00.002-07:00

Christmas and New Years came and went super fast. so fast that I didn't even post about them. we had a great Christmas and an awesome New Years though. I'm still in disbelief that it's actually 2012.

I'm gonna tell you straight out - I'm not a popular blogger. I don't claim to be either. My face is not all over everyone's sidebar and I'm not who everyone talks about (and honestly, I don't want that). But I have been blogging for a few years. I've gotten a few emails and comments asking what tips I have for new (and old) bloggers that I never replied to because it was a lot to put in a little comment. So hopefully this post will answer that question. =)

But first I want to say something - I'm gonna sound like a total hypocrite in this post. You live, you learn, and that's totally what it's like for me and blogging. I've done almost everything good bloggers don't do. If you've been following me for a while, you've seen that. And I know I'm gonna make more mistakes in the future. So please don't hate me if I do something I tell you not to do. =)

Oh and one more thing - these are just suggestions. Nothing more. If I say post about bananas but you would rather post about apples, go for it. It's your blog. Do what you feel comfortable with, not what someone else is telling you to do.

(bananas and apples? what the heck...)

1. it's your blog

Listen up on this one, cause this is probably the best advice I can give - be yourself. It's totally cliche, I know. But that doesn't mean it's not true. It's your blog. Do what you want with it. The biggest mistake a blogger can make is doing what they don't want to do. You're one of a kind.

If you like posting about your day, post about your day. If you like posting your thoughts, post your thoughts. Don't ask in every post "what kind of things do you want me to post about?" Sure, you want to post things that your readers will want to read. But don't blog for them. Blog for yourself. Blog because you want to blog. Blog about want you want to blog about and people will like you because you're you.

Also, if you're posting about something that you're really not interested in (e.i. you're trying to be a fashion blogger but it's just not your thing) it will show in your posts. Your readers will be able to tell that you're just not in to it.

2. watch your grammar

I know, I probably sound like your english teacher (or mom). But one of my pet peeves is bad grammar. I don't care if there's one or two mistakes. We all make mistakes. I make mistakes. But when every post has typos, wrong spelling of a word (e.i. there, their they're; your, you're), etc. it starts to get irritating. You don't have to know every grammar rule or go through 50 different edits with your posts, but once you've typed what you wanna say, re-read it and watch for any typos or things that don't make sense.

But remember not to be so worried about your grammar that your posts start to get dull. I blog how I talk, and I talk in non-word words. Have fun with it, don't be so caught up in making sure you haven't made any mistakes.
(I probably just made 3 mistakes right there)

and plz dn't type like this, i dn't want to de-code yur posts.

3. hey... where'd you get that?

I've had some issues with people copying my stuff. I've had people actually use my posts, word for word, without giving credit to the one who actually came up with the post. And let me tell you, when people see that you copied someone else, it ain't cool. People will think low of you. (It's also not very fun for the person you stole it from. When I saw all of those people telling the person who copied my post that they did a great job in writing it, it felt bad. Really bad. [a few did recognize it as mine though] All those hours I just spent on that post got credited by somebody else, and all they did was hit a button.)

But there's nothing wrong with getting an idea from somebody else. Half of the things I do in life are things that other people inspired me to do. Just be careful when using other peoples ideas, and make sure to give them credit. I also don't recommend using a lot of copyrighted photos. But if you do use someones else's photos, make sure to say so. It will save you a lot of hair pulling and computer throwing, and people will respect you for coming up with your own stuff, not copying other people.

4. easy on the eyes

I don't know about you, but looking at a blog that has a black background with neon green text isn't my idea of fun. I recommend keeping your post background white or a light color. Keep your blog easy on the eyes and your readers will stay long enough to read your whole post, and maybe a few of your older posts too.

And another thing - keep your blog design simple. You can go with cute backgrounds and all that. But when the design takes away from the actual text/photos then you have a problem. Try to not only keep your design clean, but organize your blog. I used to have 2 sidebars, and both sides filled with stuff that at the time I thought was useful (and it might have been useful, but it wasn't needed). I got comment after comment of people saying "I love your blog design, but your sidebars are pretty cluttered." I did my best to take off the stuff that could be taken off, but I left a lot of stuff on there.

It took a whole template change for me to realize that my blog was freaking cluttered. Keep the essentials in your sidebar (followers gadget, a few pages, archives, etc) and all that other stuff in your posts.

5. advertise... but don't advertise

Comment on other peoples posts, talk with other bloggers, get out there on the internet. You don't meet people by sitting in your house all day. And it's the same with blogger. You won't meet people if you sit at your blog all day, with no contact from the blogger world. Talk with other people and read their blogs. A few people will stumble across your blog and follow, but if you really want some readership, you've got to get around and show the blogger world who you are.

But I do have one thing to say about what I just said. One thing that I don't like is when people go to a lot of popular blogs and comment things like "can you follow my blog?" or "I'll follow you if you follow me!" Please don't do that. I've had a few people advertise their blogs on mine, and while I don't have any problem with people leaving their blogs at the end of their comment, I don't like when people ask me to visit their blog. When you say "come follow me!" most people are going to do anything but visit your blog, let alone follow you. Don't be pushy about it, and don't follow people just so they will follow you.
__________________________________

Maybe the followers are coming in slow. Maybe your stats aren't showing want you want to see. And I know that can be hard. No one is noticing your hard work. But when you get discouraged, take a step back and ask yourself: "what am I blogging for?"

That's all I got, hope those helped you at least a little! If you have any questions or things to add, don't be shy.

sponsoring a giveaway

2011-12-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know about a giveaway I'm sponsoring! You can enter over at Discover Captivating to win my earrings or another awesome prize.

The family has left and life is starting to slow down again. I'm writing up a post about our Christmas and the upcoming year. I'm hoping that will be posted tomorrow. No promises though. ;)

idaho virtoo

2011-12-26T23:26:00.000-07:00

While playing the Wii today at the grandparents (my grandma got my grandpa a Wii - they're so cute), my dad called me over to look at an email he just got. It was a paypal email. It took me a while to figure out why he was showing me it, but then I realized:

I sold my first thing on Etsy! I'm so excited.

sold

Thanks!

p.s.

working on a Christmas post - it'll be published soon.

it's the big day

2011-12-25T00:27:00.001-07:00

Hannah, Moriah, and I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas!

p.s.

yes, it's a wig.
(and they're my cousins.)

2012 - my challenge

2011-12-23T00:03:00.001-07:00

You may have already seen my snazzy little typography (hah) advertising my challenge for 2012. See, most people set resolutions for the new year. Instead, I make a list - sort of like a bucket list, but only for a year instead of a lifetime - of all the things I want to do in the new year. Last year I accomplished all but two things. I was pretty proud of myself, especially since I am the biggest procrastinator in the world. You can find me in the Guinness World Records, probably.

I heard that another blogger read 100 books last year (don't remember who?) and I was like

"okay... I'm doing it."

So that's basically how I decided to do it.

Actually... that's kind of how I decide most of my life decisions. Quite scary.

I've been reading since before I could even read (..wait... what?) and that's kind of all I ever do. It's a little bit sad. But not really. Cause I'm a homeschooler. I never get out. Why not read? That's what I say.

I'm pretty sure I've actually completed this several times. But actually counting them and making a list will make all the difference to me.

I just finished The City of Ember and I'm super excited to read the rest of the series. I also might finish the Hunger Games trilogy... anyone think I should finish it?

My book list has around 80 books on it, and a lot of them I've already read. SO. If I'm gonna read 100 books, I need some recommendations here.

Any books that you just loved? You can leave a comment, or if there are tons you can email me a list. You'd be my best friend forever.

Seriously though, I need books to read. ;)

Anybody else wanna do this with me? Coooommee on. You can do it. We can like email each other throughout the year and cheer each other on. Plus we can talk about books we've just read and be nerdy like that.

Sound awesome?

I'm a little bit interested in seeing how this will all work out. I'm a freshman in highschool. And school books don't count. Cause they're like not even real books. That much.

I'll be posting about my "journey" and be updating my book corner more often. (btw, I just updated it now. go check it out.)

Any good books you've read recently?

(did all the books you've ever read in your life just slip out of your brain? that always happens to me.)

just three days

2011-12-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hot chocolate - a Christmas, and winter, staple.

Christmas is almost here! Just 3 days. Christmas always come so quickly up until the last 5 or so days.

Last minute shopping, sitting by the fire, family coming in soon. It's all so wonderful, amidst the craziness and rushing around. I've gone Christmas shopping once this year, and gone to one Christmas party.

It's nice to just sit down with some steaming peppermint cocoa. So even through all the shopping and running around getting ready for the big day, let's remember to sit back, drink some hot chocolate, and think about the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus.

packages and disturbed people

2011-12-19T22:00:00.001-07:00

It's like September something, right? Like September 2nd?...or something like that.

No Abby, it's actually 6 days until Christmas. Oh.

I'm still writing 2010 on my papers. How is 2011 so close to ending? I don't get it. Not that I'm so against 2011 leaving us.
It's just that... the world is gonna end in 2012, you see.

Sending out the last of the Christmas gifts. Not as awesome as this lovely though.

(check out my craft blog after Christmas for a post on what gifts I made!)

It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't do 31854 puzzles.

Did I ever mention we are a little mentally disturbed?

click to make larger

I think the puzzle makers are a little bit disturbed too.

Video editing and iTunes

(how to crochet video coming soon!)

Christmas gifts that I can't show you yet. Only give you a sneak-peek. But I did get them shipped today.

yay for Christmas procrastination!

Oh, and Beeb wanted me to say thanks for the compliments on my last post. He also said he already knew he was good looking. He's a bit big-headed.

the little pig

2011-12-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

*all photos are sooc

Just so we're clear - the above title is not to be said in a "aww, the littllleee pig ^.^" way, but rather in a "the. little. pig. arrgg" way.

Here's my baby. I call him a pig-dog because he snorts and has a curly tail. His name is Dasher, and he definitely does dash.

Here I am taking photos of these earrings, and he comes in and lays right in front of them.

I tell him to get up and he throws a fit.

I'm not gonna look at you, he says

....

nope.

Can't say no to that face.

Here's where I say show me your puppy face! come on, come on! let's see that puppy face. DASH. LOOK.

Not quite the puppy face I was after.

Can anyone else believe Christmas is a week away? AAhhh.

come up and give them wings

2011-12-17T00:35:00.001-07:00

20 degrees and no snow. It's killing me.

p.s.

my latest tweet:

finished all my Christmas gifts for my family! now I'm working on friends gifts. good thing I'm a nerd and don't have many friends. xD

any guesses of what song I took the title of this post from?

the makeover

2011-12-14T17:53:00.001-07:00

The blog definitely needed a makeover. If I looked at the old design one more time I was probably going to faint. That doesn't really make since. But anyway.

So like the new design? Let me know your thoughts!

*new blog design by me

define necessity

2011-12-10T21:56:00.001-07:00

America spends about $500 billion at Christmas each year. It's estimated that the cost of ending world hunger would be $195 billion each year.

traditions

2011-12-07T23:57:00.002-07:00

(all pics are soocs)

Traditions are one thing I love about Christmas. My moms family's and my dads family's traditions mingle together to form our own family traditions. I'm not sure why I like them so much, but I guess traditions help me to look forward to certain things.

One tradition we've done since I can remember is something my dads family started - every Christmas Eve we eat homemade clam chowder for dinner. If you're like me and seafood grosses you out it may seem a little non-appetizing. But I promise it's amazing. I've never tasted clam chowder as good as ours. ;) On Christmas is when we eat the big meal - ham, potatoes, all that.

Last year we started the tradition of watching the whole Harry Potter series before Christmas. I don't have anything against that. ;) We're watching #4 tonight. Not to mention all the other Christmas movies we always watch - the 3 Santa Clause movies (with Tim Allen), Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas Child, ahh so many.

A tradition most everyone that celebrates Christmas is putting up the tree. We have a fake one, and this year the girls and I put it up. (had to have help with the top though. too short. =P) Every ornament on our tree has some meaning behind it or some sentimental value. Even though our tree looks somewhat messy with all the different types of ornaments, I think it's far more beautiful than any tree with matching ornaments and lights.

Advent. We started the Advent trilogy by Arnold Ytreeide two years ago. This year we're on the third one - Tabitha's Travels. Lighting the candles, reading the story, being together as a family. It's something we all look forward to each night.

The last two years our whole family, including the dog, has slept over at my grandparents on Christmas day for dinner. We open the presents, then grab anything we can find and head on over to their house. We've even slept over there two nights in a row. Even though our family exceeds the capacity of space in our grandparents house, laughing together, eating together, just being together as a family is far better than any gift-wrapped present I've ever received.

So what about you? Any Christmas traditions?

p.s. internet was down all yesterday - sorry about not answering emails and posting.

also - check out my newest etsy items. (they are all soocs. loving the 5D Canon)

life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful

2011-12-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

sooc

Just a quick update on my dad, for those who asked:

He's doing a lot better than we expected. He started skiing, playing golf, and even started a wrestling match.

Seriously though, he's doing well. Taking it one day at a time. He's still, of course, on pain meds and still in a lot of pain obviously. He is up and walking around though, and drove to work today, even though he did come home early. (Not quite riding his bike yet.) ;)

Keep praying for us though. Of course there is all the things that come after having an accident like his - hospital bills, insurance bills, he just started working again, and there's a lot of strain on my mom.

God is awesome though, and I continue to see His love and protection over us every day. I'm not exactly sure where I would be right now if it weren't for Him.

God is good.

christmas

2011-12-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

*these pictures were taken when it was black outside. I normally shoot in natural sunlight. the colors may be a little off.

Christmastime puts me in such a good mood. And while I was making cookies earlier, I was dancing. (no seriously. literally dancing. it was weird. sad thing is I don't do that just at Christmas)

I have never been excited for Christmas just because of gifts. Sure, I love waking up at 6am and squealing like a legit little kid while throwing wrapping paper all over the place. But that's not what stands out the most to me. That's not why I love Christmas so much.

Christmas has always been a time for joy. A time to laugh. A time to get excited about decorations and lights, a time to destroy the kitchen with sprinkles and dough. To recollect Jesus' birth. To remember that we are saved by the Grace of God.

Christmas to me is being a family. Knowing that whatever happens, we are together. Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year.

So as Christmas day nears and the tree goes up, let's take a step back and remember what this special day is really about.

It's not about the rush to get Christmas gifts, it's not about who can decorate their house the prettiest, it's not about how many presents Santa brings you, though a lot of people do celebrate this holiday for those reasons.

Let's not forget that Christmas begins with Christ.

a little trip

2011-12-02T00:32:00.001-07:00

While my aunt was here for Thanksgiving, we took a little trip up to Idaho City. Not too far in to the mountains, and only about an hour away from where we live. I, of course, had my camera around my neck the whole time. My family doesn't understand why I take pictures of seriously everything. Neither do I, actually. There's just something intriguing about snapping that shutter and finding something new each time you do it. Kind of like an adventure.


the hills

We just went up for a quick little trip to eat lunch at a little diner place that was so cute and to look around Idaho City. It's a tiny town - populating 420. I've been there several times and each time I visit it's even more fascinating than before.

My weird brother.

Yes, he is sprinkling sugar in my water. And he thinks he's funny.

While I was busy snapping pictures of the menu, everyone else was choosing their meal. So when it's time for me to order I'm all like "wwhha... order... uuhh dlluuh, ohhhh we're ordering food. like right now? oh, okay, um just a sec."

My second home. Camp. This place is awesome. And it had snow.

I sat there laughing in the back seat for like 10 minutes because I put my candy wrapper on his head and he didn't even notice for forever. That shouldn't make me laugh so hard. But I'm delirious. Or I was. But I still am. I think. Wait... what?

Thanksgiving flew by and I never even posted about it. I think I read so many Thanksgiving posts that I thought I told you about it. Our Thanksgiving was short and sweet. It started out with the macy's parade on TV, continued with lots of potato mashing and turkey cooking, and ended with doing nothing else at all that whole day. Except for more eating and movie watching.

And that Friday, of course, we all woke up at 4am and braved the frosty air to buy my grandparents a TV. After taking our trip to Idaho City, I'm pretty sure all I did was sleep.

p.s.

another pair of earrings are up in my etsy! check em out...

first item on etsy is up!

2011-11-30T17:49:00.005-07:00

Last night I listed my first item on Etsy! Hopefully over the next week or two I'll have a few more things up, including a couple headbands.

IdahoVirtoo

There's a deeper meaning behind the name, but I'll get in to that later.

And, just to let you know, I am shipping internationally. So anyone can order from my shop. =)

p.s.

I deleted my other account several months ago, because I was just using that account until I came up with a name for my shop. So go add me on etsy to be updated with what I'm posting!

this is as fancy as i get...

2011-11-28T02:43:00.002-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that I am the least photogenic person on earth, and that I'm extremely awkward in front of the camera? Proceed with caution....

long sleeve shirt: gifted // winter vest: thrifted // skirt: thrifted // leggings: walmart // boots: thrifted // scarf: dollar tree(?) // headband: handmade by me

Holy cow was I really as tall as the fence with those boots? Man I feel like I can do anything in these...
(haha, jk I was still like 2 feet below the fence. it was the camera angle that lied. boo.)

Here's a closer view of my headband I just finished last night. Please ignore my cheesy face.

And here's a side view, as you can see it gets skinnier at the back and buttons at the back as well.

My mom got me these boots and I love them! They were $4. xD And they make me a couple inches taller, which is great because I'm 5' 1". Except I can barely walk in them, so maybe that's not such a good thing. Heh.

I got dressed for the photos, then came back in the warm house, put my pj's back on and edited the photos. I'm slightly amazed I actually remembered how to get dressed in anything other than pj's or sweats. And this is seriously as fancy as I go. Rarely do I wear a skirt, rarely do I wear "fancy" boots and rarely do I wear them at the same time. I did this for you guys. ;D

p.s.
my mom is amazing at finding great thrift store stuff. she found every thrifted thing I'm wearing in this outfit, which is pretty much everything. You could say (minus the shirt, which was gifted) that this whole outfit was probably less than $15.

braving the cold

2011-11-22T00:30:00.003-07:00

all photos are sooc =) (except for the b&w)

After two nights, my dad's home from the hospital. =) It's nice to be home, although I can't exactly say it's back to normal. My dad is still in a large amount of pain. He summed it up by saying "it only hurts when I breathe." It hurts him to laugh, too. I hope I never break any ribs, not only because of the pain and very long recovery, but because laughing literally hurts. As you probably know, I love to laugh.

We took a few pictures at the hospital, because I'm sure my dad wants to remember this in full detail.

yes, I did cut my hair about 4 inches. cause I'm sure that's the first thing you noticed when you looked at this picture.

Today my siblings and I went over to my grandparents. My aunt is in town for Thanksgiving, and we've been having lots of fun. We went to the park (it was 40 degrees. my brilliant idea...) and went out to eat for dinner. Then we crashed on the couches and watched 2 movies.

A penguin and a pirate. A toothless pirate.

Recognize that hat? I crocheted it. Read about it here.

Horseshoes at the park!

Ballet lessons really paid off, Kendall.

Go visit my craft blog to see my latest creations: headbands and a hat!

p.s.

I finally got a twitter! Go follow me. We'll see if I ever post anything.

updates on my dad

2011-11-18T10:06:00.004-07:00

Had a minute and thought I'd update you on my dad.

The doctor came in last night and checked out my dad. He said there were 10 broken ribs and 3 of those are fractured (broken in more than one place), all on his left side (he is left handed, so that helps a lot).

He was almost home on his bike when a car stopped in front of him. My dad slammed against the side of the car, and broke the side window, and hit the top of the car. His left side is what hit the car, causing all those ribs to break.

He was wearing a reflective vest, his helmet, and lights on both front and back of his bike and helmet. It had been raining earlier that day, so it was wet, and he had a meeting so he was later in the day than he normally is coming home and it was dark outside.

I'm not sure how the guy in the car didn't see him, but these things happen. The guy in the car was fine.

My dads lungs have a small puncture, but the doctor said they think it will heal on it's own. They're keeping a good eye on it though.

They are keeping him in a neck brace, and he stayed overnight with my mom. The doctors evaluated him this morning, but I haven't heard anything yet. I haven't been able to see him yet.

I may have a few updates on this post as we know more.

He is doing okay, he is in a huge amount of pain though. We are thankful to God that even though it is painful for him, it will most likely heal. He could've easily broken his neck or worse, and as far as we know, no bones are broken in his neck. God is good!

His bike is pretty much okay, it was him who took the whole impact.

Thanks so much, once again, for all of your prayers and encouragement! We really are doing okay considering the circumstances, but of course more prayer will be greatly appreciated.

we need your prayers

2011-11-17T18:04:00.003-07:00

About ten minutes ago my mom got a call from my dad, and ran out the door with my brother in less than a minute.

My dad has been riding his bike 20 miles a day (to and from work) for a few years now, and he apparently got in an accident.

They are at the hospital now, my mom said that he was aware of them and was complaining about his side.

I do not know how bad it is or really anything about it, but if all ~~203~~ 205 (thanks!) of you could pray for him right now, you don't know how amazing that would be for my family.

All that we are doing is praying and praying and praying as I try to finish up dinner for the girls and I.

Please, please pray for my dad right now! Like I said, I don't know any details, but he was just getting to the hospital when my mom called.

I'll keep you updated as soon as I hear more and as soon as I can.

Thanks!

update at 6:50 - My mom called, said that they think all he has is two fractured ribs. He is in a lot of pain, but will be ok. Thanks everyone for the prayers! We are doing okay. =)

update at 8:00 - My grandpa called with worse news. They found out he broke 7 ribs and fractured 3 ribs. He is in a lot of pain. My mom is staying overnight with my him in the hospital. Us kids are staying overnight with my grandparents. Thanks again for all of your prayers! You don't know how much it means to me. God will take care of us all. =)

half up half down... with a twist

2011-11-12T23:14:00.002-07:00

Another hair tutorial!

Try it out? let me know!

p.s.
watch in 1080p for HD. =)

sushi

2011-11-11T00:59:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that all of these photos are sooc's. =)

The other day my mom made sushi. I never in a million years would've thought that she of all people would actually want to make sushi. But she did, and she likes it. So does my dad. Fish and seaweed... sounds delicious. The only thing I really like in sushi is rice.

Rice is good.

Yea, I like rice.

My mom was laughing at me while I was snapping 5 million photos of sushi. I told her "it's what bloggers do, mom."

The only reason I'm glad sushi was invented is cause it's fun to take pictures of.

Amelia wants to try sushi (to everyone's surprise).

...nope.

So now I'm gonna go take a shower and try to figure out why I just made a whole post on sushi.

p.s.

thank you so much Dara Maclean! you're amazing. =)

pumpkin pi?!

2011-11-06T11:12:00.005-07:00

I know it's been like a whole week since Halloween, but I never did post about ours. It was fun - we all (okay, I) ate too much candy, we carved pumpkins, and my friend and I had fun going to a field of screams where my brother worked.

left to right: Mattie: a 50's girl // Amelia: a butterfly // me: someone from the Renaissance (I named myself Winifred cuz I didn't have a name)

I had my jeans on under my dress, so it looks all wrinkly ^.^

This was the dress we made for the Renn Faire that I volunteered at. =) I'm lazy and a cheapo so I went as that for Halloween.

from left to right: my pumpkin // Amelia's pumpkin (she wrote her name on it xD)

I was originally going to carve an HP pumpkin but decided on a more... actually I have no idea what I decided. I just started carving and came out with that. (the pi symbol in math.)

I have memorized 21 numbers of pi (going on 500). I will gladly say it if you ever come across me and ask me to. ;)

Pumpkin seeds! Lovely, wonderful, YUM-O pumpkin seeds.

The other day we had our first snow! It didn't stick, but here's a picture my mom made me pose for out in the snow! It's snowing right now, actually.
Come on, ground - get cold enough so the snow will stick to you!

p.s.

The other winner of my butterfly earrings didn't get back to me, so I picked a new winner:

That's right! Megan! Email me your home address (I don't think I have it?) and I'll get it sent out asap!

Oh, and 200 followers?! Are you kidding me?

we have a winner...

2011-11-04T23:02:00.001-06:00

I decided to pick the giveaway winner now. Nobody's entered the giveaway in 5 days and I figured an hour wouldn't matter that much. =)

So who's the winner?

Haley! Congrats! Send me an email (abby789[at]gmail.com) with your home address and I'll send it out asap!

I'll post an update post tomorrow. It's been a whole week since I posted - crazy.

____________________________________________________________________________

Go check out my latest post on my craft blog. I've been working on a couple things.

a giveaway (handmade by me)

2011-10-28T16:01:00.004-06:00

This giveaway is closed. =)

Anybody like giveaways?

In honor of almost-200-followers. (hah. I couldn't wait for 200 followers. xD)

(hand crocheted and made with my own hands.)

(jk. i made them with my dogs hands. so. yea. hope you guys are okay with that.)

The earrings are around 1 inch wide and hanging from the ear is about 2 inches.

Don't have your ears pierced? You can still enter the giveaway! Christmas is coming up, and you can give them to your friend, sister, mom, aunt, cousin, pet giraffe, whoever.

The color is a light beige. It should match with almost any outfit. =)

Let me know if you would like these in an Etsy shop. I'm still thinking about starting up an Etsy shop... can't decide if anyone would actually buy anything though. Haha. If you would buy these, would you mind putting the amount you would be willing to pay in the comments? I would be your best friend forever.

Okay, okay: how to enter:

Mandatory: follow Follow God.

(I normally don't put 'follow my blog' as the main entry, but since this is a giveaway for my followers, it's the main.) =)

Extra entry:

-what's your fav animal?

(totally random, I know, but that's how I roll.)

-Make sure to leave entries in separate comments (so 2 comments) or you'll only get 1 entry.
-The giveaway ends a week from now: Friday, November 4th. After 11:59pm Mountain time on November 4th, you cannot enter.
-If you won my last giveaway, you are not eligible to enter this one.

Now go enter!

(yes, I am in a Christmas shirt. don't ask me why.)

p.s.

This giveaway is open to all US residents. Thanks to Shelley for reminding me to say that. =)

safe

2011-10-25T11:38:00.000-06:00

My mom knows this lady who has cancer and is now a single mom of 7. She is a nurse but her job is too demanding with all her health problems.

She is trying to sell her artwork on Ebay:

This drawing blows me away every time I look at it! You can read the meaning behind the picture by scrolling down here.

Here's a piece she wrote about it:

I drew this picture as I was still suffering the after effects of my battle with breast cancer and the chemo and radiation treatments I had undergone. It was such a hard time in my life, and I drew such comfort from knowing that the Lord was carrying me through. Later, after an unexpected separation from my husband, I found that this image soothed me once again, when all I could do was cry and wait for God to carry me through the trauma I was enduring. It is an incredibly meaningful piece to me, and it is a privilege for me to be able to share the comfort which carried me through such dark times with you.

You can check out the drawing here.

I know she would be greatly appreciated if you could spread the news! With blogger, twitter, facebook, pinterest, and all those other sites, news travels very fast to a large amount of people. Please take a few minutes to post this!

the girl in the red shades

2011-10-22T00:18:00.000-06:00

Words escape me at the moment. This usually doesn't happen to me. Believe me, I will talk until your ear literally falls off of your head and hits the ground, and you are howling and begging me to stop talking now.

But at the moment, I'm finding it hard to write what I'm feeling. If I'm feeling anything. All I can tell right now that I'm feeling is a sore throat. And also, despite my constant aarrghh's and would you just stop! my body does not want to quit sneezing. My whole family has been sick the past few days, and it hasn't been very fun. Except for I've been reading a lot, which isn't really that unusual. =)

We've been reduced to drinking tea, eating cough drops, laying down, reading, playing video games, writing, and listening to Switchfoot.

A few of those might have just been me. But still.

And me doing those things on a regular basis anyway doesn't have anything to do with this conversation. Probably.

When I get sick, I start writing more "flower-y" and start using words like perhaps and despite which I've used in this post. Even though I love those flowing and lovely posts by some of my favorite bloggers (aka carlotta, megan, and definitely lots more), I blog how I talk. And beeeliiievee me, I don't talk all lovely like that. I talk in fragments, non-word words, things that don't relate or make any since, unfinished sentences, and pretty much everything I say is a inside joke with someone I know, so half the people I talk to don't have any clue what I'm saying. Most people just stare blankly, shuffle their feet, smile politely and quickly move on.

So that's how I blog. Awkward. Fragmented. Anomalistic.

And I assure you, I love it in all of it's crazy and wonderful goodness.

(Blogger does not think anomalistic is a word. But I even added a link to dictionary.com where the dictionary says it is a word. I have no idea how or where I cam across the word anomalistic, but it sounds cool.)

Did you read a word of that? If it was me, I have a feeling I would not read that. xD Hah. It's okay if you didn't. I don't blame you. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I just said. Was it something about my face and a giraffe? Can't remember.

Btw, did any of you see the picture of me under the 'the author' section in the sidebar?

(I will not repeat the comment my brother made of this photo when he came over to stare over my shoulder xD)

That one.

I look pretty weird in the picture. I think it's best to keep that one small. But what about the shades - No? Yes? Weirdo? Thought so.

My friend didn't like them. And I think my mom was a little weirded out by the fact that I pretty much scanned the sunglasses 20 feet away, saw these red guys, let out a little half-squeal, half-ohmygosh and darted across the store, knocking over a rack of jawbreakers, snatching up the sunglasses and cradling them while speaking in a creepy Gollum voice, hunched back and all, saying "myy precioussss."

Maybe that was a little exaggerated. Maybe. But I could probably see myself actually doing that, which is kind of scary.

Are you skipping through this, bored to tears? This post is quite lengthy. Are you down on your knees begging pllleaassee abby, pleassssee stop. just stop?

Maybe it is time to end. Enjoyed having this little chat with you guys.

Don't forget to vote on the poll in the sidebar! If I get enough yes' I'll do a little writing post with a linky. Oops already told you too much. K. I'll go.

p.s.

Yes, I'm back again. Just thought I'd let you know that Switchfoot's new Blinding Light is on repeat. Literally REPEAT. ;) Recently got the album and it's the best ever.

today i tried peppermint tea

2011-10-18T18:15:00.004-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like faaalllllllll.

The trees are turning, it's getting colder, and today my mom put up fall decorations.

We don't do a ton of decorations but, not to anyone's surprise, I lugged my camera around the house taking pictures of every fall related thing I could see.

There's just something about fall. The colors, the coziness. I love warm sweaters, hot tea, colorful leaves, and the smells of fall. I'm not exactly sure what "the smells of fall" means. But. When I think of fall I think of cinnamon. And vanilla.

My mom and the girls made this banner thingy to go on our mantel. I love it.

(just a fun little note: to the left of the photo is where I blog. see that little black thing in the left bottom corner? that's the corner of my right monitor. ^.^)

(my mom got the idea for the banner from Dream Book Design and just following Jesus.)

I love pumpkins.

I'm in the middle of the fourth Percy Jackson book! I love it. Click here to view my book corner if you haven't already.

p.s.

Did anyone else think this was a spaceship when they were little? I always thought it was a space ship. I was/am really naive... maybe someone told me that as a joke and I believed them. Hah. Or maybe I thought I had superhuman eyes or something. I dunno.

the winner

2011-10-16T11:53:00.000-06:00

Thanks everyone for entering! It was a close call but I finally narrowed it down and chose a winner.

So real quick - my parents were all like "hey, ya know that'd be really cool if you had a giveaway and made something to giveaway." So I've been thinking about it. If I hit 200 followers, I'm holding a giveaway and the prize will be homemade by me. Go check out my craft blog to see some stuff I've made and make suggestions. How's that sound?

And the winner is.... Eden Mckoy!

Since you skipped all that I said before announcing the winner, go back up and read it if you wanna know about a future giveaway.

It was a really close call, but I finally decided on Eden's photo. I love how the cat (Flea =D) is in a tree. A lot more interesting like that and a shot I would never be able to get of my dog. Probably cuz my dog's never been in a tree. But still.

I don't have a blog/website link, but here is her flickr. She's got lots of other great photos.

(Eden: message me another link if you want me to post it instead.)

So... yay or nay on more photo contests?

p.s.

click here to meet my pig.

fav free photoshop actions

2011-10-13T13:52:00.032-06:00

I get asked sometimes what my favorite photoshop actions are. So I collected my favorite, and here they are. They're all free, since most every action I use is free or I create it.

note: if you click on the photo of the action, you can see a bigger photo of that action.

Here's a sooc (straight-out-of-camera) shot that I took the other day and I'll be using it to show you the different actions.

This first one is a quick action that mainly just brightens the photo and makes it more... uh... vibrant. I have a few of these actions that mainly just brighten and enhance the photo, but different actions work for different sooc's.

Vibrant by A Sorta Fairytale

This next one has a hazy, vintage feel to it. Sometimes I like to add both the Vibrant action above and this action.

Summer Haze by Good Knits

This one is another enhancer action. As you can see it's a bit brighter and pops a bit more.

Pop Rock by A Sorta Fairytale

(you'll have to download the whole set to get Pop Rock)

These next few are all from the Pioneer Woman. She has two sets, and these actions are from both sets. I love most all of them, but these are probably my favorites out of the sets.

This is possibly my favorite out of all the actions. Fresh & Colorful.

Not too much of a difference between this one and Pop Rock, huh? Just realized that, after a couple hours of editing and post processing. I seriously think I can't get any dumber. And I had to look up the word dumber to see if it actually was a word. I make myself laugh sometimes. (except I usually just puh! at how stupid I am and move on...)

This one is Fresh & Colorful and Seventies.

I used B&W Beauty for this one and also PW's B&W on 30%.

The last is the Define & Sharpen, which adds a lot without changing the colors or brightening or anything.

Roll your mouse over the photo to see after.

So those are some of my favorite free photoshop actions. What are some of yours?

the life of a dog

2011-10-10T21:57:00.051-06:00

Before you proceed, just thought I'd let you know this post is a photo contest. =)

I've never hosted a photo contest before, and for a while now I've been contemplating doing one. I actually had a different post planned for this photo, but decided last minute I would turn it in to a photo contest.

(plus I needed something else to do other than reading hundreds of HP facts, which I've been doing for the past hour. xD)

So the theme is animals. I know it's pretty vague, but I want you guys to come up with an awesome photo, not me telling you exactly what to take a picture of. It's your call. Just make sure to follow the "rules" below.

-You can use any photo as long as the photo was taken by you. Copyrighted photo's are NOT allowed.

-You can edit the heck out of your photo if you want. Or use a sooc*. Doesn't matter to me. =)

-You can have more than one animal in the photo, an animal and a person, really whatever as long as your main subject is an animal.

-Insects count as animals too. =)

-You must link to the direct post of your photo, not your entire blog.

-You can link to a flickr or photobucket or other image hosting site, if you want.

Here's mine: (of my dog)

The prize will only be bragging rights. And I'll also post your picture and a link to your blog/website/etsy or whatever you want me to link to (1 link) on my blog. Maybe next one I'll have an actual item for the prize. =)

I'll be choosing the winner on Sunday the 16th. That gives you 6 days from now. (It ends the Saturday before that, I'll pick the winner sometime on Sunday.

*straight-out-of-camera

you could say i'm a tad bit excited

2011-10-09T21:21:00.003-06:00

What's that, Abby?

SOOC (now that i look at it, i think it's a little blurry. oh well. plus it's a little orange, but that's the bathroom light. =P)

Oh, that.

I'm finally starting to learn the 20D. I'm so excited. I've already taken like around 50 pictures in the last 10 minutes. Maybe once I learn this one really well and am ready to step up, then I'll use the 30D. And then the 5D. With the 7 foot lenses. xD K, Abby, one step at a time.

I can't wait for tomorrow to take pictures in sunlight. Although I'm pretty sure it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

the sun is shiiiiinnning!

2011-10-08T17:42:00.002-06:00

It's morning everyone. Today's the daaaaaayyy!! The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we are getting out of - O.O *gasp* the thank is clean. THE THANK IS CLLLEAANN!

It has finally decided to stop raining for a little while. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to start raining again on Monday though.

In my last post when I was rambling on about how I don't like rain, I forgot to mention one thing that makes me reaaallly dislike rain. Every time it rains, I get really bad headaches for the entire day. So for the past 4 or so days I've had the worst headache.

Maybe if it didn't do that to me I wouldn't hate rain so much. Maybe. We kind of have a stormy relationship.

(get it? STORMY? hhhahha. yea. ok.)

Today it actually warmed up some, and we can finally see the sun. .... do do doo dooo. And it's alright, do do doo do do do dooo.

Uhhm... yea. Let's just say I'm in a bit of a better/hyper/weirdo mood now that it's stopped raining. I think it's cuz I don't have an ongoing headache anymore.

Being in a better mood, I've been doing lots of more hairstyles lately.

I just uploaded one to youtube right now. Just an FYI, you might wanna subscribe to me over there if you have a youtube, cuz I occasionally upload things that I don't post here on the blog. Like a bloopers video.

I'm thinking about doing a tutorial on this hairstyle. Let me know.

I just uploaded the braided headband hair tutorial. Which probably resembles the above picture. But you might wanna check it out if you like braids. And headbands. And if you are broke.

Amelia wanted me to put her hair in sponge rollers last night. She reminds me of Shirley Temple. =)

Speaking of Amelia, this photo makes me laugh. Those two together are funny. She's always doing stuff to him and he's always like "what the heck is she doing to me??"

i showed dash this picture. he just stood and stared at it, wagging his tail. he thinks he's soooooo handsome.

we're going really simple on this one

2011-10-06T18:39:00.002-06:00

Let me know in the comments if you want more of these really simple and easy hair videos.

p.s.

watch in 1080p for HD. =)

rain, rain, go away

2011-10-05T18:36:00.002-06:00

I am much in agreement with Polka Dot about rain. I do not like it. It's cold and wet and dark and depressing. And almost this whole week it's been raining.

We don't get rain very often. It's kind of like a desert over here. And when we do get rain, you can hardly call it rain. When it sprinkles, we say it's raining.

I'm still in the eat-popsicles-and-drink-orange-juice-and-watch-movies stage of my flu/cold/illness and the rain isn't helping much.

Last night we all made banana splits and rambled on about growing a seven-foot banana and making the biggest banana split ever.

Amelia goes "banana splits are good for you, cuz bananas are fruit, right?" which I add "and the maraschino cherries are fruit. it's healthy." Then we somewhat felt better about ourselves and dug in to our banana splits.

Last night was the first time I've ever had a banana split. Yes, I'm fourteen and I've never had a banana split until last night. And it's probably a good thing too. I think that if I had a banana split before, I would be 10 pounds bigger. Or maybe 200.

I got The Titan's Curse in September (thanks aly!) and had so many series that I wanted to finish that I didn't start reading it until last night. I'm now about 3/4 of the way through it. xD I can't say which book is my favorite out of the first three, but the third one is really awesome. I'm planning a review once I finish.

mom, i can't do school. i'm about to battle a Nemean Lion!

p.s.
who else is excited for Pottermore?!

how to french braid

2011-10-03T21:58:00.003-06:00

I'm sick with some type of virus. This year has been the worst year ever for me and getting sick. No idea what that's about.

But I get to watch Finding Nemo and drink chocolate milk so it's okay.

Some of you liked the idea of me making a tutorial on how to french braid. So I made it.

Hope this helped some of you. =)

candy wrap

2011-09-30T00:55:00.002-06:00

Well hello there. Long time no... er... blog.

Truth is, I've kinda been at a lack of what to post. Not too much has been happening to blog about. Not that a lot happens anyway.

And my freshman year has kept me busy too. Today when I woke up, I didn't even get out of bed. I just reached over, grabbed my science book and started school under my very warm covers. How's that for homeschooling.

AND the book corner is officially up! Over on the sidebar, the grey drop-down menu bar, you'll see 'book corner' Click that and choose where you wanna go. I'll soon be getting some book reviews (which will show up in your dashboard). I'm finishing up a few series I started, so I'll probably do reviews on the whole series when I finish those.

If you have any book recommendations, you can leave them down below. =)

---

Today I ordered some things from Cinderbella's which is Grabrielle's Etsy shop. She's moving to a new Etsy shop, and the things that aren't being moved are marked half off. I would totally go over there and check it out if you like gorgeous jewelry.

---

Megan's doing a Wednesday weekly favorites thing and since I never got in on it, I thought I'd do it in this post.

fav things from the week:

-books.

-my red sunglasses. yes, I did buy red sunglasses.

-this song. loooooove.

fav pin:

story of my life.

fav posts:

-my brother and his girl @ wear red shoes

-Awkward and Awesome Thursday @ the daybook

fav quote:

"Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the internet."

-Anonymous

---

p.s.

THIS is the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

life is beautiful

2011-09-27T15:11:00.000-06:00

So many people are in a rush. Sometimes peoples days are rushed, some peoples months are rushed, and some peoples lives are rushed. We’re always hurrying to get to the next event in life. We never slow down and enjoy life for what it is.

Life is precious. Are we in such a hurry that we miss that?

Life is so beautiful. Sometimes I just stop. I stop what I’m doing and look around me. It’s beautiful. The way the sun comes up. The way the birds chirp. The was the trees gently sway in the breeze. It’s amazing how much we miss when we’re in a rush.

I have no idea how long myself or my family has. I could die tomorrow. Today. I’d hate to get to heaven and realize life could’ve been so much more if I would’ve slowed down. Life is a gift. But the sad thing is, not everyone opens their gift. Some of us are too busy to even realize we have a gift to open.

Have you ever realized how vibrant the sky is? How quickly a butterfly bats its wings? How fast a child grows up?

Some people say they lack inspiration. But if you just take a minute to look around, you’ll find life is filled with inspiration. Life itself is inspiring.

The sound of rain.
The peaceful early mornings.
How fluffy the clouds are.
A house full of laughter.
The way smoke rises.
The color contrast between sky and grass.
The way the lake looks like glass when it’s not disturbed.
The way words rhyme.
The intricate design of a rose.
The many colors.

Life is beautiful. It pains me to think some people have never experienced the beauty of it. And that some people have never stopped and thought about it.

Let’s slow down. Let’s enjoy life. Let’s laugh. Let’s experience life’s little pleasures.

We don’t know how long we have. We don’t know how long out family has. Let’s enjoy life - together.

Because life is beautiful.

we're doing it again

2011-09-23T20:35:00.000-06:00

I waited a couple days longer than I said I would, and I still got no reply from the winner of my last giveaway. So, I picked a new winner!

Dezzy Louise from adorkable.

Make sure to email me (under the i'm over here too section on the right) your mailing address and I'll get it to the sponsor asap.

Thanks so much!

I know, I know, I've been not the best ever blogger, but I promise a real post will be coming soon. I'm in the process of editing a video, so hopefully that'll make up for lack of posting? Maybe?

quick & easy braided hairstyle

2011-09-20T17:31:00.001-06:00

If you know how to french braid, you can totally do this. It's super quick and not hard at all. I kinda feel silly doing a tutorial on it, but whatever, it gave me a reason to post. xD

The lighting in our bathroom makes me look like a giraffe. Without the spots. (They make me look yellow. I'm not sure why I decided I needed to tell you I look like a giraffe.) So I decided black & white would take care of that problem.

I'm thinking about doing a video tutorial on how to french braid hair. Any thoughts?

You really only need booby pins (or clips, berets, etc), the rest is optional.

Part your hair. I usually do a middle part for this style, but I've done it a ton of times with my usual side part, so either works great.

side note: I hate my hair parted in the middle. You can probably tell it's not the dead center. When you part your hair in the middle it shows how your face is not perfectly symmetrical. For example, my eyes and ears aren't the exact same size. Plus the middle part makes my nose look even more like China than it already does. Just thought I'd let you know.

On one side, pick up a little section (about an inch thick if that gives you anything) and divide it in 3 sections. Then braid them 1 or 2 times. (we're basically starting the french braid)

Keep braiding, but each time you braid a piece over the middle, pick up a piece of hair and merge in with that side your braiding over. Kinda confusing to type out, if you want me to do a tutorial on french braiding I can. But you can also search it on youtube. There's most likely dozens of good tutorials.

Once you've gotten to about the ear (or wherever you want it to stop), braid it down a little and stick a bobby pin in the end to hold the braid while we do the other side.

Other side!

Pick up a piece, divide in to 3 sections.

Braid a few times.

Keep braiding and adding hair.

Go ahead and take out the bobby pin we added on the other side. We've got 2 braids now.

Cross the 2 braids over in the back.

And bobby pin together. I like to cross several bobby pins to secure it better.

Later I went and concealed the bobby pins a bit better, just so you know. I kind of did a horrible job in the pictures.

Hairspray if you want...

And your done! That's it. Super easy.

Yes I did just take a picture of me in those glasses. And yes I did just put it on the internet.

So whatdya think of these pictorials? Figured I could make them a little more frequently than video tutorials, but the videos are still being made.

p.s.

I know I look very concentrated and some what constipated in these pictures. haha. I'm a dork. xD

oh, and I posted the giveaway winner today, so make sure to check out that post if you haven't yet.

the winner

2011-09-20T10:43:00.001-06:00

For those of you asking - the retreat was great! Had tons of fun and I never pulled out my camera. At least I'm not dumping 70 photos on you like last time.

I used Random.org to generate a winner.

AND the winner is....

Congrats! Email me your home address (under the 'i'm over here too' section on the right) and I'll get it to the Etsy seller asap.

Thanks everyone who entered! If I get 200 followers (holy cow) I'm gonna hold a bigger giveaway, so if you didn't win this one you can enter that one. =)

(if you won this giveaway, you won't be eligible to enter in the next, but any after that totally go for it.)

2011-09-16T11:40:00.000-06:00

Just stoppin in to say I'll be gone for the weekend - going on a retreat with my fam. Giveaway winners will be posted when I'm back. =)

Oh, and here's another awesome giveaway to go check out. Lots of you liked necklaces best, and the prize is just that.

Cya!

-abby

wednesday giveaway

2011-09-14T16:04:00.003-06:00

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In honor of 176 followers, here's a giveaway for ya! =)

Here's whatcha get:

The lovely Lori agreed to sponsor this giveaway. Make sure to check out her etsy shop, it's one of my faves.

shop

How to enter:

mandatory:

-comment below and let me know your favorite jewelry - necklace, bracelet, earrings, rings, anklets, etc.

extra:

-follow my blog

-post, tweet, or facebook about this giveaway

The giveaway starts today, September 14th and ends 5 days from now on September 19th. Any comments left after 11:59 pm mountain time on the 19th will not be entered.

Please leave each entry in a separate comment.

winner will have 48 hours to get back to me or another winner will be drawn.

no more crickets

2011-09-13T15:28:00.001-06:00

There's been about 4 posts total in my dashboard the past few days. And I follow 56 blogs. I keep refreshing and stalking my favorite blogs, but the blogging world has been kinda slow lately. It's understandable, what with school and all the other torture. My blog has had some crickets lately, too.

I finally posted on my craft blog. That blog not only had crickets, but a thick layer of dust too.

click

My favorite post from 9/11 was this one. So beautiful, as all her posts are.

Right now there are about 70 freakin dogs barking their little heads off in our neighborhood. My dog looks stressed.

Today I'm baking cookies.

This was my to-do list Sunday (idk why the date says the 12th?):

Some of it didn't get done. =P Except for I did find Hogwarts.

Check back tomorrow for a giveaway!

i'm not random, i just think a lot faster than most people

2011-09-09T15:29:00.003-06:00

170 followers?!? What? I may or may not have ran around the house screaming and tripping on my feet when I realized I had 170 readers. I'm sure you already know the answer.

I can't even believe it though. I know compared to the popular bloggers, 170 isn't that many people. But to me, an ordinary girl who one day decided to start a blog for the heck of it, it is a pretty freakin big amount. When I first started my blog I was pretty sure 3 readers was what my stats were gonna stay at. I was ok with that, I think. But never in my life would I expect 170 people. Thank you all SO much!

***

If you know me you know books are like my favorite things on earth. I'm pretty sure heaven will be a bookstore.

SO.

I've wanted to start a book blog for a long time. But if you follow my other blogs too you know that I mainly post on this blog, and my other blogs kind of get neglected. Which is sad. So I think I don't need to start another blog. =P Hah. But I think it would be fun to do like a whole book series on here. Like book reviews, my favorite books, etc. And then you guys can recommend your favorite books and link up your book reviews and *squeal* I think it would be so fun! What'dya think?

I'm always on the lookout for good books and good authors. And I've noticed good Christian book reviews are kinda scarce. Or at least that I've seen.

We could have like our own little blogger nerdy book club. =D

And this! This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I would sit here all day reading and rolling around like a hamster.

via

YES!

via

***

My 9 year old sister Mattie is an artist. Or getting there. She's far better than me with a pencil. Or a mouse. She drew a Purple People Eater:

***

One of my favorite bands ever is Switchfoot. Their song Restless is probably my newest favorite. But The Shadow Proves the Sunshine has always been one of my favs. I love it. You'll probably hear it in the background in like all my videos. =P Haha.

***

AND I have not one, not two, but...er... no. I just have two. ...? Okkkaayy. Anyways.

Here's the camping video I said I would get up:

And here's a 20 questions but not really tag.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm so weird.

Btw, another video is coming up as soon as it's edited, featuring my dog. Here's a sneak peek:

oh deer

2011-09-05T21:22:00.001-06:00

Ok, let's give those guest posters some big applauding here. They were amazing, don't you think?

I'mmmmm baacckkkk! (did you read that in a creepy, witch-like, stalker voice? i did. )

(just a forewarning: a ginormous amount of pictures are about to come your way)

Here's where we spent the last week:

We spent our time reading,

eating (or begging for food),

rafting,

picture credit - my moma

eating heavenly poison called Twinkies,

relaxing and playing on the beach,

taking pictures of Ospreys,

and lots and lots of laughing.

It was amazing but I'm kinda glad to be home where you can easily take showers and you don't have to worry about bears eating you in the night.

We saw lots of deer, including some that came within no joke 10 feet of us.

As I was editing my pictures I wanted to scream "IF I EDIT ONE MORE PICTURE OF A DEER I AM RIPPING MY HAIR OUT, YA HEAR?!!" But I didn't. *cough* I believe I had a total of 2,124 pictures of deer. But the baby ones were really cute. And they reminded me of my dog. Perhaps he is not only half pig but also half deer? I'm still deciding.

Can't you just hear it go "mmmmMMooooooooOOOOOOOOoooo"?

That's not even half of the pictures I got of the deer. You should be proud I only posted 6. So far.

no zoom

This was in the evening. I think it's gorgeous.

You can't tell me you've never buried half of your body with sand and pretended to be a mermaid.

I love ocean bokeh. If there is such a thing as ocean bokeh. Except this isn't ocean bokeh. Because this isn't even an ocean. This is a lake. I am gifted.

Oh how I love those two.

Baby (right): "MOM. Look. That girl with the weird hair. What is she doing?"

Mom (left): "Billy Bob Joe hurry up and get over here!"

For some reason, I decided to express my love for dandelions on this trip. I didn't even know I had a love for dandelions. Actually, I don't think I do. I was just running out of things to take pictures of. ok, bird. we need to talk. i'm just trying to get a picture of you. it's ok. i am not a serial killer. i won't even steal your worm. probably.

The trees were hippopotamic. (that word is actually a word! yay!)

That's our trailer. My head comes up to about that stripe on the trailer right above the license plate. The trees were tall.

While Kendall (my brother) was looking over my shoulder at this picture, he goes:

"what the heck is his hair doing?? was that the wind or is his hair actually doing that? he looks like a weird Alfalfa." No, my smart brother. That was the wind.

Here is where I call him a Munchkin. To which he looks at me with that "Abby. You DO. NOT. call me a Munchkin. GOTIT?" look.

Amelia. I love her. She is very much like me, if you didn't already know that. Every time a camera is shoved in her face, she makes a silly retarded face. A normal smiling face? Ahem. No.

That's my brother. The one who is always hungry and has gray hair.

And apparently eats wood.

how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

I just said that out loud. I am talented.

I don't know what they were doing.

Oh. Mattie just informed me they were pretending to die and that I was supposed to act like I was dying too. Woops.

Mattie (on the right). She said she was trying to look like a penguin.

Totally seeing the resemblance.

A squeaky water pump which you can't clean your fish in. Or take a bath in.

no zoom

"Girls, did you take my camera?!"

"Why, yes. We did."

no zoom

I'm editing a video right now so I'll post that later. It'll be up on my youtube first, so if you want to watch it before it's actually posted on the blog, you can watch for it there.

p.s.

I took a total of 441 pictures, including some videos. Am I crazy? Good thing I only showed you 70 of them. =P

now I'm gonna go eat an egg. and I don't really even like eggs.

Why I love books...{guest post by India}

2011-09-03T12:00:00.003-06:00

A few years ago, I was asked to do an exercise in which I wrote down my three favourite possesions. After much thinking, I realised with a jolt that all three were books, some of my favourite novels. Books are my most treasured possesions and I just want to share with you why, whether you are a bookworm like me or just read a novel every now and then if your mum tells you too.

via

001. Books are wonderful because they take you away. You can leave this world and slip into a new one and then come back to it again and again. They sit there waiting for you to read them. They don't just keep happening, the way life does sometimes. When you need to get away, all you need to do it open and read.

002. In them, you can travel all over the world and learn so much about it. I have never been to so many places but through books I feel as if I've been there and I understand so much about it.

via

003. They aren't always set in 2011. I love history and with books, I've been all over time, to all the different eras.

004. Books and novels especially are facinating stories. When you're bored I believe there is nothing better to do then read. Seriously. Nothing beats it.

via

I adore books (full stop) So I thought I would share with you a few of my favourites.

Books to read

'The Sherwood Ring' by Elizabeth Marie Pope. (one of my favourite books ever.)

'Blackout' and 'All Clear' book and sequel by Connie Willis (amazing books! must reads)

'Trixie Belden Series' by Katherine Kenny (a bit old I know but so lovely, they are at the top of my list)

'Betsy-Tacy Series' by Maud Hart Lovelace (favourite favourite favourite)

There are so many more but I don't have time to name them all. Do you have a favourite book? I'd love to hear what.

about me:

My name is India Grace. I am a saved by Jesus fifteen-going-on-sixteen year old. I adore reading, music and blogging. My little corner of the world is Heaven in my Heart. I would be thrilled if you would stop by.

Those Captured Moments... (guest post by holly)

2011-09-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

Photos.

Those captured moments of our lives through the lens of a camera is one of the most precious and helpful things invented.

We all love taking photos. Some of us will just take them for memories or to show to people. Some of us use the photos to make into collages or for scrap-booking. And some of us have a talent for taking beautiful, amazing photos and take extreme care to capture the right things with the right angles, or lighting or setting on the camera. (a perfect example of a blogger who delights in this)

You know what they say.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I think we often tend to take cameras and especially photos for granted. They're always there. If we just want to capture something beautiful outside or make memories from a birthday party, we can simply pick up our cameras and snap away!

Think back awhile will you?
Before the 19th century, no one could even have imagined that there was such a thing as taking a picture of something in our lives. It would have been unthinkable.
Today we have not only basic cameras, but high quality cameras, cameras on our phones and even video cameras to record things that happen in our lives.

We truly are blessed to have them. I don't know where we'd be without cameras.

So many memories would have been lost. We wouldn't have been able to look through family albums. Many careers would not be the same or not even exist. We could not even see what we look like without using a mirror or reflection.

All without photos.

Let's appreciate them a bit more, shall we?

Thanks so much for the opportunity to guest post on your blog, Abby! It's an honour : )

About the Author...

I'm Holly. An almost teenager, out-going and a chatter box! Lover of piano playing, singing, acting, fashion, photography, blogging... The list just goes on! I live in Australia, the sunny beachy country. I'm home schooled and have been all my life. Jesus means the world to me. I blog over at Roses and Bluebells and would love if you'd go and check it out : )
xoxo

How to get inspiration (a guest-post by Arianna)

2011-09-01T08:42:00.000-06:00

Do you need some inspiration? Do you blog? Are you feeling like your blog is, blah? Well, here are some ways to get inspiration.

• Find {and follow} blogs that inspire you.

Here are some good ones to check out:

Of Horsefeathers//Pastor's Girl's Ponderings//Grace loves the Beatles//

Aspire//Dancing through Life//Love August//

Lollipops and Cupcakes//

Yours Truly//

• Look at pictures.

There a couple of sites that you can join that have amazing pictures!

Such as:

WeHeartIt and Pinterest

To get a Pinterest account you need to request an invitation, however, you can have a friend (they need an account) invite you and then you don't have to wait as long. If you are interested in getting a Pinterest account, email me. This is my email address: dancingprincess1027(at)gmail(dot)com.
Just put "Pinterest" in the subject line and say, "Hey Arianna! I would love to get a Pinterest, could you please invite me? My email is: --"

• Listen to music.
It doesn't have to be your favorite type, try listening to different kinds! I suggest getting a Pandora account. You can get a basic account for free. They also have an app you can get for your iPod touch. (or iPhone or iPad?)

• Take a blogging break.
Now you may be thinking, whaaa? How can a break from blogging inspire me? Well, my friends, if you take a bloggy break, fresh, new, and exciting post ideas may come to you! Wouldn't that be cool?

• Read a good book.
I don't know about you, but, I love to read. Some good books (for teen girls) to check out are:
A Katie Parker Production series and A Charmed Life series by Jenny B. Jones.
The Sierra Jensen series and the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn.
Double Take by Melody Carlson.

---
I hope at least some of you found this post helpful! ;)
Thanks so much for letting me guest-post for you, Abby!
---

{About me.}

Hello there. My name is Arianna. I'm a blogger and I think I may need to use some of these inspiration techniques for myself! Haha :) I love thrift store shopping, photography and all things vintage. I'm a tennis-playing, dancing, Owl City-lover. My favorite food would probably be PIZZA. You can find me here: Lil' Miss Imperfect (my blog), WeHeartIt, Pinterest, Polyvore, and Facebook.

Raspberry Sorbet (guestpost by Olivia)

2011-08-30T13:32:00.008-06:00

Need a good dessert tonight? Try this!

This is a recipe for raspberry sorbet taken from Martha Stewart, of all people. But I added my personal little touch.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to a 1/4 cup of water.

Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Here's my special touch. Add lemon. I only had two lemons, so I added the juice of both. You could add more, or you could also add some zest as well.

Next, you need 2 cups of frozen raspberries. If you want to use fresh ones, you need 3 cups.

Pulse them in a food processor (a blender might work too) until they are coarsely chopped.

Then, with the food processor running, add the sugar and lemon water to the raspberries.

Freeze for about two hours and serve.

We ate this with whipped cream, and it was perfect. The raspberry is a little on the sour side, which is refreshing, but the whipped cream cuts that a little bit.

It's a yummy, summery dessert. Even if summer is almost over. :)

Me? Well, first off, I'm Olivia. I'm a dreamer, photography junkie, and a when-I-feel-like-it writer. Homeschooled, soccer player, and oldest sister of seven. Everyday, I try to live my life for the Lord. He has blessed me more than words could ever tell. Chocolate, English accents, and vintage cameras make me happy. I love to cook, read, and blog. Check out my blog here.
Thanks Abby, for letting me guestpost!

the day before the day i was born

2011-08-28T15:11:00.001-06:00

I don't know which is more disturbing - the fact that I just read the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland with a retarded British accent, or the fact that I just told you that.

Guuuuesss what tomorrow is!

The day I turn 14. ....since when did I get so old?

It's also the day we leave. Just so everyone knows, we're coming back Sunday, on the 4th. I think I said Saturday before.

Lets hope it isn't too cold. Where we're going it's gotten as cold as 29 degrees at night in the summer. We're hoooppppinnggg it'll get as warm as 70-80 degrees during the day. But we'll see.

And you can expect a ridiculous amount of pictures when I get back. Like I'm taking two memory cards ridiculous. Like a contemptible kind of ridiculous.

Oh, and today is the last day to email me about guest posting, if you want. ~~2 days are free.~~ It's filled. Thanks!

I currently have the posts scheduled on sticky notes. I'm professional.

xxx

Tonight we're going out to eat. We're going a day early, since we'll obviously not be here tomorrow.

I was gonna post some pictures, but photobucket is being very stubborn.

Let's hope it's not like that when I get back. I'm gonna be uploading lots of pictures. I'll probably need a whole nother account just to fit them all.

Ha. Now that I say that I'm probably gonna forget to bring my camera. =P

I filmed a video that I was hoping to get up before we leave, but as it's already 3, I still need to finish packing, dry my hair, eat lunch (xD), finish the laundry, and be ready by 5:30 to go to dinner, I don't think I'll get the video edited.

And I'm sitting here on my bum typing to you guys, amid all that I have to do. Talk about committed.

(actually, I'm just too lazy to do it all. but it sounds better the other way.)

I might be able to get it done tonight, but we're leaving at 7am tomorrow (ok. that's what we're aiming for. just because we've left at 10am every time does not mean we can't.... well....).

Have a great week and enjoy the guest posters!

didja know? i'm human.

2011-08-27T21:02:00.003-06:00

You've all seen my quirks and mess-ups. You've seen my grammatical errors, my flounder posts, my imperfections.

And I used to think that was a bad thing.

I wanted to be a top blogger. To post posts that everybody loved. To be the blog that everyone talked about.

I used to re-read my posts dozens of times before publishing to make sure I didn't say anything weird or make any typos. Can't have that.

I thought the only way to achieve that role was to hide the real me. Because no one would read what I have to say.

Messing up would show that I'm average, that I'm not perfect.

But I've taken a step back. And I've realized that if I was going to have to play a character to become a popular blogger, then maybe being a popular blogger wasn't something I wanted to be.

Who cares if it's not me who everyone is talking about.

I make mistakes. I'm not the best writer. I'm not gorgeous. I'm not popular. I'm not exactly skinny. My room isn't always clean.

But that's ok. Because I'm human. And God loves me just the same.

I'm not here to act. To never mess up and appear non-human and perfect. I'm just here to be me.

p.s.

because this has so much to do with what I just said, if you want to guest post while I'm away, email me here. better hurry, the days are filling in fast!

so... what'dya think?

2011-08-23T21:30:00.002-06:00

Almost the entire day I've been working on it. The blog design.

So I didn't wanna be a copycat. And if you've kept up with what's "in" in the blogger designing world, you'll know that sidebar headers are really in right now.

And lately I've been really in to chevron. I've made like 50 chevron friendship bracelets and I love the pattern. AND it wasn't until after I installed my background that I realized Olivia as chevron too. I've actually tried chevron about 3181215 times, but it never seemed to work.

I finally managed to design what I've wanted for a while - a chevron background and a sidebar header. We'll see how long it stays.

I really don't like the header picture, but I couldn't find another one. Plus the turquoise in my shirt matches the turquoise on my blog. Or at least a little bit.

As you may have seen, I was working on the blog a couple days ago and went back to the original cuz I didn't really know what I wanted. After working from 11 this morning to 7:30 tonight (not full-time, obviously, but a lot of time in between then) I'm pretty sure I designed what I was trying to get. I dunno though.

I tried like 453 designs until I decided to stick with this one. So what'dya think?

curling irons in the freezer

2011-08-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

So things didn't exactly go as planned... with your questions, that is.

In this post I mention that you can ask me any questions and I'll answer them in a video or post.

I filmed the video. And, as you most likely guessed, it was like 4256332618 hours long.

I seriously need to like put a time limit on my videos. Time myself or something. Is 2 minutes good? Can you handle 2 minutes of me? Maybe I should go for 1 minute.

So instead of editing it down to 2154 hours, I decided to scratch that video and answer your questions in this post. So here we go.

(I got three. xD)

K, first question is from Holly:

If you could be any character in the Harry Potter series, who would you be?

I still can't believe I have to answer this. Do you know how long I thought about this question? (is 14 hours too long?)

Let's see... Holly said she'd be Hermione if she could, and I don't wanna be a copy cat but after thinking about it, I probably would be Hermione.

So I just realized I am probably the least like Hermione out of all of them. But if I could be any character, I would probably choose her. =)

This next one of from Holly too:

Which is your favorite Harry Potter book?

I've said this before, but my favorite is probably 7. 7 or 1. I can't decide. 7 was done so well... I think the ending was amazing. But 1 is when it all started, and.... oh gosh I don't know! I like them all. Haha. Wow. Ok, let's stick to 7. Yep, that's my favorite.

And the next one is from Grace:

How long did it take you to grow your hair that long?

To be honest.... idk. (I do end up answering the question though, finally. scroll down to skip all that boring stuff)

I never really had a time when I was like "I'm gonna grow my hair out!" I had it shoulder-length (or a little longer) for a couple years, and.. uh... I looked like an idiot. I dunno, one time I just didn't go and get my hair cut and after it started growing I was kinda like what the heck, I'll see how long I can get it to grow.

And once it started to get longer, I liked it more and ever since then I've only gotten my hair trimmed.

Whew. I feel like I just told you my life story or something.

Anyway. I was looking at a picture of me that was taken in September of 2009 and my hair was a little bit longer than shoulder-length. I think like the end of 2009/beginning of 2010 is when I started growing it out.

So if you want to skip all that Abby rambling, it's been approx. a year and a half or so since I started growing it out. (it's now to my elbow.)

And I've been asked the same question about 5 times in the last week:

How tall are you?

I'm 5' 1".

I'm a bit vertically challenged. =P

p.s.

I might put up a FAQ's page soon just so you know. =)

Oh, so I had a dream last night. All my dreams are extremely strange.

We were at these peoples house... I don't know who they were. Actually I don't think we knew who they were in my dream. =P So I was trying to get ice. But it wouldn't come out. In their freezer they had like 5 curling irons. And I was like why do you have curling irons in your freezer? (that's probably the most normal thing I've ever said in any of my dreams. yea, they're that strange.)

And the guy (still don't know who he was) was all like oh, we need those in there so when we look up Renaissance hairstyles, we can do them. And I was like oh like it was what everybody did and everything.

So it turned out that the ice maker was "run" by a curling iron too, and the only way you can get ice was if you sing in to it and hit a certain note. (this is all true) Well, you all know I'm a horrible singer and apparently in my dreams I can't sing either. And I couldn't hit the note.

And I was all like guys, I just want ice! gosh, is that too much to ask? I just want ice!

I'm a drama queen in my dreams.

So anyway. Then I woke up. The end.

i have mixed feelings about this photo... it's really not my fav.

hakuna matata

2011-08-18T17:45:00.000-06:00

What?? NO. It can't be the middle of August already.

What happened to summer? 3 months is not long enough. Can I get an AMEN?

My theory is that aliens came through and put us all on sleep mode while the summer days passed by. Cuz I'm pretty sure when I woke up yesterday it was winter. And now summer is ending.

Now I've gotta go back to school. I mean, I was trying to do school through summer. Or at least that was my goal. But we all know I really didn't do hardly anything at all. And now reality is hitting and I'm finding out that you kind of have to do school in order to graduate highschool so you can graduate college so you can get a job so you can start a family and you can hopefully succeed in life.

Somehow ratio and proportion and similar polygons don't really fit in the picture. At least in my mind. And finding the volume of a cone is not very fun. Just so you know.

Summer is nearly over and I didn't really do anything I promised myself I was gonna do. For example:

Ride my bike every. single. day? Um yea. Make that like 10 times total.

Keep my room clean through the summer? Psh.

Do school? Are you freaking kidding me??

Hike in to the woods and find a magical tree with a hole that leads in to someones house who has tea that tastes like apple juice and tiny bedrooms? Nuh-uh.

Dear summer,

I do not like how you are disappearing so quickly. I like to eat watermelon and ride bikes and soak people with hoses. Next year please stay longer.

Sincerely,

the girls who eats watermelon and rides bikes and likes to soak people with hoses.

Yes I just wrote a letter to summer in my blog post.

I am strange.

You are probably wondering when this post is going to end.

Right now, actually.

But not before I give you an obnoxious video.

You love me.

Now please go outside and enjoy the warm weather (unless you live in Australia. in that case, it's cold. =( but at least you won't have to wait a whole year until summer). Because summer is leaving. And maybe if you enjoy the warm weather you will not have to write letters to summer in your blog posts and be lame like me.

green eyes, donuts, and vanilla twilight

2011-08-13T00:30:00.001-06:00

Here's some backstage pictures from my "shoot" in front of the kitchen table.

I quickly discovered this was not the place to take a picture of my outfit (can you even call it that?) due to disgusting lighting which caused the quality to be horrible, a blank background, and freaky alien green dog eyes.

Except for the dog wasn't even supposed to be in the picture.

Shoo dog. I'm trying to take a picture. Duh.

(sad thing is I actually told him that. yes, I talk to my dog. including telling him "hi" when he walks in my bedroom, and "sorry" when I accidentally step on his paws.)

On Sunday (Mattie's bday) we went rafting down the river.

Kendall decided to float solo. His hiney was just a little bit numb after.

The water was so cold that after putting my feet in for about 1 minute, they were blue and numb. We'll just leave it at that.

The above was after getting soaked by a drunk idiot guy who jumped in right in front of us and produced a 3 foot wall of water on us. So that's why our hair is going kinda crazy. Well, just mine. My moms is perfect, as usual. You with your always perfect hair. Goodness.

We had donuts instead of cake. Fine by me. My favorites are the cream-filled and sour cream donuts.

If you've never tried the sour cream donuts, you're most likely thinking

EW. ABBY. GROSS. WHY ARE YOU EATING SOUR CREAM DONUTS?!

I know, it sounds nasty. But I'm almost positive angels made them, if not God Himself. They are heavenly. I'm pretty sure there's a chute that runs from heaven to Krispy Kreme.

If you have not tried them, I suggest you get off your bum right now and drive over to Kripy Kreme. If you can't drive, you can try and persuade your brother to drive you to Krispy Kreme and buy you sour cream donuts because he loves you and he is awesome.

If he is anything like my brother, he would give you that look that says "are you freaking serious??"

And then you would show him a picture of Serious Black and say "he is" and he would say "you're ridiculous..."

We are a strange family.

I know the album isn't out yet, but you can still listen to it on Air1 or on youtube. The song Restless by Switchfoot. My favorite song at the moment.

Also loving Fireflies. Not the Owl City one. The one by Jessa Anderson.

Speaking of Owl City - is it just me, or do all of his songs sound the same? I like Vanilla Twilight though. Mainly just cuz I want the sky to do that. And because the music video makes me laugh. The black guy gets me every time.

You gotta go to 0:36.

Maybe it's just me. Or the fact that it's 12am. But I'm dying over here.

My mom thinks I'm having a seizure or something. Then she thought I needed to go to the ER cuz I was telling her "I'm ok, it's just this black guy on Vanilla Twilight."

And 2:23 sets me off all over again. I don't know what it is about that guy, but he cracks me up.

Yea.

Anyways.

I'm gonna go to bed. Cuz I think I need some sleep.

p.s.

does it bother you that in my thoughts I think "blimey!" when something shocks me? I know, I really need to lay off Harry Potter. I'm sorry. all you potterheads out there, know what I'm talkin about, dontcha?

i believe it's a tye-dye day

2011-08-09T00:55:00.011-06:00

First of all:

K. I'm glad I got that out and we understand each other better now.

(Megan - that was partially meant for you)

Second of all, I'm actually almost on time for the 30-day photo challenge. Just one day off. Not bad.

Oh gosh - day two. You should probably be scared. Cuz I'm in tye-dye.

I was working out. Okay. That made me sound like I went to the gym, I worked out my abs and I have arm muscles as big as my head. Um, no actually. That's not true. Really I went on a 2 mile bike ride. A wimpy little two mile bike ride. I actually have a little story about my bike riding that I filmed yesterday. It's at the bottom of the post.

vogue face! haha. just kidding. it's actually more like a "wuh?-we're-taking-a-picture?" face. attractive, right?

i'm pretty sure i was thinking about chocolate...

(i like how the dog never moves.)

I tye-dyed that shirt at camp. It was like 7x too big, so I cut it and sewed it back up. Pretty good, aye?

I don't know why I just said aye. I am not Canadian. At least that I'm aware of. As far I as I know, I could probably be like sixteenth Canadian. My great-great-grandpa could be like Canadian or something. .... I could be like... related to... Justin Bieber-AAH! I am scaring myself. I should probably stop.

Refer to this.

(and does it bother you that I, again, had to look up how to spell his last name? I'm telling you, I can NEVER get it right. I don't know what's with me.)

Oh and, sorry for the weird poses and location in the above pictures. The kitchen table is not exactly where all the top fashion bloggers are modeling their awesome outfits. Or at least I don't think. But. It was the best lighting. I promise I tried in my living room, and even outside. Both were horrendous.

(haha. horrendous. that's an awesome word.)

There was one dandelion in our garden. We have a few... er... weeds in our garden. I like the whimsical, light look of this picture and I'm glad I decided to edit it in b&w. I love dandelions. Even though they're weeds. I think they're really pretty, actually. =)

Oh, remember these flowers that I went picture-crazy with? Yea. Those look like this now:

And there's only like 4 total on the bush. Sad.

Okay, which edit do you like better?

And yes, those are weeds. Whatever. I think they're pretty. =)

Hope you guys are having a FAN-tastic day!

(if it's as hot over there as it is over here, you'll need that FAN.)

(and yes that was cheesy and stupid. but.)

6 minute video. I'm pretty sure that's a record.

i talk about nothing, basically.

2011-08-07T12:08:00.002-06:00

Today Mattie turns nine.

I saw this photography challenge on pinterest and I've decided to try to do it.

Key word there - try.

After reading through some of the days, I can almost guarantee you some days I won't do. I know, I'm a sucker.

And I won't do it in a month, most likely. I'll just kinda post my pictures whenever I feel like it. That's kind of how I am. I mess things up. But anyway.

Day 1 - a photo of yourself.

Oh joy.

Hah. I rhymed.

And I'll add another one, just cuz I'm weird like that.

That's my "why-the-heck-is-there-light-on-my-head?" look.

This is pretty much the only thing that can control my very unruly hair. Emphasis on the VEAR-EEY.

And I believe I've plugged my flat iron in a total of 2 times this whole entire summer. Meaning - I've been super lazy with my hair and it's looked horrible. Whatever.

At camp somebody used my straightener. I don't know who it was. And, unfortunately, they used it with hairspray. Which means there's now burnt hairspray on my flat iron. ON my flat iron. Apparently the person who used it does not share my concern for ruining my flat iron and uses hairspray with it.

Anybody know how to clean it? I've tried briefly, but nothing has worked... boo. My 15 buck flat iron... poor me. =)

Speaking of straighteners, my curling iron:

It's 327 years old. Still works though. That's the difference between old and new.

We'll just call it vintage. After all, when you call something that's old 'vintage' it automatically makes it cool, right?

xxx

Ok - my dog. MY dog.

He got my chapstick and chewed it up. Thanks a lot.

I'll probably post tomorrow about today. I know, that makes no since. But still. We're doing several different things today for Mattie's birthday.

i'm kind of ridiculous

2011-08-05T23:47:00.001-06:00

Who else makes 12 minute videos and they talk about literally NOTHING throughout it?

I was sick. I was bored. I didn't have anything to talk about.

That resulted in this:

I already regret making this video. Just so you know.

Ok, this song, this song, this song, and this song are on repeat for me. Love them.

And I look..... really bad, to say the least, in this video. I wasn't wearing any makeup, I hadn't done anything with my hair, I took like 5 naps that day, and I literally did like nothing to make myself presentable. Whatever... haha.

p.s.

if you made it through the entire video, you are awesome. if you didn't, then, well... you are sane. xD

another p.s. (I'm sorry - I promise I'm not gonna do this in every post)

have any questions for me? leave them below! if I get enough I'll answer them either in a post or a video - let me know which one you want. (and just to let you know, the one's I'll answer will be the interesting ones, not just the "what's your fav color?" type ones.) =)

i'm kinda still trying to think of a post title

2011-08-04T20:05:00.004-06:00

I've been sitting on the computer watching Say Yes to the Dress on Netflix and looking at wedding dresses on pinterest for the past 3 hours.

I'm sick, what else am I supposed to do?

My wedding is something I've been thinking about since I was like 7. Particularly the dress.

I'm the kinda person who starts planning waaayyy too early, cuz I get really excited about something. Then I think about it and I'm like "why the heck am I planning this 3 years in advance?" So I stop planning. Then it's like 2 days before the event and I'm like "okay, maybe I should start planning now." xD

Anyways.

I wanted to share with you some wedding stuff, just for fun.

(all photos via pinterest, unless otherwise noted)

This is one of my most favorite dresses. It's a Cinderella inspired dress. (you can check out my "wedding" pinterest board to see the other princess inspired dresses.) I don't think I would wear a strapless dress, but I love how it's poofy at the bottom and I love the wrap around the top, and it just reminds me so much of a princess, which is what I wanna look like on my wedding day. =)

THIS dress is amazing. I LOVE it. It might be my future wedding dress, actually. It's poofy at the bottom and the whole bottom is lace. Totally in love with it. Plus, it's got sleeves which is awesome.

I'm in love with this bride (or model). Her dress, her hair, how she's standing on a window sill. It's all perfect.

And this dress blows me away. LOVE it so much.

I love her hair and dress. It's like a fairtale.

This picture just makes me happy. Period.

First of all - she is so gorgeous and I love her smile. Second, the dress is simple but elegant and awesome. Third, the lighting in this picture is amazing. Fourth, I love how he's holding her shoes. ^.^
(stop it you guys, Cinderella is one of my favorite princess. =P)

via

I'm still in love her dress. That is all.

I love this dress! It's modest and simple but still really pretty. =) (sorry the picture is so small - I cropped the guy out of it. haha.)

This wedding dress makes me happy. Especially perfect for the beach.

via

This picture is stunning. The bride, the lilac, the umbrella's (or uh, excuse me, parasols), the lighting, the flowers. I love it.

via

And this is my wedding cake, for all those asking:

Hope you enjoyed my cheesy post!

(but it's filled with amazing dresses, so it's ok, right?)

p.s.

can I cut off her hair and glue it to my head? thank you.
oh, and while we're at it - I'm thinking I want her eyes.
oh, what the heck, I'll take her whole face.
and her mittens.

another p.s.
sorry I've been MIA lately. I've been sick and all I've really done for the past few days is sleep and watch TV. and look at wedding dresses.

annnddd one more p.s.
If you wanna look at my full wedding pinterest board, you can click here. you don't have to have an account to look at it.

ok, one more p.s. just to get on your nerves
I do like all of the dresses, but not all of them I would be comfortable wearing for modesty reasons, just so you know.

i ate like 7 chocolate bars today.

2011-07-30T16:06:00.003-06:00

I'm back!

Thanks to the guest posters - they were awesome. =D

Camp was amazing. duh.

I can't even believe I have to wait a whole year for camp now?? What's up with that?

Here's kind of a re-cap of my week and what I did:

-met lots of new people

-learned lots of new things

-had TONS of fun

-tie-dyed a shirt and what was supposed to be a spiral turned out looking like an upside down cow

-sung tangled and jamie grace in the shower

-ate cookies

-tried making paper snowflakes, but really it looked like a pig without a stomach

-wrote notes

-sang songs

-read my bible

-messed up in my skit (yep. in front of the whole camp. i'm a dork.)

-washed dishes

-took pictures (although i only took like 5. i know. it's a little bit of a miracle i didn't take 21348621.)

-laughed

-played basketball and made 2 out of 5 billion shots. basketball's my favorite sport but i'm the horribleist player ever. =P

-hogged the campfire

-saw a bug. thought to myself that's not a bee. whacked at it. missed it. realized it was a bee.

-watched volleyball

-made an idiot out of myself xD

-grew closer to God

-and had an amazingly awesome time

Camp is amazing.

Now I'm off to take a hot shower and go to bed. At 6:00 pm. xD

(my room's a mess. my suitcase is still full. i have clothes that need to be washed. and i have things to catch up on. who cares.) =D