Future

This week i went to camp.. it was a technology camp. They taught us basic coding and html and things like that. This post isn't going to have anything to do with that though, but the whole point of this post has everything boiling down to one thing I learned. As I sat at my desk coding a program in which you make a turtle spell. It took me whereabouts of three hours to code a program to make this turtle spell my name. As i sat watching the turtle spell my name I realized what a stupidly simple task it completed and i wallowed in facepalms as i realized i spent 3 hours on THIS... but then it came to me later as i worked on a more complicated program with what i had just learned and made it a whole lot better. I realize that in life we work hard to change our bad ways and when we change sometimes its not a very big change its just a small change. sometimes I find myself wondering why I work so hard for such a small change.. and then I realize that in that small change I learn everything I need to know to make a huge change in my life. So next time you're working hard in your life and you feel like only very little has changed.. think about it, you open the door to bigger change by your actions. So what you do now changes what you doing the future. if now you choose not to work hard and do good because it simply doesn't yield results, realize that maybe not doing good now can result in not doing good later. So next time you wonder whether or not you should start hard work and learning, realize that what you do now makes it easier in the future whether or not its doing good or doing evil. So what do you want to spend your time learning and doing? I don't know about you but I would like to learn to do good. -Nilly

Souls...How do you view them?

I asked myself a question the other day...I learn something new about me everyday...It's amazing really.

ANYWAY. You're probably wondering what I asked myself, so I'm going to tell you..Right now.

INTERVIEW WITH MYSELF: (It's quite fun actually ^_^)
Q: How do you view souls?
A: I honestly don't really know how to answer this...C.S Lewis once said 'You don't have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body' so when I think of souls I see us...I see us souls playing with each other, talking to each other...Very often we see new souls, but don't get the chance to view them, we just see the shell.
And sometimes...I don't like seeing souls...There are souls that want to kill other souls shells...Whether it's the soul that never had a chance on earth or the soul that faded...A soul leaves Earth...
Without our bodies I see souls as "color people' like silhouettes of us but it color instead of skin...Some are faded, some are vibrant, all are unique. I think when most people think of souls they think of peace...Which isn't reality at all...WE. ARE. SOULS. Everyday there's someone killed because a soul wanted them to die, they wanted them off the Earth, they wanted them GONE. But they actually don't leave..They're still alive..The souls anyway. Souls should be happy, I mean, souls are supposed to be peaceful but everyday someone has a tantrum, they curse and swear and hit like the soul is some sort of garbage. We ignore the poor, we scoff at different beliefs, we kill, we hit, we yell...All these souls, scattering, not cooperation because we believe in different things...I see these souls...Scattering, fighting...And will one day find peace......
Heaven
The place where souls can rest...
The place where souls are happy...
The place where souls belong...
HEAVEN.

~Nana

Spring? You took long enough..

Spring: it officially began like a month ago but with heavy snow storms and extended cold weather I was easily fooled. Quite a while ago I planted my first seedlings in pod containers because I was itching to dig in the dirt.. its gotten warmer the past couple days and now they are outside.. soaking up some rays until I'm sure the weather has subsided and I can plant them in the ground. I can't wait to begin weeding and pruning my plants (yeah ik how stupid I sound) oh its days like this where I thank God for creating such a perfectly beautiful world!
    -Nilly

Stuffed Animals: More Than Just Fluff And Fur

Call me childish but I still sleep with a teddy bear; after I moved I didn't sleep with one, but when I came back from visiting the first time, I did.

When I visited two years ago my close friend got me a stuffed panda bear, she and I have a huge obsession with pandas, so she gave a stuffed one to me, kinda like a "Welcome Back" gift.

His name is Maxwell, my brother named him. I sleep with this little guy every night since I got him, he's the biggest thing I have of my friends in Indy left. He dried my tears when I was homesick, and he still smells like my old youth group did. Sometimes when I'm homesick I'll sniff him, and I'll remember the moment I walked in there, the moment I was reunited with my friends, the moment my friend gave him to me out of the colorful striped bag. I remember the moment my best friend hugged my every fifteen seconds, I remember home.

Some kids believe that their stuffed animals are real, that they can talk, smell and think...

But maybe the reason isn't because they're childish, or because of  Toy Story.

But maybe it's because stuffed animals to us, kids, are so much more than just stuffing and fake fur.
They're our best friends, our protectors, our pillow. We brought them everywhere, we hugged them whenever we wanted to, we took them on walks. Admit it, we all did. ;)

Saying that this panda isn't anything more than just stuffing shoots something sharp in my heart, it's hard to explain... This guy is the biggest thing I have from home, sure I have a few rocks and letters, but those get lost easily, and they can't really dry your tears, and they don't smell of home...

This is just like the "Books are just 26 letters put in different order" and that is true, but books are so much more than just 26 letters, books are an adventure, books are another life lived with the flip of a page.

Whether it's going to Mordor, in Hogwarts, or going into a closet that leads to Narnia. (True book lovers will get this)

Books are so much more than just letters, they're adventures in your hand.
And stuffed animals are more than just stuffing, they're our best friends, they make the best huggers, and comfort us when we're sad. Maxwell has been through most of it, whether it was tears, sickness, couldn't sleep...He was there. Stuffed animals are more than just stuffing. They protected us from monsters under the bed and in the closet, they chased away the night mares..

They're more than just stuffing to some people.

They are so much more.

~Nana

Higgledy-Piggledy

Sorry we haven't written in a while, it's been a whole month! ...Oopsies!

This week I decided I would look in the dictionary and find some interesting words, and well, I found some!

Foozle, foozle is a word that means to manage a bungle. Bungle means to do ineffectively.

And I giggled when I saw "Higgle" in the dictionary, and right below it was "Higgledy-Piggledy"!

Higgledy-Piggledy, adj. In utter disorder or confusion.

There are some interesting words in our language, and I can't wait to make some more discoveries! :)

Always curious,
Nana

Spring is just around the corner..

I decided to plant some seeds so theyll be mature enough when spring comes.. i planted parsley, tomatoes and a variety of flowers... i also planted lettuce! Its beautiful to see the tiny seeds reach for the sky! What a truly wonderful world God created!

-Nilly

Simple DIY: Colored Bobby-Pins

I like to spend my weekends more on crafting, and less on browsing the internet, so, I went on my Pinterest and chose a craft to do, and I found this tutorial on how to color bobby-pins, and it's super simple, and I thought I should share it with you all! :)

You will need:
Bobby-Pins (obviously)
Nail Polish, & a piece of cardboard.


First, slip the bobby-pins into the cardboard; It will be very easy this way.

   
Next, start painting the tops of the bobby-pins.


Wait for them to dry and wallah! You have some cool new bobby-pins!


~Nana

Growing a garden

Today i planted seeds in my makeshift greenhouse :) ill update again when they begin to grow :)

-Nilly

My Memory Box

Today I looked into my memory box, a little box, that my Mom bought me in Alaska, filled with little trinkets filled with memories, little notes from cousins, some gifts from my friends, and some friendship bracelets from my friends back in Indy, where I used to live.
And I came across this bracelet, it's not the prettiest bracelet, but it carries so many memories from Indy, and what a marvelous day I had...
It was a beautiful sunny day, it was 6pm, we gathered at my youth group and got ready for the inner-city kids to come, they were visiting our youth group to hear a message and play some wacky, fun, games with us. My friend Claire and I teamed up to make bracelets for them, once we were done with one, she would go get more strings and we'd make another one...And another one, and another one...We made about twenty, ten for me, ten for her, little did we know that we would pair up in groups for one inner-city kid...Only one. The inner-city kid I played with was a nine year old girl, Vicky, she was very bright and perky, she was lots of fun. We played games, ate food, and it was time for Vicky to say good-bye, everyone in her group rushed to give her a hug and a bracelet, that was a day I will never forget...
What happened to the other bracelets? Well, I don't really know, I lost them, but this one, I managed to keep...:)

~Nana

Water...It's pretty cool...

First blog post of the month! Whoopie! This first week of February has been pretty adventurous.

So, today, I was drinking a glass of water, and just took a moment to think about it...
Water, I'm not just talking about the drink, I'm talking about all of it, the rivers, the oceans, the little droplets you see on leaves after it rains...Water, there's not really a way you can describe it...It splashes, it pours, it shimmers, it waves, it floats, but it also drowns, it changes color, from blue, to white, it bubbles, it cleanses, it does so many things. And we can't live without it...God creates so many things, and pretty often, we take them for granted, we just pass by them, and not even take a moment to soak in the beauty of it all...I mean, look at the water droplets on a window, I mean, think about it, WE DRINK THAT. Rain, water, rivers, oceans, we can't live without water...It's pretty amazing how God made water so beautiful, but so very necessary, it's a beautiful necessity...

~Nana

Snow, thread and other beautiful things...

Was walking the dogs the other day when I looked to my left I saw someone had written "love." This made me smile and I stopped for a picture. I'm also embroidering a dishcloth for my mom for valentines day. They're cherry blossoms in case you're asking. ;) on another note I learned how to put words in friendship bracelets!!!
-Nilly

Heart drops.....

Heart drops: an expression I use when I speak of things on my heart. Like teardrops but from the heart, feelings, if you will. I sit here, headphones on, door locked, I admit its much past my bedtime but no longer am I concerned, something is on my heart. Though beautiful hymns of praise to our God are flowing through my headphone speakers, in what otherwise is a beautifully peaceful moment my heart is anxious. To put into words all that I think would be impossible but I do feel tis necessary. We all have sin in our lives and no person is ever "better" than another, we are equally evil, filled with wicked words, sinful actions and despicable thoughts, somehow through it all we lose the seriousness of our actions and pass them of as "normal"...... So tonight my heart drops contain these things which all combine to one thing. These things are friends, influences, thoughts, words, and lastly, laughter. You may not see how these things are at all related but they are, basically what I'm saying is this: "friends influence your thoughts, words, (actions too!)...." The laughter part I must explain. Please read on, do not lose patience with me :) I have habits, not very nice habits.... But I chase the problem back to its root and it almost always begins with friends (does that mean its their fault? NO!!) my thoughts, words, actions, all of them are Influenced which CHANGE WHO I AM. (I capped that for emphasation) all those actions change me, which brings me to the laughter part: you can tell a lot about a person by the things they laugh at. From cruel jokes, making fun of the less fortunate, or just plain BAD JOKES all such things show what one is inside your heart. So yes, friends influence laughter too. Once we are influenced its hard to go back as I'm learning the hard way, so to all my friends, I need your help, whether we're close or not that's irrelevant. You are considered my friend, I need your help to become a better person. So, whether through encouraging words, actions, or even some loving criticism, we all should help each other out. I'm ready, are you?

-Nilly

Tutorial: Bottle Cap Necklace

A friend of mine made a really cool Bottle Cap Necklace for her friend, I, having a big collection of bottle caps, immediately fell in love with the idea, so I asked her how to do it, and she showed me how. (My friend is Inna at Paper Raindrops she has an awesome blog, check it out!)

ANYWAY! Tutorial, here we go, ready? Okay.
You will need: A bottle cap, a hammer and nail (Small as you can find), a cutting mat or a piece of wood, a metal ring, 2 pliers, and cord. (I used rattail)

Put the nail in the bottle cap like shown, hammer down so it makes a small hole in the cap.

Use the pliers to twist the ring open, put it through the hole in the bottle cap, and close it back, string the cord through the loop and, WALLA! A new bottle cap necklace!
Stay Creative.
~Nana

Out with the old, in with the new, Happy New Year!

2012, full of adventures, I've made many new friends, seen so many new things, learned so much, and have had lots of fun adventures...

I've learned to never give up, on God, on family, on friends, and on life.

I've learned that God has a plan for everything, and even the worst of things, can turn out to be something great, something more than you can imagine.

I've learned to never lose hope, and to always keep my faith in God. I've learned to follow God, even when it seems totally absurd. I've learned how to forgive, and how to love, even when it seems hard.

I've learned to stay courageous, and to trust God, He's protecting me. I've learned not to worry so much, God knows what He's doing.
I've learned that even if it seems absolutely nuts, if God wants you to do something, be brave, and do it.

I've learned not to change because of what people say about me, God made me who I am, I don't need to change for anyone except Him, opinions don't matter, like my old youth pastor used to say "Opinions are like boogers, everyone has them, not everyone wants them." And two years after hearing it, I finally understand it. I am a child of the King, that's all that matters.

I've learned that every day is an adventure, and I should live everyday while I can.

And most importantly, I've learned that I have a Gift, the most wonderful Gift ever, this Gift is called Christ, and I have it in my heart, and I shouldn't keep it to myself, I've learned that I have this Gift for a reason, I have it so I can give it to all nations, I've learned that I have the Key to the Kingdom, and that with God, I can do anything.

I hope 2013 is an amazing year for all of you.
Happy New Year!

~Nana