FEARLESS.

"FEARLESS' is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, FEARLESS is having fears. FEARLESS is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, FEARLESS is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. FEARLESS is falling madly in love again, even though every time you've tried before you've lost FEARLESS is walking into your freshmen year of high school at fifteen. FEARLESS is getting back up and fighting for what you want all over again... even though every time you've tried before, you've lost. It's FEARLESS to have faith that someday things will change. FEARLESS is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can't breathe without them. I think it's FEARLESS to fall for your best friend, even though he's in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for the things they'll never stop doing, I think it's FEARLESS to stop believing them. It's FEARLESS to say "you're NOT sorry," and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is FEARLESS. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is FEARLESS. Letting go is FEARLESS. Then, moving on and being alright, that's FEARLESS too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince charming and happily ever after. That's why I write these songs. Because I think love is FEARLESS.-Taylor Swift

Man, Taylor Swift has got this right! What an awesome way to look at this word. I always thought of fearless as being strong and not being afraid of anything. I would have never associated fearless with words such as "scared, goodbyes, fears, doubts,afraid". But this quote made me realize bad things happen, it's life. But how you deal with these trials makes you the person you are. You can chose to run away from your fears, or face them. Another word in this quote that I found so powerful is BELIEVE. Everything you are doing to face your fears, you have to believe in. Do it with your whole heart. So just because you are feeling unconfident, don't give up, don't lose hope, YOU ARE FEARLESS!

**never forget the essence of your sparkle**:)

Oh here we go.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."- Steve Prefontaine

If you don't know who Steve Prefontaine is he is an amazing athlete. He is a runner who has great motivational thoughts. He was a young man who was able to inspire many people to start running. Sadly his running career was not able to last very long because he was killed in a car crash when he was twenty-four. What he accomplished in his life was great though.

The thing about this quote though, is that it doesn't just apply to running. Although running is what Steve was referring to, it can be applied in so many different areas in your life! No matter what it is you should do everything your best. Why would you give it any less?

God has given us all different special gifts. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what gift God has given us,and how he wants us to use them. Personally,that's something I have been struggling with. I'm not quite sure what my special gift is from God that he wants me to use to make a difference in this world.

I believe the best way to figure this out is in whatever you do, do with all your heart! Don't just kind of try at something, give it 100% all of the time! We all have gifts, whether it be musical, athletic, smart ect. Let's use them and show the world what we're made of :)

Book worm here.

So I love to read. I know it may seem nerdy but it's one of my favorite things to do during my free time. It's also the only way I'm able to fall asleep at night. I read every night before I go to bed. I believe it is the perfect day to end any day. If I've had a bad day, it helps me forget about my problems and think about someone else's life. If I've had a good day, then why not top it off by enjoying a good book? On Saturday I was at the St. Cloud mall with a friend, helping her pick out a dress for snow days. We walked past a used book store about four times. Every time we walked past it I just stared at it longingly. I knew I wanted to go in there. Finally, the fifth time we walked past I drug my friend into the store. (she hates reading, but she knows how much I love it so she came with anyways). I'm not sure why I'd never gone in that store before! I've been to that mall soo many times and it's never occurred to me to go in. I guess normally I get so caught up in buying all the shoes and clothes that it doesn't even cross my mind to go shopping for books! Anyways, this store was awesome! It had every book you could imagine, and the best thing was everything was so cheap! Just because these books had been used, did not mean they had any less value to me. I couldn't decide which ones to buy and which to not! So I guess what I'm saying is, keep your eyes open! Look for new things! Try new things! There might be something in your everyday life that you notice but never think of doing. New opportunities are waiting for us everyday :)

Does anybody hear her?

Casting Crowns. Music always speaks better than words.


She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even knows she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

If judgement looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her

He is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction

My view.

So there has been a YouTube video going around that has caused lots of conversation. It is about a man who believes in Jesus but hates religion. I was startled when I heard this. Hate religion? How is this possible? All of my friends were saying how cool it was so I figured, I should probably watch it. When I first watched it a friend was with me and she kept saying how much she agreed with it and how stupid religion was. Now, the video did make some good points, and it sounded pretty cool how he rhymed everthing, but I still didn't agree with it, I mean I love my religion. And there were many comments the man in the video made that offended me. How could he love Jesus so much, but then bash on religion that way? Even John the Baptist? I wasn't even sure if he had his facts straight? Needless to say, I was very confused. Thank goodness for my awesome youth group and youth leader. When I shared with them how confused that video left me, my youth pastor threw her lesson plans aside without thinking twice and we pulled up the video. We were able to discuss the video as a group and talk about what points he made were good and what points weren't. It made me feel sad for this man because obviously his church had made him feel sad and unwelcome at some point in time. Church should be a place where you feel welcome. A place to go when your broken and want to be healed. A place to worship our God with a community of people who feel the same. I believe that religion helps strengthen my relationship with God. I'm not sure if I really got a point across in this blog, or if I really had a point to get across. This had just been waying on my mind a lot lately and I wanted to get my thoughts out. I'd love to hear the thoughts from others who have seen this video and think of it from different views.

My 50 dreams.

Brooke Rambow challenged me to find my 50 dreams. Awesome idea! You can follow her blog at brookrambow.blogspot.com. Check it out she's a very talented writer with good thoughts!

1.run a marathon
2. Keep my room clean for over a week
3.beat my little brother in wrestling
4.not eat junk food for a month
5.find out who my true friends are
6.get good scholarships for college
7.read books that are actually meaningful
8. Improve my Zumba skills (I'm too white)
9.Do a triatholon
10.get a hole in 1
11.make it to state in cross country
12.nail the cymbol part in the star spangled banner
13.inspire someone
14.learn how to cook
15.go parasailing
16.perform in a musical
17.make some new friends
18.forever improve my relationship with Jesus Christ
19.have ambition to learn
20.go to lulu's and vintage shopping with Karen and Whit
21. Change my attic in my room into a closet
22.make my own fruit sculpture
23.mow the whole lawn by myself
24.get a job
25.go curling
26.be Justin bieber's one less lonely girl.
27.learn how to paint my own nails
28.reread all the Harry potter books.
29.start playing piano again
30.go to bed earlier
31.understand politics more
32.travel!
33.get out of this one horse town
34.be confident with my voice in youth choir
35.tell a random stranger God loves them
36.go on a mission trip
37.rollerblade from willmar to new london on the bike trail
38.go my whole life without getting in a car accident
39.join a singing group like oncall
40.have a pet
41.participate in the warrior dash (June 30!!)
42.learn sign language
43.win a chess tournament
44.have a score of over 300 points in words with friends
45.shoot par or under
46.find the perfect wedding dress(that calls for marriage eventually)
47.go on a cruise
48.get a closer relationship with my little brother
49.go to wefest
50.accomplish all my dreams:)

New Years Resolutions

I know it's a little late, but I haven't had time to share my New Years Resolutions!

My first one is to arrive at school early, or atleast on time. The past 2 days, I have been tardy :( I really have good intentions of being on time, but I am always late! I need to work a lot harder at being on time and being more responsible. Hopefully today was my last day of being late for school.

I would also like to continue blogging more frequently. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to blog about, but I am finding that the more time I spend blogging, the easier it comes to me.

Another resolution I have is to start eating healthier. But, in order to do this I'll probably have to start bringing my own lunch to school because our school lunch is often unappetizing and unhealthy.

My last resolution is to get more sleep. I tend to stay up way too late doing pointless things like texting. When I shut my phone off it is much easier to go to sleep!

Hopefully these work out for me! 2012, I'm ready for you!