i hate being sick

i despise it. with all of my soul. unfortunately, however, hating being sick is not enough to keep actually getting sick away.

strep throat has been circulating in my house for the past two months. everybody's gotten it at least twice--and i'm pretty sure i'm among them, even though i've only been treated for it once since my body is stupid and doesn't like to show symptoms. so it's been interesting...have you ever had three sick kids under seven, all at the same time? it's not fun.

there is always a silver lining however

at least

that's what i've been told

it generally seems to hold true

even if the silver lining is a bit odd

the silver lining to this indefinite state of sickness is that i've actually been getting writing done. and i got extraordinarily pumped. about two projects at once. i told you the silver lining was a bit odd.

with this excess of inspiration running through my system, i chose to start not one, but two rewrites. two months before nanowrimo. so at the moment, i'm rewriting caste and royalty, two incredibly different projects that i'm pretty sure wouldn't even pass crossover compatibility tests (well, maybe...i mean, jo and gwyn would get along great, and arthur and loki would have a tentative sort of peace, so...maybe). but ah well.

the life of a writer never did run smooth.

so yes. i hate being sick. but at least it does come with fun things like inspiration. and crazy ideas.

- Kyla Denae

i did a thing

so, for a long while, i've quite wanted to cut all my hair off. i find long hair to be hot, and annoying, and i'm rubbish at fixing it up, so having short hair that would actually have to be fixed up in order to look nice will be a good thing for me.

so.

i cut all my hair off.

well, i didn't personally.

the nice lady at the salon did.

but it's the same thing, really.

i went from this

 to this

and it's actually really incredibly awesome. my head has never felt this...light.

as a side-note, i'm not going to just waste all that hair. i'm going to be donating it to children with hair loss, so that some (un)lucky little lad or lass will get my incredibly heavy ginger hair to wear on their head. so yes.

- Kyla Denae

i am a child of the twenty first century

I hate phone calls.

I hate making them.

I hate taking them.

I hate having to sit with a phone pressed to my ear, saying words into a person's ear, without fully knowing whether that person is, in fact, at all willing to listen to me say those words, or whether they want me to stop, or whether their face is screwed up in disgust because ew this person is so stupid.

Perhaps you will say that you never think that about someone who you're talking to on the phone. Perhaps you're right. However, I still much prefer talking to people face-to-face. I prefer even more managing to never see people face-to-face at all, and instead texting them, or popping them a Facebook message, or otherwise avoiding the unfortunate necessity of actually speaking to them.

I am told this is not a good thing.

However, it is a perfectly logical thing. Let me explain. If I send someone a text, they have a multitude of options. They can ignore that text, deleting it and sending it out into the cosmos. I will simply assume the text got lost in cyberspace, and unless it was really important, probably won't even bother sending another. They could also answer this text at their leisure if they so desire. That text will stay on their phone as long as they want it to. It will still be there in six years when they finally get around to answering my appeal for funds! It will still be there, just as it was the day I sent it, awaiting the kind person's pleasure! I'm not bothering them! They have freedom to answer whenever they choose! Texts have the added bonus of not being interruptible. People's words get in the way of other people's words, and if we just cut out people's ability to butt into other people's words until said person's words are done, then said person won't get nervous!

In a phone call, it's very hard to just ignore it. If you hit 'ignore', the person is going to know you hit ignore, because the call will cut out. This leads to inevitable hurt feelings, because you can't just ignore a call from a potential donor, or from your best friend, or from your Great-aunt Beth without there being serious repercussions. And there's the issue of having to call back. If you miss someone or go to their answering machine--yeah, you can leave a message...but you're still going to have to call back. And then you will have to say words, and these words could be interrupted and that's just awkward for everybody.

How do people words

I don't understand

A Facebook message also has many good perks. It has all the bonuses that come with texting, with the added amazingness that is everyone uses Facebook. Don't have somebody's number? No problem! No need to go be a creeper and use whitepages.com to stalk them down. You just find them on your friends list (or, occasionally, on your friend's friends list) and shoot them a message! And Facebook even notifies them for you! And bugs them if they don't answer you!

Of course, I will forever prefer simply talking face-to-face with someone. Because then, at least, you know whether you're bothering them or not. Sometimes. Then there's the poker-faced people who you know are judging you in their minds.

You can feel it. Like this crashing wave of disapproval. And it hurts. But at least you can see them, and know.

As an intern for CEF, though, I've got to raise support. Which means finding ministry partners. Which means I have to make phone calls. Which means I must put aside my discomfort as a child of the twenty-first century who is way better at writing words than she is at speaking them.

But it hurts.

So, dear people of the world, let us consider turning away from this odd invention that is the telephone, and going entirely to text-based communication. Again. Life was so much more comfortable when you wouldn't know precisely what somebody thought of you for six months.

- Kyla Denae

growth

I was reading through some of my old blog posts and writings earlier.

it's embarrassing.

immensely.

it makes me realize just why adults laughed at me.

because i was a little idiot.

I was what could be termed a precocious child. And then a precocious teenager. Constantly thinking I knew way more than I actually did. I realize now, looking back, just how utterly silly I actually was, and how silly I still am. But I suppose that that, too, in its own way, is definitely a form of growth. I've realized just how silly I was, and know it. I've realized that the world is bigger than just me or my beliefs, that there are things that can't be pushed into a box, that sometimes the world isn't just black and white, us and them, what's known and what's unknown.

There is grey. And I find that kind of amazing. That there are things in the universe that I, quite simply, will never be able to understand. That there are processes that transcend my paltry understanding.

And while I try to navigate through things that just seem really, really absurd and difficult and awkward...you know, the universe is so much bigger than all of that. And someday, I'll look back at all of this, and laugh a lot and cringe a little, and think you know what, I wasn't all that bad.

- Kyla Denae

things are changing

It's snowing outside. Not very much of it is sticking, and it's beginning to slack off even now. Slowly but surely, though, the world is beginning to look a little whiter. The sharp corners humanity excels at creating are rounding out, turning into the softer shapes that nature loves. The world looks a little cleaner, now, so bright and scoured white by the clouds above.

In a day or two, the snow will be gone. It rarely sticks around long; it seems to have an allergy to the high plains. The sharp corners will be back, and only a few little bits of ice clinging to the shadows will remain to remind us of how the world changed, for a few shining minutes, into something spectacular.

I've forgotten where I was going with that. I'm sort of in love with description, and sometimes it takes over. Apologies.

Today was my last at work. Nearly a year ago, in late April of 2012, I became the newest team member at a local Chick-fil-A. I've spent nearly a year of my life handing people chicken and learning to be really good at it. Ask me a question about procedure, and I can probably answer you, at least so far as it extends to the front counter. I've made friends--and probably a couple enemies, too--and decided that people really are just as complicated as they are in books.

But now it's over. And I don't know quite what to think. On the one hand, I have days of freedom stretching before me. I don't have to worry about work. I don't have to put on a uniform and spend the best part of each day serving chicken. I don't have to say "my pleasure" anymore and put up with lemon juice getting into tiny cuts on my hands.

But at the same time, a whole new chapter is opening up in my life. In a week, I will be leaving home for the longest stretch of time I ever have. I'll be heading to Warrenton, Missouri to attend the Children's Ministry Institute. I'm embarking on a completely foreign adventure, something I've never done before. And I'm going to confess something: I'm not very good with things I've never done before. I think that's maybe why I've stuck to writing, sitting in my room and playing with imaginary friends. They're simply facets of me, and me knows right where she is and what's going on. Even when I went overseas, to places I'd never been, on a journey I'd never undertaken, I had somebody else right alongside me to tell me what to do and where to go and when to do it.

And I'm leaving all that behind. I guess, in the end, I'm just afraid of change and I might eventually get over it and be able to, you know, function like an ordinary human being. But until then, I'll just go on being sort of lost with everything around me.

- Kyla Denae

is it really november already?

I knew it was November. I mean, obviously it's November. It's NaNoWriMo and stuff (which, by the way, is going swimmingly: I'm at nearly 17,000 at the moment, which pleases me greatly), and I know time is steadily ticking away, just like always, but...

but...

ohgoodlordit'snovemberwheredidtimego

It sank in today that I have two months and a week before heading to the Children's Ministry Institute.

That in two months and one week I will have to have 3,000 more dollars

That in two months and one week I will, to all intents and purposes, be all on my own

And I'm not at all sure how it got to this point. I remember first bouncing around the idea of going to CMI, this summer while at CYIA. I thought 'oh, I have plenty of time'. And here I am, six months later, not at all sure where my time went, or how I spent it, or anything. Is this how the rest of my life is going to be? Does time just start moving faster the older you get?

I sincerely hope not. Because that would kind of suck.

- Kyla Denae

i will decide what to do once i decide

There's this really funny thing about my future that I'd like to share with you. I'm never quite sure what's going to happen in it.

Now, I'm fairly certain what's going to be happening with me for the next four or five months, at least at this point. I'm going to be working, and then attending the Children's Ministry Institute. After that...well...I'm not quite sure.

I usually take long missions trips in the summers, or at least I have for the past three summers. I've been to three different continents and come home to my own. I've made friends in three countries, friends who have often gone back home to even more countries--from China to Taiwan and Canada and Mongolia, from Zambia to South Africa and Zimbabwe, from Romania to Hungary and Germany.

But for the first time since I was fourteen, I'm not planning on...anything. At this point, anything after April is one big, fat question mark. And even said question marks looks vaguely confused, like it was drawn by a kid with ADHD who's just gone on a massive sugar binge and can't draw straight to save his life. In other words, I'm really, really (really) not sure what's going to be happening in my life.

And the funny thing is, I'm really okay with that. I'm okay with not stressing about where I'm going to get the money to meet my deadlines, and having to buy clothes to go overseas, and not having to worry about visas and passports and plane tickets and what happens if my plane goes down and I land on a deserted island with polar bears and ominous messages left random places with Others living on the island that all the survivors have to learn to live with and eventually we'll all die and end up in some light-infested afterlife-esque scenario. That sounds eerily familiar. But you get my point.

And even though I'm still having to worry about money (I'm not freaking out I'm not freaking out I'm not freaking out omw i've got to have $3,000 more by January 23 what is happening my life is spinning out of control help), and I'm still going to have to buy new clothes, and there are problems of transportation to worry about--real, genuine concerns, all of them--it's refreshing, in a way. I have something to worry about that doesn't involve culture shock and new foods and strange languages. I don't have to worry that I'll mispronounce a word this summer and end up in a duel that will end my life. You know.

At the moment, my life is so shaping itself that I'll be at home next summer, working with our local Child Evangelism Fellowship branch, being the summer missions coordinator and reaching out to the community in my hometown. And even though I still long to be a missionary overseas, and I still want to go back to China, and there are so many places I want to travel to and experience...I'm okay with that. I'm okay with staying put, with trusting God that He's got the plans this time. Because if there's one thing I most definitely don't want to do, it's go against Him just because I've got this agenda, this idea that I have to go somewhere every summer and reach people for Him.

Right now, Amarillo is quite a big enough mission field. It's not the most glamorous, attention-grabbing job. I'm not going to have any eyes popping or excited 'wows' as I tell people that yes, I'll be staying home and helping teenagers run 5 Day Clubs while trying to get new Good News Clubs lined up, and would you like to help us?, but I truly think that's what God has for me this time around. 2014 might be different. Hey, summer 2013 might even end up shaping differently than I expect. Because if there's one thing I've definitely learned about my God, it's that he delights in springing surprises on people (I get this idea that God likes to craft delicious surprises for us, and he sprinkles them throughout our paths, and just waits to watch us open them. As we get closer and closer to what he's planned, he starts getting ever more excited, like a grandparent who knows his present is waiting at the bottom of the stack, and just can't wait to see the delight on his grandchild's face. And the minute the child actually opens it, he's almost as excited as the kid because, wow, look at how happy he is. I think if God is just as awesome and wonderful as the Bible says, he has to get a kick out of how happy he can make us...that, and he has a sense of humor).

But if that happens, and I get a delicious surprise, whether it be a call in the middle of the night that hey, we'd quite like you to come stay with us for three months, could you arrange to get a flight to Thailand in the next three days?, or if it's a simple, friendly call from someone I've not seen in awhile...I'm quite sure I'll thoroughly enjoy it.

And if I don't, I'm sure I'll enjoy that, too. Because why are we put where we are but to enjoy it?

- Kyla Denae

i am convinced i am part of an alien experiment

People keep calling french fries chips, which is obviously not an American thing to do.

And then people with English accents are following me around. I swear. They come into work all the time.

And then I forget sections of my life, which is weird, and things have changed when I get back to it. This was especially pronounced one day, which also happened to be the same day three different unconnected people referenced french fries as chips, and also the day several different people with English accents came in, which randomly switched to American accents at various points.

We've also begun calling our TV room the living room, with no apparent thought or changing of purposes in the two rooms that are our TV room and living room.

It is official.

My life, at this point, is actually an alien experiment to test just how perceptive humans are. Or something. Maybe I'm actually part of some kind of research, and my brain has created this fake world that's gotten mixed up with all the fictional worlds I love. At least I haven't started baking souffles yet.

Maybe the Doctor will come rescue me.

Yes.

Allons-y.

- Kyla Denae

wherein kyla gets a job

So, I have a job now.

I'm like all official and stuff

I even have a nametag.

I am now officially a front-counter, ringer-upper, drive-through-ish, dining-room-attender person at Chick-fil-a. Yes. It's actually not that bad; I've been working there for about two weeks now, and I quite like it.

But as a consequence of this change, I've had very little free time. It's really odd, being on a strict schedule. I've never had to be this conscientious of how I spend my time, where practically every minute is counted in order to get me where I need to go 'on time'.

I suppose there could be some deep, challenging lesson there somewhere, but I'm too tired to find it.

In other news

I am fully funded for Romania!

Yes. This makes me very happy. It's partly due to a reader of this blog

- Kyla Denae

my life is ridiculous

But that's okay. Emma and I are trying to fundraise like crazy--which is a lot less fun than it sounds like. You see, I've been comfortably crazy for quite awhile, and getting even more so isn't quite pleasant. Other than that...does it make any sense at all that it's proving harder to raise $2,000 than it was to raise nearly $6,000? I mean, really? In what universe does this make logical sense?

In other news, I want a birthday cake like this:

Maybe for my eleventy-first birthday. Maybe I'll go to the Shire. And then I'll travel to the Grey Havens. And that'll be fun /nerdism

- Kyla Denae

and then i wrote this thing

Her robe billowed around her, the morning wind catching it just right. The black fabric, patterned with the delicate gold embroidery that she knew had taken had so much labor, was heavy enough to swallow her. It weighed at her shoulders, the huge sleeves fluttering around her carefully manicured hands. She focused on this, watching the pleated hem of the garment flowing away to her feet in lieu of concentrating on anything else.

If she thought of anything else, she'd surely go mad.

Barefoot, garbed in the light, gossamer pink of the Virgin, the two young women flitted around her. One finished pinning the matching pink streamers to her belt, letting them fall to the ground after the robe, to be detached in just a few moments. The other, her sleeves puffier than her long hair, arranged the robe's hood.

A crown on her head.

Slippers on her feet.

This was actually happening to her. Her hands were taken and she was slowly led forward, step by step, across the lawn and through the belt of trees that hid the Virgins from the world outside. She was led to her future.


- Kyla Denae

so i got bored

And I decided I'd change my blog title. Once, this was "Teenage Musings". Now it's "enough"...at least for now. I might change it again. We'll see.

As to the significance of 'enough'--I was listening to "Your Grace Is Enough" by Chris Tomlin today, and I decided it is one of my favorite songs. And also, I love this verse, and the context around it, right now.

It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. - Matthew 10:25

So there's that. We will return to our regularly-scheduled program as soon as I actually get a real post written.

 - Kyla Denae

a week of days

Sometimes I venture into the deep depths of my iPhone picture history. Since my camera is currently out of commission (my cord disappeared into some black hole and I've not yet been able to buy another), my iPhone has gathered quite a few pictures over the last few weeks.

Edward loves his daddy. And daddy loves his Edward. Edward also likes being able to see everything.

Nutella to go. Be jealous. Very, very jealous.

A family of pinecones we found while walking about downtown.

- Kyla Denae

o these emotions

I am not an emotional teenage girl.

Okay, now that I've shamelessly lied to all of you, I shall tell you the real, hard truth. I am, in fact, very emotional, and very much a teenage girl. Or at least, I was last time I checked. So hopefully that is still true, and if it isn't, we have problems. Anyway.

Lately, I've been on what can only be termed an emotional rollercoaster. Not really because of my life--that's been pretty normal and boring and everything else it usually is. So it's not because of normal things (you know, going through life changes, getting married, getting unmarried, that sort of thing), but rather because of...

Well, books.

And television.

And other nerdy things.

Wait, you thought this was going to be insightful and deep and challenging? Oh well.

My first moment of emotional chaos was halfway through The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. It's a pretty good book (has some swearing sprinkled throughout, as well as some inappropriate material. It's all very fade-to-black though, but it's not, you know, a paragon of virtue and morals or anything), but...oh my word. My emotions. To use Tumblr jargon, it makes me feel all the things, and everything hurts.

And then I reached the most emotionally charged chapters in my book, Royalty. My main character must part from her true love, else bad things will ensue. Bad things will ensue anyway. But you know what I mean.

And then I suffered from a relapse of Reichenbach feelings as there was a spate of beautiful Sherlock graphics on Tumblr.

So, all in all, this past week has been very tumultuous for me. My emotions hate me, and I feel all the things. I wouldn't give up feeling those things, though. Because it's nice, in some twisted way. How has your week gone?

- Kyla Denae

mitch benn's 'imagine'

Seriously. This song is so powerful. Besides, the fellow has a really pretty British accent.


Not everybody has to
Imagine no possessions
Some people that’s exactly what they’ve got
Eking out a living
In a world that’s unforgiving
While the haves are patronising the have-nots

Not everybody has to
Imagine there’s no country
Some people they just have nowhere to go
Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters
Shuffling over borders
Waiting for the day when no-one wants to know

And you may say I have no dreams
And perhaps that’s how it seems
But in a world this tough
Dreams are not enough

Not everybody has to
Imagine there’s no heaven
When hell on earth is where they live each day
Imagining’s a start no doubt
But ‘till we put our finger out
And change the world, that’s how it’s gonna stay
- Kyla Denae

the day i got trolled on an online forum

Not me, specifically, really. More like the entire forum. A little background: about six months ago, we had this really ridiculous fellow come on whose entire purpose seemed to be yelling at us about how we were all going to hell. Without knowing us, without even understanding how the forum worked in any way. Just one day:

Hi, I'm Travis. Let me tell you about my God who wants to send you to hell if you don't repent. Oh, and love or something like that.

Quite literally. Well, now he's back. Either it's him or his little brother. One or the other. Basically, for the past two weeks, he's been posting topics once or twice a week, telling us all we're evil devil worshippers and should repent.

For obvious reasons, I find this quite amusing.

So today, on his newest topic, I went on and told him that I still couldn't decide if he was a troll or sincere, and that he should really find some less heavy-handed way of getting the Gospel out. Because, obviously, beating people upside the head with the most random verses in the Bible isn't helping. Our side-conversation led to him saying I wasn't a real Christian and he'd be praying that I would find Jesus.

I laughed at him.

And then he said he hoped I'd realize the error of my ways and hold onto faith as if it were my life. Which, you know, it sort of is, considering I'm a missionary and depend on God for my life pretty much.

Anyway. Besides the obvious fact that questioning the salvation of someone you've never even talked to is pretty silly, I'd like to just point something out to anyone who'd be inclined to follow in Travis' footsteps. When you go into an established community, whether online or off, and start issuing blanket condemnations of people, it doesn't make people want to listen to you. In fact, it actually hurts the cause of Christ, because you make people think you actually are a Christian, and that hurts the rest of us.

When you just shout at someone and tell them they're evil devil-worshipers and should repent or God will damn them to hell, it doesn't help. Maybe it's true in some cases. But it still doesn't help. It does nothing to endear people to the true message of Christ's coming--that we have a mighty Savior who loves us more than we can imagine.

- Kyla Denae

writing, editing, and reviewing

/begin rather long, random musing on a bunch of writerly things you probably don't care about/

I love to write. Absolutely, positively love to write. There's nothing better than curling up with a notebook and a pen--or my laptop--and pouring my ideas out onto a formerly empty page. So far, I've written three full-length novels, have another in the works, and am working on the rewrite of one of the three. I've written a novella, and have two more in the process of being written, though one might turn into a novel. That's not counting the plethora of projects I've begun and abandoned over the years, always with the mental resolution that I will return to them someday because I love the idea.

Most often, those ideas get relegated to my plot bunnies notepad. It's a long document, full of ideas from terror plots to romantic twists to full plots summed up in ten words or less. It's a place where I shove ideas that push their way into my head in the midst of NaNoWriMo, so I can focus on my novel without a bunch of little rabbits interfering with my actual plot. It's a place of occasionally twisted logic, where 11pm notations are made as my fingers fumble across the keyboard, finding their way somehow.

Sometimes, these ideas actually get written. And then I get to edit them. Yay, but actually not. I absolutely loathe editing. Hate it entirely. If I could somehow discover a way to never do it again, I would be so blissfully happy that I might just up and spend a week dancing around my bedroom singing the theme song to Sherlock. Oh wait--I do that anyway. Never mind. The point is that I don't like it. It's ridiculous and wasteful and...okay, not really. It is very necessary. I just wish it weren't, because it annoys me.

So I usually gloss over editing or let somebody else do it for me. And I edit other people's things and give them reviews on what I thought. Figment.com has a thriving reviewer community. There are some of us that go out of our way to give long, constructive reviews. I like to think I'm one of those people, and maybe I'm not, but we all think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Somehow, reviewing and proof-reading doesn't seem nearly as dull when it's someone else's book. I suppose it's the same basic principle as the feeling that makes cleaning someone else's house enjoyable while cleaning your own house is akin to getting your fingernails pulled out in a Gulag prison.

This has been a very short, random look into my life for no apparent reason. You're welcome.

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)

I know, I know

I failed.

My resolution was to make one post a week.

I made one post at the beginning of the month, and this is the only other I've made so far.

I am exceedingly sorry.

In my defense, I've been busy. Books, Sherlock, and fundraising have consumed my thoughts. Not necessarily in that order of course--on some days, it's been more like Sherlock-books-fundraising, and some days fundraising-Sherlock-books. But those three things have always been present.

Sherlock is, of course, a BBC television show. (If you'd like to watch it, be wary of the first episode of the second season. It gets a bit risque.) But it's a beautiful TV show and I love it and I dislike Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Okay, maybe not that much, because they did bring Sherlock to TV in the first place. But still. They are cruel to we, their poor captive audience.

As to books--I'm delving into Tamora Pierce this week, with Trickster's Choice. I've never read anything by her before, and it should be interesting. I'm also continuing Anna Karenina and beginning Brave New World. Yes.

Speaking of books, you can now buy mine on Amazon! Yes, that is my name and my shiny novel and a low price of $1.00 for the Kindle version (the physical copy is $12.00, but in my defense, that's the lowest price my self-publishing website-thing would allow me to set it as). Any royalties I get will go directly toward my Romania trip funds--

Which brings me to the third topic that I've been unceasingly devoted to for the past two weeks!

Okay, in all reality, I've been barely dedicated to it at all. My writing creativity has stalled and, with it, my ability to write a solid support letter has taken a nose-dive. It's also been snowy and rainy and ridiculously cold and my house has been full of sickness. So please pray that I will be able to make up for lost time.

In closing, I know this hasn't been a tremendously in-depth post. There haven't been any sincere, heart-felt outpourings of love for God or protestations of my desire to serve. I know that. So hopefully, in the next several days, I will be able to craft some sort of sincere, deep post. Even if it's just ten tips to write your own novel. You know.

Also, check out Altogether Separate, a new blogging/forum project I've embarked on with several other Christian homeschooled girls!

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)

The Hobbit and Christmas

So for those of you who are not so hopelessly fangirlish as I, last night the trailer for The Hobbit came out. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're not as fangirlish as me. But still.

My Tumblr dashboard has been blowing up this morning with gifs of the trailer.

Am I upset?

Not at all.

In fact, I've quite enthusiastically jumped into the reposting craze because, after all, it's Tolkien. How can I not love it?

I never got to see Lord of the Rings in theaters. So getting to see The Hobbit in theaters will be epic. I absolutely cannot wait. Sadly, I must wait--for a year. (On the good side, I will get to see The Hunger Games, Brave, a new season of Sherlock, the beginning of a new series of Doctor Who, and The Avengers between now and then. Somehow, I shall survive.) I've also decided that I want to go to the midnight premiere, which of course means that I must make some effort to look pretty, right?

And what better way to do that than to dress up like an Elf? Hopefully I'll be able to purchase the needed clothing before next December.

But don't worry. My entire existence is not currently centered around Lord of the Rings. I don't think, anyway. There are bits of it that are not tied to the amazingness that is Middle Earth. Part of those bits involve Christmas! It is, of course, quickly approaching, and my siblings have really gotten into the giving spirit this year--which is perfectly alright, because I'm broke.

That's a very small picture of our "Christmas tree". And my sister's knees. And the presents surrounding our tree. The tree is made of cardboard, in case you were wondering. Yeah. Told you we were cheap.

Basically, there are 50 presents under that tree already, and our parents haven't done any shopping (and don't tell anybody, but I've not finished mine, either. Yeah, it's gonna be a long week).

So yes. That's what's going on in my life. Fangirling and Christmas preparations. Just a regular day in the life of me.

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)

A Day of Thanksgiving

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
Psalm 18:49

So today is Thanksgiving for those of us in the US. As of this moment, we've gotten the turkey in the roasting, the yams are ready to go in the oven, the potatoes are baking with the pecan pies, the greenbean casserole is mixed up...and we've only had to make two Walmart runs. That just might be a record, but I can't remember. I usually block the whole cooking part of Thanksgiving out because it gets messy, real quick.

However, since it is Thanksgiving day, I thought I'd offer up my top ten list of things I'm most thankful for this year. And then state my declaration to remember to be thankful more often. Because that's always a good thing.

Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Psalm 75:1

So here, in no particular order:

1. Books. This goes without saying. But it's true. And it deserves to be number one. Yes, yes it does.
2. Jesus. So maybe this should be number one. Oh well, it's over and done now. I'm thankful for Christ's sacrifice, what he did though I didn't deserve it, and could never deserve it. Also, I'm thankful for books that tell me about him. So see? Number one really was number two all along, you just didn't realize it until just now...
3. Movies. Now I'm just being shallow. Know what? I don't care.
4. Freedom. Freedom to do so many things. To complain. To leave. To write uncomplimentary things about the government no matter what other people think about it.
5. The ability to get up in the morning and not hurt. Except, sometimes, this one isn't really applicable. Like one morning last week.
6. Food. Very, very obvious, I know. Hey, I can't help what I'm most thankful for!
7. Family. Another very obvious one. Yes, sometimes they drive me completely nutty. But I still love them.
8. Crazy, absolutely bonkers friends. Like Cassie and Mirriam. Or any number of the friends who live nearer me. You're all amazingly insane, and I love it, and I love you. Never change.
9. Generous people. Generous people who are willing to send a silly teenage girl halfway around the world with their hard-earned money. You guys are awesome.
10. The internet. Because without it, I couldn't have met so many amazing people or learned so many wacky things.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Thank all of you for being there, for reading my blog, and for just being yourselves.

In other news, at the moment, this is how I feel:

"Running on caffeine and a prayer, baby"

爱於耶穌,
~Liberty (紫涵)