Good News

I stumbled on a quote today by an atheist that said something like, "If you have news that could save my life but you don't share it, you hate me." Never before had I thought of denying someone the gospel as a form of hatred. But I get what they mean. What love are we giving to the world if we are not spreading the Good News?

I believe God's love can be shown through our actions. We can help someone in need by offering many things: food, shelter, clothes. We can smile at strangers and sincerely ask how they are doing. We can volunteer our time, go on mission trips, and encourage positivity.  There are a lot of things we can do to spread the love of God. Yet even with all of this, if people are still dying without Jesus, how much did we really help?

This is where we Christians are called to do more. In addition to living out God's love, we are meant to tell others of the new life they are promised through Christ. We do this through evangelizing, or preaching the gospel. To Christians and non-believers alike, evangelism can sound like a forceful and unloving task. In actuality, sharing the life changing Good News can be done very gently and lovingly. God would never give us a mission if He thought it would turn His children away from Him, and He certainly doesn't call us to do it alone. God is for us, and the more we seek to expand His kingdom, the more we will grow spiritually. So take a moment to think. How will you spread the Good News today?

If you want to know more about the Good News or have questions about anything else, please comment below. I'm far from knowing all the answers and I'm certainly having my own spiritual struggles at the moment, but I would love to listen to your thoughts and pray for you.

To start your week off right, I made a playlist of my favorite worship songs. Sing along!

truth

I'm having trouble believing I'm anything more than an eyesore.
I keep telling myself I'll never make any friends because I'm so annoying.
I'm convinced no one will ever love me without wanting to get rid of me first.

Sometimes you just have to tell yourself to shut up.
Stop buying into lies.
Don't sell yourself short, because you are truly beautiful, special, and made to do great things.

Negative thoughts don't go away so easily, but with the smallest effort toward thinking the truth, the easier it is to keep yourself from falling into satan's trap. 


On Repeat: "Gotta Get Through This" - Daniel Bedingfield

30 Days of Blogging

Normally I'd be spending November typing word vomit into Microsoft Word for two hours a day, but this year, I ain't got that kinda time. I'm referring to NaNoWriMo, a worldwide challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I still want to write though, so I'm committing to something a little less demanding of my time: blogging every day in November! It's exactly like BEDA, but in November... you totally didn't need me to explain that. Anyway, I'm really excited to get my butt in blogging gear. If this is something you think you'd enjoy, then join me! Let's be friends and come up with post ideas to do together. Because really, what will be more rewarding at the end of the month? A tumblr page of pictures you didn't even take or a collection of ramblings, thoughts, and dreams that comes straight from your heart? The answer is the latter if you weren't sure...

Some blog ideas I already have in mind:

• My go-to shower playlist
• A review of my life on Twitter
• How to: get over One Direction
• Sharing my found poems
• Why you shouldn't buy Hunter rain boots

Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

52 Reasons Why I Love You

As a gift for my boyfriend on our six-month anniversary, I made a book of "52 Reasons Why I Love You" with a deck of playing cards. Ok, I'll admit that I was totally opposed to the idea at first because it's the roses and chocolate of the diy gift world. In other words: cliche and unimaginative. The more I perused the internet for homemade gift ideas, however, the more this book popped up in so many unique and different ways. I decided that this gift is actually incredibly special. It is as unique and personal as you want it to be. Besides, who wouldn't want a book full of reasons why they're awesome?

First, I came up with 52 things I love about my boyfriend. I was so excited to find how easy this part was. The hard part was deciding which reasons I wasn't going to include because I came up with too many. (I'm thinking another project is at hand!) My handwriting sucks, so I typed all the reasons out in 14 pt font and set the document to 3 columns in order to get the right width. Then, I cut out all the reasons and glued them to each card with a regular glue stick. For the inside covers (Joker cards), I wrote him a little letter and put our anniversary dates on the back.

Because I'm away at college and don't have standard craft supplies like colored paper, glitter pens, stickers, or even a color printer, this project came out very simple and un-embellished. For the accent colors on the cover, I literally tore colored pieces off of posters and flyers in my residence hall's lobby. Yup, this is an eclectic, recycled work of art. I would have liked to include a picture of us on one of the covers, but again, I didn't have a color printer and anything black and white was too grainy.

The worst part about the whole process was individually hole-punching all 54 cards, twice. That's 108 loud noises to piss my roommates off and 108 tiny circles scattered on my floor. But it was worth it. In the end, I wanted to keep the book for myself, this labor of love. My boyfriend loved it though.

This project only cost me $5.08 for the deck of cards and 1-inch metal rings, plus about 5 hours of my time. Still, I'd say this gift has more heart, thought, and love than a lot of typical "I love you" gifts. So go surprise someone you love! Get a little creative and make this book for your mom, best friend, or any other person who you want to make feel special. Inspiration.

On Repeat: "Bette Davis Eyes" - Kim Carnes
# of times I've watched The Princess Diaries this school year: 3

# of coffee shop visits this school year: 4

Things to consider when searching for the perfect study spot

I had just found the perfect place to study on the fourth floor of the library. It was a quiet little room with a window and had plenty of space for me to spread out. I set my backpack on one of the chairs and unloaded my computer, writing supplies, and homework. I took my sweatshirt off, pulled the rain boots off my feet, and plugged my phone in the wall to charge. As I uncapped a highlighter to begin annotating an article, I became aware of the most annoying sound ever: the irregular clanging of metal coming from somewhere in the ceiling. I tried to ignore it, but this faint murmur of death could not be unheard. What a rookie mistake to not look for annoyances before I set up camp. Things like this always happen to me, so I thought I better take note of what to consider before I make the same mistake again. Hopefully I can help you out too.

1. Would it bother you to sit in a place where a lot of people pass by? Tables or chairs set near stairwells, bathrooms, drinking fountains, or computers/printers are high traffic areas. If you're anything like me, you'll want to look at every single person who walks by and you'll never get anything done. Plus there's the awkward eye contact...
2. Sitting next to a window might be a bad idea. Cars driving by, couples holding hands on the sidewalk, squirrels shaking trees, and pictures in the clouds could all distract you from your work. Or, the natural lighting could put you in a better mood. Plus you’d be reminded that even though you may be dying with the gazillion hours of work you must do, life is waiting to greet you when you’re (hopefully) done.
3. Lighting. Do you absolutely hate the artificial glow of yellow lights? Will there be a bothersome glare on your computer screen?
4. Does your desired spot have an outlet close enough to plug your charger into? If the outlet is embedded in a metal chamber on the floor, your cell phone charger with a bulky plug might not fit. Then how could you send derpy pictures to your friends if your phone is dead?
5. Before you unpack all your studying supplies, be still. Are there any noises that could disturb your thinking? Tiny but incessant sounds are like Chinese water torture for your brain!
6. Little things: Is it too cold? Too hot? Do you have enough room to work?

Of course, before you go through all of that, it's important to make sure you have all your studying essentials before you leave your house. You don't want to get all the way to the library and find that you forgot your headphones. When I'm gearing up for a six hour study session, I remember to bring:

• laptop and charger
• cell phone and charger
• water
• snacks/candy/gum
• a sweatshirt (in case it gets cold)
• earbuds/headphones
• tissues
• library card/ID
• extra paper
• extra homework (you know, for those times when you're more productive than you expected...yeah it doesn't happen to me either, but one can dream!) 

 Cool, I just wasted 2 hours finding the perfect spot to study, writing this post, and dancing to One Direction. It sucks that the library closes at 5 pm on Saturdays.

On Repeat: "Fine By Me" - Andy Grammer

Number of Froyo trips I've made this school year: 2
Number of coffee shop visits this school year: 4

Ask me about my cats

If you didn't know already, I'm crazy for cats. Dogs barely excite me, but if you so much as mention a cat, my world is instantly brightened and my insides turn to mush. Even though I'm on the fast track to becoming the crazy cat lady, I don't own any clothing that expresses my love for the furry friends. Here are some pieces I would love to wear around town:

If I was wearing this shirt, I'd actually want people to talk to me!

 (via: KinShipGoods)

This kitty bag is adorable!

 (via: Titina Store)

"Oh, yes there are cat faces on my dress."

(via: H&M)

I've always wanted to have cats on my knees (and tails on the backs!).

(via: YesStyle) 

How cute are these cat earrings?

 

(via: gingerpickle)

I love this!

 

(via: charlottefarmer1) 

Digital Cat Dress

 

(via: asos)

And just for funsies, I introduce you to one of my favorite websites: procatinator.com! Warning: You do not want to visit this site at 3 in the morning while your roommates are sleeping...

Until next time, I'll be counting down the days until I can go home to my own kitties. 8 days!

On Repeat: "Waiting for a Girl Like You" - Foreigner

Number of Froyo trips I've made this school year: 2
Number of coffee shop visits this school year: 4

#VidCon2013 Day 2

VIDCON DAY TWO! This post took me the entire month to write because I had so much to say. I tried to make my commentary as concise as possible while still showing how excited I was about everything that happened. If youtube isn't really your thing, you can skip the words and just look at the pictures, but you didn't need me to tell you that. 

At VidCon, getting somewhere a half hour early is like arriving an hour and a half late, so my anxiety level was off the wall when my friends and I showed up 30 minutes before the doors opened. It wasn't until we got into the building 20 minutes later that we realized we were in the wrong place! Because of a wrong turn our ride took when dropping us off, we unknowingly got in line for the mainstage when we actually wanted to be in line for the expo hall. Noooo! My friends and I scrambled through random doors until we found a side entrance to the expo hall. That's when God blessed us. The doors to the signing area hadn't been opened to community members yet, but no one was prohibiting people from using the side entrance either. In other words, we got to get in line for famous youtube peeps before anyone else AND we didn't have to wait in line for hours! We were the second group in line to meet Charlie (of Charlieissocoollike, duh). Thank you Jesus!

The line to meet Charlie and Friends right after we got out of it

Then a dude we met the day before let us hop in line with him to meet the British beauty gurus Zoella, Sprinkleofglitter, and Tanya Burr.  Honestly, they're people I don't watch, but my friend loves them and we got to cut in line, so good things!

An hour into waiting for the British Crew and I see Michael Buckley! Ten minutes after that... JOSEPH BIRDSONG! I love this kid. He puts the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop.

Finally our shot with the British Crew! (Yes, Caspar is from South Africa, but it's just like calling One Direction a British boy band even though Niall is from Ireland.) These five dudes have a combined total of over 5,895,000 subscribers. Girls were crying. We people were bribing other fans with money to let them cut in line. Marriage proposals were made. It was a zoo. Erin and I spent five minutes discussing who we were going to stand by: "I want to touch Caspar the most, but I don't really care about Joe or Jim." I'm lucky my friend is extremely generous and let me stand by Alfie and Marcus even though she's in love with Alfie.

Everything I learned about sex, I learned from Laci Green's sex education videos. She held a very casual meetup on the grass and it was so cool to just hang out with her. I could only stay at the meetup for a short while before I had to go back to waiting in line for the British Crew, so I didn't get to personally talk with Laci or get a picture with her. My friend, on the other hand, had a one-on-one with her and they basically shared their life stories.

 Being a Dave Days fan means you're a Chris C fan by default. Dave and Chris are real life best friends who often make collaborative videos which I obsess over. I saw Chris again on the second day and had him sign my shirt with pink sharpie (he's the only one who signed in pink!). We talked for a minute and he made a joke and it was a dream. Then I took 11 pictures of him without his knowledge. You know, for reasons.

Of course, we had to meet the queen of YouTube (and Twitter, Taco Bell, Tumblr, etc.). Tyler Oakley is special to me and my friends because he, like us, is from MICHIGAN. We didn't want to leave his line without a picture and a signature, so we got creative. Since massively popular youtubers can't do both without being there for 80+ hours, we figured that if we were last in line, he'd make an exception. We were near the end anyway, so we let a few groups of people cut in line and BOOYA we were last. He greeted us with open arms and we told him we were from the mitten state and he exclaimed, "My people!"

FiveAwesomeGirls fangirl moment! In eighth grade, I religiously watched 5AG, one of the best video projects on Youtube, so I was happy beyond belief to meet Lauren and Kristina. I also saw Liane, but she was smoking a cigarette with some dudes outside and I didn't want to interrupt.

During Meekakitty's singing set, I glanced behind me and standing an arms' length away was Shawna and Mitchell Davis! Mitchell and I made eye contact and he looked at me like, "Please don't ask for a picture," so I pretended to act as if it were completely normal to have two of youtube's most inspiring content creators standing behind me. Shawna was a sweetheart though and stayed to take pictures with fans after her best friend's performance was over.

The hotels on Anaheim Convention Center's property are prime grounds for meeting youtubers of all ranks. Walking around the lobby is like walking into that one Disney Channel special where Raven, Hannah Montana, and Zack & Cody are all staying in the same hotel. As I strode to meet the main dude from Epic Meal Time, I turned around for a second and saw someone a thousand times better. Troye Sivan had miraculously made it to the front desk without having a mob of fangirls following him... and then my friends asked for pictures which attracted a line of people. Sorry Troye!

And finally, the perfect ending to a perfect day. My friend and I were making our way out of the hotel to leave VidCon for good when we ran into Soundlyawake. My moth dropped; I was starstruck. Despite the fact that his physical presence made me forget his name and how to say anything other than "ohmygod," he was incredibly sweet and asked if I wanted a picture. He noticed my friend making a disappointed face after taking the first picture so he was like, "Oh, is the lighting bad? Let's take another one." None of the youtubers I met this weekend could compare to how nice he was. He deserves all the positive adjectives.

Thank you for reading about my VidCon adventures :) I hope to compile a list of tips and secrets for anyone who wishes to enjoy the event in the future.