Just A Crush...?

Casual love, dating, boyfriends, girlfriends, kissing, the whole kaboosh = normal (?!)

*Ahem*
Objection!

Should this really be the norm?

Should Christian teens follow the world's example of relationships just because it is so common, so universally accepted without a second thought?

I think not, my friends.

I have somewhat gone over this issue in my post entitled, "Dating 101", but that was mainly on dating vs. courtships.
Today's post is a little different.

I have a feeling we've all been there at some point.

Ya meet a guy, think he's attractive, get all googly eyed, and write his name and yours in the margins of your science notebook with hearts all around it.

I am extremely ashamed to admit that yes... I've behaved in this foolish way.

"Ok, Savannah. You're just being wayyy too strict and judgmental and you have unrealistic expectations! You just don't understand! I can't help liking him (or her)!"

Ummm... sorry to burst your bubble, but ya you can control your emotions.

It may seem impossible but you can do it.
It just takes a lot of work, patience, and prayer.

Are "crushes" even Biblical?

A crush is known as an infatuation or attraction to someone of the opposite gender being taken to the extreme.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with being attracted to someone! I mean, you're going to court and marry someone at some point, so obviously you will have feelings for that person!

But there is a difference between that and an infatuation with a certain someone.

Infatuation: A dangerous emotional "disease" which involves being so attracted to someone that you become obsessed and almost addicted. They are all you think about and all you do is write their name everywhere, talk about them, dream about them, and even plan your future wedding (which most likely won't even happen).

----Definition from... well, me.

Been there, done that?

Ya... me too.

So now our goal is to not make that mistake, again.

Why is "infatuation" wrong?

1. It is making an idol of someone. Holding them up to a standard of perfection and even sometimes placing them above God.

Biblical evidence? 
Check out the first commandment in Exodus 20:3,  which says: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

By 'gods', the Lord doesn't just mean golden statues of deformed half-animal, half-man things.
He is referring to anything that you place before Him.

2. It takes over your life. At this time in your life, you don't need to constantly being thinking or worrying about guys. Being single is the one chance you have to completely set your focus on God! And also school, if you have that. ;-).
The last thing we, as teens, need to be doing is obsessing over some guy that's most likely not even worth your time!

3. It's just plain creepy. I mean, come on! What normal, sane human being wants someone constantly thinking about them and photoshopping their picture with their own to see if they make a good couple?! Personally, I would be a little freaked out...

It's getting late and I need a shower (ya I know... too much information), so I better wrap this post up.

The Bottom Line: Teens, God should be your main focus, not the opposite gender, as tempting and difficult as it is!

As I said before, there is nothing wrong with "liking" someone, as long as it doesn't take priority in your life and is all you think and dream about!

Dear Future Husband

From the title, I'm sure this post must seem to you like a personal one.
Well, it is...
I was inspired to write this, after reading someone else's letter to their future husband.
Check it out: thefulltimegirl.com

Being a overly sentimental romantic, these sorts of things are endearing to me and I hope that this letter will serve as an example to other young ladies that happen to read my blog.
So without further ado:

Dear Future Husband,

I don't know who you are, where you are at this time, what you look like, where you live, or who your family is. All of you and all about you is a mystery to me. While there is always the possibility that I know you, right now, or have met you in the past, you could be living a completely different life and I will never know you until I'm supposed to. 

I pray for you every day. I pray that you are growing up in a loving, godly home. That you are keeping your heart "with all diligence". That you have a passion for the Lord and to serve Him your whole life. That you do your best and succeed in all that you do. That you sit in the pews of a fruitful church that has no shame in preaching and teaching the Word of God. 

I'm waiting for you... waiting patiently to not give my heart away before the time comes. You will be my first (and only) boyfriend, and I know that will be appreciated. I look forward to spending time with you, learning your likes and dislikes, and finding out your favorite Bible verse. I cannot wait to experience all God has planned for our lives together and cannot wait until the day comes that we will be joined together as one. 

I love you.

Savannah Leigh Alday

Savannah In Savannah--- Part One

Hey ya'll! :-)

Just checkin' in from Savannah, Georgia. Whoop Whoop!

It's about time I visit the city I was named after!

My oh my, do I love Savannah. I sound a bit like a narcissist, don't I? Ahem... I meant the city! I promise!

Any who... the weather is nasty, here. Unfortunately, it has to be pouring torrents of rain on my first visit. We are only staying till tomorrow afternoon, too!

It was quite an adventure.

It was about a 5 hour drive from our lovely little town in Florida to Historic Savannah. Meredith (my sister) and I watched old home videos almost the entire ride. 4 and a half long hours of watching me run around in a diaper (when I was little, of course.). Oh joy.

At long last, we arrived to our hotel, smack-dab next to a huge bridge going over the Savannah River. Which is very ironic because Mommy is scared TO DEATH of high bridges.

Once we unloaded the car and got to our hotel room (which was an adventure in itself), we drove on over to the Shrimp Factory Restaurant which provides fresh shrimp from the Savannah River! Delicious!

When we finished devouring the first meal we had all day, we walked down the street which has a bunch of little shops and cafes. (I just found out that the cobblestones on the street we walked on are two hundred years old! Wow!)

It was so weird seeing my name on almost every sign!

And on all the merchandise in every store...

Although, it was fairly gratifying to see people's reactions when my mom or sister said my name out loud.

"Savannah!"

*craning of necks as everyone turns to gawk at the crazy individual who would be stupid enough to visit a city with the same name as them*

There was one shop in particular that I couldn't just casually pass by...

Across from the shops we were at, was a boardwalk by the river, where tons of steamboats and tugboats passed by almost every two minutes!

A few minutes after the previous picture was taken the heavens were kind enough to release a deluge of heavy rain and wind when we were most ill prepared.

There we are, sprinting across the street to find shelter, our clothes soaking wet, our hair frizzing out, and our mascara dripping down our face.

We ended up hanging out in a cute little shop promoting all things Savannah, where Mommy bought this for me.

All in all it was a great day of getting lost, drenching wet, and cold!

Now that I'm able to sit and bed and finally drink my hot chocolate, I have no more complaints to offer.

See ya'll, tomorrow, in "Savannah In Savannah--- Part Two"!

How To Properly Pack a Suitcase

For those of you who haven't heard, I am going on a little trip to Georgia and South Carolina this next week.

I feel like a vacation is long overdue.

I was at a loss as to what to post, and knew that I most likely wouldn't post this entire next week, so I knew that I needed to write SOMETHING.

I was packing, last night, and a wonderful thought popped in my brain: Why not do a blog post on how to pack a suitcase?

Honestly, I have never been an extremely neat person, and my suitcases are usually so filled to the brim that I can barely zip it up.

The problem?

I over pack.

I am so scared that I'm not going to have enough of this or that, and I panic.

The result?

My poor suitcase turns into a bulging mountain of doom.

At long last I have discovered the secret to packing somewhat efficiently!


How To Properly Pack A Suitcase:

1. Roll clothing items, tightly, to prevent wrinkles and give you more packing space.

2. Roll skirts and pants together to provide more space, if necessary.

3. Place light blouses, tanktops, and tees along the sides of the suitcase and the spaces in between clothes.

4. Sandals and flipflops can fit around the edges or wherever else you can find room.

I put my dressy closed toe shoes and heels in a separate pouch in my bag (I believe quite a few suitcases have this somewhere on the inside).

This is definitely an improvement from the last time I packed my suitcase!

5. You can drape light jackets or sweaters over the top.

6. Undergarments and/or accessories can go in the zippered sections of the front of the suitcase. You could also place them in shoes (in a Ziploc baggy, of course!).

7. Don't forget a cute travel mug and a pair of shades!

I deeply apologize for the pathetic quality of the pictures. I have no choice but to use my phone camera, thanks to my actual camera being dead and I lost the charger. (what else is new?)

How To Lighten Hair Naturally

My hair is a failure.

I think it wanted to be brown, but eventually the blonde strands won the long and arduous battle and show through my locks the most.

My hair just couldn't decide whether I would be a blonde or brunette and decided to be both.

The result: Blown (otherwise known as "dirty blonde", "honey blonde", or the un-preferred term "dishwater blonde".)

Because of the "darker on the top, lighter on the bottom" color, every spring or summer I like to lighten the roots a bit so it looks blonder all together.

How do I lighten it?

Magic!

Ha... ha... ha...

Uh. Just kidding, by the way.

Let's try this again.

How do I lighten my lovely tendrils of streaked unruliness?

Lemons!



Yes, my friends... this little yellow acidic wonder actually works!

And guess what?!

No dye is necessary. Therefore, no hair damage! Wahoo!

Another awesome aspect of it all, is that it also works on brunettes, red-heads, and black-heads (wait... umm.. nope, not what I meant.)!

Soooo how do you do it?

1. Squeeze the juice out of 1 (or 2, depending on how much you want lightened) fresh lemon(s).

2. Pour the juice into a spray bottle.

3. Spray generously all over damp hair.

4. *Optional* Comb the juice through your hair s/natural highlights.

Voila!

That's all there is to it!

Hopefully this will help ya'll prepare for summer the natural way! Yay for no chemicals! :-)

April Fools

A Happy April Fools Day to ya'll!

I typically forget to prank anyone on this day, for some reason.

I will be planning and preparing pranks all year round and then BOOM! April 1st has come and gone, without me doing a single prank.

I had told myself, yesterday, that "No! This year shall be different! I will be the Master of All Pranks and people will despise me for my audacity! I shall be prepared and strike when they least expect!"

Sadly, those bold words were all for naught.

April 1st is here... and I have not done a single prank (although I have a few planned later on this evening...).

No, no, no... this year, I have become the victim of a ruthless and despicable prank.

Who would play such a sick joke on me?

Dun Dun Dun

My parents!
*gasp*

It all began with a simple evening, doing school on the back porch, when suddenly, my sister and I heard an odd sound... sort of like a whip cracking.

Our parents were inside and we assumed they must not have heard the sound, so Meredith (my sister) darted in the house and started yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! We heard a weird sound!"

In short, Mommy and Dad came outside to "investigate" and the sound occured four other times in the next 15 minutes.

We began speculating as to what it could be...

"Maybe our crazy neighbors across the street are whipping their kids." Dad suggested.

Meredith was puzzled. "Isn't that illegal in Florida?"

"It sounded like a BB gun." I offered my ready wit as an aid.

"Who on earth would be shooting a BB gun this close to the house?" Mommy wondered.

So our conversation continued until we heard it again and we all began panicking.

I remember hearing Mommy and Dad yelling at us to get inside, immediately, and they both proceeded to lock the doors all over the house and turn on the alarm.

"What's going on?!" I was shaking and could feel the blood draining from my face.

Mommy was on the phone and talking to a 911 operator. What I gathered from her conversation was that other people had called in, complaining about a weird noise which sounded like a gun.

A few seconds passed and a few more words were exchanged before Mommy hung up.

"They said someone's on the loose." Her voice shook and Dad told us to stay with them in the living room.

Meredith and I curled up on the couch and begin praying and sobbing. I was starting to hyperventilate and thought I was going to faint.

Mommy walked over to the front window and looked out, as I screamed at her to get away from the window.

"Joel," She said to Dad in a frightened tone. "There's a SWAT team out front!"

"Are there any squad cars out there, with them?" Dad asked her, hopping up from the couch.

"Ya... quite a few, actually."

A few minutes passed and Meredith and I sat in paralyzing fear as our parents decided that Dad (since he works for the sheriff's office) should go outside and speak with the deputies to see what was going on.

I was screaming and crying as Dad turned the alarm off and went out the back garage door.

Several more minutes passed in silence and Dad came back.

"What did they say?" Mommy questioned him.

Dad refused to tell us what was going on. He was afraid he would scare us too badly.

"Dad, I would rather know what was going on than be left in the dark about it!" I said.

He sighed and proceeded to tell us that a man with a gun was on the loose and was shooting at the houses down our street.

Of course, we began to freak out, at this point.

"Turn the alarm back on!" I shouted. "Please!"

Dad did so, quickly, and headed back in the living room with us.

"My phone! I left my phone out by the pool!" I felt like I needed it- like I needed to be talking to someone.

"We can't get it, now! The officers said we had to stay inside the house until they say it's all clear." Dad ordered.

"I'll go get it." Mommy volunteered.

"No way." I said. "My phone is not worth you getting shot!"

"I'll be fine." She replied. "I'll be in and out in no time!"

Against my pleas of concern, she walked out, anyways.

About four seconds passed and we heard a scream.

Mommy burst back into the house and fell on the floor, sobbing and yelling out, "There's someone out there! Someone was trying to get in the gate! He had a gun!"

She continued crying on the floor as Meredith and I started screaming.

I thought this was the end.

We were going to die.

My worst nightmare was about to come true.

I curl up into a ball and sob.

Suddenly, I feel someone come up to me.

It was Mommy... and she wasn't crying.

"April Fool!"



10 Minutes Later

"I can't believe you guys did this! That was awful! I will never forgive you! I was going to pass out!"

My cruel parents spent quite a long time trying to calm me down after our little escapade...

But I'm fine, now.

Alls well that ends well! I mean... come on. They were just having some fun!

Tonight they will find saran wrap on their toilet seats and snakes in their bed.




Author's Note: All events and happenings in this blog post are 100% accurate. Yes... even the saran wrap part.