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.

Products I Would Buy Again

There are very few products I actually like.

I have quite a nasty habit of returning items I bought to the store within the next day. :/

Since I am so very picky in all things this area, I thought I would share with ya'll the products I would buy again!

Sweet Peony Dream Shiny Hair Glossing Mist

My, oh my... is this stuff great or what! I always use it after styling my hair and it seals in the shine, causing it to look extra smooth and bright! Another plus side, is that it smells amazing! 

Almay Smart Shade CC Cream

For those of you makeup-wearers, this little package is a wonder! Of course there are down-sides to it (isn't there with any makeup product?), but I would say the pros out-weigh the cons. I LOVE the light-weight, natural feel and look. It doesn't look like a mask and blends in well. This CC (complexion corrector) cream lasts fairly long without oxidizing or caking and doesn't have any orange-ish tints to it. The only negative aspects of it, is that it is rather greasy at application, but if you let it set for about 10 minutes, it's good to go! Another feature that bothered me is the minimal coverage. While that is good for some with flawless skin, it wasn't good enough for me. The solution I've come to, is to wear concealer underneath and a little bit of powder on top to combat extra oil and finish the look. Overall, this is an awesome product that I would purchase again!

Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets (50 pack)

I cannot rave enough about these oil pads! They are the perfect fix if you notice your face or makeup is becoming a little oil and don't want to pack on the powder or re-do your makeup all over again! They absorb oil quickly and without any hassle. They are also small enough to fit in a pocket (and of course a purse!). These oil pads even absorb the oil without taking off any of your makeup. What a blessing... 

I had bought the E.L.F. oil absorbing sheets from Target the other day, thinking they were a great buy (only a dollar for 50 sheets!). Come to find out, they work perfectly... besides the fact that some of your makeup comes off with the oil. I didn't have that problem at all with the Clean and Clear sheets. 

It's getting late, here, and I have to wake up at a fairly decent hour, tomorrow, so I should probably wrap this post up.

It had a bit of a different twist, today, but I hoped ya'll liked it and maybe you will try these three recommended products out!

I might even do a Part Two if I get enough positive feedback about this post! ;)

Beauty and the Bible

This post is a bit of a serious one.
I decided to share with ya'll a short(ish) essay, that I wrote for school.
It is a subject that I feel strongly about and I believe is an issue that certainly needs to be addressed, in our culture, today.
I hope you enjoy and I would love to read your thoughts and opinions in the comments below! :-)

Where should we look for our standard of beauty and appearance?

In this day and age, airbrushed models grace the covers of our magazines and posters in department stores. What use are these unrealistic, photo-shopped women, besides causing females of various ages, to feel insecure and ugly unless they are perfectly flawless as the media portrays those of “true worth” to be? It is no different with the men of today- for women to even give them a second glance, they must dress in the latest fashion, have their hair styled a certain way, listen to a specific kind of music, have a muscular physique, the list goes on and on. If men and women do not live up to these standards, then what are they known as? Nerds, geeks, losers, ugly, fat, awkward.

Our culture looks down their noses at the flawed and fail to realize that no one looks perfect, no matter how much makeup they have applied, how fashionable their clothes are, or the fact that they wear a size zero! Most beauty, today, is artificial and unnatural. Why would we want to model the way we look, dress, or act, after the skewed idealisms of Hollywood? True beauty is from the inside, no matter how ridiculous or over-rated it may sound. I personally would not want to court or marry a young man who is arrogant or a flirt, no matter how attractive and charming he is. He might be someone outwardly catching to the eye, but once his true personality is revealed, he would be utterly repulsive to me.

               

  Our outward beauty should not be based off of the media, although that gives us no excuse to neglect personal hygiene or to attempt to look decent (at least in public). Our standard of beauty should come from God’s Word. We should take care of ourselves physically because “our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19); but personal grooming should not control the way we think or act. Getting ready for an event should not consume us, and we should not constantly be checking our reflection in the mirror.

 Of course, there is also the danger of becoming conceited about the way we look- believing we are the most attractive creature to ever roam the earth, and oh so humble, as well!

We should focus more on our inward beauty than we ever do on the outward aspect. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

What is the use of trying so hard to be beautiful or handsome, when we are all going to age and then die, eventually? Why put all those hours of work and money into a body that’s eventually going to waste away to nothing, since only our heart and actions can mature and change for the better, growing more lovely day after day?

“..though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (2 Cor. 4:16)

Why don’t we take as much time as we take to get ready for church, to read our Bible? Why don’t we pray longer than we take a shower? Why don’t we focus on our spiritual beauty more than our outward attractiveness?

“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

Three Reasons I Love My Youth Group

Hello dear readers- you, lovely individuals who browse my blog without clicking the little red 'x' in the corner of your computer screen!

I believe all ya'll deserve a little update.

It has been long.
Far too long.

I apologize for the delay. Several hospital visits, various illnesses, a College Days trip to Heartland Baptist Bible College in OK, and a never-ending load of school work tend to pile up a bit.


Now, without further ado, I present:

Three Reasons I Love My Youth Group

1. Our Multiple Inside Jokes- 127, one gender, "I need to visit Mrs. Murphy!", "You have pretty eyes.", Unforgettable... I love them all! And no. I shall never betray my friends by posting the scarring meanings on social media.

2. Our Discussion/Debates- Only a group like ours can discuss topics such as the Bible, marriage, and college without it ever getting immature, awkward, or boring. As for our debates... "Is coffee a stimulant?", is an ongoing issue.

3. Our Guys- Our youth group has the hottest, trendiest guys in the universe! They are perfect in every way and I love them all! I should know, 'cuz I've dated every one of them!
Whoa, whoa, whoa... stop the train! Not what you were expecting, huh? Well, that's probably a good thing, in regards to my personality and reputation.
Now, by saying I love the guys in my youth group, I am saying that I love their gentlemanly behavior, I love their respect for females, adults, and authorities, I love their humour that is sarcastic but never rude and hurtful, I love their passion for the Lord, I love their ability to put up with my weirdness and general absurdity. I love not having to deal with dating relationship in our youth group, and the annoying "I like you"s, and the kissing and cuddling, and downright trash half of the churches in America are promoting in their youth, nowadays! Thank you, Lord, for wonderful, God-fearing, guys!

This post was a little shorter, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Sometime, this month, I might give ya'll a few excerpts from my youth group's 40 something hour drive from Florida to Oklahoma, how we managed without killing each other, and the experiences in between, as well as a few new blog posts to look forward to!

In summary, I am so greatful to have a godly youth group and friends that encourage and help each other in the Lord, day after day! :-)

Proverbs 27:17 - Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.