To the bestestest best friend in the whole wide world

Yesterday I was slightly crabby and annoyed (partly cuz I had just burnt my hand on a very hot pan) so I called my best friend, the other author of this blog, kIaNa!!!! (also known to me as Buttercup) After we talked and she cheered me up she sent me this.

Darlin, Darlin, you're so grand! 

You're sweeter than the best chocolate in all the land! 

Friends like you are sooo very high in demand,

So keep your head up, Darlin' cuz I wub you more than ocean sand =D

 

xoxo ~Buttercup

 

I felt so special and loved that I wanted to tell the whole wide world about the bestestest best friend in the whole wide world.

 

Kiana never minds if I call her and complain. She sympathizes when I need sympathy and tells me to snap out of it when I get too deep into my pity party. She loves it when I call her because I am excited. She squeals and giggles and and gets just as excited as I do when something goes well. I know I can trust her with any and every secret I want to tell her. She lets me rant and rave about frustrations just to get them off my chest and then when I am ready to move to a new subject she makes me laugh and forget about being mad. She also calls me and tells me everything that's going on in her life and asks for advice and tells me about the horrible things and the spectacularly great things that happen in her life. This makes me feel trusted and loved because I know I am the first friend she will call about stuff. And I give her my best advice, which is reserved for her, and sympathize with her problems and help her forget them, and I get excited every time something cool happens in her life, cuz I love it when she's happy....which seems to be most of the time. If things are going well for her I have hope that they can go well for me, too.

 

Even though we see each other about once a year, sometimes only for a day, she has never given up on me. I have never had a more faithful and true and loving friend ever. Which is why she is my best friend. We live almost 2,000 miles apart but she has never failed once to be there for me. I plan on being there forever for her, too, just so you know. We have known each other our whole lives. (Ok, ok, so I was six months old when she was born, it's still practically my whole life) Even though she moved away when we were three, we never lost touch. When our parents didn't keep in contact as much, we kept the relationship going between our families (and we were little kids!!!!!) Our families try to get together every year. (thank you Jesus! I couldn't live without my bff, it would be so hard to never ever see her) I look forward to seeing her all year, from the very second she gives me that sad look as one of us walks out the door to the car to leave, until we get to see each other again.

 

So, kIaNa, Buttercup, I just want you to know, you are my favoritest bestest most beautifulest gorgeousest prettiest specialest funnest coolest spectacularly fantastically awesomely extremely sweetest faithfulest lovingest caringest best friend and I wouldn't trade you for anybody else in the world, cuz you are perfect just the way you are.

 

I yub you, Buttercup!!! <3

 

.k grace.

 

 

Trip to WA Coast =D

So this weekend I got to go to my cousins wedding on the WA coast! Vacations are so much fun!! <3
It was sooo worth the 12 hour drive!
The pics aren't really in order, but I don't really feel like fixing them sooo....

Giant lollipops from Giggles the clown

As all the hotels were booked, we found an apartment to rent for the weekend on craigslist. Can you guess where we stayed? Giggles the clown's family fun park!

Blackberries growing wild alongside the road

Me dancing with my great uncle

The band at the wedding

Yummy XD

Fresh salmon from the coast <3

The best torte ever!

Like seriously.... WOW!

*Speechless*

Yes, I really have my feet in ocean water! lol

Haha my little bro found a snake in the rocks and had to show the bride =D

The bride with her parents

Hmm....

Yep, it's really a crab hehe

~Kiana

What I do for fun on friday nights.

Just for fun (since friday nights are supposed to be all about part-ays and fun and the weekend) occasionally I will indulge myself with a floor washing session. I sit on the kitchen floor, under the table, scrubbing at minuscule spots with a rag, trying to discern whether the spots are part of the "pattern" in the linoleum or not........

The last thing I leave you with is this:

Remember to never forget.

.k grace.

Stars, Amusement Parks, Suicidal Frogs, and God's Best

My title today reminds of my best friends mom's blog. Outdoor.mom's stories are always hilarious and so are her titles. When we were little she had "superkids" stories she would tell us that we couldn't get enough of. Anyway....

This weekend my family had a fire in our driveway (on purpose, don't freak out here!) to roast hot dogs on for supper. I was sitting there mind my own business when all of the sudden my mom goes, "Si, quick get a stick, there's a frog! (Si's my li'l bro by a year and a half) He grabs a stick and tries to guide this teeny little frog away from the rocks around the fire. He would almost get it out and it would dart right back in, over and over. Finally it broke away from him completely and flung itself into the flames. It was awful. Maybe it panicked and didn't know how to get out. But why would it leap for the fire when it was being prodded towards free, open, cool, clean air and freedom? Why do we do that? We start to wander too close to danger and bondage and God starts prodding us back towards freedom and safety. But we are so fascinated by the fire, captivated by the leaping flames. We think we won't get burned, it won't leave scars if we just touch it, just to see what it's like. But no, you can never play with fire without getting burned - or killed.

I was at the biggest amusement park in my state with two of my sisters, a group of teens, and most importantly one of my bestest friends, Saint over at Life as a PK Teen and Our Guts. We have known each other for almost six years and are very close. This group went because my older sister is the leader of my friend's youth group and their church is categorized as Assemblies of God, I guess, and it was Assemblies of God Youth Day at the amusement park, so I got to go with their youth group. (does all that make sense? lol!)

The day had some stressful moments, with drama thrown in for punctuation. But my friend Saint (that's her blog name so I'll just go with that name) was there and because of her I could handle everything the day threw my way. Every once in a while we would find a way to sit and chill together and talk or sit in silence. The highlight of my entire day was not a crazy roller coaster ride or dropping face down from 150 feet in the air. It was laying on the sidewalk with Saint, staring up at the only star visible in the sky. God's Best star, put there just to make me smile and feel peaceful that night. As the group was heading towards a ride that day I was slightly hyper (just cuz bad things happen when I am very tired and not hyper), I was like, "I want to be somebody, who shall I be?" Just before we decided to lay on the sidewalk I knew who I wanted to be. I was walking along in my red plaid flannel shirt, my cutoff denim shorts, and hot pink sandals and feeling good, confident good. I looked up at the sky and just said, "I know what I want to be Saint. I want to be God's Best." And that has stuck with both Saint and I since then. We laid there looking at that star, God's very best star and knew that whatever life had for us, there was someone we could rely on, somebody willing to do anything for us. As we sat in the car a little while later staring up at that star again, we knew even more how great and strong and all consuming His love is for us. So great that He died. Jesus was willing to pay whatever it took, and it took His life. You are worth as much as someone is willing to pay for you. So don't sell your self for less. Because you are worth dying for. YOU are God's Best.

.k grace.

One cool chick! XD

Last week I helped out at our church VBS program. At the parents night program I met this AMAZING chick named Steffany! Her mom told her about me a long time ago and she always gives me tons of cute clothes ! <3
Anyway, talking to her the other day I was like sooo totally inspired! She started her own contracting business for flight attendants. Here's her website www.flyskyangels.com
She's one of those people who just stands out. I mean, talk about creative, resourceful, ambitious, etc.
It takes a pretty special person to start something like that and stick with it.
Have you met any inspiring people lately?

Casting Crowns - Praise You In The Storm (Live)

Lovin' Life! (uhh, maybe?)

A really disgusting army worm nest... kinda cool though, huh?! lol

Daisies I took pics of today where we were cutting firewood

Focaccia bread I made the other day =D (Super yummy with my homemade marinara sauce!)

Empty pizza tray from last week when Mine and K Grace's families when to Young Guns pizza together XD

"Lovin' Life"? haha what a joke. Well, today I'm officially guilty of not living in the present moment... but you know what?!

I can't keep thinking about the mistakes I made earlier today because then I wouldn't be living in the present moment right now! Make sense?! Soooo... If you're feeling like I am today then lets change our focus right now! Are you with me?! Lets start choosing to love life even though we don't feel like it!

Randomness seems to cheer me up a little so here's a few pics AND I have been like totally crazy about this song lately!

~Kiana

My Brain Hurts...

Do you like cheese?! I'm sitting here right now next to my BFF! She's making me an adorable yellow fashion accessory out of an old t-shirt! Isn't she amazing!!??

She's actually at my house visiting for like 5 days. We've been suntanning together, we hiked up a mountain trail today (we even saw a moose!), and went to a huge lake the other day for a family picnic! Tomorrow we have a big day of kayaking planned=D

I am having sooo much fun!!!! ~Kiana

Totally Unexpected Suprises

Sometimes you try and try to make something good happen for yourself, but it gets to the point when it seems like no matter how hard you try, things will never change. You don't know how you can live with it any longer...
But then out of nowhere something totally amazing happens that you never dreamed could ever be! You still have dreams and you still try to reach for the sky, but even though it's hopeless right now, what God made happen for you is enough to bear your situation for a little longer and remind you of what he can do. =) Kiana

Unhappy or simply dissatisfied?

There is something wrong with the picture I see, this culture and it's so called freedom. Haven't you read the stories in the Bible of the people who met for church in secret, and if they were discovered, they died? They knew they needed freedom to worship God. They strove for it, pushed until they got it. And now that we think we have it, we're tired of it. Why is it that what we don't have we want, and what we do have we don't want. Once we get what we think we want, we don't want it anymore. We think happiness lies in that newest cd, or in the latest style of jeans or that amazing red convertible. We think that the elusive feeling we call happiness lies around the next bend. That just around the corner we will discover the very thing needed to complete our lives. What we don't know is that the corner we see is part of a circle that will only lead us right back to where we started - unhappy and wanting what we don't have.

.k grace.

The Reckless Kind of Faith

"A reckless faith understands that the best use for an expensive bottle of perfume may be to wash someones feet. A reckless faith builds an ark before there's even a cloud in the sky. A reckless faith charges into the sea before thinking that God may part the water. A reckless faith leaves 99 sheep to go after one lost one. It does not need man's approval - or man's money. It honors God in the classroom, even when no one else there reveres Him. A reckless faith doesn't make moral compromises at the office, even when they're  expected, A reckless faith believes in "till death do us part." "
-page 123 "Reckless Faith" by Beth Guckenberger

You see, reckless faith never says "what if". Reckless faith doesn't require countless hours of agonizing over other alternatives. Reckless faith does what needs to be done - now. No waiting till a more convenient time, say when the 99 have been safely put away and the wolf has already eaten the lost one. Reckless faith doesn't go just halfway or go a "reasonable" distance. Reckless faith is all out, holding nothing back, going as far as necessary and even further. It doesn't rely on what everyone around is thinking or what the press response will be, or if a lot of people are going to support you morally, spiritually, or financially. Reckless faith is a right here, right now, all out, giving everything, no hesitating, do what's right no matter what kind of a thing. Reckless faith says that you don't need to use logic and reasoning to figure out how things are going to happen. It takes action and things fall into place. Try it sometime.

.k grace.

Yay! My first post!!

Yayness!!!! I finally am able to post now that we're rid of some "technical problems" =)

So first I'll fill you in on been goin' on. Been riding "my" bike (it's actually my moms old one, not mine lol) a lot lately, volunteered at a fire dept garage sale, finished school for the year, ran 10 miles (woohoo!), and just been living everyday life!

Looking forward to summer! I've been thinking and praying a lot lately about trying to do a youth missions trip! Check out this website! www.globalexpeditions.com

More later! ~Kiana

I feel special today...

The title is slightly sarcastic but only slightly. Two monumentous (monumental + momentous = monumentous, remember, Kiana?!) things happened today. You know that song "Everything Glorious" by David Crowder Band? Well, today, for the very first time I "got it".

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
Yeah, You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

I never understood that part. I was listening to random music on my computer while doing some chores and all the sudden I heard those words and I understood. That's where the sarcastic part of the title comes in. I am sure everybody but me already "got" that song a long time ago. But even though you probably know this already, here's what it means.
If God makes everything glorious, and I belong to Him, that means He is making me glorious! Yayness!

Thing 2 today was actually the very first thing that happened today. I had been out of bed for just moments and I was brushing my teeth, hoping that I would be able to go back to my room and chill for a few more minutes before facing the day. Then I heard knocking. Oh great, I thought. Now I have to hurry and get out and I don't want to hurry. "Hurry, K, hurry!" It was my mom. Usually she doesn't sound quite that excited about getting in the bathroom. So I hurried. When I opened the door, no one rushed in, pushed me out and slammed the door. Nope, a letter was shoved into my hands. You have to remember that I had only been up for a little while. People were telling me to open it, open it! Ok, ok. I did, and a check fell into my lap. Huh? "Pay One Hundred Dollars and 00 cents to the Order of K Grace". Then it occurred to me in the form of my mother's voice that I should read the letter. Right, the letter. Which told me that I had won third place in a national essay contest! I wrote the essay what seems like forever ago and I thought the contest was over and I had lost. NOPE! Yayness as Kiana would say, lol.  Now I just want to tell everybody! Not to brag but....I guess it's just the thought that I can write well enough to win 3rd place in a NATIONAL writing contest. And it's not sponsored by a little known corporation or something like that. This is a huge thing! Writing is my passion, and to know that I have the ability to succeed at what I love makes me believe I can reach for the stars and not come up empty. Thank you Jesus!

.k grace.

The Case for Christ

I read this book and it amazed me. I had never before thought about the logic of the historical truths and accuracy of the Bible and Christ's life. It really just gives me another reason, more proof that Jesus is everything He says He is. Everyone should read this book. I read the student edition first because it was in the teen section of non-fiction books at cbd.com. I am planning on reading the full edition soon. If you have friends who doubt what the Bible says about Jesus, tell them to read this book.

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

.k grace.

Change in the air

It's spring, going on summer and things are happening. You can almost smell the change tickling your nose. It means cleaning up the yard and the house and the car. On Wednesday before dropping me off at work my brother stopped to get gas. I was preoccupied with something, and when I looked up, a little red head kid was grinning at me. Or at least I think it was a grin... Anyway, the dad was cleaning out the van with all the doors open, leaning over the seats with a vacuum. It made me start thinking about how it's time to clean up after a long, cold, dull winter. Time to make changes.

A big one for me is time management. I need to put the big rocks in the jar first before I pour in the sand or they're never going to fit. My priorities are a mess. I have good intentions, I plan on doing what needs to be done first but it doesn't turn out that way in the end. A

nother thing is my bedroom. There are a lot of things that I love to do but today I realized that I have so much stuff to use to do what I love to do, I no longer have the room to do what I love! That doesn't sound right. For example, writing. Writing is my biggest passion but my room is so cluttered I don't have space to relax and get in a writing groove. In fact I rarely write anything any more. If I do it's just a hurried scribble of an idea. Another one is reading. Again, no space to relax and enjoy it. The biggest one is sewing. I can't even get to my sewing machine because of all my fabric. I hate wasting fabric and I don't like throwing it away. And I end up using the scraps eventually for small projects. But that's just the thing. Eventually. If I can get my weekend jobs done today, then I can focus on purging fabric. If there are scraps I refuse to throw away, then I have all of tomorrow to use it.

I am slowly throwing out or giving away things that I have been hanging onto. They do me no good - or anybody else - if they are sitting on a shelf making a hobby of collecting dust and wallowing in memories of the past. Some of my favorite books when I was little I have given to my younger sisters. Joy and Em love to read like I used to and they get to enjoy my old books. Now they are enriching more lives, and that's what they were meant to do. Stuff was not meant for collecting. It was meant for changing lives.

I won't ramble about this endlessly. I just hope I have made my point. Change won't come if you wait for it to happen. It's not a downhill ride, either. You have to push until something shifts and when you achieve what you were aiming for,  the view on that hilltop is amazing. You see the ruts you were in, you see the clutter that surrounded you, and then you don't let it happen to you again. When things change for the good, you never want to go back.

.k grace.