How can it be May already?

Here I was with all these grand blogging ideas, but how many have I done? Very few. I cannot believe it is May already! I know it's a cliche, but time truly does fly. I only have 23 days left as a sophomore. Yikes! Then only two years of high school left. Gulp! And time races on. :) Ah well. Summer will be a most welcome break. I enjoy school, but there is nothing quite like being able to sleep in a wee bit more in the mornings. Summer plans, anyone?

Motions

Often when I'm getting ready for school in the morning, I'll turn on my radio. At least once in the course of the day, KLOVE will play "The Motions" by Matthew West:

This might hurt

It’s not safe

But I know that I’ve gotta make a change

I don’t care

If I break

At least I’ll be feeling something

‘Cause just ok

Is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions

I don’t wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything?

Instead of going through the motions

No regrets

Not this timeI’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind

Let Your love

Make me whole

I think I’m finally feeling something

Take me all the way

Take me all the way

Take me all the way

I don't know about you all, but for me, when school and life and family get busy, it's too easy to just go through the motions, whether it's praying, reading my Bible, or really fellowshipping with God. A classmate of mine recently spoke about this song during devotions one day, and it really hit home. God should be first, not second or third or fourth! Especially growing up in a Christian home, attending church every Sunday, and going to a Christian school, it's so easy to go through the motions. But that is not what God has called me, or you, to. We are not to be complacent as Christians. No passivity. Not just motions. We need to be active.

I'm back!

Hello readers! Yes, it's true; I'm back! Hopefully I won't neglect you all as shamefully as I was before. :) School is pretty busy, but with only 44 days left until summer, life seems pretty good right now. Spring break was a few weeks ago, and we went to Charleston for a 4-day vacation. It was lots of fun, especially jumping in the ocean and finding an amazing pizza place called La Pizzeria. How very original. :) My sixteenth birthday also happened during my blogging hiatus. My older siblings were able to come down for a few days which meant so much! So that's a brief synopsis of the last four months of my life; how about you all?

P.S. I hope to get back to (semi) regular posting soon, so check back in the next few days. Oh, and if you're reading this, will you please leave me a comment? I like to know who's here. :)

A hiatus

For the few of you who read my blog, I'm sure you've noticed that my regular posting has slacked off. So I'm "officially" taking a blogging break. School and life are so busy right now, so I just wanted you to know, that's why I won't be blogging! Be back to posting sometime......

~Livvy

Time flies.....

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I've posted! I'm sorry to have neglected my blog for so long; life has been quite busy, and school occupies most of my time. I have three Honors classes this year, and they require a bunch of extra work! But it's been a good couple of weeks. Our school went on our fall retreat, which was very good. The flour-water tank wars were so intense! We had to build our own tanks out of cardboard and duct tape, and then bomb each other with flour and water-soaked socks. So fun! The sessions of worship and teaching were so good too!! We had some good times of student prayer; it was so neat to see how God confirmed some things to a some of us! How have the past few weeks been for you?

Life and school

Actually I guess school is my life right now. :) Just kidding. School has been really good lately. Everybody's getting ramped up for Fall Retreat!!! I did a post on last year's FR, but for those who weren't reading then, my school takes all the highschoolers away for about two days for a time of fellowhip, worship, speakers, games, food.... :) They break up the students into groups of about 12, and I'm very happy with my group this year. Fun teacher, fun classmates; it's all good! School itself is going quite well too. I was a little busier than usual tonight, but better tonight than over the weekend. Sophmore year really doesnt' seem so bad so far. How did your week go? Let me know!

Life stays exciting...

I have two basset hounds that I regularly pet-sit; they're a bunch of fun! However, this morning when I went over, there was evidence that the owners hadn't left yet. I kept hearing noises, but I wasn't sure. Then Mrs. K came down after I'd fed the dogs, medicated the dogs, and given them their rawhide chews. At least her job with them was mostly done for the morning. Oh well. Life would be so much more dull without happenings like this!

Just to keep you updated.....

I was looking at my archives, comparing this year's posting to last year's. I'm not posting as much, but as my mother pointed out, "You weren't a highschooler last year!" Quite true. Life only gets more busy as time goes on.
Today I went to a farewell party for the senior girls. It was quite fun and an enjoyable time of fellowship. I also am in the process of helping my nextdoor neighbor train her new Cocker Spainel puppy, Cocoa. Today she was introduced to the electric fence with her proper collar. She did not enjoy it, but that's hardly suprising. :) And if the rain holds off until 8:00 tonight, Ev will be able to have his baseball game.
Oh yes; There are only 15 school days left!! (And have a Happy May Day...)

Days

Just in case you wanted to know....

• There are 13 days to Spring Break
• 14 days until I leave on my trip
• Roughly 75 days until school is out and
• 39 days until Banquet

Musings....

I'm sorry for neglecting my blog in the past few weeks! Life's been busy lately, especially with school. This weekend I'll be attending a conference in Ohio, so there should be a post on that early next week. :) I hope everyone is having a good week. For you students out there, only two school days left for this week!!!!

Sick :(

This morning when I woke up with a raging sore throat, Mom told me, "Go back to bed!" So here I sit, blogging, feeling somewhat better, but not well enough to go to school. Since I only woke up about 2 hours ago (11:00), it doesn't feel like it should be after 1:00 already! Another reason I decided to stay home was the fact that I have a huge geography project due tomorrow. A classmate and I will be teaching the rest of the class on Western Sahara, and I thought if I have to miss a day this week, it should be today and not tomorrow! On a happier note, the project is going well. Last night I painted the flag, my friend is doing a poster, we're going to do a crossword puzzle and play a fishing game (at first we thought we might try camel racing, but decided against it!), and have a fruit salad! It should be a very good project. I'm just praying that my throat will be well enough to talk for 40 minutes. :) I need to go make some fishing rods, and type up so notes....

Blessings!

~Livvy

Family!

This week, my older sister and nephew came down for a visit. It was so much fun! They came in on Wednesday night, late, so everyone said hello and then went to sleep. In the morning, Jen and I introduced Tallie and Bono to their dog, Domingo, and thankfully it went well; no one bit off any limbs or anything like that! I took the day off from school (it was such a sacrifice..... Not!), and we went to the Smoky Mountains. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! One stop we made before we explored the mountains was at a store called "Wood and Strings." The man who owns the store specializes in handmade dulcimers, but also has flutes, lap harps, bow psaltrys, steel drums, and other instruments. My nephew Rhys enjoyed the steel drums especially! After that, we went to the Y (a beautiful stream in the mountains, and a good place to throw rocks). Our next stop was Buddy's, for some true Tennessee barbecue! It was a great time for hanging out and enjoying good family time! Thanks, Jen and Rhys!

What a week....

I do believe that this week was the longest school week that I have had so far. Overall, I had about 7 tests/quizzes and a huge geography project on Sudan, besides all my regular school work and basic things like eating and sleeping. :) It was, however, a good week. I feel as though I got plenty accomplished, and the project on Sudan went okay. Our food though was absolutely, without question the most disgusting thing I have ever had the misfortune to be required to put in my mouth. My partner and her mom made a custard, flan type thing. They definitely made it the right way, so it certainly wasn't their fault. But the food just jiggled while we carried it, and the texture was totally gross and slimy. Ugh! The project itself went well though.

So, this weekend I plan on recovering from my activity-filled school week by going to my brother's soccer game and spending time with church friends. Ev's team is short a few players, so maybe I'll get recruited! Have a great weekend, all!

Blessings,
Livvy

Update!

Hello everyone! I apologize for having neglected my blog recently. School can do that to a person! Life has been so busy that I don't feel like sitting down at the end of a long day and typing a post. However, weekends are a time for relaxation, so I thought I would jot some notes.
School is going absolutely great! I really have the best teachers (except for art, but that's a different story). My classmates are good, some are bordering on weird, but I think that has more to do with being in high school than anything else. I've finished my first round of tests/quizzes, and all went surprisingly well, even in subjects that aren't my forte. Today I typed my English paper, had an algebra pop quiz (!), took Bible, geography, and science quizzes, and spent 40 minutes dreadfully bored in Art I. We also had Chapel today, which is a nice break from the weekly routine. We had a very inspiring message that I will tell you more about in a later post.
This weekend, Ev has his first soccer game! As his team is missing three good players, it will be interesting to see how the game pans out. Hopefully his team will not get massacred. Oh, guess what their team name is? You never will, so here it is: The Blue Pugilistic Inchworms. I'm not kidding, and you did read it correctly! Let's just say I'll only be cheering, "Go Team!"
Have a good weekend!

In Him,
~Livvy

Sorry!

I apologize for being so remise in posting these pasts two weeks! School has kept me busy, and the time I have left, I have been spending with family. But, now that I am settled into a routine, I hope to have time to post. :)

• First off, it's soccer season again!! Although I am too old to play, Evan is playing through a church league. I'll be posting lots of pictures, and maybe even some videos with Dad's new digital video-camera! Oh, and please be in prayer: Evan was just out playing airsoft with some school buddies, and he got stung 4 times by yellow jackets. Some of his friends got stung too.
• School is going GREAT! My teachers are awesome, my classmates are great (with a few exceptions-hee hee!), and it's just good overall. I never have much homework, either, which is wonderful!!!

That's all the news for now! Please comment, and have great day!