Loving Fall and Giving Thanks

It was a beautiful Thanksgiving break spent with wonderful friends in Tennessee and special family in Alabama. A whole week off of school was amazing and I loved being with my family!

While in Tennessee we were sure to have a bonfire complete with smores! And not just regular smokes... but Reese's peanut butter cup smores. Your tastebuds will forever be changed!

A trip to Tennessee would not complete without a little tree climbin' and horse back ridin'. 

Of course a few pictures had to be taken (: 

Being around a little one made me so happy! Ben is a precious little boy and he constantly is full of joy. 

Family picture!

To end our time in Tennessee we relived a Target memory from two years ago from when we were in Alabama and our moms sat at Starbucks and talked forever so we made ourselves comfortable for a little while... So we decided we needed to take a similar picture!

The last few days of break were spent with family in Alabama. It was our traditional Alabama Thanksgiving full of lots of eating, dominoes, pecan pie, card games, and Big Bob Gibson's barbecue. This break was a perfect refresher to finish up the semester well! 

My Today :)

Today was a lovely summer day complete with friends, family, fun, worship, and baking; my most favorite things!

It started out with a trip to Six Flags with my cousin, Hunter, Trent, Joel, and some of their friends. Six Flags is always fun. No matter how hot I love the thrill of the roller coasters and the talking time I get with friends.

When I got home I decided to be productive. I finished loan applications, job resumes and applications, and organized my pictures/files on my new computer!

I was going to write more graduation thank you notes but I ran out of stationary. I was going to the store to get more and had requests from Hunter and Avery for brownies with ice-cream and hot fudge. That sounded way more exciting so I went with it.

I came home (and happened to be alone) so I turned on my worship music and baked brownie for their delightful dessert.

Today was fun, productive, and full of things I love most! I like summer.

Support for Africa!

Africa! Support us in a practical way. This is a very neat fundraiser and literally every bit helps. Just read about it and see what you can do! We are tremendously blessed by those who are encouraging and supporting us as we walk out this call! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Just follow this link to read more!

http://carriganmissiontrips.blogspot.com/2012/05/africa-fundraiser.html

{24 Days of Thanksgiving=Day 1}

Family. I am thankful for my family. I am so blessed by each one of them. They all have brought me an abundance of joy and we have grown so much together.

Family time is special. Each member of our family is special. We love being together. We all love adventures and with six of us kids (now) you never know what to expect. It's fun. It's silly. I love it. I am blessed and so very thankful.

This just makes me smile because it reminds me of my family. We are far from normal. Talk to one of us for a while and you will find that out. We all love Jesus though and love each other. That's what matters, right?

Be thankful for your family today :)

It's The Season of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I love everything about it; from the history to the pumpkin pies. Thanksgiving is a reminder of new beginnings. The Pilgrims settling at Plymouth Rock represents them finding a new way of life where they could freely practice their faith. When they celebrated with a feast they were celebrating the new life they had found.

Also, November is generally a relaxed time of year. It is before the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping and festivities. It's still fall. We wear boots and scarves and take lots of pictures. There is plenty of time for baking, game playing, and football watching. Thanksgiving is just purely enjoyable.

Because Thanksgiving is to be celebrated with thankfulness I am going to post one thing I am thankful for each day up until Thanksgiving. Thankfulness is a good habit to form all year round. God says in His Word multiple times to be thankful always.

Around this time of year I am just extra thankful :)

Try making a list of the things you are thankful for... maybe share them with your family, your friends, or the people you work with. When you focus on what you have to be thankful for your perspective on life is more positive and can positively influence those around you. There is always something we can be thankful for even if that something is as simple as the air that we breathe.

Spring Break: Day Two

The day started out with some time with God, then a nice cinnamon toast breakfast.

After a couple of relaxing hours, we met a bunch of friends at the movies and saw Tangled (I think it is a very cute movie). Then we all went to the park to play Nuke 'em (A twisted game of volleyball). It was a ton of fun and a nice start to a wonderful week.

Last night we had a yummy dinner, I cleaned while listening to a great playlist, then played another game of Monopoly Deal with the siblings. The day ended with a good conversation with a friend, reading John Piper's "Don't Waste Your Life", and quiet time with God.

Spring Break: Night One

Spring break is here, and we are going to fully enjoy every moment. Last night the fun began. =)

Monopoly Deal

Trip to Alabama =)

The last week of December and of 2010 passed by quickly. We arrived back at home, had a few days to settle back in, have a new years eve party and leave again.

This is Ethan, Ash, my Memaw, me, and Mom =)

This last trip was not expected, but needed. My Memaw (great-grandmother on my moms side) lives in Alabama along with cousins, aunts, and uncles. My Memaw's sister-in-law passed away in November on Thanksgiving and her brother passed away a few weeks later right around Christmas. My mom decided it would be best if we went to see Memaw and just comfort her so my mom, Ash, Ethan and I took the trip. I helped drive which was fun =) It was so good to see all my family. It wasn't an easy trip because I was ready to be home but I'm glad I got to see everyone.

While we were there our friends, the Stapletons who we haven't seen since March 2010, from Tennessee came to see us. We spent a whole day together walking around the mall (and Target), playing cards and catching up. Hopefully we wont have to wait that long to see each other next time! =) That was definitely the highlight of my trip and I am so thankful it worked out.

Me, Ash, Haley, and Matt found an empty spot in Target and talked for a couple of hours while our moms were in the Starbucks talking and our little brothers ran around. We had so much fun in there (check out the Facebook pictures).

All the kids crammed into the back =)

Matt, Luke, Ethan, Johnny, Ash, Me, and Haley!

There are so many more pictures (lots of funny ones too) so go look at them on Facebook! =)

Different doesn't always mean bad =)

This was a very different Christmas. A good different, but still a little challenging. I have never been away from home on Christmas. I have never been without my big sis on Christmas. I have never went to bed without the excitement of waking up to gifts underneath the tree and knowing the day will be full of festivities.

I experienced all of that not happening this year.

And it was probably the best thing for me. As I laid in bed on Christmas Eve I thought about how much we change and our lives change. I realized that sometimes were going to be away for the holidays (Who knows where each of us will be just 5 years from now-Rachel is already a few states away), sometimes the people we most love are not going to be with us on every special occasion or holiday (especially as we get older), and sometimes a present does not come in the form of a perfectly wrapped gold box with a big red bow. Although I "went without" those things, I still had a lot of my family and made memories for a lifetime up in the mountains of Colorado. God really spoke to my heart that night. My family has always set the focus of Christmas to Jesus. We wouldn't have it if He did not come into this world. So what is the point of celebrating if we don't truly remember why it is such an important date? There isn't one. We still do gifts and in the recent years that has been a little different. Last year I explained what we get and why. It is still gifts we like but they have meaning in one way or another. =)

So even though we had a different Christmas the meaning stays the same and after a little struggling I was able to embrace that.

Truly A White Christmas

We are leaving in 3 hours to go to Colorado! Yes, it is 2 a.m. and we are leaving at 5 a.m. Am I trying to pull an all nighter? Yes. We have had so much to do and I would rather hold out a few hours then try to wake myself up after a short nap.

We will be in the car for about 16 hours (give or take..depends on the weather) in just a little bit. I will probably sleep the first half of the trip and enjoy the scenery the next half. It is going to be snowing when we get there so we are bundling up and praying for a safe trip.

Most of the time we will be playing games, watching movies, and just spending time as a family. 3 of the days we get to go skiing! It's an amazing Christmas present. I will probably fall. Get up. Fall again. Get up. And finally ski! It's my first time so I am a little nervous but it will be fun no matter what. I am sure there will be a lot of hot cocoa and wrapping in blankets once we get back to the cabin. =)

We are still planning on having a huge Christmas feast! Mom and I have been working on pulling together a few ingredients and making a grocery list for when we get there. We have to have at least some of our traditional desserts and of course yummy ham, sweet potato casserole, macaroni, and other fun feasty foods. =)

Praying my mouth will heal up soon so I can eat real food...it's going to be an interesting car trip. Lots of applesauce! :)....:/

We will be gone for 9 days! I am sure the trip home next Sunday will not be as exciting as the trip there, but be looking for some pictures after Christmas. I will start taking those in just a few hours =)

Well I pray everyone has a wonderful Christmas. I'll be missing everyone especially my sister and brother, Rach and Joshua, who will be thought about every day of our trip! It will be good though.

Merry Christmas!

Another Blessing

I barely missed a post for Friday. It is 1:30 a.m. on Saturday and I am finally sitting down to write about a blessing today.

As a teenager I have been learning and growing a lot. Recently there has been a situation I am working through and God has been right there to encourage me. He has been able to use my family (especially my mom) and everything is working out just fine. It has really helped me grow closer to friends, to family, and to God. I love experiences in life like that. Sometimes it can seem like the enemy uses those situations to make things worse, but this has been a good time of growing.

I find myself more amazed every day because of what God has blessed me with. He knows exactly what I need and when I need it. God never gives me more than I can handle and when I feel like I can't do deal with anything else God gives me strength to endure. God is good all the time. =)

There is a song from Wicked that I have not been able to get out of mind. It is called "For Good" and a lot of the lyrics I can so relate to.

"I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led

To those who help us most to grow..

..I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you"

I can definitely say this about some of my friends especially lately. God has brought them into my life for a reason. We have learned from each other. I am who I am today because I know them.

"You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend"

I can't imagine life without my friends. They have really changed my life. No matter what the future holds I am forever grateful for their friendships.

Oh the holidays!

It's Christmas time again. I love the holiday season for many reasons; family time, no school, enjoying friends, and the joy that seems to be so evident during this time. Today began that season for me. School is officially over for a month and I have a busy yet relaxing break to enjoy.

Saturday we depart for Colorado. We will be on vacation for 8 days with no internet or phone service..it's going to be a nice family trip. My dad is taking all of us skiing for Christmas. This is our first time to go so we are all excited!

For one reason I have mixed emotions about this vacation. This is my first Christmas without my big sister, Rachel. Joshua and Rachel are staying in California this year and we are all bummed that we have to be a part. I just keep telling myself God's plans are good and He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. I don't know when the next time I will see her again (it has been 7 months...the longest I have been without seeing her). I am praying God provides a way for us to be together soon. I miss them terribly and look forward to when we can all spend some time together.

It is going to be a great Christmas nonetheless, and I will probably take way too many pictures of the piles of snow and beautiful mountains. I pray this is a blessed Christmas for everyone and that we all remember the reason we celebrate it. =)

Random Excitement

Summer always has its slow times and busy times. I have spent most of my summer in a non stop blur of excitement. Therefore when I am able to catch a moment where I'm not going at 100 mph, I read or accomplish something.

The past couple of weeks I have not sat down at all, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The Bailey's, our friends from Georgia, came for a week. When they are here we always have something to do. We just pulled out our ping pong table again, so entertainment was easy to find. We all love to play cards and games too. I baked a lot. I always find that fun, so the week could not have gotten much better. :P While they were here we invited lots of friends over and had a little party. We danced, played ultimate frisbee (my team didn't win, but I almost fainted on the last round because it was so hot!!), ping pong, cards, and just enjoyed being together.

Thursday (the day the Bailey's left) our theatre had its first annual Gala. It is a formal theatre event where actors/actresses are recognized and given awards. It was a huge success, especially for out first time. I'm so excited for next year. Everyone looked fancy. I am going to put the pics on Facebook and post one with all the "Rosie Award" winners on another post (I haven't uploaded them onto the computer yet).

On Friday my younger brother, Ethan, tested for his low brown belt and passed. He is doing incredible in karate and lovin' it! =) It was a long tournament because so many people are testing but we had fun.

Saturday we had the Messingers over. I think my parents have known them for a long time. I love their family! We played our new favorite game with them. If I posted what it was, you would want an explanation and it just wouldn't work so I am not even going to say what it's called. I guess you will just have to wait in suspense and play with us sometime. ;) We LOVE it though, and play so much. Nat and Doug come over a lot and play with us.

Today we went on a mini road trip to Eastwood (it is in east Texas, past Dallas). My dad found some land out there he liked. In the near future his dream is to own acres and acres of land with a big main house, and 5 mini cottages (there are 5 kids in my family, so each of us he would let choose the style and it would be "our" cottage). His plan is to use it for family reunions, weekend getaways, and to rent it out. It would be a really neat place for people to go on retreats, go for a simple family vacation, a girl's weekend, etc. He has been praying about it a lot. This is no small/cheap idea, but God for sure answers prayers and if this is something that my dad is supposed to do, God will provide. He always does. We for sure know a lot about that. =)

Well, there is an update on my life and all the random excitement it has held!

Get Ready For Revival

God is doing something. I can feel it stronger than I have before. God did something amazing in every heart of each person who attended Newbreed last week. He is preparing a generation who will step out with child like faith and not be ashamed to share about the saving love of Jesus.

As corny as it sounds, we really are a new breed. We are a unique generation and God is going to use us. The dreams and passions God put in my heart about shining His light and changing the world are not silly. They are from Him. They are alive. And He ignited that fire last week that has been burning in me for a LONG time.

The theme this past week was "ignite." The scripture was Deuteronomy 4:24, "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." He is a consuming fire! Without fire, we won't reach our destiny. We have to be filled with the fire of God and we did just that last week.

We were encouraged, taught, prophesied over. It was incredible! I experienced a deeper level in worship than I thought was possible. I am not afraid to jump around, clap my hands, raise my hands...anything. I was raised that way and I know there is freedom in worship. That is when we really connect with God. So I prayed that if there was a deeper level that God would take me there and He did. I encountered God. We encountered God. I can tell you that there is a group of young kids ready to take on the world. Ready to fulfill their calling. Ready to be used by God. I know I am.

The feeling that all of this brings is so strong. I don't want it to leave. I want it to be stronger. A group of my friends that went have already been talking about what we can do. We are ready to move into action. We can't just talk about what God has been doing and not show it.

I would hold on tight because God has something big in store and its coming soon. Get ready for revival. I can feel it as deep as my spirit goes.

its definitely summer break

Summer has been so much fun! I have been so busy, but home enough to get things done.

Last week I did study. My friends and I sat there the whole time thinking "we should not be doing this. its summer." But sure enough it could not be helped...I had to study for the accuplacer, which I still haven't taken. I think this is the last week! Oh no! =) I also need to spend some time studying for the psat and sat, but I mainly want to get college testing out of the way.

So for the fun part...last Tuesday we had a sleepover birthday party for Grace. Almost every girl from school was there. It was crazy, but also our last time to all hang out before Grace's family moves to California for the summer. :(

Thursday I had an orthodontist appointment..no fun, but afterwards I hung out with friends and ended up spending the night with Portia that night. We had yummy chinese food and watched part of the first Lord of the Rings. I love being with Portia! =)

Friday morning we went to the cowboys stadium! That was so much fun! That night we saw the Triple Threat concert. It was amazing! My friends are so talented. :) Saturday night we had a graduation party for a friend who is one of 5 boys..I have grown up with their family my whole life and they are pretty much my brothers. Sunday we had a graduation party for my older brother, Hunter. I read my letter to him when everyone was saying something to him...I cried. I am going to miss him so much when he goes to college, but we still have the rest of the summer!

In between all of that I have played lots of cards with my family. We love games. :)

That would be my busy week. Today I am home. It is actually nice. I have been sort of productive. :P I uploaded all my pictures from the stadium, cut a watermelon that has been in our fridge for a week (it is so sweet and delectable!), picked the strawberries and blackberries from our garden, watered the garden, and started dinner. I am probably making a blackberry pie tonight!!!

Well, I guess that's enough for now...:)

I Can't Believe It!

Wow! Hunter graduated tonight. It came so soon. Rachel graduated 3 years ago and married two years later. I graduate in two years. Ashtyn two years after that. Ethan two years after her. My parents have one year in between each graduation for a break (seeing that no one gets married in that time...).

The rest of tonight I will be packing, celebrating Hunter's graduation with family and a few really close friends, and spending as much time with Rachel and Joshua as I can. They leave Tuesday to move to California.

I am leaving in the morning for National Convention. It is a camp that is opened up for the alumni of TeenPact state classes. I can't believe I am leaving again, but it will be a good experience. I will miss everyone. I hope you have a good week! I will be back Saturday and see everyone after that! =)

Now I am off to finish packing as quickly as I can then go soak up the time I have left with my oldest siblings. :)

End of School Bash

On Friday we celebrated the end of school and the beginning of summer! The Pollocks pulled together a swim party. We all had a blast and of course someone got thrown in...it wouldn't have been a pool party without that. =)

A lot of the girls sat on the edge of the pool the whole time...the water was still pretty cold.

Megan and Ashtyn :)

James attempting to jump into the float. :P

Ethan diving over a noodle. Pretty nice action shot, right?

It's beginning to feel like summer!

I love summer! Although, we might be scorched in the sun at times, summer is amazing. So far, it has not been too hot.

Tuesday I was organizing my room. I was trying to clean out all of my school books, throw out papers I did not want, and get all my report cards together to write up my transcript so I can register for TCC duel credit classes, when Ash told me that mom said we could invite people over. I scrambled to finish my "summer room cleaning", take a shower, and pick up the house a little.

I got everything done in perfect timing and we had about 6 friends come over. We hung out with Beth, Blake, Brandon, Jake, Alicia and Miranda from about 4-10 at the park and my house playing games and watching movies. It was really nice to have such a fun time and not have to be thinking about what I was going to have to catch up on for taking this "break."

I ended up spending the night with Beth and staying up until about 2...We slept until 10:30 though! My body normally does not let me do that but it sure did feel good! Beth and I had an amazing time...all day we kept saying, "It's Wednesday and we don't have school. It's summer!" I think we just needed the reminder to keep having fun. We talked, talked some more, went to the pool(actually swam for a little bit-didn't go under the water though. It was still a bit too cold!), made a cake, talked again, and went to Charlie Brown practice. We talk a lot. =) It was a blast and I am really looking forward to all the fun things summer break holds.

Beth and I were talking about things we could do this summer. We really want to go to the zoo, try to go to Six Flags, go to NRH2O (hopefully), and definitely swim at her neighborhood pool. Those are all things we can do in big groups so after I get back from being out of town next week, we are going to plan something! :)

Yardwork

So I was going to do all these posts last weekend and I didn't. I wanted to post about Easter, then we had major Saturday work day, then a fun Saturday night. Yeah, none of that got posted. I totally forgot to post about my older sister's(Rachel) and my dad's b-day. March 28 was my dad's b-day and April 3 Rachel turned 20. Well happy birthday to them! Love you both! =)

Here are a few pictures of what kept us busy last Saturday and lots of work on other days!

Dad turned music on and we got to work =)

Our garden was over grown so dad and ethan mowed it out. We all pulled weeds and level out dirt. Then we put down black tarp to kill the grass so we don't have to keep mowing inside of he garden. Eventually we want to lay pebbles everywhere so it looks nice. =)

Doug(our family friends living across the street) hauled a truck load of dirt from our friend's house and dumped it in the field next to their fence, tore the fence down and just shoveled dirt into their garden. We would just walk over there with buckets and grab some. I thought the whole set-up was pretty funny so I took a picture.

Lucy chasing London...

Me and London :)

It is finished for now! =)

Spring Break Part 2 - Camping!

After a week long trip in Tennessee we headed to go camping! It was sunshiney and beautiful Friday. Saturday and Sunday were cold and rainy but we still had fun. Friday we celebrated Blake's birthday by having a huge football game, an egg toss, and ate dinner together then enjoyed cake and icecream. :) Saturday we watched movies and played cards and did other fun things in the camper. We did make it out to go on a bike ride. We bundled up and endured the cold. Lydia had a crash and we all prayed for her and carried her back on her bike...that was an adventure. She was okay about 30 minutes later! The weekend was so much fun and we can't wait to go again. It is definitely a fun group of people.

We were watching a movie :)

I think his partner might have thrown the egg just a little too hard!

Jordan, Lydia, Me =)

"Pain is weakness leaving the body"....Lydia's quote all week :)

Football!