2009

Wow I haven't posted anything on here in a really long time.
Well it is now the year 2009. I cannot even begin to describe how I excited I am for this next year. God is going to do some crazy awesome things and I get to be apart of some of them.

So this is the last day of Christmas break before we go home tomorrow. It's been a good relaxing break, maybe a little too relaxing. There were a couple of days where I got so bored I about went crazy. It was good getting to spend time with my family. We are actually getting along now so that is awesome. I am however ready to go back. I miss my 24/7 family. I miss having things to do every day. I miss Blends coffee. I even miss working out with everyone cuz working out on your own sucks.

Ok well I have things to get done today before I leave so I will leave you with this quote from a book I've been reading this week.

"A leader fails his disciples when he fails to help them progress from disciples to leaders." -Rick Zachary

Wheat thins are amazing

Wow so much has happened sInce I posted last...For one thIng my computer Is freakIng out and for some reason every tIme I type the letter "I" It Is In caps and so for every word that has an "I" In It, the spell check thInks Its mIsspelled because theres a capItal letter In the mIddle of the word. Its drIvIng me crazy.

Other than that thIngs are goIng pretty well. There Is drama wIth one of the gIrls on my team wIth the fact that no one lIkes her and we're gettIng In trouble for IgnorIng her.
Pastor RIck saId yesterday that the people you don't lIke are the people you're goIng to learn the most from In thIs program. He saId that anyone can love someone you get along wIth but It takes a true ChrIstIan to love someone you thInk Is a paIn In the butt.

I thought about that and realized that he's right. I've learned so much from this girl whether I like it or not. I've learned how a lot of the things she says are the things I think but would never say, things like when we hear about some crazy thing we have to do she will say "what? are you serious? oh gosh this is going to suck." it's honestly what most of us are thinking but when said aloud its the stupidest thing ever. I've learned to change the way I think, to take my thoughts captive. I'm also learning how to be patient and love people who are not exactly the most loveable people. I know that God put her on my team for a reason.

So ya things are interesting here...I know about some stuff that's coming that I'm not supposed to know about and I don't know everything about it, just enough to make me anxious and nervous about it and kinda wish I didn't know about it...that made no sense but thats ok...

I'm experiencing bloggers block at the moment so I'm going to continue this later...

Later

really quick

Hey guys I promised a certain someone that I would post a picture of me with my new hair for all to see so here are a few pictures really quick.




This is the new hair. And that's Monica


This is what my team does in the van when we get bored


This is Monica and I at the garage sale very early in the morning


Laurie and me at the church before I dyed my hair


And this is Livi, she loves me.

Ok that's all folks. Sorry I didn't have time to make much of a post but I promise I will soon.

I miss....

Hello bloggers....
I have a lot to say but not much time to say it right now and I won't get it all out right now....I don't even know how to start...

I miss my best friend....I hate being this far away...I hate that when something big happens I can't be there. I can't rush over to her house when she needs me...I can't hug her when she needs to cry...I can't laugh with her when she's happy...

I love my new friends and we have a lot of fun but after a while I need a break from them...I miss being able to hang out with my best friend constantly and never getting tired of her...

I hate that I'm busy all the time and never have a spare min to talk to her when she needs to talk...

I'm sick of drama and having to get along with all different kinds of people with personalities that clash and having to deal with them. I miss being able to just spend time with my best friend and never hafta worry about drama because the only time we fight is about stupid things.

I miss playing guitar all the time and hearing her sing constantly...I miss taking stupid pictures and making crazy videos...

I miss midnight runs to taco bell and dying eachothers hair and watching buffy the vampire slayer for hours and hours.

I miss having someone around that knows me better than I know myself and knowing them just as well...

I miss Brittany Noel Padilla...

The continuation....

Is that how you spell continuation?? it looks funky but the lil spell check thing says its right. oh well



K so right now I am sitting like right by the window stealing internet from some house near by cuz my internet is still screwed up. Where's Christopher when you need him??

I just got back from church. 24/7 was being introduced to G-Life which is their jr high ministry here and so the three teams did their intro skits that we made up and then just hung out with the jr highers. I've decided I totally love G-Life. Their pastor lady is freakin awesome! She is so flippin hilarious I about pee my pants. I would rather listen to her preach than the college and young adults pastor guy that we listen to sunday nights (is that bad??) anyway it was kinda funny/ironic cuz she preached on purity.

Not the usual save sex for marriage kidna purity but like keeping your heart pure in general. Something I honestly hadn't thought a whole lot about and she told this story about this jr high kid a few years back that had been told by his parents that he is not aloud to have a girlfriend. He says ok.

Ya so then he meets this girl at G-Life and they "fall in love" (of course) so he decides to make her his girlfriend anyway. (of course) and they come up with this sneaky way to communicate by as soon as she emails him she will call his house and then hang up and then he knows to run to the computer and check his email and then reply and delete it really quick. (through all of this I'm having hardcore flashbacks and going omg I totally did that) so needless to say this plan didn't work for very long and they eventually get caught and he gets all mad and is talking to the jr high youth pastor lady (oh her name is Amber btw) so he's all mad and saying how unfair it is and they don't understand and he loves her and all this and she says to him.

"I'm not denying that you have feelings for her, I'm sure you do and I'm sure they are real. But do you love God?"

and he's this great kid and is totally in love with God and he's all like "yes of course I do."

and she says "do you believe that everything in the bible is true and we should do everything it tells us?"

and he's all like "ya of course"

and she goes "well did you know that the bible says you gotta honor your parents?"

and he says "well ya but..."

she cuts him off, "ya there's no buts. Sorry kid if you really believe that the bible is God's word and that we need to do everything it says you can't have but's. And I know that honoring your parents sucks sometimes, but you know what if you honor them, and by doing so you're honoring God, then he will bless you for that."

She went on with saying that so often with God we will tell Him that we give Him everything and we wanna serve Him but....we wanna hold onto this....

God you can have everything....but this...



I was on the edge of my seat the whole sermon. She said a lot more but I didn't have paper to take notes with so that was all from my shaky not reliable memory. But anyway that really hit me hard and I wished so so much that I had heard that when I was in jr high. I'm sure I had heard it but not in that way. Not in the loving way. So ya I'm really excited about their jr high ministry I think it's gonna be awesome.



I had this thought. If we could get jr high kids saved and really living for God while their still in jr high, think how much easier the sr high youth pastors are gonna have it. Why not get them saved and discipled before they get too screwed up? Wouldn't that be easier? That way they won't hafta go through and do a lot of the things that we all had to.

I don't know I just had that thought the other day on one of our long hikes where I didn't have anything to do but walk and think and try to not fall on my face.



Anyway...I really hope I can retain all the information that I have in my brain right now and everything I'm learning until this is all over so I can write it all down cuz there is so much I don't want to forget that I just don't have time to write or type. But for right now that is all I have time for.



Thanks for reading, sorry I ramble a lot.

Peace.


P.S.

Dude ok you would not believe what I had to go through to post this stupid blog! As I hit the publish post button my internet dies...(of course) luckily blogger is wonderful and saves drafts every like 2 seconds or I would be very angry...anyway so I go searching for internet and finally find a connection at the days inn motel. So I am sitting in my car in the days inn parking lot using their internet...is that sad?...don't answer that.

On another note I discovered a secret that I am going to share with you but only because I am a very nice person and I love you. (that and all of like 1 person reads this) You can go to starbucks and buy a venti iced whatever for like 7 bucks....or you can buy a tall hot whatever you drink (in my case the white moca with extra expresso) and then ask for a venti cup of ice and pour the hot drink into the cup of ice and what do you know...you pour it in and its exactly enough. So you get the venti size for the tall price. ITS A BARGAIN! I feel so sneaky like I cheated the system or something I love it.

Ok ok that is all I promise I'm done, now I must download a whole buttload of music.
Goodbye

Dude its been forever!

Well I went back and forth trying to decide if I wanted to post on here or me and Brittany's website and I decided I didn't feel like making it PG for all the church people so I decided to post on here. Don't know if I have anything to say that would be PG-13 but it makes me feel better to know they won't be reading it sometimes.





Anyway, So much has happened in the last month of being here at 24/7 its insane. We've been ropes coursing to cave spelunking to repelling to fasting for 3 days with only water. It's been crazy awesome. I've learned so much and grown so much it's insane. They say every year at 24/7 you age 5 to 10 years in maturity, I know why now. I wish I had time to go through and talk about everything but that would take a very long time and I only have about 30 more min of time left.





So here I sit at Starbucks drinking my amazingly delicious java chip frap (with xtra expresso of course) that was paid for with a starbucks gift card I got in the mail from the wonderful mrs Thacker. I love her. So I'm sitting here chillin at starbucks stealing some internet from somwhere and catching up on email and other internet usage. Every time I get time off I feel so rushed and scatter brained cuz I know I have so much I need to do and so little time to do it. Anyway I honestly have no idea where this paragraph was going but I don't think I got there so I think I will start a new one.





K let's try this again. I just got back from our fasting retreat. I started off the week expecting God to do some big things but I had no idea what He had planned to do in me. First off we hiked with everything we packed (for me it was my big hiking pack plus my reg back pack that I carried on my front) We hiked through the trails on some mountain. (I never know where we are so its just some mountain) We hiked from 11am to about 5 30pm with no lunch break. We had a few water breaks in there that lasted about 5 to 10 min but we weren't encouraged to sit down on account of we probably won't be able to get back up. Then we get to this really cool place with a water fall and a pond thing and we have some worship. It was absolutely beautiful. Take a look, my camera didn't do it justice though.











I'm told that the main hike through the woods and stuff was about 12 miles. We finished that and I was feeling pretty good. Wasn't too tired or sore, was incredible sweaty but wasn't too tired. Then there was the oh so fun hike to where we were staying. We all walked two by two along the side of the road for a really really long time...That's where I started feeling not so great about the trip. I started to get my infamously wonderful attitude that comes out when I have to do something I don't want to do (sarcasm)





So we're hiking, and hiking, and hiking...with no clue when or if we ever get to stop (still carrying everything we packed for 3 days) I can't feel my legs or feet and my shoulders hurt and all I've eaten is some beef jerky and a pack of crackers....I'm pissed. I gradually got a little better of an attitude as my legs became more and more numb and I felt less and less but I still was not a happy camper.





Then we get to the house that we're staying at and me and the 12 other girls staying in this little house all get showered and meet at the meeting house and we have our last dinner (which was incredible) After we eat we're told the fast starts at 8 30pm. So after we're dismissed we all go back to our houses we're staying at and hang out and then go to bed. Next morning, wake up, I dreamed that we woke up to this amazing hot breakfast and then I remember...We're fasting...no breakfast, no lunch, no dinner...for who knows how long because we don't get told anything..oh and we have to keep up our push ups and sit ups so we don't get out of shape...My attitude comes back.
So we go meet and have worship, then are told that today we're going to have quiet time for a while... (cool I like quiet time) ...for 8 hours...(excuse me?) ...yep 8 hours...
So I'm laying in the grass reading my Bible and guess what the first thing I read is..."Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become pure and blameless children of God."
(Ouch...Ok God you have my attention)
I keep reading and my attitude towards the whole thing disappears, suddenly I'm reading and I don't even realize that hours are going by. Then God and I have a heart to heart and I realize this very important concept....It's not about me...wow...
I read the entire book of Matthew in one sitting. (If you know me at all that just doesnt ever happen, do you know how many chapters are in that book??) The next few hours flew by and by the time we had to be back at the meeting house I didn't want to go, I wanted to keep reading. I got so much out of reading the Bible in that time than I have in my entire life.
Have you even though about, like really really thought about the fact that Jesus turned a few pieces of bread and fish and fed 5000 men?? That's just men, that's not counting the women and children! Like WOW! Dude I can't even tell you how many times I've read that story or heard it preached but dude! That's a freakin ton of people! And there was still a bunch leftover! Dude!

So ya that was a revelation. Also I read the part where Peter walks on the water and I realized something...again I've read and heard this story 50 million times but I realized something new. (that's the cool thing about the Bible, you can read the same thing 50 times and get something different out of it every time) Peter was walking on the water towards Jesus and was doing great and then he took one look down, one look at the waves, at the storm, and he sank. That's all it took was one look. One look away from Jesus and he sank. How many times am I doing great, walking on water for Jesus and I take one look at what I'm doing. One thought about the work outs and how much it hurts, one thought about how unfair it is that us first years never get to know anything, one complaint, and BAM! I sink. That's all it takes is one look away. We have to stay focused on Jesus or we are going to sink.

I got so much more out of this week but I'm going to have to post another post later because I must leave starbucks and go to church now.

So...
To be continued....

Brittanyless Texas

Not really, I am wearing underwear I promise. It's really cute underwear too:-)


So I've decided that Prosper TX without Brittany is pretty boring and stupid and I don't understand how anyone (myself included) ever lived here before she came.





So this is all that has happened since my last post in Brittany-less Texas.





I've been running, trying to get in shape for my Christian boot camp I'm about to go to for 10 months. I used to be in a lot better shape what happened?? I have a feeling that whatever it was must have happened somewhere between all the taco bell and the cheetos that I ate all summer, oh and lets not forget all the Panda Express. So I'm pretty sore. I forgot how much I don't enjoy this feeling.





My mother and I went shopping for some stuff that I need before I leave. We went to guitar center to get a hard case for Iris, and just my luck they don't have the one that fits it. (I would buy the guitar that needs the special order case.) So we were there for about an hour and a half while every worker guy in the store was determined to find a case in the store that fit my guitar. (I must have looked good that day or something, hmm) Anyway the guy that was helping us found the one I need online and gave us the info we needed to go home and order it. But he also felt it necessary to write his cell phone number and myspace down too just in case I need anything from guitar center while I'm in uncivilized Arkansas. (Of course my mother was thrilled at that)





We also went to bath and body works and I got some smell good sprays and lotions. Or so I thought....


I get home and pour some lotion in my hand to use and realized...that was not lotion. Because you see I may have graduated but being a homeschooler I never really learned how to read and I got "body wash" confused with "lotion" and easy mistake I know. But still, seriously?


So today I have to go back to bath and body works and explain my predicament to the bath and body works lady and see if she will trade me the body washes for the lotions.





Then I babysat the Chesney kiddos last night. They were all really good thank God. Dylan was his funny crazy self instead of his bratty annoying self so I was glad for that. We all played outside till it was too dark to see and then what do you know it was time for bed. Then Brett and Kelly got home not long after that and they brought me a present!:-D
The funny thing is Dylan and Maddie were just singing that song right before they went to bed.

So yes that was cool. I love getting presents.

Then this morning Brit and I went and ate breakfast at Mcdonald's together...kind of. Then we played a driving game that got Brittany lost and I had to come home and look up where she was on google maps to make sure she was going in the right direction and ya, it's been an eventful day so far that is for sure.

Well today I have to get more guitar picks because they all seem to have run away, and maybe some strings because I seem to be a string killer these days and a string killer can never have too many strings.

I've been on a ringtone making kick this week for some odd reason. I made almost every song I like a ringtone. I have like 50 million on my phone. Now if only I had 50 million people to call me so I could hear them all that would be cool.

Ok well I must start my day now so I will bid thee a fare well.
In the words of Jil:
It's been real
It's been fun
It's been real fun.