may in review || hello june

WOAH!!! I cannot believe that may is over. It went by way to fast in my opinion. But it was a good month.

We had a party at my church celebrating Daddy being pastor for fifteen years!

We got new chickens! Six to be exact and they're red sex links! They're so cute and they've actually started laying!

We had a "favorite things party" for Mothers Day with the ladies in our church! It was so much fun and I got Katy's gift she brought. Coffee M&M's and iced coffees!!

I finally was able to go to Spotsylvania Battlefield

I have 37 followers!! Yay!!!

I almost went white water rafting, but there were really bad storms and they closed the whole place down because of flash flooding. :(

My chicken holding my hand! EEEEPPP!!! :D

a cold coke in a glass bottle (with peanuts mmm... :D )

root beer floats

running through the fields at Spotsylvania Battle field and picking wildflowers

reading in the car

picnics

babysitting my nieces

my doggie, Gideon

I didn't do quite as good as I did in April, but I was still happy!

read two new books. Check. I actually read three!

try a new recipe. Check.

read Joshua through the book of Ruth in my Bible. Check. I'm almost finished  I Samuel

pass out 20 Bible tracts. I did not do very good with this, so I'm going to try again in June.

finish 11th grade so i can start my Summer. I'm almost finished.

be ready for my piano recital in June. Almost there, but not quite yet.

 



finish school

go for a bike ride

pass out 20 gospel tracts

start exercising

get to 40 followers (help me guys :D )

 

Also, Happy Memorial Day, y'all! I hope everybody has a wonderful day!



 

 

 

what was your favorite thing about may?
what are some of your goals for june?

book review // seasons of the heart series

Most of y'all have probably heard of Janette Oke before. She's a really popular author and I've read most of her books, but the "Seasons of the Heart" series will always be my all time favorite books she has written!!!

You know with some series you really enjoy the first book but you cant read the books that follow it too soon? Well, that will not happen with this series. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this series! I think I've read each book at least two times through and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first!!

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Seasons Of The Heart
By Janette Oke
4 Books
4 Stars

As he grows into manhood, Josh Jones faces important questions about life, love, and faith.
Includes Once Upon a Summer, The Winds of Autumn, Winter is Not Forever, and Spring's Gentle Promise.

Ok. I really liked these books. I liked the time period that it took place in a lot!!! Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong generation. haha!! :D
The only thing I didn't like about the first book was Aunt Lou was too perfect in my opinion. I don't think I'll ever meet a girl who would be like her. Like I said earlier, she was too perfect.
Also, the threshing crew part went on a little too long. I enjoyed it when it first started, but it went on a long time, and it got kinda boring.
Overall, it was a really good series!!
I recommend this series for all ages. I really enjoyed it!!

have you read any of these books?
which book is your favorite in the series?
have you read any books by Janette Oke?
what's your favorite book by Janette Oke?

bloom.

 

 

 

 

 which picture is your favorite?
do you like wildflowers?

acne tips || things that have helped me

So as most of y'all know, I struggle with acne. It's especially bad on my forehead and my chin, but I have a little bit on my cheeks too.
So if you have acne, I know what your going through.  I don't know anybody who likes having acne, but it's something almost every teenager struggles with at least some point in their lives.

Here are some things that have helped keep my acne at bay.

Most girls wear make-up. I wear powder, blush, and eyeliner. Most of y'all wear a lot more than that, and keeping that on your face all day and all night will cause breakouts. There are a lot of oils and chemicals in make-up, and it isn't very good for your skin to wear it or leave it on all the time.
So I wash my face every single night. I don't think I ever go a day without washing my face.


Moisturizing is probably one of the most important tips I have. It might seem strange to put moisturizer on when you have oily skin, but if you don't moisturize, your skin will produce more oil to make up for the lack of moisture, and this will clog your pores.
I try and moisturize twice daily after I wash my face and always before I do my make-up.

We need to keep our hands off our face because of all of the oils that are on our hands. I know with me, about five minutes after I wash my hands they're oily again, and oiliness is something people with acne do not want.

 

I don't drink as much water as I probably should, but when I think about it, I try to drink at least  seven glasses a day.
I do know that water helps with acne. Or so I've heard and it also gives you a healthy glow. ;)

 

Ok. This is a tough one. I am one of those people who like very hot showers. The hotter the better! :D
But hot showers are actually not very good for your acne. Heat can irritate your acne and I know with me, make it more red.
I know what your thinking. "I cant take cold showers." I know you cant. I know I cant. So I try and take lukewarm showers, except when I cannot stand it anymore! Haha! :D

 

This is something I defininetly am not good at doing, but my older sister (who does it pretty much every week) says it actually does help.
I'm sure the brushes get pretty dirty, and we don't want to be putting that on our face.
So my sister mixes olive oil and dish soap together then cleans her brushes with the mixture. After they're dry, they are clean and ready for the next time she uses make-up.
Plus cleaning your brushes help your make-up go on better!

My face can sometimes be very oily and when I sleep, those oils get on my pillow case. So its a good idea to change those out at least once a week.

 

I definitely do not have it all down and I am not an expert (hence the acne). I'm still learning. But these things have seemed to help me and have limited my breakouts.
I find that different things work for different people, so if you've never tried any of these tips, you might want to try them and see if they'll make a difference with your acne. :)
I hope this was a help!



 

 

 

do you struggle with acne?
have you ever tried these tips?
how do they work for you?
tips that you use that I didn't mention?

 

happy mothers day // my mama, an example

I wrote a paper for my Mama for Mother's Day a few days ago titled, "My Mama, An Example" and I thought I'd share it with y'all.

When I was quite little, I can remember getting hurt and I would run to her, sobbing. She would always give my "boo boo" a kiss and spread a band-aid on it to make it "better."
Now that I'm older, when I get hurt (although sometimes it's not always from physical pain) she'll always embrace me in a hug and give me a kiss and try to make it better for me.

Sometimes, when I was younger, I didn't listen to my mama.
I can remember getting in trouble with her. I would always be mad at her for disciplining me, but now that I'm older, I know she was only doing it because she loved me. She wanted me to grow up into a godly woman, and if she hadn't disciplined me for those sinful things I did when I was younger, I would have kept on doing them when I was older.
Mama said it was always hard for her to have to punish me, but she did it because she loved me.

She is a stay-at-home Mom and has spent twenty-three years of her life homeschooling her children. She has probably washed over thousands of dishes and yet she never complains. She is such a hard worker.
And she is such a fun person to be around! She has the best sense of humor!

Mama is the most godly woman I have ever met. You can tell that she loves the Lord just by looking at her. She's the one that led me to the Lord when I was five. I got saved because my Mama took the time to explain the plan of salvation to me one Sunday morning at church. Now I am saved and on my way to heaven!

My Mama is the best woman I know, and I hope (although I know I'll never come close) I'll be like her when I grow up! I'm so proud to say that she is my Mama!
I love you, Mama!





 

babysitting + planting in the garden

Jason and Katy went on a week trip to Costa Rica and while they were gone Kristen and I babysat the three girls. For the whole week.  We all had a good time though. :D






We jumped on the trampoline (quite a lot ;) ), colored pictures, listened to music, made cookies together, and Chloe and Bella spent the night in the room with Kris and I! We had fun!
They're all so sweet!


We had quite a time on Monday though. They were calling for really bad storms on Monday night so Mama and Daddy wanted us to come over to the house and bring Napoleon. Ben spent the night with us on Sunday night so he was with us. We all piled in to Kristen's small little Buick. Chloe, Bella, and Emma sat in the back (it was quite squished for them since they all have car seats), but it was even more squished for Kristen, Ben, and I who all sat in the front seat. Napoleon sat between Ben and my legs. He's gotten really big so you can imagine! ;) Also he gets car sick very easily and he almost got sick on Ben and I! Thankfully we got there safe and without Napoleon getting sick! :D
Also we ended up not having any storms!

(this picture ^ was taken on Sunday morning before we headed for church. The girls wanted Maw-Maw (which is what her granddaughters call her) to be in the picture too since she came for a short visit before church started)

We got six new chickens last week! They're called Red Sex Links Chickens! These chickens look so much alike, we were only able to name one, Maude the Second. :D I don't know if we'll stick with that name yet though! ;)
They are just pullets now, but should start laying in a few months.


(I know. Our new chickens aren't very photogenic. They look kinda creepy in the picture but they're actually really cute in person!)

Our garden has been going well. Our tomato's, beets, carrots and sunflowers have all sprouted up and are looking great! We just planted the rest of our seeds which were cucumbers, green beans, and squash! They seem to be doing very well too! :D
I weeded out our big strawberry patch a few days ago and now we have very small strawberries growing!
Hopefully we get enough cucumbers and tomato's for us to can and enough strawberries so we can make pies and jam!

 what is the longest time you ever babysat?
do you have chickens?
do you like gardening?