The Things That Make Me Smile

I know a whole lot of people who are suffering right now. And there's a whole lotta stuff wrong in the world. So these are some things that make me smile all the time without fail. 

I hope I can help you smile a little bit too. 

1) Pugs. 

LOOK AT THE LITTLE GUYS:

2) Seeing someone's entire self light up when talking about something they are passionate about. 

3)Seeing a dad spend time with his kids. 

      The other day there was a dad with his two little girls at ballet practice. Probably one of the most adorable things I have ever seen in my life. 

4) The smell of the mountains. Especially after it rains

5) The sound of fall leaves blowing across the ground. 

6) The sound of a campfire. 

7) The satisfying scratch of a pencil on paper. 

8) Weddings

9) This:

10) Carl and Ellie in "Up:

11) Baby Mike from "Monster's University"

So adorable. :3

12) Calvin and Hobbes:

Well, that's all I could think of right now.... I have school to do anyway.  What are the things that make you smile even if your day sucks?

Much love,

Amanda

<3

Every Idle Word

Matthew 12:36-37 "But I tell you the truth, every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it on the day of judgement. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

That's one of those verse you read and then pretend like you didn't read it so you don't have to actually do what it says, right? 

Recently a friend of mine shared that he'd been convicted of the things he says to other people and the whole time he was saying this (this was a few weeks ago) all I was thinking was Good for him. As if I don't have to be more careful about the things I say. Really I should have been feeling just as guilty as he was. But I wasn't. 

Until yesterday. 

Long story short, I said some mean things to a few people. The worst part is that I didn't even really realize they were that hurtful until I saw their reactions. The defeat in their eyes and the disbelief that I actually said what I said. 

I apologized when I had time to actually make a meaningful apology. They said they forgave me and all the other stuff that goes along with an apology. I know that God forgave me after I confessed to it to him. But I can't help but think that even though I've been forgiven, my words won't still have a negative impact. And I hate thinking that I have now become a person who could haunt the minds of another person just because of something I said. 

You grow up learning to "think before you speak." When you're a kid there are consequences from authority figures when you say something mean. You get put in Time-Out or something. But now that I'm in High School it's passed off as sarcasm or "just kidding" and there's no real consequences for what you say because it's only "sarcasm." This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

I think we can all say we've been hurt by sarcasm and jokes made at our expense. No one likes it when it happens to them but there's no hesitation to do it to others. I'm pretty sure that I'd start crying if someone told me what I told them yesterday. 

~~~~

So here's my point:  If I ever say something to you that hurts you in any way, don't hesitate to let me know. If you hear me saying something hurtful to someone else or about someone else, don't hesitate to let me know. 

I think everyone would benefit from just shutting up most of the time.
Words are all we have, so make them meaningful and useful for someone other than yourself. 

There are a million songs I could tell you to listen to that are about being careful of what you say. But I really can't think of any that I like enough to recommend. But if you find any interesting ones, let me know?

Much love,

Amanda <3

Stream of Consciousness 6

So basically I'm just procrastinating.
Also I'm waiting for my history teacher to email us the quiz we are supposed to take. He was supposed to send it yesterday morning or Tuesday evening. That way we had two days to take it and send it back to him before Friday. But no- he still has not sent it out and I still cannot take it.

And as long as I'm talking about school:  Throughout all of high school I've been able to push the thoughts of "This is useless" and "You don't even need to know this" out of my head and suppress them to the back of my mind. But a few weeks ago, sitting in Algebra 2 listening to my teacher explain the different ways to solve polynomial expressions, everything crashed down on me. It's like I couldn't get over the thought that I was wasting all of my time.
And now I haven't been able to bounce back to my old mindset that perhaps it will help me some day.
Help me......

So Valentine's day is tomorrow.... I remember in Elementary school when everyone was required to bring little store-bought cards and then you go around to everyone's desk and place it in their little bag. And if you really liked a boy you'd give them an extra piece of chocolate or write a heart next to your name or something. Those were the days.....
Then in middle school I decided I was over passing out valentines. But the rest of my class wasn't so everyone gave out valentines except me and that was awkward.
And now in high school where Valentine's day isn't Rock Solid Approved but some people pass them out anyway and they're the creepy ones you print off from the internet that you probably can't show anyone.

Valentine's day is strange. Maybe once I actually start dating I'll understand it? I don't even know.

Well I really have nothing else to say. But once I stop blogging I'll have to do Chemistry. And Chemistry is one of the most pointless and also difficult things I have ever done. So I think I'll continue to blog....

What do you do when you know for a fact that someone is lying. They don't know you know but you know that their whole image is based off lies. What do you do? When they just start lying and looking everyone in the eye lying.
Do you call them out?
Do you confront them privately?
Do you do nothing?
I never know what to do in this situation. And it's a situation I find myself in quite often.....

My brother's graduating this semester. D: HE CAN'T GROW UP. HE CAN NEVER GROW UP. HE HAS TO STAY SEVENTEEN FOREVER. 

Those people who disagree with everyone just for the heck of it. STOP IT.

Oo. I just ordered new glasses. I can't wait until they show up.

Well, I guess that's all....

Much love,
Amanda <3

Stream of Consciousness 5 (I think)

Not sure which number this one is....
Really I just use these to express my thoughts that I don't want to write a whole blog about, yet need to be said.

First of all,
Girls struggle with lust too. Nobody ever tells girls how to fight the temptation to lust, they only tell us how to keep the boys from lusting.
"But, Amanda. Guys are more visually stimulated."
So? I don't understand how that matters.
I mean, sure. Guys are bombarded with those types of images every time they turn on the computer, tv, or just go outside. I get it. I don't think that guys should be taught in any way different than I've heard them being taught.
The problem is, girls don't only lust when they see a guy in a swimsuit. So, yes, a muscular, shirtless dude might cause a girl to lust. But we can be just as attracted to a fully clothed fellow. Ever heard the saying "A well tailored suit is to women as lingerie is to men"? Yeah well... Not far from the truth.
It makes me mad that whenever the topic of lust comes up because no one ever says "Oh yeah. We all struggle with that." It's "Oh yeah. There's not a guy in here that can't say he hasn't lusted." As if no girl has ever lusted ever.
When the girls get the modesty talk at church, the guys get the how not to lust talk and that's not the way it should be.
The temptation is real for everyone and everyone should be taught how to deal with it.

Okay, now that I got that out of the system:

If one more person talks to me about pre-destination, Open Theism, or whether God "knows" the future I'm going to lose it. At school, at church, in my family, then at school again.
We are never going to know. So, in my opinion, we should definitely stop all the pointless debates when no one's going to change their minds and move on to different issues.

On a lighter note, SHERLOCK IS AMAZING. If you don't like it, I severely question your judgement and will probably never trust a recommendation from you ever again.

So.... the Broncos lost the Superbowl. Poop.
I'm really not looking forward to seeing my Seahawk fan friends this week.

It is significantly harder to talk out loud than it is to write something. And I don't understand why.
#thisiswhyIwrite
(Hashtags are fun. hehehehe.)

Okay- so JK Rowling just said that Ron and Hermione shouldn't have ended up together and that makes me so mad. Because.... Harry and Ginny needed to happen. So Hermione couldn't have ended with Harry because he belongs with Ginny. THEY BELONG TOGETHER. IT'S TRUE LOVE.

So, is it strange to talk about fictional characters like they're real? Because I definitely do that and I think most of my friends and family think I'm strange. I can't be the only one.
I'm emotionally invested in the characters of whatever I'm in to. When John was talking to Sherlock at Sherlock's grave..... Or basically anything that has to do with Snape ever.... Really just any book that's well-written. The characters mean something to me. So naturally when something bad happens to them, I'm going to be sad for them. The best writers (script or book) will spark this emotion in the consumer. And, the stories of books and TV are more interesting than my own life. (The fictional story having, of course, a plot, climax, antagonist etc.) This is why I read. This is why anyone watches TV or movies. It's all part of entertainment.
*sigh*

So my family's adopting a dog! I'm really excited. I'm crossing my fingers for a Saint Bernard......

"Frozen" was good.... Excellent, actually. But not as spectacular as everyone is saying it is.... I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

To finish this lovely, rant-filled blog post, I shall add a comic that I thought was hilarious:

Much love,

Amanda. <3