Merry Christmas

So, while I abandoned my blog, lots of life has happened to me, and my blog turned a year old. Or I guess it just is a year old. I'm not sure if blogs turn years old.
I'll spare you the five hundred paragraph post that would be required to bring my five readers up to date on my quiet, beautiful, hectic little life.

Instead, I'll just leave you knowing that I have never been happier for a Christmas break (High school has not been kind), we've had several bouts of sickness in our family, I've fallen quite in love with Autumn and sunsets and cold air, and basically life, once more, and I find myself running quite behind on Christmas gifts.
Which can basically sum up the last few months, but also doesn't even come close to doing just that.

Instead I'm just going to start from here and now, because I've found that works quite well.

Christmas is almost upon us, and I've gotten most of my gifts sorted out for my numerous siblings. The key word here is most. I still have to get something for Madison, Adrienne, and my mom and dad. Oh yes, and my grandmother. But on the bright side, I have gifts for my five other siblings ready.

I've found that the older I get, the less excited I get about Christmas. And it made me sad, last year being about the first time I realized that I wasn't filled with constant thrills of joy and excitement, and I was sadly aware that I fell asleep rather easily on Christmas Eve.
But maybe, and please bear with the Halmark channel cheesiness here, that's because Christmas is quite a bit more than not being able to sleep on the night before, and the joy of ripping off all that wrapping paper.

Because I've found this year, as keep waiting for myself to be filled with wonderful excitement, that it's just not happening. I'm not, no matter how much I wish to be, ecstatic about the gifts already piling up under the tree.

But there is so much Christmas in the candlelight service my church held last week, where we heard the story of Mary and baby Jesus, and then sang Christmas songs. And it filled me up with something I wasn't sure how to feel at all.

And then tonight, when I spent all day at my best friends house, and me and my older siblings sat together with our friends and watched Scrooge (which I can't honestly say I like watching more than once.), and Annie, and were just laughing and being together. And in a moment of cliche-ness, I looked at their Christmas tree, and the lights from it made the room warm and cozy, and I was just kind of like, "I think this is what Christmas is now."

Because gifts are only exciting for so long, and trees will go back to the garage or attic or wherever, along with the ornaments and lights. But the reason for the season, if I may borrow the overused phrase, will, I feel, linger with me. Because Jesus is gonna stay in my heart forever, and Christmas is finally starting to bring that into sharp relief, and maybe that's what it's all about.
Those Christmas songs, and that laughter and peace, are going to be in my soul for a long, long time.
And that is, I think, what I'm discovering Christmas to be once I stop and think about it.

So, I hope you all find joy this beautiful holiday season, and that your heart loves Christmas as much as mine is starting to.

Merry Christmas.

Happines Post #1

So. A while back I said I wanted to start having periodic posts about happiness. Here's the first one. :)

Things To Be Happy About:

Autumn. Texas takes a while, but it does cool down. And that's finally starting to happen over here. I love the cool weather, the golden leaves, and there's just something sharp and fresh about the air in fall.  

Meeting up with old friends. I got to see a good friend I haven't talked to in a while, and it was wonderful to catch up with her. We're both kinda equally awkward, so we had an amazingly awkward time together. It was good fun.

Little reminders that God is there, and that I'm so very blessed. Sometimes God does something huge and amazing, and I'm kind of hit with this feeling of whoa, God is huge, and he really loves me. And then sometimes there are little things that come into my heart slowly and linger for a long time. Like how the wind feels on my face, and how the sunset paints the sky, and when my little sisters run to hug me. These little blessings are beautiful.

Encouraging verses. These have wonderfully calmed me down before tests, and when I'm feeling really stressed out, or maybe when I just need some peace.

For His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalms 30:5

 

 From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2

 

 After saving up for a while, I was finally able to buy my own phone! I have been taking pictures on it a bit excessively, because the camera is lovely. 

Free time. After I got some of my school out of the way today, I sat down (read as: laid on my floor because it's comfortable) and drew this. Just because.

 FAVORITE POEM! (I used my camera to take this. Ehehehe.)

My big sister got to visit from college. It was wonderful having her back.

 

 (SHE'S SO PRETTY!) 

Also I love this picture. <3

Also, the only reason she looks taller than me is because the ground was slanted.

I have like two whole inches on her, and I'm like five years younger. 

See, there's another thing to be happy about. I'm taller than my big sister. Hahaha. Haha. Ha

There are a ton of things to be happy about, and really you don't even have to think hard. 

So, what have you (my five readers) been happy about?

In Which Cameron Shares Sarcasm and Pictures

So, I've been up to quite a bit the past few weeks. I just haven't really had time to post because of school. Without further ado, the past few weeks in the life of Yours Truly.
(There're kinda a lot of pictures. You have been warned.)
 
My friend and I had a mini photshoot thingy-majig. I like how this one turned out.

 

This was a while ago, but I made these two things.

Soccer season started back up, and that means watching sister's play.

 

 Watchin' a game with this darling. 

We specialize in funny faces.

I saw this typewriter in a bank, and I had to get a picture.

 

 As I was taking it this really official looking lady walked out of a room near me, and she kinda just stared at me. I could feel the judgement she was judging me with shooting out of her eyeballs and glaring into my soul. I guess most teenaged girls don't kneel down on the bank floor to get a picture of a typewriter.

But hey, in my defense, it made for a cool picture. 

I got another cool picture of our lovely piano and some sheet music. 

 

Nobody judged me for taking this one, except maybe my cat.

 Me and da big sistah. She's so pertyful.

My older sister had to go back to college. It was a devastating day in our household. Many a child flocked to big sister and wept into her skirt, pleading with her to stay.

No, not really. She wasn't wearing a skirt, and there wasn't flocking or sobbing. This isn't Elsie Dinsmore.

I think she's gonna have a great Sophomore year. 

Also, another noteworthy thing. Jackson gave me a piggyback ride. I felt really tall and cool and probably looked like a dork. But eh, who really cares? Besides, I'm already a dork. :)

Then we argued about who got shotgun, because he always gets it, and it isn't fair. So I though that maybe once he could look into his heart and find there the kindness to let me sit in shotgun.

... I didn't get shotgun. 

 I've got the best bro.

School is going as well as one can expect it to. Though I rather hate math tests. I kinda hate all the tests I've had to take.

On that cheerful note, I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Joy

On Wednesday night at church we had a great lesson about women in the New Testement. They were in there too, even if there's not a whole lot about them. And we didn't just talk about Mary. We talked about Lydia, Joanna, and Priscilla. They're awesome.
Then, near the end of the lesson, our Youth Minister's wife went up and answered some questions about being a woman of strong faith when your in high school and stuff. And she said something about Joy, how she loves it when people are joyful, and gave us an acronym for it. 

 

Put Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. I love this so much, because it's a really good thing to think about and try to practice. I believe Jesus should be first in our lives, no matter what we're doing. Then think of others, and lastly, yourself. 

I've had this on my mind ever since then, and I can't stop thinking about it. So now I really want to try and do it. To have joy, both ways. Because being joyful is lovely. I love finding things that make me happy, and I rather like being joyful in general.

So. Today I'm going to try to choose joy. To be happy and enjoy things, and also try to use the acronym. Which I think is great to apply for every day life.

Today I chose Joy. What are you gonna chose?