A Late Thanksgiving Post

Ahh well I haven't blogged in about a century, but I'm back! It's kinda weird blogging again, I kinda forget how it goes...Come on, Anna, just get it on the page. Boom. Pow. WRITING. You got this. I got this? I got this. Boom smap spam. Indeed.

Well the Thanksgiving of 2014 for me and my family was a little different than usual. We stayed home, the introvert inside me was smiling the entire evening. Lots of food, lots of silence. The only word I could use to describe this Thanksgiving is 'yes'. Just yes. All that is needed to be said. After I stuffed my face with as much food as I could withhold, I spent most of my evening in my room. Because one needs time to think about life, and what other time to do that than a day dedicated to food? Instead of laughing and making small-talk with people I'm not quite sure how I'm related to, I was on my bed, sprawled out, lying in defeat of the feast. I thought about where I was and where I am, and who I am and who I was. I thought about those I've loved and those I've lost and those who have brought me to make me who I am today {They come from both pools}. I wrote mindless poetry about the quiet Thanksgiving, the calm, the serenity. I reflected on my journey, and how thankful I am for every step of it. I'm thankful for the sad moments, the happy moments, and most of all the moments of pure, genuine, joy {*ahem* Varsity winning State for the first time *cough*}. Instead of simply gathering with family and people that are apparently related to in some way, shape, or form, I truly got to dwell for a moment on what life is really about. Life isn't about the grades or the money or the status - although those things are important - it's who you are and what your journey has lead you to be. It's the people you meet and the books you read and the sappy poetry you write. Life is the experience, not the status. For a moment I got to dwell on what it meant to live.
 
And then I actually got some action.

One thing my family never {like, never} does is Black Friday shopping. And ironically that day my brother was working {In the mall} from 10pm-2am, so my Mom and I made plans to go shopping then; but then my mom realized how important sleep truly is and decided to hit some 'doorbusters' {No doors actually busted, I am slightly disappointed}. We arrived at the mall a few minutes after the stores had opened, we quickly grabbed the 'doorbusting' {LIES} coupons and split into different sections of the store. In my mind, Black Friday is this evil day filled with thousands of people all wanting the same thing you want; thus, if you want something, you get it fast. So there's this blond girl in the store with her hair in a bun mindlessly looking around and snatching everything she can, then I noticed something. There's not thousands of people, there's around a few hundred, and only a handful are where I am. Surely there's enough for all of us. After this realization I started to put things back, I started to ponder if I would actually use what I was about to get, and I started to slow down. After all, it wasn't Black Friday yet, it was Thanksgiving. People are with their families, eating pie, and practicing old traditions; and as long as that's happening I can't kill someone and hopefully I won't be killed. The shopping experience was rather enjoyable, until I had to go through the mall to get to another store {It was traumatizing}.

SUDDENLY. PEOPLE. EVERYWHERE.

I grabbed onto my brother's elbow and hid behind his shadow until we passed the massive wave of people rushing to get 75% off of, well, everything. Once we came home I plopped all the bags on my bed, folded the clothes, tried them on, then treated myself to a cup of hot cocoa and sweatpants. I enjoyed my last moments of Thanksgiving with more thinking, more thanks-giving, and more food.

Why even do people go Black Friday shopping, anyway? Online shopping yo.

Sincerely,
The Introvert who thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving this year {And the shopping}{Even though online is better}{#OnlineBlackFridayShoppingfodayz}

The Summer of Pointless Luxuries

This summer has been rather refreshing. Needless to say, it's been filled with pointless luxuries for the past week or so - but before this week happened my summer had been filled with 14 hour car-rides and planes and soccer and sweat and tears and dear friends planning their departure from our lives and swimming and lakes and not enough ice cream. In the midst of that, sometimes all you have to do is stop. Breathe. Take a break.

Today I was scrambling through my Pinterest, searching for something to do on this summer day. Something besides planning for my incoming sophomore year. I found a picture with the caption: "Loving this weather!" My immediate response was "Maybe I should go outside for a while", then, an idea came. I shuffled my slides on and dashed out the door. I stomped out on the grass and took a seat, my furry companion soon joined for a cuddle that has been long overdue.

I took a break from life and the rather pointless luxuries to simply breathe. To reflect. To admire. It's crazy how often I overlook the gift of reflecting. I took a moment to reflect on my life and admire the Earth and notice how ginormous this planet is. The Earth is a terrifying place, and sometimes discouraging, but in small doses it's the most beautiful thing you will ever discover.

I took this time to shove away all my little life problems and just take a moment to reminiscence of the past. The now can be a bit troubling at times. With my dog at my side, the trees dancing above me to music of the wind, and the Earth surrounding me with it's presence, the memories started to come back.

I love those moments when nothing really matters and you can just realize the adventurous and sometimes stupid life you live. And you giggle at the memories of trying to impale a tree with a stick and then losing your breath from laughing simply imagining how stupid that must've looked to your older brother who had a somewhat concerned look on his face at the time. You chuckle at the memories of your little self playing in the dirt, signing the ground with  a stick - trying to get the mark deep enough to last longer than an hour. A smile starts to play on your lips as you remember licking the spoons covered with brownie batter with your brother at your side - then you laugh because you realize you still do that and not much has changed. But then, your smile starts to fade, because things are changing. People are growing and becoming part of the real world and leaving the fantasy of our childhood world. People are changing and being bombarded with responsibilities and moving on to the next chapter of their life, whether they want to or not. People are leaving, people are changing, people are growing and flourishing and spreading their wings to fly.

Your smile starts to come back when you realize that most things aren't supposed to last. They come and go like the rain sliding down your window. Some will soon be forgotten, and that's okay. Some are supposed to be forgotten but some will live in our memories and be etched in our minds forever, and that's pretty rad.

Unfortunately, most memories will start to fade when the demand of the now comes into action.

That's when a summer filled with pointless luxuries comes in, to repaint those memories and bring us joy. Each summer produces more memories, more experiences, and more change.

But hey, that's life. Changing and moving, constantly. Even when lost in the abyss pit of a motionless life, a train will come by to remind you that things are still happening, the earth is still rotating, you're still breathing.

Life never stops.

Wreck it Up

 "To create is to destroy"
-Keri Smith

Recently I ordered a Wreck this Journal. 

Now, I've been wanting to get one of these for a while; to be exact, since last year on my Birthday. As we were strolling downtown, admiring the colorful and unique tents in the street fair, we stopped to go into some buildings (When you've been outside in 90 degrees all day, some air conditioning is necessary). We went into a book store, we looked around for a while when unexpectedly, something caught my friend's eye. She gasped and quickly picked up the journal and said "Dude. These are so cool". She started flipping through the pages, reading the prompts to me. I looked with wonder at this book to see if it was true; surely, someone wouldn't publish a book for the mere sake of destroying it.. Or so I thought.

So after a long wait of wanting to get this journal, I finally did. I thought it would be a nice, artsy project to help my creative juices. At first, I thought I would go with the more popular side of the Wreck This Journal, the artsy, clean, super fancy, side. 

Excuse my hair and the planet that looks like a hamburger.

When the journal was in my hands, I flipped to a page and drew what I thought would be fitting. After a few moments I came to realization I actually have to do what it says... 

I was so wrapped up in making this journal pretty, I forgot the whole point of the book, to destroy it. I went outside, climbed our ancient fort, took a quick picture and a deep breath. Slowly the book fell out of my grasp and quickly it fell to the ground. A smile crawled on my face when I heard the sound of the book hitting the grass. A sense of freedom came to my soul, almost. Like I had been caged up in this world where everything must be perfect and unharmed without any scratches or stains and finally an escape had come. I bought something that I could actually destroy instead of keeping it propped up and pretty. And to be honest, there's something fetching about different. This book, this is different from any other. We are taught at a young age that books are a luxury that cannot be neglected; and alas, there is a cure of this law that has been taught for so many years.

And man, it feels great.

{Wreck This Journal updates are to come}

-Anna

Persons

Wow I haven't updated in four months and twenty-one days. Oopsies. School has been all in my face and my bed has been begging for attention. My time has been fought for, writing has been in last place...

Until now.

Because finally inspiration came knocking on my door and my time has made a yellow brick road leading to the magical land of blogger.

Because people have been impacting my life so much.

People are weird. At least to me, anyway.

But recently there has been a person like no other, they came into my life and showed me the world through a different perspective, and showed me through a different perspective. They've inspired me and motivated me and made me giggle and made me smile and made me look like an idiot.

But man, I love them.

Yet recently there has been a person who has impacted me like no other, who has brought me to a different view of me and has kept me in the darker perspective of the world. And they've made me cry and made me crumble and made me scream silently and tear myself apart and make me feel like an idiot.

But man, I love them.


Have you ever met that one person who just understands everything? Who can make you smile and who would do anything for you?

And, have you ever met that person who makes you feel like a complete failure and your only hope in life is a dud? The person who would do anything to keep you in that place?


People. People are weird.


But have you met that one God who loves you despite of your mistakes and your past and your scars? Have you met that one who loves you beyond measure? The one that if you fully devote yourself to Him, all things will work in the end?


That's God. And God is awesome.

And that God has made me complete and happy and joyful and loving and kind.

And that God goes over all people.

And that God covers me in love. Even when I can't see it, even when I'm too arrogant to believe it.

The Memory Jar

On this day last year I decided to do a little project. The Memory Jar.

For a whole year this little jar sat on my desk. Every few weeks or so I'd scribble on a piece of paper and toss it in there. Every day this jar would wait to be opened; but I wouldn't empty it until January 1st of 2014.

Today (I'm a little late, I know) I opened the jar. I read through the memories. Some of them I had completely forgotten, an old, faded, photograph; but others were fresh and colorful in my mind.





All the memories are different. Some are connected with others. Some are separated. Some are ripped, torn, and wrinkled; others are nicely folded into little squares. Some are in pen, some are in pencil. Some are in Minnesota, some are in Indiana. Some are good memories, some are bad memories. Some are old and some are new. Some are little some are huge.

I decided to read every memory once again, but this time I separated the ones I remember vividly and the others I remember faintly.

I had a handful {literally} of memories that are blurred in my mind.

All these faded memories all have something in common.

They're all from Minnesota.

I honestly am astonished at myself. That I would forget something so important, so dramatic, so life-changing.

I forgot everything that happened where I lived for two years, for just a moment.

For just a moment everything was in Indiana, for just a moment I had never moved. For just a moment.

And once I was done with these memories, I threw them away. Every single one. Because what happened in 2013 is not what's happening. It's like a medal dated "2013" and when people look at that and say "Wow! You accomplished so much!", and I think "What am I accomplishing?".

The year is young, one has 365 days to complete a goal. Only 365.

What are you going to do?

~Anna

Soft Pretzels, Lenses, and Meh

So.

This week.

Interesting, to say the least.

My friend and I were having a conversation when all of a sudden a thought took over my brain.

Soft pretzels.

So I wrote this two paragraph thing on how my friend is the soft pretzel to my life. And ended up drawing this.

I mean... He always smells good and he kinda looks like a soft pretzel...


And I also wrote this little word to describe my week so far.







It has been an incredibly interesting week but I have had the sudden desire to do nothing at all.


What really topped this week off was when my glasses broke. Like, actually broke. Not like that one time I was trying to get my sweatshirt off and the stem snapped. They actually....

Yeah.


'TIS STORYTIME.


OKAY, SO, I WAS AT THE GYM. Shooting around and stuff. I left to retrieve my ball and I come back and BANG! A ball hits the side of my head and little bits of plastic that I recognize to be my glasses are lying on the ground. I hear my brother yell "HEY! THAT'S MY SISTER!" as I blink myself back to reality. I pick up the pieces and face an apologetic voice "I'm so sorry, I am so so sorry.". I tell him numerous times that I'm alright and I give him a thumbs up and a bro-fist. My friend, Mattie, grabs my hand and tells me to head to the restroom to clean up some minor cuts on my face. I rip my hand away and charge to the ball I had set for shooting, the net snaps and I smile satisfactory. "Okay, now let's go clean all this blood up." I say, she grabs my hand and leads my blurry vision to the bathroom.

THE END.


That's basically what happened.

I thought I had only found one lens, but I found the other today in my bag.

And what did I do?

I had some fun with them.










Lenses are pretty cool. A little piece of glass can give you the ability to see the world like never before.

Eyes are so underrated.


I mean, think about it. There are these little orb-things IN YOUR HEAD that make you see things. They give you perspective and colors and art and mountains and grass and smiles and OTHER EYES THAT THEY CAN SOMEHOW COMMUNICATE WITH.

Eyes are cool.

~Anna

Water Color

Remember a few days ago when I said drawing would come back?

It came back. In a sorta different, simply complicated way.

But it came back.

And I still like it.


I've had water paints for about forever now. And I finally decided to bring them to some good use.

It cost me three, three, three pages to get this right.


Totally worth it.

Water painting is so much more fun than just coloring with pencil. It's more swift and spunky. Make a mistake? Just cover it up with more paint. And I make a lot of mistakes in drawings so this will come in handy.

I've been wanting to draw this since I saw my childhood favorite movie "Robin Hood" last week. When I was little this was my main movie. Robin Hood was *cough is cough* my future husband. I always looked up to this brave little fox and his partner, Little John. (Okay, hold up a minute. His partner is Little John but he's like, a ten thousand pound bear...I never understood that...)


And of course, no Robin Hood drawing isn't complete until it's topped off with an "Oh-De-Lally"! (Featured on the drawing above because that's just what I do)


Forever escaping to my paints and pencils,

Anna

The Lost Desire

Sometimes I get bored.

When I get bored, I do stupid things. {Like sleep on piano benches}

Last night I got bored and did something not-so-stupid. I found an empty sketchbook - it was a miracle that I found a blank one - and decided to draw.

Usually when I draw I aimlessly wave the pencil around hoping it would create something of great artistic ability. But I decided to draw with care; and the fun was raised tremendously. Whenever I would draw something hastily I would be disappointed with the outcome. But, surprisingly, I was slightly satisfied with how this drawing came out.

There comes a time where one's memory of how simply splendorous something can be starts to fade. And when the memory is freshened, boy, is it good.

I guess I just started a journal of art. Art journal, art diary, art book. Whatever you want to call it.

And quite frankly, I like it.

It's odd how even the little things can remind us how rejuvenating life is.

Drawing became this old hobby that was in the past. But now, I think I'll be drawing a little more often. :)

Oh, how wonderful it felt to have the pencil gently dancing across the page. The tension of tracing the led marks with pen. The joy of coloring and adding the finishing touches. And most of all, adding a little signature on the bottom declaring that I have done this, I did something that meant a lot to me, I created something.
Instead of an actual signature, I decided to draw a fox in honor of the pencil fox that was originally drawn on the page but was murdered by the eraser. You will be forever remembered, little fox.





I drew this picture of 'The Bluekele" in honor of my old, dusty, blue ukulele. I haven't played it in months. My fingers can barely find the chords anymore. The strings are incredibly out of tune; even my dogs are scared of the sound.

The ukulele and the drawing have one big thing in common.

They're both coming back. :)


And, in the inside of my new Art-Journal-Thing I decided to declare my artness of the art-journal-thing by writing a little note of my thoughts on the cardboard.






P.S The last l in 'will' is not a b, I promise.

It feels so incredible to do something new for a change.


This, this is good.


~Anna

Tis the Season!

Tis the season.

Tis the season to eat.

Tis the season to smile.

Tis the season to live.


Alas! It finally is the season where everyone can be happy at the same time!

Oh wait.

Shouldn't that be everyday?

We treat Christmas time like this sacred time were everyone needs to be happy and joyful all the time. Life is perfect along with every strung light-bulb  and snowflake that falls.

But once Christmas is over.

Blam.

Spell-check is judging me for typing 'blam'.

Well. BLAM. Ptthhsbbsth. Deal with it.

Anywho.

Once Christmas is over everyone goes back to their grumpy faces and store away the masks for next year.

Why can't it be Christmas all year round? Yeah, the lights won't be up and snow won't be falling. But why are we so tight the rest of the year? Why are we so tight living our lives? Why are we so afraid of living?

A friend of mine from Minnesota, let's chit-chat about her for a bit.

One day a lack of contentment blundered over her. Living in a small town wasn't her desire and her job was too bland. She snapped her fingers in wonderment as a brilliant idea sparked in her brain. "I'm gonna live with my cousin in New York City".   So, she talked it over with her cousin. She sold everything she owned and moved to New York. No job, no place to go back to if her plan backfired. She had nothing but her life.

The view from her window.

She has a job now, plenty of friends and a never-ending adventure of living in New York.

On November 11, 2012, an adventure happened.


She still lives there, she's as happy as ever.


'Living' is an understatement. It's not just breathing, it's so, so, much more.

It's trying new things, doing things you're terrible at but enjoying it anyway, striving to beat records and setting goals. It's dreaming and wondering and learning and speaking and feeling and hearing and having your breath taken away by the amount of pure, enjoyable, living.

If we all could live a wondrous life, if we all could love life as it should be loved...

It would be Christmas all year round.


~Anna

Something Different

This weekend has been quite different to the previous ones.

There was no soccer involved. :O (Okay, maybe a little...)

But, alas, the season has ended. I need to turn in my jersey tomorrow, along with the memories and victories my team had accomplished. We placed #2 in Nationals and #1 in State, now it's time to do our very best and try again next year. The old has gone the new is coming.

Now, back to the actual weekend I planned on writing about before my mind went potato.

I invited a friend over, she needed a ride to a retreat and she decided it would be easier for her to drive herself to my house first.

I practiced soccer outside as I waited for her, I didn't want her to get lost (Which she probably would have ;) ).

As I was juggling something caught my eye, something flashing.

I lifted my head and saw...


Superman.


A rather old, Superman.


Riding a three-wheeled scooter.



With a flashing belt.


I guess you're never too old to be 'super', being super is a never-ending quality that anyone could accomplish.


Now, I mentioned a retreat, right?

The retreat was marvelously fun and awkward in a not-so-fantastic kinda way.


We had to meet people. *Shudders* Luckily, I was picked by someone else, so I didn't have to pick anyone.  I had to be blind-folded and we played tag, I was the tagger first. I had to listen to this random dude's voice, and we did pretty well.

Then he had to be blind-folded and I had to give directions....And quite frankly, I'm not good at giving directions...

But, we never got tagged, we just went around the room until the time was up....I guess I didn't do too bad. :)

Although I'm not too fond of meeting new people, I broke out of my little fear-shell and talked to some new people; and it was pretty interesting to hear some of their stories.

I've met a lot of people since I moved back to Indy, and their stories are pretty fascinating.

One of my friends, amazingly talented at soccer...

But he barely spends any time at home. He spends his time at the gym or at his Dad's office, his Grandparents take him everywhere. If I wrote a story about him, I'd have him desire to have his Dad as a best friend; to be present at all his games and see his game-winning goals and his victory smile as he makes his team proud.


Now, this is interesting to me...

My best friend before I moved, I thought I knew everything but I only knew a fraction.

She writes stories, amazing stories. She creates movies in her head, she blurts out ideas that pop up and she fits them together like a piece of a puzzle so they all make sense in the end.


I never knew that knowing someone could change perspective on certain things...

There's a lot I don't know.


So much to discover, so much to remember....

It's a job for a Superman - of any age, size, or shape.

Time to get my super-flashy belt on and make a fashion statement and become famous.

JK.

I just want to meet a not-so-fictional character.


A job fit for a person with a super-flashy belt.



-Anna

*Bloop* Photo Memory!

*Gasp* Double post!! :O I have too much free time and way too much to write! Enjoy this while it lasts, it won't be happening often. ;)

Yesterday someone asked me about my week. I would usually respond "Good" or "Fun" or "Busy", but this time I thought I needed a little more description.

"This week has been amazawesome. It was filled with dinosaurs, sweat, and misspelled medals."

Their eyebrows raised and their eyes widened.

"Wow."

Yep. This is my life.

  I have pictures of every day of the week to help me explain.



Monday: October 14th, Fall Break, Creation Museum.


Even though I've already been to the creation museum when I was seven, it was great to see the structures again, it was almost as if I were seeing an old friend!

Reading interesting articles....

Waiting in line...





Tuesday, October 15th: Soccer with friends and a college soccer game.

Unfortunately the only pictures I have are these to selfies... Or as my friend likes to call them, ussies.

And yes, both of the guys I took selfies with were in college. Yes, I do know them both. These were taken at a restaurant near-by from where we play indoor soccer, this was the only opportunity I got to take pictures.

The college soccer game was rather disappointing. The concessions were so expensive, I couldn't even afford a candy bar!

Oh, and our team lost.

But man, I was hungry.

Wednesday, October 16th: Colored Converse

Wednesdays are my free days so I decided to do the colored Converse DIY.

Thursday, October 17th: Practice. No pictures. :(


Friday, October 18th: Semi-Finals

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19TH: STATE CHAMPIONSHIP.
After a hard, thrilling and spine-chilling game. We won. We're titled State Champions 2013. Or as the medal says "State Chamionship"


On Sunday my youth group had a bonfire, I told my friends about the game and also explained how they spelled "Champion" wrong.

It's funny, it's Indiana homeschool soccer.


Clearly.


We eventually found ourselves singing "We are the chamions, my friends..."

It has been a good week, a rather adventurous one. A week fit for a 'chamion'. ;)


~Anna

Doodle Notes

I have this silly habit of doodling on the Church bulletins during the service; this week I decided to take notes... With a little twist.

The sermon was mainly pointed to one word, so I decided to play "Guess the Word" with myself...Introvert alert, possibly? ;)



One word, nine letters.

Guessed the word yet? (If you don't want to play look at the first picture)

The word is: SURRENDER.


We surrender ourselves to so many things; one of the main things he listed was fear.





He said a quote from this dude, man, guy. But the side-screen switched before I could write his name, thus, I shall refer to him as 'awesome guy'. Or A.G for short. :)

"Fear only gets loud when you do things that matter." - Awesome Guy. (Aka A.G)


And you're probably wondering why I drew a clown above that quote. Well, he told us to write down our fears, so I did. I am afraid of clowns. Silly, isn't it? I'm afraid of someone who entertains children, I guess their sense of humor never struck me as humorous when I was a child.

They're unpredictable. Just like everyone else on the planet.

Sometimes I fear people, I'm not that good at meeting new people in a room where no one knows my name. I don't know anything about them, their personality, their strengths and weaknesses or their ability to destroy.  I don't know how good they are at keeping friendships, or keeping secrets or rabid raccoons. I don't know how fast they can disappear or how long it will take for them to let go.

I never know.

But maybe there's something terrifying fantastic about that.


Pictures speak more to me than words ever will. Picture notes, people, it's gonna happen.

Because living normal everyday just gets too boring.


~Anna

DIY: Colored Converse

I wouldn't really call this  DIY, more of a restyle...But I guess that goes into the DIY category so thus, DIY.

I hope you enjoy this DIYish DIY.

Once upon a time I was bored, so I went to the garage and grabbed my three year old used-to-be-black Converse; I bleached them a few months ago, and it was a creative mistake. Yes, they were pretty 'cool' and 'original' but they were much too bland instead of bold. They weren't exactly 'me'.

I rummaged through my closet and found my old collection of Sharpies. I can imagine you know where this is going already.


I selected my favorite color Sharpies and sampled them on one of the shoes, like a paint sample.






I didn't mind actually drawing on the shoe for a sample, it's supposed to be a little spontaneous.


It came down to these two colors:





The winner was blue. Although I left the pink stripe on the other shoe, just cuz.

I colored and colored and colored.





I added a dash of green to the little ruffle stitches on the star. I like things better a little 'outside the lines'.

After the first shoe was done I decided to go to bed.


Then the mental picture of one shoe done one left out haunted my brain. I tossed and turned but it would not go away.

So, I got up and finished the other shoe.







Today I wore them happily. I touched them up a little to finish it off.





I can't wait to wear these again, they hold many memories and have lived many adventures.

Now the shoe is more colorful, more joyful, more me.

I me-ified my shoe. And I hope that you find this helpful and maybe one day you-ify your own worn-out shoe.


~Anna~

An Eventful Day

Today has been a most eventful day, the adventures are rather..Peculiar.

To start the day off, all of my Health class got our fingers pricked! I found out my blood type, there's only one other girl in my class that has it. O+ Is my blood type, I've always been curious what mine was...And in order to know what we were supposed to do we had to listen to a British man doing commentary, that was the best part.

OH YEAH IF YOU DON'T LIKE BLOOD LOOK DOWN HERE:

After I got my finger pricked, you can see the camouflage band-aid I got. BE JELLY ;)

HAHAHAHA YOU WHO DON'T LIKE BLOOD JUST SAW A PICTURE WITH BLOOD IN IT! HAHA! Ha I'm so nice, right? ;)

A lot of us were shaking in our shoes, others were all calm about it.

"Yeah sure, I don't care if you stab my finger and squeeze the blood out of me for your experiment."

I wasn't one of them. My friend, Bailey, helped me so much by making this face once the prick was injected through his skin:

And if getting stabbed wasn't enough, one of the moms decided it would be a good idea to play "Bleeding Out" by Imagine Dragons. . . It kinda brightened up the mood, though.

I really made this face the whole class:

But on the upside, we got colorful band-aids! Totally worth it.


And for P.E . . . We had to jog a mile. That was pretty tough. My time was seven minutes and fifty-two seconds...I'm pretty sure it was, anyway. :P

After that we played kick-ball, a game I hadn't played since elementary school...And I'm afraid I'm  not as good as I was last time I played it.

And alas, the last adventure. My Mom had to pick me up late and quite frankly, I don't like being completely alone in an open space, so I was invited to a nine-year-old boys Birthday party by my caring friend.

We had a sword fight, ate cake, found the "Goodest foam axe for shredding skin" and calmed the hyper boys even though our legs were still sore from the running.  Their vocabulary was impeccable, I must say. "Gooder" is a humorous word.

It's nice to act like a kid once in a while. A foam-sword fight couldn't hurt anyone...Unless you actually...You know...Get hurt.

Today has been an eventful day.

Dear Friend,

Sometimes my thoughts are too one-on-one for a journal, so instead I write letters.

Last night my wonderful friend in Fargo was telling me about the activities at youth group. I found myself imagining the scenarios if I was there...Later I found myself writing a letter.

Dear Friend,

I adore hearing your stories from youth group; but at the same time...I despise it. Yesterday you told me adventures and my memories of Youth Group haven't left me since.

You tell me about how you hang out with all you friends that I tried to hang out with, but I oh-so-awkwardly failed. I tried again and they started to enjoy my company...But it was too late...I had to depart a few months after.

Sometimes I just want to forget it all. The laughter, the moments, the people... I'm back in Indy. It's not as great as I always perceived it to be. Sometimes you need to move around, shift a little. Living in the same order is pretty boring. To be completely honest I try to view everyday as an adventure but sometimes Indy bores me.

I have to create the adventures, the ones inside my head. Although I live in Indy my mind often wanders off to Minnesota, in youth group, with you. I create little scenarios, I 'photo-shop' myself into your adventures.

Then it hits me.

I don't belong in your stories, I belong in mine. When I imagine myself in your stories they aren't the same, they're not right. You live your adventures and I try (And fail) to live them with you.

I seem to not be content with my little adventures....Why?

Because I've lived much greater.

The ones I lived with you.



Your friend,

Anna

Catch Up

I haven't been posting very often, I apologize. My life has been bombarded with activities...

Soccer, food, the computer and school.


And fangirling, can't forget the fangirling.


Have any of you watched the SECOND trailer for the Hobbit Desolation of Smaug? A-MAZING!! But my computer kept buffering the video so it delayed the fangirling. -__-  I'm seriously super excited for the movie because I read the book after I watched the first movie, if you see a girl with a ponytail and glasses quietly shouting "OH MY GOSH I REMEMBER READING THAT!" in the theater...That might be me...


While I was on the soccer team website looking through photos I found this precious moment:

This is the team that won state last year...Well, some of it, a little more than half of the team.  This is the Genesis United Girl's Team in a nutshell. We don't look that intimidating but if you play us keep in mind that we have never lost, ever.

The last team we played (The picture was taken at Stake'N'Shake after the game) they were getting a little goofy about our 'Nerdy Homeschool Team' but we ended up beating them 7-0.

Rule #1: Never underestimate homeschoolers, they are secretly ninjas.


Also while I was looking through photos I came across this cat:





My brother is so odd...


I made a chocolate shake for the first time. :O It made me very happy. :) And the taste made me jump for joy, I was so hungry...

I have another morning game this weekend...YAY! *Note sarcasm* I hope my lovely brother won't mind making a protein shake for breakfast...Waking up at 6am is a serious work-out, it wears me out so much. I really hope I don't forget my cleats.


OH SPEAKING OF SOCCER...

I got done early with school today and practiced soccer, I can do a rainbow now. :) And for those of you that don't know what it is, look it up, it's awesome.

One last picture for this post:




#ThrowbackThursdayonaWednesday


Boom. I'm such a hipster.

ADIOUS MUCHACHOS! (Spanish really comes in handy, I can confuse people now)

~Anna~

Mornings

Today I had a far-away soccer game, which means, early rising.

I'm not a morning person, I'm the exact opposite. I usually don't get to see morning, but today I rose before the sun did.

After I was all suited up and ready to go I went outside to wait for my Dad and brother. Despite the cold nipping at my bare calves, being in the presence of life before the dawn was breathtaking. The sky darkened and softly lightened near the horizon.

Unfortunately I don't carry a camera around with me at all times, the best moments aren't able to be caught on camera.

Mist hovered over small rivers and ponds, the chilled air filled the earth. During the car ride I was mesmerized by the beauty.



So mesmerized that I was completely oblivious to the fact that I forgot my cleats.


I don't do mornings.

Tropophobia

Tropophobia- Fear of moving or making changes.
This is what I do with my free time, I look up phobias. Don't judge yo. As I was scrolling through the list there were many reactions; I was either amused, disturbed, or I related to them... Only this one related to me that wasn't a 'common sense fear', aka the fear of chainsaws. Moving was a terrifying experience to me, a million thoughts went through my head. Will they like me? What are they like? Is there going to be opportunities there? Will my old friends forget about me? Will I be able to keep my friendships? Will I be able to build friendships? Moving is hard, no doubt about it, it transforms you. Now, planning on going away from where you grew up to permanently live somewhere you've never been before is terrifying, absolutely terrifying. I always knew one of my friends would move...I never thought it would be me. Even though the experience of moving to Minnesota was scary at first, I molded into it. Matter of fact, when my Dad said we were moving my heart sunk, of course, he didn't specify where. My first thought was: AGAIN?! Change scares me, moving is not a walk in the park. Now, the mere sound of ripping tape makes me cringe, I despise it. Like Adrian Monk would say... "There's an old saying...Never change, ever." "That's an old saying?" "I've been saying it for years." Boom. I've always wanted to use that reference but no one would get it because Monk hasn't aired an episode since 2006...I think... ANYWHOOZLE. There is no doubt, I definitely have Tropophobia. I like adventures, yes, but as long as I can come back to my comforting home. I don't get homesick easily because I know it will always be there. But what scares me is when it's gone.

Heaven To Me

Breathing is heavy, uneven, fast-paced. Heart pounding, feet shuffling. The whistle blows and the sound of bodies hitting the hard, cold, unforgiving ground fill the air. We all rise up simultaneously and our feet shuffle again. The dark, billowy clouds of heaven float above us, sending reminders to us, that we are not alone during out trials, during out pains, during our rough-patches. They remind us to endure, to persevere, to do all that we do for the Glory of God.

Hebrews 10:36 - You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Sweat gathers on our bodies as we push ourselves harder; small raindrops falling on our shoulders. Our bodies hit the ground at the whistle and we stumble our way back up. The lavender-tinted sky peaks through the clouds, reminding us of His power. We stumble and fall, but by the grace of God we are able to make it back up, it may be hard, tiring and painful, but we can and will make it if we persevere.

The whistle blows twice and we all collapse together as a team, our sweaty, aching, bodies stagger their way the beloved and well-needed water. The glorious waterfall of cold, hydrating, substance pours down my throat sending energy to my body. I take my scuffed up cleats, sweaty socks and my forever-stinky shinguards off. I make my way home not regretting a single thing coach made us do.

When we stopped I almost wanted to do more, it was an exhilarating feeling, it's the feeling of knowing you did something to make you a better person, or, player, in this case. Once you start you just can't get enough.

Though my legs were aching and my body was covered in sweat, I regret nothing due to the feeling that I came homing knowing that I had persevered, I tried my hardest and was willing to give more.

Forgetting, It Happens.

Did I ever tell you about the time I found one of my friends in my basement?

That's a funny story, I should tell it to you sometime.


School started...Yay. *Makes pouty face and squints eyes*

In Science I learned about the Moon, elementary, I know, but hey, we forget things...

I wonder if the Moon is offended that we don't visit it anymore...Sorry, would if I could.



Today I listened to possibly the most depressing song ever. :( It reminds me of the time I moved to Minnesota, and also the time I left Minnesota for the place of my dreams.

The smallest things remind me of what life was like before, during, and after the move. When I play soccer it reminds me of the joyous times I played pick-up soccer games with mostly college/highschool guys, I miss those goofs.

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE it here in Indy, hence the bold text, italicized, AND the underlining. (That means it's pretty intense) But I miss the memories in Minnesota, even the plain-ness of the area, there was something unique about it. It was almost mysterious, almost. It was almost pleasing to live there, almost.
It was only almost there. The right person will see it fully there.

I guess I'm just not that type of person.

I tried really hard not to like it there. I wouldn't accept the fact that I was turning into a true Minnesotan. People say I have the accent, I mourn when I hear that.

"So little to remember, so much to forget."

But here's the thing...

I still remember it.

I remember everything.

The sadness, the happiness, the jokes, the laughs, the memories.

I remember it all.

It left a mark on me, almost permanent, almost.

"I'm a better man than I was before, knowing you has made me strong.

I sure am gonna miss you when I'm gone."


I dreaded saying goodbye, not only to the people, but the memories that were held there. They'll soon vanish, they'll be forgotten. It will be like I never even took a breath there, just like I always wished. People forget, they always do, always will.


My good friend, Seth, let's talk about him for a bit.

I met him two days before I moved to Minnesota. I didn't contact him within the two years I was gone; but every time I visited, he came up to me with a smile and embraced me in a hug. I only saw him twice within those two years, but he never forgot me.

Now I'm back, we still talk, we're good friends.

Here's what stands out to me:

I only met him two days before I moved, I hung out with him for two hours.  One of my best friends that I've known since 3rd grade didn't know my name. I've lost friendships in Indiana from the move, many of them I've known for more than a year, I knew Seth for two hours.

Remembering is a rare thing, half the people I know in Minnesota I can't contact, I have no hold of them. It's like there's a rope but only one person is holding on, and I have no idea which one it is.

I try to believe it's not me, but sometimes I can't help but think maybe I am grasping on to the little bit of Minnesota I can't have.

No matter how much I want to forget it, something is almost holding on, almost.

One thing I can't forget is how much it changed me, it made me who I am. I think when I moved I found myself.

So if someone thinks I've changed after I moved back to Indiana, I changed into me, the real me.


This is who I am.