Swing Dancing

I must have my shoes on backwards

or on the wrong feet. 

I most desperately am trying 

to keep on beat

And I can feel it quickly coming, 

Your dance is like a storm. 

And I just feel like I'm guessing

With none to warn. 

You whisper in my ear

"My love it isn't me

Its just that you're headstrong 

And hard to lead." 

And you say it smiling 

With warmth inside your eyes

I am blushing, sighing, trying

To escape, but keep in line.

I look up and laugh at you

are you sure you know the steps? 

And you look at me lovingly 

Saying " Don't you give up yet." 

You pull me close, then push away, 

Your feet move quick for me. 

You bend my back, we roll and sway, 

This dance feels like defeat. 

But you say to me, "Oh my love, 

you did better than before.

I know it feels like random chance, 

But its a dance to Heaven's door." 

On Set: Gadlynn Wayfare

So... this all started with that photo shoot from awhile back. Dave, the producer from that short film I worked on last summer, was directing the photo shoot and I was brought in as an assistant. I wasn't even supposed to dress up, but since all my friends were in garb, he thought why not! It started out simple, then a cape got added, and suddenly I was a character.

The whole reason this turned into a film was because I ran down a hill. After we had taken some photos, Dave suggested that he try out a running scene to test Miss Lilli's dad's (Scott) new camera.  After I ran down the hill a few times, Dave looked up and said, "This could be a movie!" And its getting there!!! I'm so happy to be a part of this! I get to be around cameras, play dress up, and be around (and even ride) horses. Could life be any sweeter than being on set??? Yep, I definitely want to work in film... Need to work on the acting though, I'm so used to directing...

By the way, my character's name is Gadlynn Wayfare (I named her, could you tell =P ) also known as Gaddie.

Falling Out of a Bucket

Falling
Out of a bucket.
I landed on my side.
And I realized how stupid I'd become.
I know.
It isn't proper to say so.
But I will.
Who am I?
Why was I sent here?
In asking these questions,
I became
The very thing
That I despise.
But falling
Out of a bucket
Changes things.
It makes you see
The world
In a different way.
When you're all curled up
At the bottom
In the dim, bromby light
You contemplate little
Other than yourself.
And then you realize
As you fall
Just how small
You really are.
And just how grand
And just how tall
The world around you
Must be
To make your fall so long.
I am so small.
I understand that I am tiny.
And the only thing
You come to want
Is a soft landing.
So where were you looking before?
Were you looking at hearts of stone?
Were you looking at the Sevenfold Spirit?
Where were you hiding?
As you pick up speed
And fly
Through the air
In a downward tumble.
Your insides give out.
You are one with the air.
You are surrendered to your circumstances.
You have faith in the ground,
That it will catch you
Safely or not.
And you don't think about yourself anymore.
Just the fall.
You don't hear your heart beating
So loud in that bucket.
You just think about tumbling out into the open air
Dead or alive.
You will arrive on the ground.
And as you tumble out,
On a cobble, or brick, or carpet floor,
You are reborn.
You have emerged.
I tumbled into a alley way.
And found people dressed in rags
Far more important than me.
And I left the poison of myself
At the bottom of that bucket,
And myself lost, I am found.

EPIC Photographs

I got to live out my imagination yesterday... This was our photo shoot... needless to say, it was epic. Thanks so much to Mr. Figgins and Dave Anderson for letting us play, and thanks to Lisha for inviting me! 

Thin Atmosphere

Takes so much to know You're mine

Cross and doubting all the time

Pushing hard against the line

The hills and valleys chase the rhyme

While you tell me taste the vine

Takes a lot to really trust

What do I know? Nothing much

I long to feel Your loving touch 

The devil tries to mess me up 

And I forget Your healing love

Its a thin atmosphere

Between our two hearts

But not much is clear

From this side of the stars

I want to know You better

And I'm chasing after truth

And the thinness of the veil 

Lets me see past my roof

Takes some time to sit and speak 

About what makes me tick and weak

You oppose pride and lift the meek 

I'm afraid you won't like me

And so I stray and we both weep

Takes some time to hear Your voice

But I have made my final choice

I know you won't leave a void

Your death is life my songs employ 

So I will stay while You rejoice

Its a thin atmosphere

Between our two hearts

But not much is clear

From this side of the stars

I want to know You better

And I'm chasing after truth

And the thinness of the veil 

Lets me see past my roof

Up In the Air

Right now, many things are up in the air. 

A job. 

A film opportunity. 

My book. 

All these things are beyond my grasp, placed just out of my reach. I think God is testing my trust in Him. I have such a hard time NOT KNOWING things. I want to know the who, what, when, where, and how, dust off my hands and be on my merry way. But nope, I'm stuck here, hovering, all up in the air...

...taking forever at the interstate, i left my black hat at the back door. Thinking subliminally and hoping and wishing, I walked down to the open shores and stuck a feather with a pin. Wistfully, I watched it wash up on shore, knowing there is so much more than this implied, and thinking that I was so lucky to have survived...

Leg-Warmers

I used to think that they were just a fashion statement in dance class... but no... they actually keep your calf muscles warm during exercise so that you don't pull or strain them so easily. I fell in love with a pair at payless for five bucks last December... I almost walked away from them since I hardly every make off the cuff purchases, but my sisters persuaded me, and I haven't been sorry since! One of those random purchases that you are so happy with afterwards =) 

Thanks to my sister for the lovely photo... 

The Polaroid Frenzy

Everyone seems obsessed with instagram and other such programs so I thought I'd give it a try... 

Done with picmonkey

Waiting at the Train Station

Using our imaginary skills and practicing camera angles =) 

I am so OCD... I stayed up late putting this together instead of doing homework. 

In the words of Nancy Drew "I get started with something and, I can't stop..." 

Thanks to Miss Lilli for always being a willing victim..er actress 

and for being props manager =) 

Sometimes, Things Make My Heart Stop Because They Remind Me of What's to Come

"I promise to come back for you. Deal?"

"He misses her, the mortal." 

                 

"So earth is lost to us..." 

"No. There is always hope." 

"Can you see her?" 

"Yes." 

"How is she?"

"She searches for you." 

Photo Journal: There Be Flowers

The Tumblr Girl

I'm sure we've all seen those really adorable tumblr pictures. You know, the ones where the lighting is just so, and the girl who is pictured in it is wearing some really cute outfit that makes you secretly (or not so secretly) squeal with delight. I think Heaven is going to be like perma-tumblr... Anyway, I got this scrumptious little white dress from my friend Katie, and even though I wasn't even really going anyway today, I couldn't resist wearing it =) It totally made me feel like a tumblr girl.

I Wanna Die Like Fall Leaves

- Checking off that innumerably list of should be posts  =/ I should have written this in the fall, but then it would be a completely different song! =)

I hear the trees whisper
Before they fall asleep
In the wind
I see the trees shiver
Before they lose their keep
To the wind.

They rust and dither
They quiver and turn to dust
And no one sees the river
That the leaves mysteriously touch

I wanna die like fall leaves
With colors bursting
I want to be well received
When I die
I want to fly like fall leaves
So gently sleeping
I want to be as radiant 
When I die

I hear the trees praying
Before they lose their hold
to the wind.
I see the trees playing
In colors of gold
Within the wind.


They rust and dither
They quiver and turn to dust
And no one sees the river
That the leaves mysteriously touch

The Best Way to Outline an Essay (Otherwise Known as an Essay on Essays)

PUT YOUR MAIN TOPIC HERE. Write a few sentences that hone in on your topic, just to keep you on track. They don’t have to be pretty, they don’t even have to make sense to anybody but you at this point, just write something down. Count out how many sentences you want to write about this point. I usually say five sentences to a paragraph. Then...

Make a transition to your next paragraph. Write a sentence or two about what this paragraph focuses on. Remember, your goal is to explore all the stuff you can about a particular topic, and you want to carry your reader to the end of the essay. Count out how many sentences you want so you know how long to camp out here. Will you spend one paragraph? Two? Four? If your paper is short, you might want to keep it to about one paragraph per topic, if your paper is a lot longer (oh, lets say... six to ten pages) you’ll want to drrrrrraaaaaagggggg it out as long as possible, three to four paragraphs on three or four bullet points. Remember, you don’t have to write REALLY LONG paragraphs, they can be as short as five sentences.

Once you’ve counted out your sentences for ALL your paragraphs, add any quotes that you’ll be needing into their respective paragraphs. For example... if I were writing a paper about how great the Pink Panther theme song was, I might need a quote from Mr. Expert to back me up. So I might say... Along with myself and many others, Mr. Expert agrees that “While band music can often be annoying, especially during overtime football games, the Pink Panther theme song seems to cheer the dullest of spirits” (and then I would have to have the correct citations in this little paragraph LIKE; Mr. Expert, 101).

After you’ve taken the trouble to add in all your quotes, you’ll have cooked up a nice little essay soup with lots of the right ingredients to start you off. Now, you add the “meat” to your stew, which is your marvelous writing around the quotes and meeting your sentence amount requirements. Once this is done, you can draw your readers into a conclusion.

At this point in the essay, you should have beaten your topic to death. Everyone should understand where you’re coming from and why you wrote the essay (unless you’re a professor or a professor wannabe, in which case your audience should be thoroughly confused). Now, you can give your audience a little breather. Don’t recap at this point, instead put the cap on. Enforce the MEANING of your essay and WHY ITS IMPORTANT. DO NOT retell all the information you just wrote about. Then you can pull out your polish, shine up the dull spots, and voila, you have an essay!

The Geese Don't Stay for Winter

via google

Let praise not petition flow thence from my mouth

And the geese tell their children we'll migrate down South

Fewer Words

Some of the best bloggers out there use few words. I feel like an essayist, probably because I am one. But for now, I will try to use fewer words, and let them hang in the air, simple, but full of meaning.

When they looked at her, the page was too full of letters.
It should be bare,
almost blank at times,
But evermore have the power of words
Beaming off her face.

Above and Beyond

I am always amazed at how the LORD provides not just what I need, but above and beyond what I expect. I'm a pretty easily pleased person. A cup of tea with a friend, a soft breeze through familiar trees, the voices of my favorite people floating into my ears, or just a moment of repose amidst the chaos of this modern world. And yet, I am still so easily frustrated. I become anxious about tomorrow, even when today is beautiful. Instead of enjoying the breath in my lungs, I'm am worried about the few gulps of air I might miss in the future.

Exiting my high school phase and entering college has been a difficult transition. I feel uncertain about so many tings. Often times I feel like a failure because as hard as I work, I don't have a steady paying job, I don't know were my money is going to come from, and my future plans are brilliant but sketchy. I feel like I'm chasing after intangibles sometimes. I expect hardships, and I feel like I have to fend for myself. I feel like I have to gear up and fight, I have to be an adult and stand on my own two feet. This is true to an extent.

But oftentimes, I forget that I ave the LORD. He is ultimately were my next meal comes from. He dictates my steps, and he is my loving father who will give me what I need. I am so used to facing "the tough stuff" that I fall into thinking that God only deals in "tough love." I forget that he's into blessing too. I keep thinking that I'll land a really hard, boring job, and interact with cardboard souls. Instead, I just spent the evening working wit kids at our little baseball field "snack shack."

Its a great little place, and feels something like "Whits End," for any Adventures in Odyssey fans out there. I hand out candy to little kids, and get to work with high school students who are kind and dependable and fun. I'm pretty sure I always want to work with kids, there is so much life, creativity, and openness to the gospel, plus kids are much more real. The door to speaking the kids about God and important life lessons is wide open. And I get paid. I really couldn't have thought that up. Its a God thing. I don't know what the future holds, but God continually shows me that he's there in the hard times, and also as blessings in store that I couldn't even imagine.

Thank you Father, You truly are Amazing God

Photo Journal: March, April, May...

Just a study of colors and life in general. "In order of appearance..."