What I've Been Up To!

I haven't done a monthly recap in FOREVER. I really should start that again...check back at the end of March haha. Anyways, I wanted to catch you guys up on what I've been doing lately. So here's what's been happening since Christmas break :D

Family

My Christmas break was December 14-January 8. Almost an entire month and that was amazing. I had a great time being home with my family again. It was almost perfect! The only rough part was me, my brother, and parents got the stomach flu the week before Christmas. Thankfully we all were better by Christmas Eve! We got to go Christmas caroling with the church, we celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family, and Christmas day with my church family and my mom's side of the family.

I got to spend a lot of time with friends too. We had some sleepovers with friends and cousins and had adventures together :) My one friend had been in Costa Rica since August so I was THRILLED to see her again :D

School

I got back to Wisconsin on January 9th. We had revival services that evening and classes on Tuesday morning. Classes started well and most have been going well. I'm taking basic classes such as Persuasion (which is basically Public Speaking on steroids) and Math, but also some fun classes relating to my Digital Media major. I'm being stretched; I'm learning. I guess that's a good thing ;)

Socially

Socially life has been good! I have my tight friend group out here and that's lots of fun. My friend group is mostly through my society, which makes me very involved there. Some of the current cabinet members have even been hinting that they want me on the cabinet for next year...not sure how I feel about that haha. I'm heavily involved in Intramural Sports and we just finished volleyball. Out of eight games, we only managed to win one. But we had a good time! Basketball is next and then in April, PowderPuff Football!!!

Another Blog...

Sort've...haha. I've been waiting to make this announcement and finally I can! For one of my classes, we are required to write a blog! We had to pick a specific topic and design and write posts. I just started posting but I'd love for you guys to check out this blog! It's called Beyond the Hymn and I'm going to be talking about hymn histories and stories about hymns. I'm super excited about it and I have found INCREDIBLE stories so I hope you'll check it out. We are required to post at least once a week and different types of posts (videos, pictures, written, podcasts, etc.) So let me know if you checked it out :) 

Q&A With a Twist Answers!

First things first, I changed my blog template for the first time in like...years? I don't know it's been pretty long and I thought I'd give this new one a try and see what I think...what do you guys think?

Secondly, thanks so much for the questions! This REALLY stretched my musical quotes library haha! But it was SO much fun for me. It took me a while to look through different songs and find lyrics I thought fit well...I might have to do this again some day, but for now, I hope you enjoy my answers.

Faith asked:

• What's your favorite color and why?

This. Song. So. Good.

• What's your favorite genre to read?

A good mystery is always welcome. Especially if it involves a singer!

• Do you prefer brown or blonde hair? Curly or straight?

Disclaimer: The picture is from Les Mis but the quote is from Wicked.
This was a crossover pin I found on Pinterest :D

Another Disclaimer: So here's where I run into a problem. I am a brunette. I have dark brown hair. Some think it is black but it is BROWN. Anyways, I love my brown hair and I am known to tease my blonde friends about their hair color. 

But I'm going to say it and you'll be the first to hear me say it (I guess see me type it lol)

I kind of like blonde hair. I mean blonde hair is pretty! Especially "with a gentle curl". I like brown and blonde hair #NotAHairColorRacist :P

RebekahAshleigh asked:

• What's your favorite song?

"One Day More" I can listen to on repeat

Ahhhh Ramin/Enjolras...my favorite part of the song

GOOSEBUMPS!!!

• Do you play an instrument?

I've had about seven years of piano, but I never really applied myself
I'm certainly not a concert pianist, but I can play well enough :)

• What's your favorite season?

From Camelot! Lancelot sings of how he loves Guinevere in every season :)
But autumn is my favorite.
I hate being away from home in autumn so I thought this quote was appropriate.

• Favorite ice cream flavor?

Probably Mint Chocolate Chip, but ice cream is ice cream and I'm not that picky :P

Kaitlyn K. asked:

• What's a good way to make you laugh?

Act like a fool and I will probably laugh :P

A good joke always gets me :)

• Do you like watching westerns?

I'll watch most westerns!

• Have you memorized all 45 of our presidents?

I did at one point...but now I sometimes get lost between Buchanan and Nixon

• How do you read best (i.e. complete silence, music in the background, etc.)?

This is a musical-in-Broadway-progress so it's gonna count haha
This also answers more "when" but I read best when it's quiet "in the dark of the night"

• Do you like playing with Styrofoam packing peanuts?

When I was little I remember playing with them :)
We'd throw them at each other, break 'em, and once we hid my youngest cousin in a box full of them haha

Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures. They were either really old or I had struggle while taking screenshots when I applied the lyrics :P

Q&A with a Twist

Hello! As I write this, I'm rooting on my favorite college basketball team the North Carolina Tarheels :) And I'm curled up on my top bunk in my dorm room. I have society volleyball practice soon so I'm trying to finish this real quick!

Upon reading Emily McConnell's recent blog post, I was inspired to do something similar. I want you guys to know more about me and I want to get to know you a little too so what better way than a Q&A session?

However, here's the twist. Similar to Emily's answering with a GIF (Which btw, I just learned is pronounced like JIF the Peanut butter, not Gif with the "guh" sound), rather than using a GIF, I was thinking about answering with a musical quote! I LOVE musicals Les Mis, Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray, Oklahoma, you name it! I have a plethora of musical lyrics memorized and I thought it would be fun to try and answer your questions with musical quotes and seeing how well I can match them.

For example, if asked the question: "How is living in Wisconsin?"
I would answer with this quote from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers:

Hopefully this will help me interact with you readers more. I know I'm not as active in the blogging realm, but I hope this will help!

So, what I need you to do is comment below a question or two or three and later I'll do a separate post answering your questions with a musical quote. Ask anything (within reason of course :P) and I'll do my best to answer it!

Keep an eye out for a poll from me about what kind of blog posts you'd like to see. This blog is about me posting stuff that YOU want to read! I also have something else to announce that is blog-related so look out for an upcoming post sometime in early/mid February!

Rising Author Tag!

HELLO READERS

A million years ago (it seems haha) Kaitlyn K tagged me for the Rising Author tag! Sorry it has taken me SO LONG, but better late than never?

*Sidenote: I added a new page! I'm working on providing easy links to the different story chapters in case you're new and want to read the old stories, or if for some random reason you have nothing better to do than re-read my stories :P It's there for you to use! I have the Hansen Girls done but I will work on O'Neal Girls soon. And I will be updating the character pages as well in the future :)

Here are her questions

What's your favorite genre to write?
I don't really have a genre I prefer. I guess "westerns" since I like writing the O'Neal girls.

Do you listen to music while you write?
Sometimes. I have a movie soundtrack playlist (mostly songs from Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Braveheart, and Frozen) that I listen to sometimes. Usually music distracts me but if it's instrumental, it sometimes help me get into the right mood.

Do you enjoy snacking while writing?
Yes and no...food helps my brain, but snacking distracts me and I get crumbs all over my laptop ;-)

Do you enjoy editing?
Meh. I like writing something and editing it like a day or two later, but not intense editing. I like relaxed editing...if that's a thing LOL

Where's your favorite place to write?
Back home, I loved writing on the couch or recliner. Out here, I write wherever I get the chance. In between classes, I jot down ideas Sundays at church, in the evenings I write from my desk or bed.

Do you enjoy torturing your characters?
Oh yes. I basically try to inflict as much pain as possible. I like having my characters in pain or suffering because I can draw from the emotion then. That's a terrible way to justify it but haha.

Do you often kill your favorite characters?
Not my favorites! (Although I will be posting a future post about how I did kill one of my favorites and later ressurected that character lol). I don't mind killing off some of my less favorite characters. All to the furtherance of plot right?

Are you published?  If not, do you hope to be sometime in the future?
No I'm not. (Unless you count my short story in Mrs. Marlow's one fan story book). I haven't thought about publishing and I'm not looking to be published. Writing is just a hobby.

Do you prefer writing by hand or typing on the computer?
I like to write by hand, but I prefer typing on the computer because if I write by hand, I have to transfer it anyways.

Do you prefer writing or reading?
Writing. Because I get to be in charge of what happens next :)

And lastly, would you please give us a 150-word excerpt from one of your stories? :D
How about 158? This occurs much later in my O'Neal stories :)

A woman with graying dark blonde hair made her way towards Lillian. She was robed in a big red dress with black around the edges. A red hat topped the outfit. She had soft gray eyes and arching eyebrows. She looked lost as she approached Lillian. 

“Excuse me, ma’am. Do you know where Oakley Rosenthal lives?” 

Lillian turned around and looked at the woman briefly. She smiled and chuckled, “Why yes, Oakley Rosenthal is my father.” Lillian turned away from the woman and pointed her hand in the direction of her father’s house. 

The woman however gasped and stared at Lillian. “Oh my goodness…”  

Lillian glanced over her shoulder at the woman. She tilted her head, “You look familiar…do I know you?” 

The woman had tears glistening in her eyes. “Are you Lila or Lillian?” 

“Why, I’m Lillian.” 

“Lillian … my baby … ” 

“Ma’am?” Lillian inquired in utter confusion. 

“It’s me … Caroline Rosenthal … your mother!”

I'm a....College Student!

WOW How did this happen?!

It's true folks. I am an official college student. I have been for a full week!

I probably won't be posting much anymore...it's kinda sad but I don't see me having lots of time for writing/editing posts. I'm going to try and keep you guys updated on me and maybe share some stories. I really want to share more O'Neals with you but I decided it needed a few more chapters in between some scenes so I'm only half way through writing those :P

So maybe on weekends I can write up some more O'Neals or at least edit what I have and post those as well as some Monday Meditations.

I am taking 17.5 credits this semester. I'm taking some cool classes such as Website Design and Photography and some not so fun classes like Public Speaking. I'm excited and nervous. This past week was really tough because of homesickness :-( I've never been away from my entire family for more than a weekend so being out here without family is REALLY tough.

But hey, God is tougher than all my fears.

I have been telling myself that every day pretty much. But it's gotten me through. A number of verses have come to mind and I think I'm going to try and write a Monday Meditations using those verses.

Thanks to those of you who follow my blog and have read my stories and random posts :) I haven't been running this blog long but you guys have been amazing and I love getting to know you through your own blogs!

Have a great week guys!

Q&A Answers!

A while back I asked for some random questions and such so y'all could get to know me. Here are my answers :D

From Bethany R., I got a number of interesting questions. Here we go!

1. When did you first start writing?
   I would have to say it was about 2011 or 2012.
2. What was your first story?
   My first story was the first book in the "Cantering Hooves Ranch" Series I wrote. It was called "Golden Sunshine" and it was about four riding pupils who become best friends at a horse farm and they learn one of the horses the farm owns is actually a stolen horse and worth a lot of money.
3. What are you goals in the writing world?
   I have no set goals. I write mostly for my own personal enjoyment. I do like to write things that make people think and encourage others.
4. How long ago did you start your blog?
   I started this blog in 2010 according to Blogger but back then it was just for my close friends and family. I just went public about a year ago...(Don't have time to check the actual date right now :P)
5. What is your favorite part of blogging, and favorite post you've done?
   Interacting with you guys and getting to read your own stories! We are all very like-minded and its fun to learn about each other. My favorite posts are the What Happens Next?! posts. I love reading your stories, especially when you wrote using the Hansen/O'Neal characters. It was cool to see you take my characters and write about them. 
6. How many siblings do you have?
   Two! A younger sister (16) and a younger brother (13)
7. What is your ideal vacation?
   Going to the beach! My family (immediate family, grandparents, and aunts, uncles, and cousins sometimes)  often goes to a beach in North Carolina where we rent a house right on the beach. We spend a week there where we all just relax. I do a lot of reading and swimming in the ocean :) SO RELAXING!
8. If you could visit two places in the world, where would they be and why?
   Somewhere out in Western United States and Deering, New Hampshire. I have always wanted to visit somewhere like South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, or Colorado since I was twelve. So beautiful out there! And Deering, New Hampshire is where the WILDS of New England is located, where I went to summer camp this year. I had so much fun that I want to go back for another week :)
9. Am I asking too many questions?
   Hahaha not at all!
10. Would you rather swim with a great white shark or walk with a lion?
    Good grief...walk with a lion. I'm not a great swimmer so I'd be terrified in the water with a shark. Plus I think lions are cool :)
11. What is your favorite animal and why?
    Horses! They are so beautiful, majestic, powerful etc. 
12. What is your favorite color?
    Blue!
13. Describe yourself in one or two sentences.
    An eighteen-year-old, college bound gal who loves to make others laugh, loves to write, make videos, and sing!
14. What are you hobbies? (Other than blogging and writing)
    I love to sing. I love singing with my friends and with my church choir or recording acapella music with myself.

I also got some questions from Faith P. Here's my answers to her intriguing questions!

1. Water, tea, or coffee? And for any of those, hot or cold?
   Mmm I would say water, but recently I started drinking tea and I love it. But nothing beats an ice cold glass of water.
2. What's your favorite way to eat peanut butter?
   In a sandwich with strawberry jelly!
3. Chicken or turkey?
   Chicken! 
4. Beef or Pork?
   Pork! Pork is my favorite meat.
5. Brownies and ice cream, or birthday cake with frosting?
   Brownies and ice cream for sure. I'm an ice cream person rather than a cake person.
6. Do you prefer to write by hand or on a computer/electronic device?
   Writing stories I prefer to use the computer or electronic device because eventually I have to transfer it to the computer anyways. But I like writing by hand for  other things.
7. Do you keep a journal? If so, do you let anyone read it?
   Yes! I've been keeping a journal since mid-2013. I don't let other people read it. Writing in my journal is my outlet for when I'm angry, upset, or scared so I write all my "deep" thoughts in there :) I will tell other people about certain things I write if it's about a trip or something like that.
8. What's your favorite flower?
   Dandelions!!! ;-) Kidding, I like roses.
9. Would you rather...get bitten once by a mountain lion or a shark?
   Once by a mountain lion. I think his bite wouldn't hurt as much as a shark's.
10. Would you rather...hang by your feet off a bridge with only your best friends present or lick frosting of your nose on a stage in front of 500 people?
    Given the fact I can't reach my nose with my tongue, I choose to hang off the bridge LOL
11. Would you rather...marry a man ten years older than you or five years younger?
    Ten years older. Younger are too immature :P 

Now for some fun questions from Blessing!

1. What do you think now of the first story you ever wrote? I think it was interesting...haha it was terribly written but I do love the story idea and I kinda wanna rewrite it someday.
2. What do you enjoy most about writing? THE POWER!! :D I can make up my own characters, place them wherever I wish, and make them do whatsoever I please!
3. What is your strongest subject in school? I think English was my best.  
4. What is your weakest subject in school? Definitely Science and maybe Math. It kinda flip flopped which was my worst lol.
5. Would you rather read or write? I would rather write. I always have something floating around in my head that I want to play with.
6. Waffles or pancakes? Waffles!! I don't know why but I love waffles more.
7. If you could have one superhero power, what would it be? The power to possess all super powers. Kidding ;-) I'm not THAT person. Its either the power to go back in time and re-live whatever memory I want or the power to go back and change things. Like fix my mistakes etc.
8. Baking or cooking? Neither? Haha I don't really do either but I like baking better cause desserts are delicious.
9. Would you rather marry a bald man or a man with shoulder-length hair? (keeping in mind that both men meet your qualifications and standards and all that, it’s just the hair really that’s the difference ;)) Hahaha I love this question. Shoulder length hair. My dad is bald (by choice) and I hate it. My man needs some hair and some guys don't look half bad with long hair.
10. Chocolate or vanilla? Ugh. Depends on my mood...sometimes I need vanilla and sometimes I need chocolate.
11. What is one of your favorite childhood memories? I have a terrible memory so I don't remember a lot of young memories but...I remember loving going to Children's Church as a kid. I would've been like 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade. My teachers made it fun and the part I remember distinctly would be the puppet skits (ours involved a raccoon named Reggie. He was amazing ;D) and singing together. Children's Church cultivated my love for singing :) SO that is one of my fond childhood memories.
12. If you got the chance to perform a solo song in front of more than a 1000 people, would you take it? Nooooooooooo. I am not a soloist. I get nervous singing in front of 100 people. 
13. Would you rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard or heavy metal? AHHH MY EARS. Gracious. I think fingernails on a chalkboard provided the chalkboard is small lol. Heavy metal is just too loud and obnoxious.

Q&A Idea!!

Hey hey! I'm trying to come up with some fun and interesting posts for you guys so since Faith recently did this on her blog Stories by Firefly!, I'm going to steal borrow her idea :)

I actually had an idea to do this specifically concerning the Hansen Girls and O'Neal Girls stories. You guys could ask questions about the characters and such and I would answer them and give you more background on the characters.

However, doing a broader Q&A would be more fun and since I haven't shared any O'Neal Girls chapters recently, it just makes sense. Maybe in the future, I'll do a mini "O'Neal Girls Q&A" who knows?

So, go ahead and send me some questions you have! Of course, take care what kind of questions you ask. Nothing too personal, inappropriate, gross, irrelevant etc. Silly questions are very welcome! Would-You-Rathers are great too! Serious questions are also welcome! This Q&A is for you guys to get to know me better and perhaps for ME to know ME better :P

A Novel Idea: 7/5/16

I recently discovered this blog and they post weekly writing prompts!

This week's prompt was pretty cool so I thought I'd give it a try!

Tell us about one of your first stories. When did you start writing it, and why? Do you remember the characters’ names? Are you still writing it? If not, do you think you’ll ever rewrite it? What did you learn while writing it?

My first ever story was a little "mini-series" I wrote called Cantering Hooves Ranch. It was about me when I grow up and owned my own horse farm and gave lessons to a couple pupils. Basically think of the Saddle Club kinda thing going on :D
I started writing it when I was like twelve or someting because I took a graphic arts class and we had to come up with our own business so we could make business cards, flyers, etc. So my business was Cantering Hooves Ranch and then I got the idea to write the books and kinda fulfill my dream life at the time haha.

Oh yes I remember my characters! Here's a list:
Lauren Stoner (duh lol) she was one of the main characters. She owned the Montana horse farm, CHR.
Leanne Parker: She was the main character. She recently moved to Montana and starts taking lessons from Lauren.
Erica Anderson: She quickly becomes Leanne's best friend when they attend the same church. They take lessons together often. Erica was the goofball of the group.
Emily Thomas: Another friend of Leanne and Erica. She was the more quiet and sensible one.
Denise Johnson: Emily's cousin and other best friend of the girls. She was the bubbly one.

Later on in the series I make Erica's older sister, Kylie, a main character too. She used to ride but quit to pursue swimming. She eventually starts riding again before she leaves for college.

And then the horses were:

Kodiak: A black Arabian, Lauren's horse

Cedar: A piebald Gypsy Vanner. Leanne's lesson horse.

Golden Sunshine "Goldie": A bright chestnut Thoroughbred. Erica's lesson horse.

Ninja: A black Quarter horse. Denise's lesson horse and later, she buys him.

Jonah:. A bay Quarter horse. Emily's lesson horse.

Crystal Rainbow: White Lipizzaner. Emily's horse she buys in book two.

Abram: Rainbow's baby.

Edelweiss: A palomino Haflinger. Leanne's horse she buys later in the series

Orion: Lauren's majestic Friesian. Kylie rides him.

David: Chestnut Clydesdale.

Pedro: Lauren's friend's donkey

Fredrick: Liver chestnut Irish sport horse. Kylie's friend's horse.

Elly: Bay Caspian that is Lauren's best friend's horse.

Meg: Dun Appaloosa that Erica ends up buying.

Liesl: Blood Bay Andalusian that Lauren buys in the second to last book.

Then there were the dogs lol. Someone dropped off two dogs at the farm one day and the one dog has puppies then. I named them all after musicals XD

Raoul: Brown husky

Christine: Gray husky

The puppies:

Marius

Cosette

Carlotta "Carly"

Ubaldo "Baldy"

Tzeitel

Tevye

Eponine

(Any musical fans out there know which musicals those names come from?)


I am not still writing it. I wrote eight little "books". I started a ninth but never finished. The O'Neal stories took over then. I would LOVE to re write them. I've actually started re writing some. I do it off and on when I need something to work on :)

I learned that with writing, you have lots of creative license to make things go how ever you want them to go.

I also learned you have to use that creative license within reason LOL.

I learned that it takes a lot of research to write books set in a specific place.

I'm Not Dead/June Review

Hey everyone, my name is Lauren. I'm new to the blogging world!

Okay, not really, but it feels like it! Aside from the scheduled Monday Meditations, I've been pretty dormant in the blogging world!

I have some excuses...some good, some lame. Two weeks ago was VBS at my church so for the majority of the month, all my focus and my family's focus has been VBS. The week before VBS we had to set up which took up all day Thursday, all Friday evening, graduation party on Saturday, and more set up all Sunday afternoon. Then Monday thru Friday was VBS each night and the big closing Sunday night!

That was my good excuse for not posting or commenting much. The lame one is that I haven't written anything new recently or editing anything old. So I haven't really had anything worth sharing in a while. I hope to edit some more O'Neals for you guys. (We gotta get through Belle and Caleb's relationship!)

ANYWHO, I'm going to wrap up how June went for me, which is basically just going to be about VBS with a few other random stuff we did :D

VBS was a BLAST as always! Our theme was Life on the Farm, so being a country church, we were all excited about the possibilities this theme had! My Daddy got off work and was able to teach at a site with my Momma and sister (Rachel). Their site was the Stable. Daddy had a friend who came and brought two horses for the kids to pet and feed treats!

I worked at the Milk House site. I worked with a couple I worked with a few years ago. They're tons of fun so I had a great time but little work got done sometimes because we were laughing too hard :P A family we know brought a calf each night for the kids! HE WAS SO CUTE!

The other sites were the Hen House, Grain Bin, and Garden. All the sites were amazing! Here are random pictures from the week.

My outfit :D I've had this shirt for a few years
and I FINALLY had a reason to wear it!

Two of the horses! Bessie and Rocky or "Pharaoh" and "Joseph" for the week ;)

They're so pretty!

LOOK AT HIS FACE. Our baby cow was so adorable

We had these silly animal cutouts that you could stick your face in.
Kids loved them and so did us teens XD

My neighbor with the animals told us we could use anything in her barn or around the yard.
Grant and I looked around the barn and found this old saddle!
My parents wanted the saddle for their site so I decided to clean up this old thing.

After hosing it down and one round of saddle soap...

TADA Another round of saddle soap and all dried off
It's a brand new saddle!

Mural at the Grain Bin! My friend painted this!

ALSO in June, Momma, Rachel, and I went shopping! I need more clothes for when I go to college. We had a good trip! I got four new skirts and like three new shirts. And for someone who hates shopping and has trouble finding clothes that fit, this trip was a HUGE success. Afterwards my sister bought some makeup from a special store she had a gift card too and we ate lunch together.

My friends' aunt and uncle own a pool and we have been swimming there quite often this month!

My church got a brand new bus and we had our first "official" ride in it on the 26th. (I rode in it once during VBS visitation, but the core Youth Group got to ride in it together on the 26th on our way to conduct a service at a local Nursing Home.

One of my best friends is working at a summer camp for the rest of the summer and I won't see her for a month and a half. She and four of her siblings surprised me and my siblings on the 28th and stopped in for a visit before she left that night! We went out for pizza and played at our local playground/park. None of us had been to an actual playground  in a long time so we had a great time playing on the merry-go-round, monkey bars, seesaws, and slides =D

Today is my grandpa's birthday so we are going to celebrate with him this afternoon!

And that wraps up my June. It has FLOWN by.  

GRADUATION

Y'all. I graduated high school.
*applause*
THANK-YOU!


Anyways, I wanted to let you guys know that news since it's PRETTY BIG and EXCITING and SCARY.
Also, it's the reason I haven't been posting on here much *sheepish grin* sorry!

Hopefully I'll be posting more on here. I'll probably make another poll and see what you guys are interested in reading. I have more O'Neal girl stories that I will keep posting because I need you guys to read up to this one certain point so I can share this "behind the scenes" kinda post I've been waiting to share. I know there's a lot of O'Neal family nonsense in between the important parts and I'm trying to push the story along, bear with me :P

I also have some ideas for some other future posts. I wanted to do more posts on Bible verses or thoughts and such that I've had. I don't think I talk about Jesus Christ on here enough and I want that to be a part of my blog so I hope to incorporate more posts about Him.

Among other news, summer events are about to go full swing! From this week until June 26th, I'm pretty busy on the weekends. I have:

• Special music twice this month and probably twice next month. Once with BOTH my siblings (our first time all three of us) and once with a Ladies Trio (This trio recently lost one of their members due to health problems and since that member was an alto, they asked me to step in!)
• Graduation parties galore! These take up most of my weekends.
• A Pinewood derby! (Which I need to post a picture of my car 'cause not to brag but it's amazing. :P)
• VBS prep and visitation! Only a month until VBS *panicked frenzy time*

Enough about me, thanks for stopping by! I'll post more soon!

A Few of My Favorite Things!

Okay, I decided this would be a fun blog tag for us to do! It probably has been a blog tag before but oh well, I'm starting my own *folds arms and holds head high* Haha here we go!

RULES:

• Write down ten of your favorite things
• Tag at least three others!

Simple and we can learn more about each other :)

1. Smarties. I think that's obvious haha
2. My Family! You can pick your nose but you can't pick your family :P (Crude saying but true lol)  It's so true but if I could change things, I wouldn't! They're the best. God knew what he was doing when He placed me in this family :-)
3. My Church Family! Growing up in a church of about 120 people, you get really close with the core group of the church. I know we sometimes refer to church members as "brothers and sisters in Christ" but honestly my church family has become like legitimate family to me. They're always there for me when I'm feeling down and they know how to make me smile. 
4. Harmony. Since you already know I love music, I will choose a specific aspect of music :) And I know I talk about music all the time on here, but I love music so much and you guys can't tell me to shut up like my other friends do so you just have to suffer through reading this or skip to the next point B-)
   Music is great but harmony adds so much to music. Not everyone knows how to read music but even then it is possible to learn to sing by ear. I think it's something everyone should learn because harmony adds so much to music. It makes it so much more fun! I learned to sing acapella on bus rides with my Youth group. The older members of my Youth group were all singers and they'd strike up a song and everyone would immediately join in, almost always having at least three, sometimes four, different parts going at once. It's pretty exciting when you make it through an entire song staying on key haha.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Animals! Horses have always been my favorite. My Momma said my first horse experience was at three and she said she knew right there that I was going to be a horse lover. I also like dogs...sometimes haha. My neighbors dogs are nasty, but I do like nice dogs :D I am a cat person too. We have three cats (post on my pets to follow soon-ish) and even though they are dumb, I still love them.
   
6. Words. Words are so powerful and I love the power I can wield with writing. Widening my vocabulary is fun too. I have one friend who speaks with a specific vocabulary. It's not like she uses huge words but she always chooses descriptive words when she speaks. It adds so much to the stories she tells by using the specific words.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Mr. McFluffernutter, Percy, and Jasper!!!!!! These are my "Beanie Boos". (Yes. I am fully aware that I am seventeen and I still have stuffed animals. Don't judge. Girls never outgrow stuffed animals :P) Mr. McFluffernutter is my Penguin, Percy is a Panda, and Jasper is a Raccoon. They are adorable and so soft. Percy isn't actually mine...he's my friend's but Percy is my nephew :) *Snaps pictures of my little friends*
   
   
   

   

   Jasper

   
   

   

   Me and Percy :)
   We were both having bad hair days so we resorted to hats :P

   *Gasp* GUYS. I can't find Mr. McFluffernutter!!! I looked everywhere and I don't know where he went. *sobs* I just had him a few days ago and I thought he just fell under my bed but I can't find him! This is what he's supposed to look like:
   
   

   

   Mr. McFluffernutter looks similar to this guy here

    
8. Pinterest. I can waste so much time on there haha. It's great and bad at the same time.
9. Strawberry Poptarts. They are my morning breakfast staple. When I don't feel like cereal, I toss two poptarts into the toaster. I actually know of a song from Patch the Pirate (any Patch the Pirate fans out there?) that is called "The Breakfast Song" and part of the chorus says: "Poptarts to make you smart!" So that's my reason for eating so many poptarts :P
   
   
   
   
   
10. Long drives. Although it may be a waste of gas, I enjoy going for drives along back roads. My two friends took my sister and I on a drive around their back roads (which where they live mean dirt roads and crazy twists and turns) and I had a great time just cruising and relaxing. It's a lot of fun with friends!

To keep this post going, I'm going to tag these three:

• Faith P.
• Rebekah Ashleigh
• Bethany R

There ya go. That should let you know a little more about me :) I am procrastinating  working on a "What I Learned in my Creative Writing Class" for you all soon-ish and a post on my pets. April is a busy month for me so I don't know how many posts I'll get done this month. Beginning of May looks pretty busy too...we shall see what happens. Thanks for stopping by and reading! 

Hi My Name is Lauren and I'm a Smarties Addict

G'day readers!

42% of you wanted to hear about the origin of my smarties addiction! I like writing silly posts so this should be fun! I will do my best to give you an accurate description of how my addiction began. (And when I say addiction of course, I don't really mean I'm addicted lol. Just that they are my favorite candy and I love them so much)

First things first: Raise your hand if you like Smarties...good, good...now, raise your hand if you do not like Smarties. okay...okay...

If you said you like Smarties, read on!
If you said you do not like Smarties, LEAVE THIS BLOG RIGHT AWAY. We cannot be friends. :D Kidding, almost all my friends don't care for the candy hahaha. Please, read on!

Yes, I take pictures with Smarties
and use special filters :P

This story is funnier if you personally know the people mentioned below. But I will do my best to tell it and describe it so you understand it find it fun.

I think it was last year (January 2015) when my mom started buying a bag of Smarties and a bag of Dum Dum lollipops for when the Youth Group would go Bible Quizzing. We always had to drive about an hour to another church for quizzing so my mom would hand out smarties (on the way there so we would be smart) and dum dums (on the way home 'cause then we were allowed to be dumb :P) Back then, I liked Smarties but I wasn't obsessed :)

Some of you might remember I posted about VBS at my church last summer. This is when the true addiction began.

The teachers I taught with each night of VBS had a bag of smarties and each night, they would hand out a packet of smarties to each of the kids. On the second night of VBS, "Miss Shirley" (my head teacher) was going around making sure the kids all had smarties. One of my best friends, who was helping with that age group of kids, mentioned to me that she had a packet of smarties. And one of the adults who was there that night said he had his packet of smarties. I go "What?! I didn't get any!" (I mean, who is going to pass up the chance to get candy???) I bring this up to Miss Shirley who simply brushes off my request, mentioning something about how laborers don't get candy (or some ridiculous excuse like that), pats my shoulder, and walks off to prepare for the next event, leaving me standing there, dumbfounded and smarties-less.

The next two nights I still didn't get any Smarties. I didn't bring it up again, hoping that Miss Shirley would remember and get me a pack. But neither Miss Shirley or "Willie" (Miss Shirley's husband) remembered. So the final night came and that night was my final night to get a pack of Smarties. I planned ahead on how I was going to goad the teachers into giving me some smarties. During snack time, I saw Willie walking around, asking questions and handing out Smarties to the kids. It was now or never. I sat down across from three girls who I knew semi-well. One girl was a regular church kid, one was a new church kid, and the other came every year to VBS. If I wanted Smarties, I was going to need their help.

Me: "Hey, you guys think I'm a good person right?"
Girl (Whom I shall call "Candice"): "....What?"
Me: "Don't you think I'm a pretty good person?"
Candice watches me suspiciously: "...yeah..."
Me (to the other two girls): "I seem like a pretty nice person, right?"
Other two girls nod their heads.
Me: "Now, I don't like to complain, buuuuuuuuut I've been working here all week and I haven't gotten any smarties!"
The girls are kinda chuckling now.
I tell the girls that I need them to help me out by telling Miss Shirley that I deserve a pack of Smarties. The girls were hesitant to do this so I quick wrack my brain for a way to keep them interested.
Me: "If you tell Miss Shirley all the stuff I told you to say, I'll give you my snack."
Now the girls are interested.
Candice: "Okay, what did you want me to say again?"
I repeat what I want them to say and I call Miss Shirley over.
Me: "Miss Shirley!"
Miss Shirley: "Yes, dear?"
Me: "These girls have a question for you."
Miss Shirley walks while I nod my head at the girls. Miss Shirley stands beside me and looks expectantly at the girls. I do my best to act causal and pretend I had nothing to do with anything that was about to happen.
Candice: "Do you think Lauren is a good helper?"
By now Miss Shirley has to know something is up but she answers seriously: "Yes, Lauren has been a good helper this week." She puts her hand on my shoulder while I'm sitting there crossing my fingers.
Candice: "Well, I think you should give her some Smarties for being such a good helper!"
Miss Shirley starts laughing and looks to me, while I grin hopefully.
"Well," she says, "I'll go see what I can do."  There was only ONE pack of Smarties left so I was really lucky I got my pack!

A few weeks later, when I walked into church, the greeter handed me a card and a small box. I accepted the card and box and went to my seat. I opened the card which was from Miss Shirley, thanking me for my help during VBS. I then go to the box. Inside the box was nearly a dozen packs of Smarties staring back at me! I guess to make it up to me since I only got one pack of Smarties during the week. Whatever the reason, it brought a smile to my face.

Ever since then, Miss Shirley and my friends just surprise me with Smarties when I go to church. I've never bought my own Smarties. People just give them to me! My Momma buys Smarties for the kids in her class and always gives me the extras :D Any time my friends get some Smarties, they hand them right over to me because most of my friends don't care for the candy. Miss Shirley almost always has Smarties in her purse and usually gets me a packet every other week or so.

So that's how my addiction started. I never meant for this to happen lol. I just wanted to tease Miss Shirley and Willie about not giving me any Smarties. Miss Shirley and Willie are like my aunt and uncle so we joke around with each other a lot. Now everyone at church knows I'm addicted and I used to get teased about it but now it's a generally accepted fact that I love Smarties and I will not share with you unless I am in a really good mood B-) I even introduced the little kids in the nursery to Smarties and they love it :)

In October, when I had my Senior Pictures taken, we took pictures of me with Smarties :D

That is the face of a girl obsessed with Smarties

This picture would've been GREAT if that one Smarties
didn't end up right in the middle of my face :P

Meet my Family! Part II: The Siblings

Here ya go! Part II of Meet my Family! Time to introduce you to my siblings.

My Sister: Rachel
Some of you may know about my sister (I know you do, Faith LOL). Rachel is sixteen, almost two years younger than me. We call her "Rach" or "Ray" for short because we are too lazy to say "Rachel" :P

Rachel's biggest thing is music. We both love music and have been doing musical stuff since we were little but Rachel definitely has the greatest talent. She can play just about any piano song if she sits down and works at it. Almost two years ago for our final piano recital (when we stopped taking lessons from our old teacher), she played "Defying Gravity"from the musical "Wicked" (It's an amazing song and Idina Menzel sings it. You should listen to it on Youtube sometime!). Our piano teacher didn't make us pick your usual classical or sacred songs for recitals, she let us choose whatever so Rachel chose this song and totally blew away the audience. Rachel plays a little violin (she took lessons for a time but the teacher moved away and we've yet to find a new teacher). Rachel has taught herself some guitar and can play chords to a number of songs. She plays the organ and plays in church almost once a month (she helps give the other two regular organists a break). She plays in the handbell choir with me and sings in choir. Rachel sings special music with me and sings solo sometimes. She sang her first solo in church when she was only thirteen! Whoever was scheduled for special music at that time couldn't make it so our assistant pastor asked Rachel if she wanted to sing and she jumped at the chance. She left some of the congregation in tears at her beautiful song. Rachel is a "second soprano" in choir which means she sings soprano (melody usually) unless we have a ladies trio part, then she gets to take the middle note. She is the "leader" of her part in choir. Most of the second sopranos look to Rachel for help finding their notes. Our choir has "leaders" for every part...I guess most churches are kinda like that....comment below if you know if your church choir has certain leaders or not. I'm curious to know now!

Rachel is really creative. She loves art projects, drawing, painting, making things, sewing, you name it, Rachel's tried it! We have a small room in our house that used to be the nursery when we were little squirts and was then used for storage but now it's the craft room for Rachel and a recording studio for me :D We fight over the use of the room but we're learning to make it work.

I'm the biggest goofball in the family (Okay well it's probably a tie between me and my lil brother) but Rachel can be a goofball too. (Faith, you understand) We always stay up the latest in the family and sometimes when it gets really late, we get really silly together. We make funny videos together all the time and goodness, if I get married and she makes a video presentation for me...I'm in trouble!

My sister really loves little kids and is popular among the little kids at church. She enjoys helping in nursery and children's church and she's good at it. I enjoy helping out but I am not nearly as good with the kids. I think I actually scare the kids...Rachel loves to bake and cook and she is often found in the kitchen helping the ladies making food for fellowships at church.

My Brother: Grant
My little brother is thirteen. We call him the "G-Man" (family name. All of the boy cousins have this type of nickname: B-Man, D-Man) We call him "G" and I sometimes call him "Son". I don't know how that started but I call him that and he answers to it. Although one time when we went out to eat, the waitress thought he was actually my son................................so I don't call him that out in public where others can misinterpret it anymore. And Grant started calling me "Grandma" too so...yeah bad nickname choice.

Grant's biggest thing is sports. He has a sport for every season it seems! Spring and Fall is soccer season for him. He plays on a travelling league and he's a great player, one of the best (Not that I'm biased or anything :P) He sometimes plays basketball in the winter. My entire family is a fan of football so at family gatherings, we often end up passing football together. Grant and I throw the Frisbee around sometimes too.

Grant also loves his Xbox! If he isn't playing sports, he's playing Xbox. He likes Minecraft, Disney Infinity, and FIFA Soccer and NBA games (I don't know what they're called exactly. I just know that he takes up the TV when I want to watch my shows!)

Grant is a really good kid. Whenever we are out in pubic, people always comment how good of a kid he is. He is kinda the "leader" of the Youth Group boys right now. We have about six faithful boys who are a part of our Youth Group and all of them are older than Grant but Grant is a leader kind of person so many times he's the center of attention. Grant has a heart for others and can be a "tough guy" but also has a tender side to the needs of others.

Meet My Family! Part I: The Parents

According to the poll, this is the post you all wanted to read the most! Every single post idea had at least one vote though haha. At least I have lots of post ideas for the future!

Anyways, I'll try my best to introduce you to my family in two parts (Part I: My Parents and Part II: My Siblings)

My Daddy: Mr. Stoner.
I call my Dad "Daddy" usually. We've always called him Daddy since we were little kids and though sometimes we refer to him as "Dad", "Daddy" has stuck the longest. My dad is a pharmacist and he spends a lot of time working with that! He works thirteen hour days and works three to four days a week. His schedule is ridiculous and I'm never sure if he is off or at work :P

Daddy loves God and even though he says he hates talking in front of people, I know he loves teaching the Youth Group at church. You can tell he has a love for the Lord when he gets up and teaches from the Bible. His "catchphrase" (if you will) is "Pray, Meditate, and Read Your Bible" and he tells us those are three things we need to do each and every day.

My Daddy is also a hunter. He has been hunting since age thirteen or fourteen and he's been stuck ever since. My family owns a hunting camp about three hours north of where we live. Every December we (my dad, brother, me, and sometimes uncles and cousins or guys from church) go up there to hunt deer for rifle season and my brother and Daddy usually go up with some men from church for archery season. My Daddy usually once a year goes on a week or two long hunting trip out west. He's been to Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana and a couple others that I forget :P

My Momma: Mrs. Stoner
Growing up we always called Momma "Mommy" but when I was about thirteen, a college age girl from church used to always come to our house and hang out. She took to calling my mom "Momma Stoner" and me and my siblings adopted that as mom's new permanent name. Actually, most of the teen girls at church and even one of the college age boys refer to her as Momma Stoner. (In fact, there are numerous women at the church that us teen girls refer to as "Momma so-and-so")

Momma likes to talk with us teens at church. She likes to encourage the teen girls especially talking with them about what they want to do in the future and encourage them with that. She tries to be a friend and a good role model for the teens. Momma teaches the first and second graders on Wednesday nights too.

My Momma loves to cook and bake. She wanted to go to culinary school but her dad wouldn't let her so she never went, but that never stopped her from becoming one of the best cooks and bakers ever! She always makes snacks for church. You may know the joke about Baptist churches, always having fellowships. Momma is always busy baking or cooking for church fellowships, picnics, or birthdays. Just last week she helped make some food for a anniversary party.

What's-Been-Going-On-In-My-Life-Recently/Catch-You-Up-With-Me

Because that's the best title that fits this post :D

***Note: I ask some questions at the end of this post so be prepared for some "audience participation" haha

I'm going to try and let y'all into my life a little bit so you can see what I've been doing recently! I even have a few random pictures to share! It's long winded so bear with me!

January isn't my favorite month...a few events happened a few years ago that make January a bit painful for me. Plus I just don't care for how cold it gets haha :P But this January ended up being a pretty decent month.

January started out busy because my online college course started. I'm taking Old Testament Survey. I'm doing well in the class! Being my first college course, I was really nervous but I'm doing fine.. I have two quizzes this week and the final exam. Prayers are GREATLY appreciated.

Six of us from my Youth Group went to a Winter Retreat (Thursday-Saturday). We had a fun time playing games and hearing good messages. My team ended up losing :-( I have never won a Winter Camp Retreat. I've been going to the same Winter Camp since I was in eighth grade and I never win....*siiiiiiigh*

A friend of ours had a birthday in January and she invited my sister and I to go with her, her two sisters, and her parents to Philadelphia to go to the King of Prussia Mall and go to a Philadelphia Flyers Hockey game! We had such a great time!! And the Flyers won so that was awesome :D

Also in January, our youth group started practice for Bible Quizzing. For those unfamiliar with Bible Quizzing, we quiz with four other churches on a book of the Bible. This year we are memorizing the book of Ephesians. Each month we meet at the end of the month and quiz on two chapters of Ephesians. Our church has three teams of four teens each! We didn't do very well in January...

February arrived and the same family who invited us to Philadelphia invited us to go to New York City with them for their oldest daughter's birthday! My parents came along with my sister and I so we rented a fifteen passenger van and my friend's dad drove into the heart of New York City! We went to see Fiddler on the Roof and it was AH-MAZING!!! If you haven't seen the movie, I totally suggest watching it! It's funny and great for the entire family. It's about a Jewish family and follows the patriarch as he marries off his daughters. It also deals with some historical issues at that point in time. The next day we got to walk around Times Square! So epic and I'm so glad we had the chance to do it!

On February 18th, my little brother turned thirteen. On the twentieth, my lil sister turned sixteen. And on the twenty-second, my dad had his birthday! (Forty-four in case you were interested :P) The end of February is REALLY busy for us because of all these birthdays!

On Sunday the twenty-first, we had our second round of Bible Quizzing. My Youth Pastor put me, my sister, Rachel, and my lil brother, Grant, were on a team together. We worked hard and we did really, really well! We won all of our games except one! My sister "quizzed out" (which means she answered three questions) in each game!

On the twenty-third, we left our house at nine a.m. to begin the drive to Watertown Wisconsin. This is where Maranatha Baptist University is located. This is the school I will most likely attend. My Youth Pastor's two boys go here and I've heard lots of good things about it. I'm looking to major in Communication Arts (which entails digital media, computer stuff, photography, videography, etc.) We drove to Toledo, Ohio on the twenty-third, and on the twenty-fourth we drove the rest of the way. What we didn't realize was that the winter storm that wasn't supposed to hit until two o'clock decided to come early! The snow was really bad and some weather stations advised people not to drive and to stay home! But we had to drive in it so it was mostly us and the truck drivers out on the Interstate.

I think this was Indiana 

View out my window at 10:30 a.m.

Foggy and snowy

Can't live without Smarties...
I'll have to write a post on how my addiction started sometime

    I tried to use my time wisely by doing lots of Bible reading for my Old Testament Survey class. I succeeded fairly well, getting my reading done for these books of the Bible (pictured below). Mostly I listened to music, watched movies--Flicka (any Flicka book or movie fans out there?) and Brother Bear--with my brother, and ate Smarties and Twizzlers. Confession time: My name is Lauren and I'm addicted to Smarties and Twizzlers :P

Anyways, after a looooooooong trip, we made it to Watertown and to our hotel. Wednesday night we attended a local church (where my Youth Pastor's  boys go) and my dad taught a lesson for the Youth Group. (I don't talk about my family much on here so you guys probably didn't know that my dad helps teach our church's Youth Group. His work schedule only allows him to be at church half the time so when he is at church, he teaches the Youth Group and when he isn't, our Youth Pastor teaches. Our Youth Pastor does the Music Ministry, Heads the Children's Ministry and the Youth Ministry, runs the church website, is the church secretary...etc so Dad wanted to help him out.)

My trip was great! The weather wasn't too cold but it was VERY windy. For me anyways. Some people are used to it. I spoke with a girl from Kansas and she said Wisconsin is not windy at all compared to Kansas. It can be windy at my house with so many open farm fields! The school is lovely, the people are so friendly and outgoing and helpful. It looks like this is going to be a great school for me!!

Gettin' comfy :D

We drove home Friday night (we started at about 11;00 pm) and drove through the night. My dad drove until about six when he pulled over and slept for an hour. Then Momma took over and drove until about ten and Dad drove the final two hours. We made it home and basically crashed the rest of the afternoon.

I'm used to long car rides. We drive almost forty-five minutes to church every week, my grandparents and aunt, uncle, and cousins live an hour away from us, and my other aunt and uncle live about three hours away. And almost every year we go on a family vacation with my cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles and we drive down to North Carolina to Topsail Island for a week at the beach. So I am no stranger to long car rides but the trip to Wisconsin did me in! I am pretty sure I explored every possible way of sitting in my chair. I sat cross-legged, I sat with my feet propped up, I had my feet on my brother's chair across from me, I faced sideways at the window once, I slept on the floor (which was really cramped by the way :P) and I laid half on the chair and half off the chair once. It was crazy haha. So many memories were made :D


Yesterday was busy! I was at church from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. just about! For me, it was a usual Sunday though. We had our Nursing Home Ministry that afternoon where a few couples and a bunch of teens eat lunch together, then drive to a local nursing home and do a short service for the elderly people. We sing hymns, the Youth group (and sometimes adults when we need extra and experienced voices haha) sing a special song, and one of the men will give a devotional. Then we visited one of my friend's great-grandma who is going to be 102 shortly!! She is still pretty sharp for her age. She loves when we come to sing for her and she loves the Lord. We sang acapella for her (one of my favorite times! Our church has many talented singers and to me, there is no better sound than four part harmonies of the good old hymns vibrating through the room).

And that's what's been going on for me this 2016 so far! I just wanted to catch you up with what I've been doing and hopefully give you a bit on an insight on my life. It can be crazy, boring, bizarre, or just plain regular, normal life but I thought maybe you'd be interested :D

I set up some polls to get some feedback from you guys. Please take a second to look at the polls and vote! The first poll asks if you'd like to see more posts about me and my life. The second poll lists some potential post ideas I could write. I want to write what you guys want to read so vote or comment below and give me feedback or ideas on what kinds of posts you'd like to see me do!

OH! Almost forgot, remember a few months back when I mentioned my best friend's grandma was told she only had a few days to live? Well she lasted much longer than expected but last Thursday she passed away. The funeral is today, I'm guessing it is almost over by the time I post this. But pray for the family that they would be comforted during this time. The grandma was saved and is in heaven, Praise the Lord!