are amazed.

play the song.

it goes with the whole blog.

all of God's creation leaves me awestruck.

but there are three things in particular that really amaze me.

the ocean. the stars. and trees.

I am a big fan of

-spending days upon end at the beach.

my favorite beach in the world is called fort desoto. 

its fantasticcccccccc.

this is where I want to get married.

I took this this summer while I was mentally planning my wedding.

-laying beneath the stars every summer night.

I am sad to say I dont have a favorite star.

but I will tell you my dream vacation is space.

-and just staring in wonder at trees on super windy days.

and then when I think about how this all came into existence I am even more amazed.

I mean really... think about it.

God just spoke and it was there.

and to go even further...

if He had wanted to, He could have just thought it into existence.

my mind cant even begin to comprehend that...

but anyways.

I know you all are thinking wow she is really weird.

but I dont really care.

this is important stuff.

the most important tree in my life is this one.

this tree is a daily reminder that Jesus loves me more than I can fathom.

which gives me chills.

I wish I could love Him a quarter as much as He loves me.

and second on the list of great trees is this one.

I have a ton of pictures of it but I took these yesterday.

so this is what it looks like during the winter.

I drive by this tree everyday of my life.

and it is my daily reminder of just how awesome God is.

this tree is my favorite of all trees...

and I like trees.

take suggestions.

so I honestly can say I am not a fan of reading....
most of the time.
I like to read GOOD books.
not stupid ones with no meaning.
and as a part of my new years resolutions I wanted to read three books.

so I need suggestions.
and I need them fast.
(:

thanks guys.

i love the way old books look.

share a little sunshine.

friday night I went somewhere I do not particularly like going.
this place.

wfbh.
I have been to this place quite a few times.
I had to stay overnight due to an allergic reaction.
I had acl surgery here, and had to stay the night again.
and... I go to the building right next to it all the time for physical therapy.
I actually sometimes refer to it as my home away from home.

but friday I wasnt there for me.
I was there for her.

this is my favorite eleven year old in the whole entire world.
I love love love her to death.
her name is Hannah.

Hannah was born with this super rare blood disease.
and has struggled with it on and off her entire life.
well sometime around June of this year I recieved a phone call from her mom Michelle at around nine at night..
which I didnt think too much about because our families are really close and the summer before last I spent every day with her two children, Hannah and her son Aaron.
so I answered and heard Michelle crying. the first thing she said was Hannah was in the hospital.
my heart sank.
I knew that she hadnt been feeling the greatest but I didnt know it was this bad.
so I called my mom and dad and told them what was going on and my dad went straight to the hospital.

to make a long story short the hospital and doctors had no idea what was wrong.
she ended up having her gallbladder removed and was sent to a liver specialist in Chicago.
this guy was supposed to be the number one liver doctor in the world...
but for whatever reason he had no idea what to do.

so back home she came.
I have never been so worried about someone.
I along with everyone else that attends my church prayed for her daily.
and I was constantly checking in on her.

we were all extremely worried and she was beginning to only get worse.

then a miracle happened and she began to get better.

well she has still not been one hundred percent so the doctors decided to remove her spleen.
and they did that on thursday.
so friday I went to the hospital...
when I got there she was sleeping.
and I heard all the wonderful stories about her bluntness with the doctors and nurses.

let me tell you a little bit about hannah.
she will tell you how it is...
for example.
after her surgery she didnt want any lights on and so the nurses would use flashlights when they came in the rooms.
well hannah didnt like that too much so she told them that their flashlights were a little bright.

she has no tact but that is one of the reasons I love her so much.
she is like one my best friends.
she is my little sister.
and my world is a lot happier with her a part of it.
she is a small piece of sunshine(:

I love her so much.
and I am happy to say she got out of the hospital today.

I am so proud of how strong she is and has been through this whole process.

keep your head up hannah.
God has you in his hands.

move. and grow.

before you start reading... I am going to warn you

this is wayy tooo long.

but I had to say it all.

so good luck.

my life has truly been an adventure.

God has blessed me an allowed me to travel all around the world.

but some of the times I traveled.. it wasnt for vacation purposes...

it was because I was moving.

you hear all these horror stories about moving and how awful being the new kid is and how leaving your friends sucks and how your life is ruined..

well guess what. those stories are true.

I have moved eleven times in 18 years. 

now granted not all these moves were MAJOR but still. a move is a move.

lets start from the beginning.

I was born in eastern kentucky.

in a tiny town called williamson. in a small hospital where my grandmother delivered me.

after I left the hospital, my momma and I lived in an even smaller town in west virginia that also happened to be called williamson. we lived with my mommas parents.

and a few weeks later... we made the biggest move of my life.

this move was so gigantic there wasnt even need for a moving truck (last time I checked they dont drive through the atlantic ocean)

we moved to germany.

you see my dad was in the army.

and of course the two most important girls in his life couldnt leave him hanging.

so we moved here.

and while I was there I almost died while my dad was out on the field for a few months, I stole multiple food items from grocery stores and ice cream men (I didnt know any better I was like three), I learned a little german, and I became friends with this girl.

when I was almost four my dad was stationed in tennessee. 

so off we went. 

we lived in this big time military town... the kind of place where it was rare to see someone in civilian clothing.

it was hear that I had my first true experience with loss (we had to put my beautiful lab to sleep), it was hear that I cut my bangs down to my forehead, it was hear that I learned how to swim and ride a bike without the training wheels, it was hear that I picked up my first basketball.

about a year and a half later. 

my dad finished his commitment time and was honorably discharged and I thought military life was done for me (yeah I was wrong.)

but anyways. 

we moved to a super tiny house in a super tiny town called alderson west virginia.

ohhh alderson.

let me tell you a little bit about this place.

population: like 1000

the town where martha stewart did her jail time.

the town that has the LARGEST fourth of july celebration in all of west virginia... impressive huh.

alderson is a really unique place.

I loved our second house we moved to while we where there.

virginia street.

what a place to begin to grow up.

this is the place where my little brother entered the world, the place where I started school, the place where I won every fourth of july race known to man, the place where I was on september 11th.

alderson had a lot of firsts for me.

and then in third grade.

this place called florida had to barge in...

up to this point this was the hardest move.

I was finally at the age where I had best friends.....

these girls..

and I did not want to leave them.

I remember the day I hopped in the moving truck.

it was like cruel and unusual punishment.

I just knew that all of my friends and family would eventually forget about me and that everyone down in florida would hate me.

and I also had already decided that I hated florida back.

for the first year we lived there.

I kept my mindset.

I HATED florida.

I hated everything about it... well except the weather maybe.

I didnt have any real friends, we lived in a ghetto apartment complex, and I was experiencing some MAJOR culture shock. 

but can you blame me???

I had just left my small little town of 1000 people and moved to tampa population 343,890.

which made it like the 54th largest city in the united states.

so as you can see I was going through some big changes.

and then we found a house and praise God got out of the apartment complex that was infested with cockroaches. 

we moved into a much quiter neighborhood and things began to get a little better.

I went to faith baptist christian school.

it was a k-12 school so when I was in fifth grade I had the oppurtunity to play on the high school varsity team.

and that is where my love for the sport really started.

florida started to become home.

and I quickly fell in love with many aspects of it.

it was here that I met aaron (my absolute best friend and the person that I love more than I though possible), my current best friend crystal (the one that gives me a daily dose of laughter), and most importantly...

this is where I met Jesus.

so many crucial things happened to me while I lived there.

this is where I really grew up.

I mean I had to if I wanted to be happy... and this is where I learned to be content.

and then of course.. the unthinkable happened.

we moved again.

and this was the worst of all.

pmount.

what is there to say.

I was totally happy with where I was.

and I thought that I had learned all that could be learned from moving already.

but God had bigger things in store for me, and obviously had more lessons for me to learn.

back to a small town, after five years living in a big city... again with the culture shock.

I had forgotten what small town living was like.. everyone knew everyone.. but of course.

I knew no one.

I was terrified.

and I was just positive that my four years of high school were going to be the most miserable years of my life.

so I started volleyball. and made varsity, and some friends. but still...

not great.

then basketball came along, and again I made varstiy and a few more friends..

but still I missed everyone I had left behind so much I couldnt even enjoy what was happening.

I was scared to get too close to anyone because I was afraid of having to leave them.

and then a very special girl came into my life.

and she made everything 23 million times better.

I have never really thanked her for what she did...

and she may not even know that she did anything spectacular because for her thats just what you should do.

but she is the reason I am not crazy today.

and the reason that high school is filled with countless happy moments.

and after we became close I opened up to a few others and let them in as well.

and now I have a few more best friends that I love and share memories with.

you may wonder why in the world is she telling this looonnnnggg story.

and honestly I dont really blame you if you dont read it.

but its one off those things that you just have to get out.

I am who I am today because of the moves I had to make in life.

God knew exactly what I needed and he gave me the strength to do what he asked of me.

my mom has told me countless times that not many people could do what you have had to do...

and where that may be true, I know for sure that the only reason I was able to do it was because God gave me strength and sent along people to pick me up when I couldnt do it alone.

so really the reason I am boring you with this is to say thank you.

first to say thank you to God.

second to say thank you to my parents for listening to what he said to do.

and third to say thank you to all of you that had a part in my life.

whether your role was big or small.

I wouldnt be the person I am today without these obstacles...

the obstacles which have proven to be some of the best things that have ever happened to me.

catch up.

tonight on this lovely thing called skype.
i got to catch up with this beautiful best friend right here.

jerry lives in florida ):
which makes me very sad and jealous all at the same time.
you see I love florida.
everything about it.
and I plan on living there in the near future...
but that is not what this blog is about.
this blog is about how great it was to catch up with jerry.

jerry and I have been bestfriends since I was in like sixth grade.
she has always had my back no matter what.
and I would like to think I have always had hers.
we see each other on average like twice a year... which is awful.
but somehow we continue to stay as close as we did when we saw each other everyday.
she is so easy to talk to. because I know she wont just tell me what I want to hear but what I need to hear.
she is like my big sister. always looking out for me. always praying for me.
tonight we talked about everything from sock puppets to college decisions.
but thats what usually happens with us.
we talk about every thing you could possibly come up with.
and we laugh almost the entire time.

and some really good news...
I get to see her in two months and five days(:

yes. I am beyond excited.

know she will do great things.

so ever since I have known her.
she has wanted to go to salem.

she loves it.
and it is so beyond perfect for her..
even if it does mean we will more than likely be very far away from each other.
(but we have a few months before we have to deal with that so)
anyways.
today I left her house around eleven thirty.
and at around five thirty I got a text message informing me she had been accepted(:

so of course I immediately called her.
and since we have an awful case of phone tag.. she didnt answer but called me back like two minutes later.
I could tell in her voice she was ecstatic.
I am beyond happy for her.

she is going to great things.
she has all the tools.
she is gorgeous, smart, hilarious, stands up for what is right, and loves Jesus more than just about anybody I know.

and if that wasnt enough.
I have her back no matter how far we are away. or what happens.

I love you aly.
mazel tov(:

resolve.

2010.

the year that I fell even more in love with a boy named aaron.
the year I made my first college visit.
the year a person in my life earned the title of best friend. (kitten i lovvvvee you)
the year I saw aaron more than I have in the past three years.
the year I played in front of a ton of college coaches.
the year I took another best friend to her fourth and fifth state. (i love you aly)
the year gavs became a teenager. crazy stuff.
the year I ate ramen noodles at least three times a week.
the year I started blogging.
the year I became legal.

2011.

the year that I have counted down to for about the last four years.

so many things are going to happen for me this year.

so many major decisions, changes, and adventures are in store. 

and I cant wait to see how they all unfold. 

I have a few resolutions.

I make them every year.

and sometimes I meet them and sometimes I dont.

but hopefully by putting them where everyone can see I will do better at keeping them.

so here are my goals/new years resolutions.

1. graduate from high school.

excited but really nervous at the same time.

2. decide where I want to go to college. and go there.

and while I am there kick my first semesters butt.

3. have a Bible study with Aaron at least three times a week.

4. check off at least five things on my bucket list. 

its actually very possible (:

(more about that in another blog.)

5. read three books.

not books for school.

just actual books, for pleasure.

three is a lot for me... you dont understand.

6. watch every ashton kutcher movie and jennifer aniston movie ever made.

they are my absolute favorites.

and I always wanted to see them all so I might as well watch them in everything they have made.

7. continue to learn to play piano.

I took lessons for like five years and stopped.

I want to start to get better.

even if I dont take legit lessons.

8. win at least three people to Christ.
any way that I can.
it doesnt matter who.
just at least three people.

9. pray all the time.

10. learn to cook.
my mom is the best cook I know.
so learning how shouldnt be that hard..
since I have my own personal chef in my house.

11. try three completely new foods.
like some really crazy stuff.

12. continue to work on my secret project.

13. lose some stress.
and have some fun.

these are my resolutions.
pretty simple.
but things I really want to accomplish.

(:
happy new year everyone.
hope 2011 brings plenty of laughter.