rain, rain, rain

i glance out the window. there's nothing but rain. pounding. pouring. will it ever stop? i don't know. i sigh, and glance at the computer screen. what should i write? what should i say? how can i express myself? thoughts are jumbled in my mind. rain. rain. rain. it pours. it pounds. it keeps on going, seeming forever. at least a day, it's been. rain. will you ever stop?

Yes, we're being invaded by rain. It's been raining since at least yesterday. Just raining. On and on. I hope it stops soon. Not that I don't like rain. It's just... too much is too much, you know? What if keeps on raining into the next day? And the day after that? It makes me kind of stop to think about it. It makes me kind of wish for the happy blue skies and warm summer days.

Last night I dreamed up parts of what I remember was the most amazing story. Unfortunately, I don't remember what they were. How annoying is that?! Anyway, I think it had something to do with hopping on a motorcycle/vehicle/something like that. Anyway, hopefully God will help me to remember it.

This morning in my devotional, I was reading in Matthew, the chapter that talks about Jesus feeding the ten thousand. And I found out two rather interesting things. First off, John the Baptist had just died. I remember in my Bible it said something along the lines of, "Upon hearing this, Jesus went into a boat." And then when he landed, he was compelled with pity for the people that met them there, so he healed a whole bunch of them, and then that's when the five thousand happened. Except for I found out that that was only the men. It said and women and children, too. So that means that there was more then five thousand people that He fed. Isn't that amazing?!

God bless||loving rain for awhile

~Storyteller

climb

climb

higher

higher

pull

arms aching

eyes watching

climb

higher

higher

reach

pull yourself up

just another branch

climb

higher

higher

come on

you're almost there

just a little bit more

climb

Climbing trees... it's part of our childhood, right? I mean, come on--climbing trees as a kid was like the best!! And believe me--there was like nothing more satisfying then reaching the top of that tree, despite how high up it was. Despite how far down the ground seemed. Despite the branches poking at you and scraping your arms and legs. Despite the wind that's pulling at you and making you want to let go and fly away.

I love climbing trees. It just feels like you can go up and up forever. And when you get to the top? You see there, staring out for what seems like miles and miles. And you can't believe that you actually made it. That you made it to the top. That you actually did it. And it makes you smile.

climb

higher

higher

the top

you're there

you've made it

there's no need to

climb

anymore

you're here

you're

higher

higher

you've made it

to the top

you're a winner

make it to the top||climb a tree

~Storyteller

Persuasion

Persuasion||ask me more designing questions later

~Storyteller

i'm searching

i'm searching

searching for the path

that wonderful path

that amazing path

the one that will lead me

lead me home

i'm searching

searching for the path

that mysterious path

that confusing path

the one that will lead me

lead me home

i'm searching

i can't find the path

it's hiding from me

somewhere

somewhere near?

somewhere far?

i don't know

i'm searching

searching for the path

i feel close

yet so far away

i feel like i might find it

maybe today?

i'm searching

i've searched

long and hard

when will i find it?

when can i start?

when i can find my way?

my way home?

i'm searching

searching for the path

searching for the way home

will i find it?

will i find the way home?

i'm searching

my eyes catch sight of something

flickering lights

somewhere in the distance

my feet quicken

is this it?

i don't know

i'm searching

for the path

my feet quicken

i'm almost there

and then there it is

beautiful

wonderful

amazing

mysterious

confusing

it's made of brick

with lights

leading the way

and i know the way--

it's the way home

Blogger Buttons

So... First off, you have probably been affected by whatever's causing everybody's buttons to go crazy. (I think it's probably the new HTML thingy that blogger did to us.... *sadness*...)

Anyway, so through a great friend, Dahlia (via Google+), of this very cool button making site. I've tried dozens of other codes to make buttons work, but they always just showed the button and an empty code box. But with this site, it works perfectly. (And I even found out how to customize it in ways that you normally wouldn't...)

So, I'm going to give you the link to the site and then show you what you can do with the code. ;)

GRAB MY BUTTON CODE GENERATOR

OK, so, I'm going to use my friend's button for this. (I made it for her. Anyway...)

This is what it looks like.

<div align="center"> <a href="http://totallygeektotallyme.blogspot.com/" title="Totally Me!" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg" alt="Totally Me!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

OK, so now I'm going to show you how to customize this. Here is the code I used:

<div align="center" style="padding: 5px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg"  title="Totally Me!" alt="Totally Me!" /></div><textarea style="background:#ffffff;border:solid 1px #ff0066; color: #000000; font-size:100%; height: 50px; margin:auto; text-align: left; padding: 2px 0 2px 5px; display: block;  width: 90%;">&lt;div align="center">&lt;a href="http://totallygeektotallyme.blogspot.com/" title="Totally Me!" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg" alt="Totally Me!" style="border:none;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div></textarea>

See? It looks quite different then the normal code. And here's some things you can customize about it:

<div align="center" style="padding: 5px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg"  title="Totally Me!" alt="Totally Me!" /></div><textarea style="background:#ffffff;border:solid 1px #ff0066; color: #000000; font-size:100%; height: 50px; margin:auto; text-align: left; padding: 2px 0 2px 5px; display: block;  width: 90%;">&lt;div align="center">&lt;a href="http://totallygeektotallyme.blogspot.com/" title="Totally Me!" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg" alt="Totally Me!" style="border:none;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div></textarea>

(The other things you can already customize on the site.)

OK, so what do these things mean?

On the first thing I highlighted, the word before it is:  border:. This is talking about the border of your code box. The word I highlighted is "solid". This means that the border of your code box is solid. You can change this to these two things: dashed and dotted. This is what they both look like:

<div align="center"> <a href="http://totallygeektotallyme.blogspot.com/" title="Totally Me!" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg" alt="Totally Me!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

See? That's with the box with a dashed border. Cool, right? :) Now, let's talk about the font size. No offense, but... it looks huge. See at the beginning code where I highlighted "100%"? The word before it is "font-size:". This is, of course, talking about the font size, which is on 100%. You can play around with the percentages and found out what kind of size you want. For example, this is seventy percent:

<div align="center"> <a href="http://totallygeektotallyme.blogspot.com/" title="Totally Me!" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRErnrRc9DgawcfBQLviqLMw8UYwk3X9e1U28Ij2GrQJnZMip7u5jz5EyA-veJrxqpDeIzlLUlrlp2TRapwWZCPS8XZnWCpdBvQJg7cvFM7K_n0mYM-K_DacOSOfvj0OlbptrBE7LC6rp/s1600/tmbutton1.jpg" alt="Totally Me!" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

A little bit small... but it's still good. :) I rather like it. :)

I hope that was helpful! Please go and check out the two blogs I mentioned. They're awesome. :)

God bless||have a great Sunday

~Storyteller

P.S. A slight edit--the fonts it in the grab it code box looked a lot bigger when I made this post...so...I'm not just crazily saying that a font that actually looks right is too big. =P But you can customize it however you want. :)

Sometimes I feel like my life's as far from a book as possible...

My eyes scanned the track course, runners pushing speeding down the lanes. I'm totally engrossed, not really paying any attention. The person I came with sits in front of me to my right, watching, too. Both of us are totally and only paying attention to the race.

"Hey."

I didn't realize the voice was talking to me until I turned around. Nope, the kid was looking right at me. No escaping now.

"How'd you get that?" He points at my yellow knee brace.

What immediately goes through my mind: "Um... I got this from my therapist's..."

I must've had a really confused look on my face, because he quickly says, "I mean, like what happened?"

"Oh." I feel really stupid. "I tore my ACL in a skiing accident."

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry," he tells me.

He says something else about my brace, but I don't remember it. I never see him again.

Weird.

Sometimes I feel like the story worlds that I create are so far from my real life that it's not even funny. Like... my life's never like a story. Nothing ever interesting, funny, or rather strange ever happens to me. But there are those times when it seems like the window of a much bigger story comes open, and something really strange and unexpected happens in my life.

Like... some strange and random kid walking up to me at the track meet and asking me about my brace.

This is me: ????????????????

Let's just say that by the time he'd walked away I was thinking my life was a Jessie Bender letter. JK OK, not quite Jessie (I think if it was a Jessie letter he would've asked me where I was from =P), but definitely one of those book-type things that happened to you that just kind of makes you be like, "What on earth?!"

Has anything like that ever happened to you? Or do you get that feeling sometimes that your life's never going to be a book? What's the strangest thing like that^ that's ever happened to you?

God bless||don't go to track meets (JK)

~Storyteller

bloglovin

Hey, guys. :)

Thanks if you read my previous posts... I know that a writer's feelings aren't always the easiest to relate to/understand, but I appreciate you for trying. :)

Anyway, so... most likely you have heard of my topic right at the moment.

GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT (FOLLOWERS GADGET) IS SHUTTING DOWN!!!

Anyway, I'm not sure if I should be worried, but according to this article I shouldn't be. I'm rather confused. Is it really shutting down?! I sure hope not. =P

Anyway, so, if you have bloglovin', just to be safe, I would love it and be honored if you followed my blog that way, that way we don't have to be worried at all on July 1st when we all see if it really is myth or horror reality.

Thanks:)

I'm not really who I want to be...

what are five words that you want to describe you?

kind. loving. caring. mature. funny.

am i even any of those?

i realize that with shame that i'm not really any of those.

That's the depressing part about doing that kind of a thing. I'm pretty sure that that's^ what I put in my "Thoughts Journal" last night. Kind of sad, isn't it? I'm not even what I want to be. I almost feel like the opposite.

I just feel like that I'm not who I want to be. Who God wants me to be. Like I'm just this little annoying person that everybody hates. But I don't want to be that. I want to change. But it's harder then it sounds to try and change what you've been for your entire life. Trust me.

Let's just say I forgot the part about praying to God and asking for His help. *palm to forehead*

So I'm just going to do it here, even though it's in every beat of my heart.

Dear God, please let me to grow in You. Please let me to become the girl that you want me to be. Please let me keep on becoming more and more like You. Amen.

thanks for reading||what are five words you want to describe you?

~Storyteller

Design Information and More about Post Titles

Programs I use to design with: GIMP (safe, free download), PicMonkey, Picnik, and [sometimes] FotoFlexor

Purpose of each one:
GIMP--all around everything
PicMonkey--collages and overlays
Picnik--the fonts
FotoFlexor--the fonts

Note: It's good to have several different sites to use, to have lots of different things to choose from.

Where I get free downloaded fonts from: FontSquirrel

Have I had any problems with any of the above said programs?
GIMP--Nope, none, uh-uh
PicMonkey--sometimes slow to load
Picnik--slow to load
FotoFlexor--loading problems
FontSquirrel--some fonts are unavailable to download for my computer
NO VIRUSES FROM ANY OF THESE.

Where I find new codes: Off google and from friends. (whoopteedoo...)

I thought I would just answer those general questions. :) Now, I want to explain a code that I have already given you.

The code I have already given you is the code for centering post titles, right? So, here is the CSS code I gave you:

.PageList {text-align:center !important;}

.PageList li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}h3.post-title { text-align:center; }

.date-header

{

text-align:center !important; 

}

See where I highlighted the letters? All of the words highlighted say "center". This is the center attribute for the code. It can be changed to left, right, or center. For left, you would have...

.PageList {text-align:left !important;}

.PageList li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}h3.post-title { text-align:left; }

.date-header

{

text-align:left !important; 

}

Now it will be left. You can do the same for right. Here's another thought, though.

.PageList {text-align:center !important;}

.PageList li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}h3.post-title { text-align:right; }

.date-header

{

text-align:left !important; 

}

Now look at the code. They're all changed to different things. Before I start explaining that, I should first explain what each part of the code handles.

.PageList {text-align:center !important;}

This part of the code is talking about the pages.

.PageList li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}h3.post-title { text-align:center; }

This part of the code is talking about the post title.

.date-header

{

text-align:center !important; 

}

And, finally, this part of the code is talking about the date title.

So, in the above code that I gave you where all of them were different, my pages would be centered, my post title would be to the right, and my date title would be to the left.

Home || About || Elsewhere

May 8th

Who am I really?

Thus it looks something like that. Awesome, right? And it gives your blog a more personalized look.

I'll be back tomorrow. :)

And by the way, if there's any code you'd like to give me, I'd love to have it!! :)

learning new things+HTML=a designer's confession

I used to rely solely on CSS when designing my blogs and others. But since I redid my design blog, I have been able to dive into HTML codes like never before.

Mostly I find codes by searching Google. (good ol' google...) I usually start my search by doing "HTML codes blogger..." and then saying whatever it is that I'm wanting to know. (like... "HTML codes blogger center post titles") I have found so many different things by doing that!! It's so amazing what you can just find out by a simple internet search, isn't it?

I suppose why I'm writing this is because I've come to a conclusion. I want to help other people learn HTML and CSS codes, so that they can better their own designs and others. I don't care if they're competing with me or what. I just want to help, you know? And if you see a code that I probably don't know, I'd love to know it, too. You can call it trade-a-code. Sound cool? :) There's more yet.

I know I can't always post the most interesting things (and when I get no comments or very many rates I usually feel like a failure...), but I want to be posting like at least one HTML/CSS code a week or something, just to help you guys. Or other tips. And you guys can ask me about something. If I don't know how to do it, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you. But if I can find it by search, I'll try it out, and if it works, I'll show you guys how to do it, too.

What do you guys think about that? :) Think that's a good idea? :)

i want to jump off the ground and fly

fly

open your wings

close your eyes

fly

take a deep breath

jump off the ground

fly

you don't know where you're going

but somewhere special

fly

open your eyes

you're in the skies

fly

I have always wanted to fly. Always. I have dreams about flying. I love flying. It feels so... free. The wind's in your face. You're flying above the ground. Above all of the hurt. The pain. The sorrow. You're flying. You're free. You can go anywhere. Nothing's going to stop you. You can fly. Higher, higher, higher. Higher into the sky. You can fly.

fly

away from the pain

away from the sorrow

fly

higher and higher

freedom at your fingertips

fly

you're so free

nothing can stop you

fly

Have you ever wanted to fly?

spread your wings||just fly

~Storyteller

i rather wish i had a best friend

laughter.

smiles.

we jump in the river.

it  splashes.

and make us laugh all the more.

we run.

we dress up, and play.

we don't care that we're "older".

what's the fun in that?

we have adventures.

get "lost" in the woods.

we climb trees.

braid each other's hair.

we write stories together.

talk on end through the night.

we watch the stars.

we make up our own constellations.

we laugh until we cry.

until our stomachs hurt.

we smile until we can't.

until our faces hurt.

we do that.

because we're best friends.

and best friends...

they're rare.

i know.

i don't actually have one.

i have three close friends.

but it's different.

they all live pretty far away.

and it's hard to keep in touch sometimes.

and it just seems...

...like i don't have a best friend.

i miss that feeling.

that knowing.

i wish i had a best friend.

thanks for being my friends.

||thanks to my lovely guest posters||

yes, i'm back early

{do you still want until Thursday?}

Watching You

Have any of you ever heard of the country song called 'Watching You' by Rodney Atkins? 

It's about a young boy who wants to be exactly like his father. The father realizes that if his son looks up to him so much, then he had better start being a better example. Have you ever thought of how many people might look up to you...try to do what you do...try to be exactly like you? Well, you might not know it, but there is probably at least one person who is younger than you, that looks up to you as a role-model. 

   Wow! That really hits me hard when I think about it. "Am I setting a good example for those who are younger than me?" "Am I a good role model?"  I sure hope so! The Bible says: 

"It would be better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he was cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Luke 17:2". 
   Wow! What does that tell you about being a good example? You should watch what you do, even if you don't have anyone who looks up to you. 
   For those that drive: How many of you suddenly slow down, of check how fast you're going when you see a police car drive by? Most people do. But, how many of you slow down when you're the only one on the road, but you see that you're going too fast? Not too many, I'm sure. I don't drive, but I do know about our human nature. 
      
   Closing note: Please remember those little eyes that are watching you. Think of what you do, what you say, and how you act before you do it. Trust me...It helps! 

(Please feel free to check out my blog: http://apprenticeofsong.blogspot.com/)

                                                           Signing off:
                                                         ---Christy---

Aaliyah Again! // Vlog!

Hey all! Would you mind checking out my blog, Growing In His Image (link in last post) and ask some questions for my vlog coming up?
Thanks so much!

One of my *old* photo`s I took!

Christy Here, Taking Over!

Hi there, y'all! My name is Christy, and I love anything to do with music, which is why I run my song blog! Apprentice of Song :)

Some random facts about myself are in order! So here they are=
0: I am going into ninth grade (High school here I come!) and I am home schooled:D 

1: I love broccoli (Really, I do)

2: I enjoy making angel food cake from scratch
3: I love all kinds of music (I mean ALL kinds!)
4: I love to sing while my sister plays guitar
5: I love reading and writing stories
6: I love superhero and adventure movies
7: I love dancing (though I'm terrible at it! Haha!) 
8: I hate SPIDERS
9: I don't like coleslaw:P
10: I feel indifferent about being alone (Sometimes I like it, sometimes... not so much:P)

While I was writing this I asked my little brother to say a random thing about me and he said, "Say that you are beautiful!" Awwww:D  Not kidding:)

I'll be writing about role models this week or early next week!
---Christy---  

Guest Post- A challenge by Aili - Announcement

This is Aili, again.

Umm, I just wanted to let every know that if you enter my challenge, you will get an add space on my blog for a full month. Well it matters how many images you find and how much they match.

So...

1 image= 1 month

2 images= 2 months

3 images= 3 months

and so on......

If you have no idea what challenge I'm talking about click here.

If you have no clue who I am click here.

If you want to find out more info on my story click here.

To get something designed for free click here.

                      Thanks for reading!

About Me//Guest Post

First of all I would like to thank Story Teller for granting me this privilege of guest posting.
Second of all I would like to introduce myself.

I am a soon to be 8th grader.
I am short though..
So you would never know that I am going into 8th grade.
I am home schooled.
I am an exceptional dreamer.
Some say I am dramatic.
I disagree.
I just have a way of expressing myself.

Hello. My name is Kayla.
I get distracted easily.
Oh My Word!!! Is that pink Butterfly!?!?!

I am a little different.
But I mean if every one was the same.
How special would life be?

I am a God Girl.
I am a wanna be photographer, singer, and fashion designer.
I couldn't live with out music.
My favorite colors are Pink, Sea Foam Green, and Aqua Blue.

Nice To Meet You! :)
Visit my blog!
loveandjoycanchangetheworld.blogspot.com

Xox. Kayla

Quest Post- A challenge by Aili

Hay guys! This is  Aili with you today. I've been writing a book and I found some images off of pinterest of what I imagine my characters to look like.

Here are some....

 
               Kia


Amalauna


             Rohesia



                              Mordecai


             Elena


                  Malin


Your challenge is search the web for images that look very similar to the characters above. Then, I will have other pictures of my characters. I would love it if you would enter this challenge.
You do not have to search for all the characters just do as many as you can find.
Once you find some images post them to your blog, then leave a link to it under the comments.

Here is one image I found that matched Rohesia....

 

Don't they look the same?



So start Google-ing and searcing on pinterest for images that match.
Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Aaliyah // guest post.

Nice to meet you!
I am Aaliyah! I am a downright country girl in Kentucky, but I am wondering why I am not in Paris
looking up at the Eiffel Tower. I am homeschooled and in fact I don`t even know what a public school looks like!
I have brownish-blondish hair, but I have been begging my Mom to let me dye it red.
I`m a sinner saved by the grace of God.
I capture His grace with my shutter. I see His goodness through my lens. I record His mercy and forgiveness with my pen. I share His love with my life.

I love:
Photography
Card making
Crafts
Sewing
Cooking
Spending time with family
Hanging out with friends
Pinterest
Bloggin`
Writing to pen-pals
I love all vintage things
And I love life..

My blogs are: Growing in His Image and Imperishable Beauty (my fashion blog)
I hope you will ALL hop on over to both blogs and press follow! Please? I am doing a BIG giveaway once I get to 100 followers!
I will most likely post again soon, but until then good-bye!
Aaliyah

something magical || a goodbye [for a little bit] post

something in this world

yet so special in its own way

something that's beautiful

something way past its day

something from the old times

and yet still here

those are the kind of things

that i hold dear

One of my dreams is to live in an old Victorian-type house with turrets and a big spiral staircase and secret passageways. Doesn't that just sound like fun? :) I love old things--old trunks, old houses, old compasses, old watches... I love them. There's something special around them. Almost magical, if you think about it that way.

something old

and yet so new

something that's wonderful

for me and you

there's something magical

magical, i say, yes, magical

something magical about that house

that old house

the one on the hill

all alone

so beautiful

white, reflecting rays of sun

gray, reflecting beams of moon

there's something magical

magical, i say, yes, magical

something magical about that house

the turrets

with windows

where i could look out

the spiral staircase

where i could go up

and stare down again

the secret passageways

full of mystery

full of promise

surprises waiting at every turn

the old library

full of books

whispering books

beckoning books

there's something magical

magical about it all

Have you ever felt that kind of "magic" when you're around old things? Have you ever felt that urge to grab a notebook and pen and run away into an old attic, sit in the corner by the window, sunlight streaming through the partly cracked window, and just write a story? Ah, that sounds like heaven to me. I would love to do something like that. If I ever get my old Victorian house, I'm going to have my room in the attic, and I'm going to do exactly that.

i sit in the corner

sunlight streams

through the window

making beams of light

across the floor

scribblings of the pen

across the paper

a story is being written

don't disturb me

music from a bird

comes through the window

cracked with age

i smile

i write

i live

i love

What's your dream house? What things do you dream about? What do you think about old things? What kind of "magic" have you found in your life? What kind of things make you feel like the world is magical in a way?

farewell || goodbye

it's just for a week

[thank you, guest posters]

Kayla, Aili, and Alaiyah[sorry if I spelled your name wrong =P]

Hey, guys!! :) Thanks sooo much for volunteering. I would love for you guys to keep on posting until I get back. You can all do some on the same day, it doesn't matter. I just want to make sure that posts keep on coming. :) Feel free to introduce yourself, explain what's going on, and give a link back to your blog. :) Please just pick any kind of topic that you like. ;) (nothing bad, of course =P)

Thanks soooooo much, guys!! :) It means a lot. ;)

~Storyteller

Any of you guys want to guest post on here?

Hey, guys!! :)

I'm needing some guest posters on here from tomorrow (May 16th) to next Thursday. (May 23rd) If you would like to guest post, please leave your email in a comment (which I will delete) and I will add you as an another.

Thanks! :)

~Storyteller

life is a highway, i'm gonna ride it, all night long

life is a highway

i'm gonna ride it

all night long

I love that song. It's so... catchy. :) And it's from one of my favorite movies--Cars. I really like that movie, because of how Lightning McQueen changes. At first he's the selfish guy who only cares about himself. And then suddenly he does care. And at the end, he even sacrifices the Piston Cup--the thing he's dreamed about for forever--to make sure that The King doesn't end up like Doc Hudson and actually gets to finish the race.

Let's... just saw that that went high in my books. Personally.

I also think the movie's hilariously funny, of course. =D Can't forget Mater and the rest of those guys. I just really love that movie. Do you like Cars? What other Disney/Pixar movies do you like? :)

What qualities/themes would you pull away from the movie?

God bless,

~Storyteller

sail, sail, sail, sail...

sail

sail

sail away

sail sail

to another day

sail

sail

sail far

sail

sail

to that distant star

When I was younger, we would go and visit my grandparents, who lived by the coast. My grandpa had a boat, and we would go out and sail in the ocean in it. Well, there weren't sails, it was motor powered, but still. We were out in the ocean. I always had to sit in back, because as a child I was scared of falling out and getting eaten by a shark. But I have good memories of that boat.

But sailing in a boat... doesn't that just make you feel a yearning in your heart? To sail away, and discover distant lands? Maybe not for all of you. Maybe not even for me. It takes the adventurous and the brave to try something new and undone, like sailing around the world, or taking a raft from South America to Asia.

sail

sail

you're almost there

sail

sail

wind in my hair

sail

sail

be strong

sail

sail

you've been there all along

Can we have that courage, too? That yearning for adventure?

sail

sail

across the sea

sail

sail

just you and me

i am rather a bit of an early bird

I love waking up early in the mornings, when usually nobody else is awake. I just like to get up and look outside. I love that feeling. It's like I'm the only one here. Just me and God. And nothing can ever touch me. And it just feels... good.

early morning

fresh air

sun barely up

birds singing

breeze whispering

i close my eyes

and breathe in deeply

and thank the Lord

for this day

Everything outside is so beautiful in the early morning. There's that little chill still left from the night, and a beautifully fresh scent in the air, untainted by the sun's rays. There're birds singing, nothing awake to disturb them. I just love that.

birds trilling

singing a song

one i don't know

but one i like

one that makes me stop

and listen

because it's beautiful

Do you like waking up in the morning? What are some of your favorite things about the early hours? Would you rather go to bed early and wake up early? Or go to bed late and wake up late? I love the mornings. I will always love the mornings.

mornings

they come and go

but they always

leave memories

sometimes you just feel like a failure...

the brush moves over the paper. the watery paint seeps through the white like rainbow water. slowly, a picture is formed. but it's not right. i shake my head, crumple the piece of paper, and throw it towards the trash. it misses. as per usual.

Sometimes you just feel like a failure, don't you? Your drawings don't turn out how you imagined, you're always missing shots, your designing's not as original, and your drive to write stories has... disappeared.

I feel like a failure a lot. It's hard. Everybody else always seems to do great. And I just want to break down crying, hiding my head in my hands.

why aren't i as good as before? why can't i do this?

Feeling like a failure drags you down, doesn't it? And it just makes everything else that much worse. It doesn't make you believe that you can do things. And if you don't think you can do it, I'll promise you, you won't be able to do it.

my child, why have you despaired?

why have you felt forsaken?

do you not know that I am with you?

do you not know what I am always by your side?

do not be discouraged.

take heart and know that the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go.

God's always there for you. It hurts to feel ugly; to feel like a failure; to feel like whatever you do isn't enough. That that one person is always better then you. But whatever happens--even if you're a blind hunchback who's paralyzed and burned unrecognizably--God is still going to be there for you. And that's all that matters. When you die and see Him face to face, all of that is going to melt away. And you're going to be happier then you ever were. And you'll forget all about any of this.

Just remember that the next time that you're feeling like a failure. You're not. God's made you with amazing talents. It doesn't matter if one person or thousands of people are better at you in all of them. God gave you just the amount of everything to make you perfect.

Shine for Jesus today.

you all have inspired me...

I'm not even kidding. Remember a few posts back how I talked about how I'm horrible at keeping journals and everything? Then I got all of your lovely comments about journaling. And I got this comment from Katy:

"Yes, I keep a journal! Otherwise I get so consumed with thoughts(Really) That's a good idea with using the computer as a journal. I tried it a while back, but I love being able to hold the pencil and write on the paper. I feel I can call it my own if it's on paper." {edited off the end part...}

And I realized that I have a lot of thoughts, too, that sometimes don't get written down. Feelings, really. The more artistic side of me. Not the "I did this today" kind of a thing, like what I write in my computer journal. But more like thoughts. Letters to friends that only I want to see. Feelings. I call it my Thought Journal.

And guess what?

You guys were the ones who inspired me to do it.

Thanks, Katy.

Thanks everyone else.

Because you have inspired me.