Vacation!!!!

Yeah yeah, I know that I haven't posted on here in a while.  My computer internet has been very pooey.  So when I didn't have school I didn't even mess with it and outside of school messing with it just wasn't worth it.  I could get on my ipod and that internet was find but I couldn't type out a whole blog posts on that.  I finaly fixed it so that should be good now.  Today when I was outside with Jono I decided to snap a few pictures... Here is what I got
Jono after finishing skim boarding. I didn't get a picture of him in action because he wanted me to video him... But oh well

You probably can't tell but on there was this awesome flying thingy it had a small seat and a motor on the bottom with a parachuteish top thing.  This guy was just flying all over the beach... AWESOME!

Another hard to see picture but there was this little stingray by the shore that was just jumpin really high out of the water... So fun. 

Isn't the sunset so pretty??

Barefoot awesomeness 

Jono lookin boss. 

We also rented bikes, been loving riding all over.  I kind of wiped out today, bruised my leg and skined my stomach and knee.  Did ya'll know that in Panama City Beach the side walks are like a max of half a food.  Whhiiiccchhh makes biking  a pain.  We usually just ride on the side of the road I love it!  Just down the road there is this tiny little, cute donut shop.... I am thinking a bike ride and some donuts needs to happen soon.  

Nail art!

I did my nails today!! Let's see how long it takes before building sandcastles and burying people wears them off ;)

Start with a nail polish free, base coated nail.

 Then add a base color of whatever you choose I chose a wonderful "beachy" pink.

Then draw a upside down triangle on the tip of your nail.  I was not using a striping brush so my triangle looks messy, but I found it best to make a small dot in the center of your nail where you want the tip of the triangle to be and draw the lines out from that then fill it in.  It seemed to help me get the triangle to end in the center of my nail instead of all wacko weirdness.   

Then take another color I would HIGHLY advise using a stripping brush for this one... It helps to have awesome friends who get you awesome gold stripping brushes but not everyone is as lucky as me ;).  Just outline the other triangle and write a little triangle at the top.

TADA!!

 See the thumb on this had?  The point of the triangle is WAY off center because of my angle so it looks wack.

Condo Tour!

I made a YouTube video with the Condo tour, here is the link with the video, I just decided to make a video because it was easier to show you everything that way.  Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_yRTvEIrMw.

I also filmed in the dark so it was difficult to see outside on the deck so I took some pics of the view for you guys.....

Vacation Day #1, Panama City Beach, Florida

5:49 am-

We just left Jonesboro, we ended up leaving Saturday and spending the night about four and a half hours into the trip.  I am typing this on the road and will post it when I am Florida!!  We are currently enjoying “Love Take Over” by Mathew West J.

Every family trip we take from like the beginning of time our family has printed off a USA map and every time we see a license plate from a different state we color it in on the map and try to get all states.  The most we ever got was when we went to the Grand Cannon and we go everything except Road Island. We even got Hawaii!! I mean how does that work? Crazyness.  Anyway, so far  on this trip we already have California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Maryland andddd Drum roll please… Alaska!!! We were pretty proud of that one, pretty good start I think, 13/50.

Yesterday we had to stay around until Preston’s ultimate Frisbee game at 3:15.  We were all so ready to leave that we got all packed up and ready and ended up leaving our house at 12:00pm.  What does the Tate family do in Springfield to kill time? Oh ya know, we go to Lowes, Really Parents? Lowes? Oh well, me and Jono walked around the parking lot looking for license plates and singing “I’m in the LORD’s Army” complete with hand motions mind you.  Let’s just say we got some looks ;).   

Lydia and Rebekah made me a little box that I am not supposed to open until the trip, I decided to wait until today because we left a day early. Any ways it has been driving me nuts! I love presents and to have one that I cannot open yet  ahhh! Sadly it is way in the back, I will hopefully get to it the next time we stop. 

6:49am-

We are driving through Memphis and this little Ozark born and raised girl is finding the factories very awesome, creepy and intimidating.  We just drove past a creepy black smoke belching factory and Jono and I whipped out our ipods trying to take a picture J, oh gosh… I guess I shouldn’t judge when city folk come out to our house and see Cows (seriously people have come over and been amazed by the cows) or deer or the woods. 

7:49am-

We just stopped for breakfast at McDonalds.  I am wondering how McDonalds manages to fit that many calories in one little sausage biscuit!! It’s pretty intense.  We found more states,  North Dakota, New Mexico, Tennessee, Mississippi, FLORIDA, and South Carolina, 19/50.  We just passed through Holly Springs Mississippi. 

8:06am-

I just took the time to crawl into the back and get my beautiful white box, I just want to say my friends are awesome!! I am in the car right now so I cannot squeal like the little girl I am, but would y’all do that for me?  I am going to try to take pictures of everything that is in there latter.  I got makeup, nail polish, gum and candy, what else does a girl need???  I am not sure if I was supposed to open one thing a day or what but there are some awesome notes in there that I am going to only read on a day ;). I feel so loved!!!! Thank you gals!!!!! 

1:19pm-

We just stopped for lunch.  Only two more hours!!!!!  We have added quite a few states to our map but I am not quite sure which ones J.  I am VERY ready to see the ocean! 

4:00pm- 

We are FINALLY here!   The place is BEAUTIFUL and the ocean is amazing!!! 

Right after we got here and unpacked we walked down to the beach we walked along for about 15 minutes before Jono and I decided that we wanted to swim.  So we got our boogie board and went down and body surfed... SO MUCH FUN!  The waves were pretty good tonight, someone told us that tomorrow there are supposed to be eight foot waves so we wanted to get some water time in before we the sun went down cause we probably won't be able to tomorrow.  

Sadly tomorrow we have to do school :( sniff sniff but oh well, it will be easier to get school done with out all of the extra-curricular activities we have at home.  We don't really have any plans this month except getting bored (Mom and Dad specifically say this is something they want to do ;) )... Maybe I will even get to read some! 

Do you guys want to see the place we are staying?  If so would you like pictures or videos (with my loverly voice narrating)?

Well we are getting ready to watch a movie and eat ice cream so TATA!!

Modesty Survey

I found this survey online a while ago that was really informative to read and look at. This was set up a while ago where girls ask these questions about modesty and boys will answer them.  It is a great to see what I might think is perfectly modest is actually a stumbling block for boys.  You gals should REALLY check it out. http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/browse

Saturday Mornings

Ok so Saturday mornings, you know when you sleep late.  Then get up, read a book while drinking hot tea.  Well that is exactly what I would want to do.  The only problem is my parents, their idea of sleeping late is oh, 6:30-7:00.  My bedroom is in the loft, the only thing blocking me from there noises is a curtain.  So every Friday night I will think to my self "Tomorrow will be Saturday I can sleep late, I will stay up a little latter."  Then Saturday mornings my Mom and Dad will get up, make coffee (sometimes they have to grind the coffee beans up), turn on some music (they try to keep it quite, but I hear it anyway), talk, and make plans for the day.  So I end up getting up at 7:30, that is late for me because on a school day I get up at 6:30, but still I would like to be able to sleep until 8:30, that would be REALLY cool.  Oh well, I am fine with it at least I wake up to cool 80s music, my Mom and Dad have GREAT taste in music, the smell of coffee.  I could actually sleep later on the week days, because when Dad gets up, around 5:30ish, he goes straight to work.  When the boys get up the start school, and Mom helps Jono with school or does her morning devotion.   

Photography Challenge- Days Three and Four

Sorry I didn't post yesterday!!!! I had a TON of school to do before break (we are going skiing next week).  So I am just making up for it today

Day Three- What You are Reading

So this is the book I am reading at the moment- Sierra Jensen collection I am on book three, GREAT books! I am probably going to do a post of my favorite books soon maybe after vacation. So stay tuned for that 

Day Three- A photo that makes you happy 

Ok so I just LOVE this picture, Olivia is looking all cute and stuff.  Then the baby (we shall call him Mr. T) is all like "WHAT the heck is happening! I am so confused, strange but I kinda like it." That night that we took this picture was chock full of memories too so I am just happy when I see this pic.

Day Four- The Sky

So before I realized that I had to take a picture of the sky today.  I was all like, I am SO taking a pic of that sky! So happiness, it is BEAUTIFUL! The picture does not even do it justice. 

The other day four was were we went last on vacation, and we are HORRIBLE at taking pictures soooo we have none, sorry.  I am getting ready to go again so maybe I will take some pictures this time.  Also last vacation I didn't have a camera and I am the only one that really takes pics, sooooooo yeah.

TATA!

Photography Challenge- Day Two

Today I was supposed to do a picture of my closet, slight problem, I don't really have a closet.  I have a bedroom in the loft so I do have a tiny room off the side of my room, but I don't really call it a closet.  Anyways I took a picture of it. It is kinda hard to tell but that it is just a little room my mom and dad added in the loft when they were building our house.  When I moved up to the loft I cleared it out, bought a nice rug, a TV, and a DVD player, I also made a little yellow bookshelf, you can see the edge of it in the picture.

Day Two-Your Closet

And the other one-

Day Two- A photo or yourself a year ago

TATA! 

Snow

So it is snowing the most beautiful, stunning thick snow flacks right now.  I was getting ready for bed when I stepped outside and found is falling.  I guess that it is not really that exciting, but it was just so beautiful in the light of the porch.  Any who, my camera was almost out of battery but I ran out side to snap a few pictures.  This is the only one I got before it dyed.  The funny thing is that all that I could see was the big snow flakes falling quitly and gently straight to the ground.  When I took the picture though the camera captured these crazy flurries of little snow flakes making it seem more like a crazy snow storm  then a gentle snow.  I am sure if I thought long enough I could think of some kind of deep meaning about how it is similar to life.  For now though I am content to just marvel at how amazingly beautiful it is and how AWESOME the God I serve is! 

TATA!

Cinderella

I have been trying to decide the past couple days if I should put this on here.  I finally gave in......

I was bored one Sunday afternoon soooooo I came up with this-

Once apon a time there was a girl named Cinderella

Cinderella had two evil stepsisters that made Cinderella work all day 

One day they heard that the prince was having a grand ball at the castle.  He was going to find his queen.  The stepsisters told Cinderella that she could not go to the ball.  After Cinderella worked all day on making the sisters as beautiful as possible.  Cinderella sat down and cried because she could not go to the ball. 

All of the sudden a fairy appeared saying "I am your fairy godmother, and you SHALL go the that ball!" The fairy waved her wand over Cinderella getting her "ball ready". 

 With that the fairy godmother sent Cinderella on her way.

At the ball the prince danced with only Cinderella all night.  That night he asked her to marry him.  She said yes, and everyone lived happily ever after!   (well everyone that is except the stepsisters)

TADA! I made a few changes from the original story, but there you go.  I had a ton of fun doing this, but I will say that my face HURT from removing and reapplying makeup so many times  

TATA!

Pink Peppermint Patties

Well yesterday was Peppermint Patty Day, so in honor of this great occasion I made some peppermint patties, here is the recipe.

Mix one one can sweetened condensed milk with two tablespoons peppermint extract. I didn't have peppermint extract so I used peppermint oil.  I just used a little bit of peppermint oil, I didn't measure it out so I am not sure how much I used.  If you want your patties to be really pepperminty just use more peppermint extract and vise versa.  Oh and if you are using peppermint extract, be prepared for the mixture to look like snot, because the extract is colored a strange green, then mixed with the thick milk, it also bubbles a little bit when you stir it, you get snot.

 In honor of valentines day I mixed some pink food coloring in.

 then start adding powdered sugar, one cup at a time.  I ended up adding four cups.

 When it looks about like this, get out some wax paper and form it into patties with your hands.

They should look about like this- Let them sit for an hour, then flip them over and let the other side air dry for an hour.  I have found that it is handy when flipping the first time, I will use a metal spatula to get them off the wax paper.  Oh when you are making the patties, if the mixture is sticking to your hands, just dust your hands with powdered sugar. 

 melt chocolate chips and add shortening I used about a half bag chocolate chips and a tablespoon shortening.  Then if you can dip them do that, but I have some trouble getting mine to dip without breaking them.  So I just covered the top of them, let it dry, flipped them, and did the other side. This part didn't turn out too pretty but it still tastes good!

Then I melted some white chocolate chips and shortening, I used a little less shortening on the white then on the dark.  I added pink food coloring to the chocolate.  Then I put the chocolate in a small ziplock bag, cut a small slit in the corner of the bag, and squeezed the chocolate over the patties.   

 Enjoy! TATA!
 

Photography Challenge, Day 1

So I keep running across these "photography challenges" on pinterest.  Now, I am not any good at taking pictures, I mean I know how to point and shoot, but I don't really have an "eye" for it, nor do I have a good camera. I thought it would be fun to try some of the challenges just for the fun of it, and it would be fun to look back on.  So I picked two that looked fun and I will show you what I do everyday on here.  I am getting ready to go on vacation in a week so I might not be able to do it everyday, but I will just pick up were I left off.  So here are the ones that I picked!

 

(this one, just FYI I am not going to show a picture of me drunk, because I am just 15, and I don't plan on ever being drunk ;) )

SOOOOOOO DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

Day one- Where I slept. So for this one as soon as I got up, before I made my bed I took a picture so you guys could see how my bed truly looks.  I used to sleep all neatly and my covers would be perfect when I woke up.  In the last month or so I have started snuggling in and my bed is looking a little crazy (I guess Olivia is wearing off on me :) )

On the other one I had to put a picture of my facebook profile-

  

This is me ya know eating a piece of soap :). No, I am not really eating a piece of soap, I just made it to look like peppermint bark and so I had to fake  eat it.  This picture was taken a while ago as you can tell by the date on the bottom.  I know having the dates on the bottom of pictures makes them look kinda cheesy, but for my Dad's Chirstmas present I had to find pictures of us kids for every year that we have been alive.  It was REALLY hard to figure out what date the pictures were taken, so I figured twenty years from know when I am looking at these pictures it will be nice to know when they are take. 

TATA! 

Sleeping

I know quite often I am laying in bed thinking about all the different things to do with my future, my past, all the things I need to do tomorrow   I feel like I get in bed and my brain is like "Hey right know is the PERFECT time to think through EVERYTHING!"  Sometimes I have a lot of trouble falling asleep, I figured that there are probably a ton of other people out there who have the same troubles as me so I decided to tell you guys real quick about my method for falling to sleep quickly and peacefully.

Fall Asleep Quick Plan! 

1. Through off the covers
2. Splay out all limbs in different directions
3. Push all thoughts out of your head (maybe sing the lyrics to a song over and over, or pray)
4. Take three deep breaths 
5. Thank God for the day and ask Him to bless tomorrow and your sleep
6. After you are good and cold pull the covers back up and snuggle in. 
7. Continue to push all thoughts out of your head. This is the hardest part, it is easy to continue to worry, think, plot and scheme, but just push it all away trusting that God has control of your life and let His peace cover you

I guess that I have realized that a lot of times I am just worried about something or trying to control or plan everything in my life. I LOVE to plan things, but I have to remember that I need my sleep and that God has it ALL under control, I don't have to worry about a thing. 

I hope you enjoyed my quick little view on falling asleep! TATA! 

SLEEPOVER!

Alrighty before I get to the pictures I want to talk about something that is really near to my heart.  That is pouring your life into those younger then you.  When I was younger I remember thinking that teenage girls were the coolest thing in the world, when one would take the slightest notice of me, my heart would sky rocket!  I have grown up around this family that has four kids the oldest is a seven year old girl.  She LOVES hanging out with the "older" girls at church. I remember that age in just a few short years her body and mind will be going through some CRAZY changes, that will be confusing and strange.  Already she has started talking about how she sometimes wishes she was skinnier (GRRR!) and she says that her brother and other little boys in her life have been teasing her.  She really apreciates it when people other than mommy and daddy love her like the little girl she truly is.   So I like to have sleepovers and "girl parties", being the oldest of the family, she doesn't always get to do fun crafts and games geared toward older children. When ever she comes over I plan a ton of fun things that are just girly and fun- Here are some ideas for having a sleepover with a little girl in your life. 

1. One of the things that is GREAT to do with younger girls is nails or spas. I put some warm water in a bowl and let her stick her hands into that for while, then I massaged her hands with girly smelling lotion.  Next I let her pick out of my many nail polishes what ever design and color that she wanted. She chose red with NEON orange hearts and then silver sparkles. A little crazy I know but that is what she picked and I just went with it.

2. Another fun thing to do is toes ;)

3. I also let her get out my jewelry making stuff and just make what ever she wanted, she made two bracelets and a necklace.  

4. One of the things she LOVES to do is makeup, I usually try to keep it light, a little eye shadow, blush and a little lip gloss is great to bring out the beautiful little girl. 

I didn't get pictures of the other things we did, but here is a list of some other ideas.

5. We made cookies, she decided that she wanted to make cookies with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and peanut butter pieces.  They turned out WONDERFUL  I think that she really enjoyed helping me, I have been baking cookies on my own since I was younger then her.  So it was really fun to tell her what to do and just watch her try, a couple time when she spilled stuff all over the flour I just had to smile and remind myself that I could clean it up latter.  You have to remember to be encouraging no matter what happens, remember that they are trying their best! 

6. I also took her out on the four wheeler and showed her all of the little forts that I had made when I was younger, she loved looking through all the different places and imagining me playing there when I was her age. 

7. We played just dance SO FUN! I love that game, and she loved trying to beat me. I let her a few times ;).  It was so exciting to see her face when we looked at the scores and she had won! That was also a great way to get some wiggles out, without doing "boy" things. 

8. Before bed we watched a Pocahontas 2, the rest of my family was using to TV so we ended up just sitting on my bed using my laptop. The funny thing was, sitting on a bed watching a movie was soooo exciting to her, it seemed so grown up I guess.  

9. We also read the Boxcar children books, we finished on and started on the next one.  Those are GREAT books for girls or boys. The kids in those books have to take care of themselves in the woods on their own, they find an old boxcar to live in.  So much fun to think about having to live on your own. Then when they go to live with their grandfather, they still have a lot of freedom but they are always sweet and kind.  After the first book all the rest of the books are about the little adventures the kids go on and the mysteries they solve. 

10. After we got in bed we played a game that she made up, you have to imagine something. Like I would say "if I was a princess I would have a REALLY big room, and two puppies. Every morning I would go out onto my balcony and listen to the birds while drinking hot cocoa and reading the Bible." It was crazy the different things that we would think of, some of the "imaginary's" that we came up with, we would each keep adding on to them and we would end up going to like five or ten minutes!

11. Another fun thing to do would be to make something out of clay, bake it, and paint it. I have done that on a previous sleepover, she LOVED that. 

12. One thing to keep in mind is when you are going to bed, make sure that you are near her and make her feel comfortable, pray with her before she goes to sleep, and maybe talk to her a little before you go to sleep "Imaginary" (the name of the game she made up), is a great thing to play because it will take her mind off the fact that she is not at home.  She will start thinking of all these wonderful things and forget about missing her Mommy and Daddy.  Usually when they are that age they will not have been to many sleepovers so sleeping away from home is still new and a little scary. 

TATA!

Biscuit Pizzas

Yesterday Jono and I were home alone, Mom, Preston, and Dad went to the college that Preston is going to for a little Scholars Day thing Preston was trying to get more scholarships. Anyways we didn't have any leftovers and Mom has not been shopping in quite a while, needless to say, we didn't have many lunch choices, so this is what I cam up with-

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray (I used a large muffin tin). Use one of those premixed biscuit thingies, I flattened each one out and smashed it into the pan. 

 Then add pepperoni I just put a thin layer on the bottom but you could add as many or few as you want, if you wanted it to be a little healthier you could use a thin slice of lunch meat or even go meatless (I was just making this for my brother and if I even MENTION a meatless meal he will turn his nose up and refuse ;) )

 Then I put a squirt of barbecue sauce on top of the pepperoni, but you could use normal pizza sauce or ranch.

 Then I sprinkled some cheddar cheese on the top, but again you could use any kind of cheese that you want.

 Bake in the oven according to the instructions on the biscuits.

 They were SO YUMMY! They were pretty filling too. YUM!

Enjoy! TATA!