Devoted

The theme for the youth camp I'm going to this year is "Devoted". Which is super awesome because these next 5 days leading up to me leaving for youth camp are going to be full of examples of devotion...

1. My older sister (not blood sister, but my sister nonetheless) is getting married on Saturday. Obvious answer here is marriage is all about devotion to your spouse and all that mushy-ness. But it also makes me think of the years of friendship/siblingship(lol) Amanda and I have gotten to share over the past 7 or 8 years. Since 8th grade, there are few memories that do not involve her or her family in some way. It's been so great getting to learn how to be a friend to someone completely different than me, but if you saw her and I together now, you'd probably say we were a lot alike. I'm so so excited for her and this journey she is getting started on and am even more excited that I'm going to get to play a small part in her big day.

2. My papa is also getting married this weekend, on Sunday. This marriage is different than the one above for a couple different reasons. My papa and his soon to be wife are Muslim. I've never been to a Muslim wedding even though I've been around them quite often for the past 20 years. I'm very curious and excited to see how their traditions are different than ours. The part where devotion comes into play on this one is kind of tricky. See, my granny just passed away last August. It's been less than a year and my papa is already getting re-married. At first, I was taken aback about how quickly it all was happening, but after having a deeper conversation with my papa, his devotion to my granny was ringing through loud and clear. Before she passed, they had multiple conversations about them not wanting the other to be alone when one passed away. So, by getting remarried, my papa is showing how devoted he was and is to my granny by moving on with his life the way she would have wanted him to. What a cool display of love. I'm glad to be apart of such a family.

On an even bigger scale, all the family and friends that are going to be in attendance at both weddings are another sign of devotion. Each person at the wedding will have had some impact on the bride and groom's life whether big or small. They are going to be there as a sign of their devotion the individual and ultimately the couple. How cool?! Ice cold.

So, in these next few days, I'm going to be getting a lot of devotion thrown at me. God's perfect timing? I think, yes. Who could have planned this in a more appropriate way? None other than the creator of all.

I'm grateful to be co-leading with one of my best friends in the world, Daniel, next week at camp. It's going to be such a fulfilling week of worship and quiet time with the Lord, which is desperately needed in my life right at this moment. Something is telling me that I may be learning a lot more from my family group then I'll be teaching them.

T-minus 8 days until Karla is stateside again. I'm a little A LOT excited.

Cheers :)

All was well...

Well, the day has finally arrived...the last movie of the Harry Potter series comes out at midnight...

*sigh*

No need to dwell. Moving right along, then.

Karla, my best friend who has been in England all summer, comes home in 13 days. Hopefully I'll get to see her before school starts or soon thereafter.

I've discovered that my reading is labored when it's done out of necessity. I did not successfully make it through all 7 books before today. Which is okay. I'd rather see this movie, take it all in, and then pick back up the books at my own pace.

Pet peeves aren't really my thing. Like, I don't really notice things people do that bother me. However, one thing that just irks me to the core is the way people respond to text messages sometimes. Por ejemplo, in the middle of a conversation, a person texts "yeah." or "ok" or "ya" or EVEN WORSE "k". OhMyGravy. Can't staaaand it. I'm done ranting.

In book news, I've got so many ideas floating around in my head that it's hard to really single out which one to take a run with. Luckily, all these floating ideas center around one main idea: going away from home and coming back to find everything/everyone different. Once, the exact right idea and story line pop into my head, I'll be ready. It's just a matter of weeding through all the ideas that come from stuff I've already read and finding in the midst of them, my own. It shall happen.

As Lord Voldemort tweeted just a few minutes ago: "Magic never ends"

Cheers :)

The big 3-0!

Wellllllll, this is my 30th post! Kind of a big deal to me....kinda. Lol. I've really enjoyed getting to put my thoughts into this cute little blog.

Last summer, my mom bought me this awesomely retro couch from the 70's. Until last night, there hasn't really been a place in my room to put it and still have room to maneuver around. Thank goodness my mom watches all those design shows or else we would have never made it fit! It looks great and now I've got a sweeeeeeeeeet couch in my room. Party?? :P

By this time on Thursday, I will be having my braces removed. No questions asked. It is ABSOLUTELY happening this Thursday. Yes. Finally. 3 LONG years, over. Doneskis.

I get to go to Youth Camp with my church as a leader this year and I'm PUMPED! I haven't been since I graduated and that was two years ago. It will be a much needed week of resting with the Lord. So good.

I deactivated my Facebook account yesterday. I'm way proud of myself. It wasn't hard and I don't really foresee missing it too much. Plus, I've got this blog and Twitter(@Kelsey_Aleem17) which I think are better use of my time than just creepin' on all my friends and having to read all the ridiculous drama that comes with Facebook. Hopefully, I can last the rest of the summer with no Facebook and once school starts up, I'll see how things are going.

With all that said, I'll get more into my little blog here and start posting pictures and different things like that. So it will be a lot more enjoyable to read because I know how much everyone likes pictures with their readings.

So, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I'm re-reading all the Harry Potter books before the last movie...which is..one...week..away...ahhhhhhh. *whew* I'm certainly not ready. Anyhow, second book was hard for me to get through...not sure why...but basically, I need to read 3, 4, and 5 before like...Sunday...and then have Mon-Thurs to read 6 and 7. Nooow that I've got the distraction of Facebook aside, reading should be a lot easier.

Oh! I got stung by a stupid wasp when I was TRYING to relax in the pool yesterday. No worries, I didn't swell up like a balloon or stop breathing...it did hurt pretty badly though.

I'm glad it's Tuesday. Makes the week seem more manageable.

Cheers :)

Ahhh, the little things

I seriously can't wait to be a mother. This sounds terrible, but I really can't wait to discipline my children. Not like beat them, but really teach them the difference between right and wrong and watch them make decisions based on what I've taught them.

Finally got to talk to Karla after a couple weeks. AWESOME. Miss her terribly. So proud of all she is telling me she's learning. What an awesome best friend to have. Can't wait to hug her neck again.

Also...I love Texas summers...to me, the best feeling is, at the end of the work day, walking outside of our arctic office into the 95+ degree weather. Ahhhh, it's so refreshing. Haha. Any real Texan would heartily agree with me.

Harry Potter has taken over my life. In the BEST way possible. I have Luna's wand. EPIC.WIN. And two of my fellow HP freaks are reading all 7 books in the next two weeks. It's been awesome re-reading the books that pretty much shaped my literary journey.

Things are good for me now.

Cheers :)