Mission Accomplished.

During the last few days, I've been anxiously sweating over tryouts for the badminton team at school.  The coach told us returning players that we had to make it into either the JV or varsity teams, or we'd be cut.  That really set me off into a small anxiety attack.

Monday afternoon, tryouts for returning players:  
3:45- I'm freaking out with my friends as we hold our badminton rackets.  
3:50- We start warm-ups with 6 laps around the indoor track, which isn't all too bad.
4:00- Lunges.  All the way across the gym and back.  With the coaches watching CLOSELY.  
4:10- High knees.  These warm-ups are starting to kill me.  Especially my thighs, cause I haven't done anything like this since last season.
4:15- We get partners and start practicing our shots, like drops, clears, smashes, etc.  
4:45- Games to seven points!  I get beaten way too much and my self esteem drops quickly...
5:45- Suicides.  Multiple sets that kill everyone (ooh, a pun!).  "Finish strong!" says the coach.  Yeah right...
5:55- Numbers.  This is when we go on to the courts, one girl on each side.  We designate spots on the court, each with their own number.  The coach calls out a number, about 15 for each set, and we run to that numbered spot on the court and swing at an imaginary birdie.  We have to use the right footwork, too.  By this time I am breathing so hard and I feel like my heart is about to burst.  Out of shape much?  I think so.
6:05- Coach announces that all the JV and varsity from last year made the team!  The rest of us need to come back and tryout again with the newbies.  All cause the coach doesn't know us well enough to make cuts.  
6:10- All the girls that need to come back and try out again complain loudly as we change in the girls locker room.  

Wednesday afternoon, tryouts for returning and new players:
3:45- My friends and I are grouped together and complaining about how sore we are from the tryouts two days ago.  *I am still so sore right now, I can't even walk around without groaning.  All cause I forgot to stretch.  >.<*
4:00- Coach has us running 8 laps this time...  My friend and I are some of the only ones that did all 8.  All those newbies cheated, for sure.  
4:15- Lunges and high knees.  Very, very painful because of all that soreness.
4:25- Everyone gets onto courts with partners and practice shots!
4:30- Coach calls the returning players over and says this, "This gym is way too crowded and I can't even see any of the newbies.  You're all in."  HAHAHAHAHA.  And I was worried.  PFFFFTT.  

As you can see, it's been quite eventful these past few days and I feel like my legs are on fire every time I go up and down the stairs (I might have been the cause for all those traffic jams in the hallways at school).  But I'm am so happy that I made the team again this year!  

One last thing before I cram some homework...  There will be a post on a new nail design soon!  Keep an eye out!

How to Grow Healthy Nails! Brought to us by JustLoves Fashion

Good afternoon!  So unfortunately, there wasn't a snow day today, and I still had to go to school.  :(  Synchronized swimming was quite the disaster, as was math class.  I had to squeeze my eyelids periodically to keep myself awake.  

On a brighter note, here is a video on how to grow and keep your nails healthy!  I found this video quite helpful because my nails are not in the best shape.  They're starting to peel a lot more than last year.

This video was made by a YouTube beauty guru, JustLovesFashion aka Britt.  She originates from England and has a cool British accent (I LOVE British accents, wanted one since I read/watched/listened to Narnia when I was younger).  Britt does a lot of stuff about makeup and random beauty TAGs.  Even though I very rarely use makeup, I follow her on YouTube because she does pretty nail stuff.  Hope you found the video helpful!

Snow Day...?

I just looked up the weather forecast and it says that there is a VERY LIKELY chance that there will be a snow day tomorrow!!  

Some things I might do if there IS a snow day tomorrow...
~READ.  :)
~Make some hot chocolate oatmeal.  Sounds disgusting, but it's delicious.  
~Start a knitting project?  I don't know what I want to make since it's been so long since I've picked up my knitting needles.
~Cook something with my mom.  I never, ever really get to cook with her cause I'm so busy with school and stuff.  It'll be a nice bonding moment, haha.  This actually depends on whether my mom will let me near the food.  I might just eat it before it's cooked.  :D
~Do homework.  Not likely, cause I'll convince myself that I have the whole weekend (which I really don't).  
~Shovel the snow!  It's fun when I do it with my sisters and my dad.  
~Sleeeeeeeeep. 

Some things that I will do if there ISN'T a snow day tomorrow...
~Wake up early for school.
~Slave through a synchronized swimming presentation for PE!  Lies.  I'm not excited at all.
~Watch a boring art video in history.
~Learn math.  Ugh!  Who even needs that stuff?  No offense to anyone that likes math out there.  It's just hard for me to do math and enjoy it.
~Go to Extreme Trampolines with my church's youthgroup!  I LOVE THAT PLACE.  

I'm trying not to get too excited about it just in case we don't have a snow day.  And it's not really working.  All I can do is hope and pray...

Please, God!  I'm begging You!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have been having a very exceptional Valentine's Day!  One thing I'm gonna say: I GRACIOUSLY THANK THE PERSON THAT INVENTED CHOCOLATE.  

Here's a Valentine's Day cover from the amazingly talented Gardiner Sisters that makes me laugh every time I watch.  

Oh, and this post will be the last one in a while about secular music.  You see, though I am a Christian, I never really observed Lent/Ash Wednesday, etc.  And from what I understand, it's mostly observed by Catholics.  Anyways, I wanted to try something different, and it's kind of like the fasting that we do at my church.  Instead of listening to all that secular music, my speakers will be playing IHOPKC worship (LAURA HACKETT, YEAHHH), Matthew West, Pas Neos, Chris Tomlin, Tim Hughes, and the likes.  It's going to be a struggle (which is pretty much the point of fasting), and I think it's a good way to focus my heart on God and not be distracted by songs not created to worship God.  Yay for giving up secular music for Lent!  I encourage you to try with me!  :)

Happy Valentine's Day!  <3

Birdy

I'm not really sure why I never blogged on Birdy before, but now seems like a great time!  BTDubs, I updated the pages at the top if you'd like to take a look.  

enwikipedia.org

Birdy!  I discovered this amazing singer when I was browsing through Spotify a while ago.  I saw the soundtrack for the Hunger Games movie and I clicked on the song, "Just A Game".  On came a girl's vibrant voice, singing from Katniss's point of view, with such feeling.  I quickly looked up the artist and found out that she was a 15 year old girl (now 16, I believe) from the UK.  She goes by the name "Birdy" but is also known as Jasmine van den Bogaerde.  

press.wbr.com

I then looked up her album on Spotify and fell in love with her cover of "Skinny Love".  Some of my other favorites are "People Help the People", "1901", and "White Winter Hymnal" from her self-titled album.  I especially love the aforementioned "Just A Game" because it just captures the Hunger Games so well.  Plus, her voice is so amazing.  I've never really liked her type of music (Indie folk/folk) in the past, so I was really surprised when I latched on.  It's cool to see what kinds of music I actually do like when I actually try them out. 


I definitely recommend Birdy to everyone out there.  She is very talented; she sings and she plays the piano at the same time (well yeah, obviously).  Some of her pages are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, SoundCloud, and her official website.  Here's a music video to get you guys started...

 

YOU SATISFY MY SOUL by Laura Hackett

At the onething '12, I discovered a new favorite Christian artist, Laura Hackett.  Some of you may know her already from IHOP and stuff.  I think that Laura is a great role model for those who love Christ.  And of course, her voice is beautiful. 

My favorite Laura Hackett song would have to be "You Satisfy My Soul".  I was at the onething conference when I first heard her sing it live during worship.  At the time, I didn't think it was anything special.  But then I listened to it again on Spotify after I came back from onething, and I realized that it had a deep meaning to it. 

When the lyrics go "You satisfy my soul with Your love", it just clicked in my head.  Nothing else could satisfy the deep yearning in our hearts except for God.  We could go around doing immoral things that make us feel good, but really, only God's love will satisfy our souls.

Here's the recorded version, which can also be found on my Playlists page.

  

 And here's the live video from onething '12... 

TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson

In my last post, I made a huge mistake of saying that Tiger Lily was the narrator of Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson.  Not so!  I was thinking about it a couple of days ago and realized that the actual narrator is the one and only Tinkerbell.  Sorry.  :)

Anyways, since we're on the topic of Tiger Lily, here is a book review!  I don't really know what to put in a book review, so I'll just try my best to make it professional.  Ish.

Summary (no spoilers)
The adventurous, tomboyish Tiger Lily lives on the island of Neverland.  Neverland is not completely fictional, but it is a very hard place to find, if you are looking for it.  In her village, Tiger Lily has no parents to speak of, except for her caretaker, Tik Tok the medicine man.  Unlike most of the village, he is very kind to her and they make an extraordinary father-daughter pair.  
One day, she meets Peter Pan.  He is a mysterious, handsome boy of about fifteen or sixteen.  Tiger Lily soon falls in love with his flightiness, quirks, and most importantly, him.  Even, so she is betrothed to a man that she hates, and that complicates things.  
While Tiger Lily is gone uncomplicating those things, a new creature named Wendy arrives at Peter Pan and the Lost Boys' tree house.  This causes a lot of conflicts, because it seems that Peter is now in love with the sweet and loyal Wendy.

Some of my thoughts...
This book was a very, very interesting interpretation of the story of Peter Pan.  I for one have always, always been a fan of Peter Pan's charm and magic.  However, Tiger Lily opened my eyes and I was able to see new sides of him.  He was an unpredictable boy, perpetually stuck in his teenage years.  Also, this isn't your typical, happy retelling of a fairy tale.  It's so emotional, and I found myself wanting to cry when Tiger Lily was being mistreated.  Lastly, there's Wendy.  Wendy has always been my favorite character because she is so loving and kind.  But in this book, I was also able to see a new side of her, since I saw it through Tink's eyes.  I actually kind of started to hate her and her positivity.  Anyways, this book is an excellent read that will make your mind wonder and think about what's going on with the "other" side.  *There is no way that this book is only for girls, even though the main character and the narrator are female.*

My Rating for this book....  An eight out of ten!