Friendship Friday: Meet Nicky

A couple years ago when we were in the process of switching churches, I met Nichole.

She and I hit it off right away - being very similar in both our mannerisms and the things that we like and dislike.

She and I become great friends over the last few years, going through many things at the same times --- including some problems, trials and some great times.

I have always felt like I could talk to Nicky about anything --- guys, friend problems, things going on in my life. Somehow she has always been someone that I could easily open up to, and I think she feels the same way about me. ;)

In the end of August, Nicky left for college - a college over 6 hours away. I miss my friend that I went shopping with, went to the movies with, had sleepovers with, talked to all the time. But I also know that this is another step in her life, and we're going to stay friends throughout the whole thing.

We've talked on the phone a few times since she's been gone, and it's like nothing has changed --- we were able to talk about our lives as if she wasn't even gone. But Thanksgiving is coming FAST, and I can't wait to see my best friend!

God definitely knows what he's doing when he brings friends into your life. At the time I met Nicky, I hadn't had many friends that lived close to me --- most of them lived in different states, and then he gave me Nicky. And although she now lives in a different state, I was so glad to have her close, and I'm anxiously awaiting her times homes from college.

And, although I know I have no say in this, I hope that she decides to stay home from college next year. ;) I just miss my buddy. :)

I love you, Nicky!

Friendship Friday: Meet Sam

My mom has decided to start a meme over on her blog all about our friends! I haven't posted on my blog in a while, but I decided this was a great reason to start back up, since I have so many great friends that I should be bragging about! 

So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to one of my best friends, Samantha. 

I met Sam in 2007, via HomeschoolBlogger. Those were the good old days --- when HSB was the place to blog for homeschoolers, and everyone hung out there all the time, writing blog posts and keeping up with great friends! I met a lot of people that I am STILL awesome friends with (probably will be posting about them later on.) 

Sam and I met exactly five years ago, almost to the day, and we've been great friends ever since. We talked on HSB for a while, then started instant messaging, then talking on the phone. I don't know what I would have done without her friendship over the last couple of years.

We met for the first time at the New York LEAH convention in 2009. Mom and I were there in a homeschool booth and she came to meet me. :)  We've seen each other four times since then, and this year she's been going to college about 2 1/2 hours from me! 

Sam was actually supposed to be coming to my house this weekend for a visit, but ended up being sick and wasn't able to come after all. :( 

One of the thing that I love most about Sam (I call her Sammers), is that we can be crazy together and think nothing of it. We can talk, laugh, do crazy things, and we know that the other won't be like, 'what the heck did she just do'? 

With 5 years of being friends, I can't wait for another 5! 

"Friendship is born at the time when one person says to the other, 'What, you too? I thought I was the only one!'" CS Lewis 
 

Baby Names - Just Because

My dear friend Ashley posted a link on Facebook to a girl's blog that was bored so she posted a list of her favorite baby names. I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I usually blame it on my being an author and thinking up awesome names because of that, but I've been asking lots of questions about family names and stuff for later reference and for when I have kids.

When I'm older and married and have kids - just so you all know. :P

I want my kids to have old-fashioned names that I'll bring back. So, without further ado, I give you my list of favorite baby names.


Hazel Julia
This is my all-time favorite name for a girl right now. My grandpa's mom was Hazel and I never got to meet her. My grandma's mom was Julia. I think the two of those names together would mean a lot to not only a child but also my family and me.
The great thing about this name is that just a few years ago, I would've cringed if someone mentioned naming a daughter this. It's just so old fashioned.
This is a name that unlike a lot of the ones I love, I wouldn't use for a story character because I want to use it for one of my children someday.

Hattie Jo

Hattie is also a family name. If I remember this right, Hattie was my great-grandpa's cousin but she actually raised him. But don't hold me to that. Either way, I love the name Hattie. Jo is my mom's middle name.

William Lee
William is my great-grandpa's first name, my grandpa's middle name and my little brother's middle name. I also have an uncle with this name as well. So it's definitely a family name. Although, I didn't really start liking this name until I read the Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke and loved the Willie character. Now I don't like the name Willie, but love the name Will.

Lucy Louise
Truthfully, I'm not 100% sure who Lucy was, but I know that it's in my family somewhere. Mom would know. And Louise is my grandma's middle name. I think this would be so cute because then she could be LuLu or LouLou. Or LuLou.


Other names I love but didn't make my top list:
Eleanor
Evelyn
Landon
Nathan
Matthias
Ryan

So there ya have it. Ashley's favorite baby names.

Wanna share yours? Do it and leave a comment with the link!

~Ashley

To Die For

Please check out the new blog

I have created with my good friend,

Angelica! It's called To Die For and it is

geared toward teenage girls!

To Die For

A Little Advice

Advice? What am I talking about? Who am I to give advice? Just someone who has gone through this situation and has been disappointed quite a few times.

Wait, what situation?
Let me explain.
But in order to do that, we need to go back about 5 years.

So picture this...I'm 13 years old. I'm in my room. And I have a CD on; bobbing my head and screaming at the top of my lungs.

Any guesses on who I'm listening to? If you know me even a little bit, you'd probably guess The Jonas Brothers.
And you'd be right.

I was 13 when I first heard about the Jonas Brothers. It didn't take me very long to really get into their music and to want to know more about them. When I found out they were Christians, I was ECSTATIC! I can't even explain.

I think the reason I liked that so much was because, since they believed like I did, I thought maybe - oh, just maybe - I could end up marrying one of them. Mostly because I knew there weren't a lot of Christian girls in Hollywood, and they'd probably have to go outside of Hollywood to find a girl.
And I was outside of Hollywood. And a Christian.

I L.O.V.E.D. the Jonas Brothers. Too much, really.

I idolized them. I had hundreds of pictures of them on my computer. I had posters on my wall. All their CDs on my iPod.

So now that you know all of that about me....I'm going to say something about what I've learned from this experience.

First off, you can't expect the people in Hollywood to be perfect. They are going to make mistakes. They are going to get ripped apart because they're in the spotlight 24/7. They aren't perfect, therefore, we have no reason to idolize them.

They are normal people just like you and me. Well, maybe not normal, but you get the point.

I'm not going to lie. I have been disappointed by the three guys that I looked up to more than anyone in the world. I'm only going to touch on why, because being judgmental is something that I need to work on, and I don't want anyone to think I am that way.

One thing that I will touch on, because it REALLY made me disappointed, was Joe's explicit song on his album, Fastlife. I'm still trying to understand this one. How can a professing Christian have an EXPLICIT song on his album? I really don't understand this, and truthfully, I don't think I want to.

Call idolizing what you want: obsession, love. But I think it's just that: idolizing. I used to say I had OJD : Obsessive Jonas Disorder. What the heck was I thinking? Looking back, I realize I was stupid.

As Christians, we need to realize that obsessing over anything but the Lord, and his plan for our lives, is dumb. Plus, we're just going to watch the people that we idolize fall and that will only cause disappointment and anger for the person.

So I don't know. Maybe it's a lesson that every teenager has to learn - to hold someone up on a pedestal and slowly watch them fall. Maybe it's God's way of showing us that they're human and they're going to make mistakes.

My advice to you is: if you're a Christian, prove it. Don't just say it, because talk is cheap. Show people through you ACTIONS that you're a Christian. It's the only way for them to truly know that you are.

Like Blimey cow has said, "If I spend a whole day with you, and I don't know that you're a Christian, you're doing it wrong."