Amaranthine Forever

  Hi, I've been around. Just busy with everything that's been going on. I have a new devotional called Jesus Calling, and it's really good. It reminds me to live above my circumstances and keep my eyes on God. But I keep falling back into being overwhelmed by the actually-small stresses of life. The highest order in my life should be God, but instead it's a to-do list. Stress factors: -School. The very first assignment this semester in Honors AmLit is a research paper. Why....And I have a debate project in Biology. -The Lakehouse-My pet, my baby, and sometimes the bane of my existence. -Piano. Recital in a week, and a test two weeks after that. I practice two hours a day. -Dance. I now have a biology lab on Fridays, so I had to quit one ballet class. And I'm screwed with only one ballet class a week, so I've taken to making up in other ballet classes, but I've yet to find one that works for my schedule. And even with three, it's not enoug

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.  "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, bec

Splits Tutorial: How to do the Splits This post is kind of self explanatory. A few disclaimers: -This post is split into different sections for the very, very beginners, and the people who are stuck in “split limbo” and are almost-all-the-way-down-but-not-quite. -There are many different ways to learn and get flexible. This is my way, and may not have the same results for everybody. -It’s never too late. I started when I was 13 and I know people who have successfully started later. -You should be at least a little bit flexible before starting this. Like, at least be able to touch your toes. Okay, splits. These will distinguish you from the average beginner. One way more advanced dancers can tell if you’re going to be serious or not, is by your splits. Even if you don’t consider yourself flexible, anyone who works hard can get them. It’s not difficult, and people can tell when you practice and make progress and when you don’t. The most important preface t

my fangirl obsessions go in cycles...this week, it's totally Heroes of Olympus/Percy Jackson(again) There's this amazing artist on deviantart.. .burdge-bug ...who does AMAZING Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, and even HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE fanart. Now, we need to get her to read Artemis Fowl...XD. Anyways, here are some of my favorites of hers. eeeeeeeeeeeeee I kind of want to pull a Ms. Black and blast Jason right off the tapestry. There's some speculation to whether or not Annabeth will be on the Argo II. I kind of don't want her to be, so Nico can join instead. Then again, if Nico is already in Rome(as speculated at the end of Neptune ) there's still room.  GAH RR WHY MUST YOU TORMENT US SO love this scene...Senatus Populusque Romanus FTW. Which do you think is cooler? Camp Half Blood or Camp Jupiter? Camp Jupiter definitely has a more efficient way of doing things(separatin

Ender’s Game Book Review and Analysis I read a lot of books a year. Like I mentioned a couple posts ago, I read eighty something books last year. However, I only have a couple reviews. There are several reasons: First, because the reviews are a lot of work and take a while to write. They’re not just reviews: I take the books apart bit by bit and exhaust all my thoughts, feelings, and reactions to different parts of the books. But mostly, it’s because most books, while good, aren’t thought-provoking enough to NEED analysis. But once in a while I come onto a book which bounces around in my head and takes up all my thinking room, UNLESS I get those thoughts out onto paper somehow. I’ve been thinking and thinking how to organize this review, and I apologize if it seems a bit rambly. First of all...wow. Glad we got that out of the way. Now, for the summary, straight from the back of the book. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games

So today I got back from the first day of skiing in Brian Head, Utah. It's really awesome! We got here after listening to The Titan's Curse in the car for 8 hours=awesome. So we get here, and the condo is really nice! Much nicer than last time! We get this super awesome king size bed in a really huge upstairs room. Also, I turned to the TV and they had a Dance Moms marathon! Heaven! Skiing was really cool too. I went on some intermediate trails. There isn't a ton of snow but there's enough. Write more later!

(originally posted by my brother, Jro)

  As you guys know, I've been active on the internet over the past couple years, maintaining this blog and also serving as a moderator/maid of all work on The Lakehouse Forums. And I've seen quite a bit to make me write this blog post. There are certain people on the internet you like, and certain people who you annoy you sometimes, yes? Well, for me it goes up and down. Sometimes I'll love one member, the next day I'll be frustrated with her. But there are members that stand out from others, that we just adore and ask their advice and some sort of things. So based on my observations, here is my contribution to helping you develop a credible, positive online reputation. 1. Use good grammar and spelling Everybody makes mistakes, and it's true that good grammar is getting less and less common, and there are perfectly good bloggers who have terrible grammar and spelling. But you can never go wrong, right? It makes you look smarter and calmer. And with Spellcheck

This is a cool picture that has nothing to do with this post. (~alexanderborisov on deviantart) Happy New Year! Hi guys! Be geared for a long post! This was intended to be published a lot earlier, but I got sick...and..yeah. I say "this year" later in this post because I originally wrote this on Dec. 30th, but I got sick and now I'm finishing it up on Jan. 1st. When I say "this year" I mean 2011, kay? I'm sure it won't be too hard for you to understand because I'm guessing it's hard for you to remember it's 2012 now, as well. So my one week family reunion is over! It was a lot of fun. There weren't a lot of planned activities, so it was pretty relaxing. We played games, sang AVPM songs, listened to Percy Jackson books, and talked and talked. This morning we got up and watched HPDHP1, but they had to leave most of the way through it. The movie was good, but pretty dark. I got back into Percy Jackson. Since I read most of them i