It's a Major Award

So as I said last night, I was catching up on some great blogs, and I noticed I've been nominated for a thing again? Thank you, Caitlyn, Maggie, and Faith.

The rules:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their site
2. Put the award logo on your site
3. Answer the ten questions they asked you
4. Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer

Here goes!

Caitlyn's:
1. What is something you would want to say to the world?
The world as in humanity or as in the earth? To humanity: What the heck man why do you always go the wrong way? I know you "don't mean to" or whatever but like think before you act. To the earth: Thanks for always following God's plan exactly. Thanks for not fighting Him.

2. What TV show/movie would you want to be a part of making, and how would you help make it?

Okay so imagine a dragon. Got it? Okay yeah that's what the show is about. I'll help with like the musical scores or something.

3. What is your favorite character stereotype?

 I love when the nerdy characters turn out to be the most awesome. Because like, it's great.

4.What fairy tale creature (fairy, wizard, troll, enchantress, etc.) would you want to be and why?

DRAGON. Fire, beauty, scales, naps, gold. Sounds good to me.

5. What is your favorite genre to write in/read/watch?

Write - just depends honestly. I guess more real world stuff. Teen angst or something haha. Read - Scifi/real world/fantasy. Watch - sitcoms, secret agents, comedy i guess.

6. What kind of person do you want to be/become?

A person who doesn't have to say they're  a Christian for people to know.

7. What is stopping you from becoming that person?

Inaction. Misplaced trust. Brokeness.

8. What stocking stuffers do you want this Christmas?

Um that's a long time away.

9. What do you want?

Health, Happiness, A car.

10. Who hurt you?

A boy.

Margaret's:

1. What's the best book you've read recently?

Not super super recent but I haven't read anything recently so Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. My fav book *thumbs up emoji*

2. What's your favorite song of all time? (aha, I've broken them. They'll never be able to answer this one)
Okay you can't even answer this one, Mags. But right now I would have to go with Fall Out Boy's I Don't Care

3. What is a hobby or interest of yours that no one would expect? (Claire, your answer is rap)
Um. I don't know. Maybe.... I enjoy target shooting.

4. What is currently stressing you out?
I had to tell a friend I wasn't comfortable being as close as they wanted to be, and I'm a little stressed about them being okay.
5. What is a reason to not be stressed out about that thing you answered in #4?
I did what was required of me, and God is in control.

6. What is your favorite memory?
When I was little, we lived in a rental house in Cookeville TN. One time for my birthday, I remember that my grandparents made me close my eyes while they brought in my present and it was a barbie jeep that I had wanted. I was so so so excited. Also, I had like zero problems in those days other than having to go to bed early and sometimes take naps. You had it good, little Kate.

7. Who is your biggest role model, and why? ( you guys are not allowed to say me. I know it'll be tough, but... I don't make the rules. Oh wait, I do.)
Corrie Ten Boom's Sister Betsie. Such a picture of a person who truly loves Jesus.

8. Biggest pet peeve? (this question is so interesting to me... I don't know why.)
When people add an S to the end of grocery store names. ( e.g. Kroger's, Aldi's)

9. What is a misconception that you are learning to overcome?
That I can provide what my friends need. That I'm enough. That Jesus is optional in day to day life.

10. Finally, what are you currently eating/wishing you were eating? (saved the best for last, I did)
Well we have lasagna cooking and it smells super good so lasagna.

Faith's:
1. Would you rather time travel to the past, or the future? Why?
I think it would be cool to go either way but I also haven't thought through it enough to pick one?
2. What is the coolest/weirdest word you have ever heard of?
sesquipedalian - basically it means long words.
3. If you absolutely had to spend $100,000 on fuzzy socks or dinosaur pillowcases, which would you spend it on?
dinosaur pillowcases. I don't wear socks much.
4.What would you do if you lost your taste? (I would cry and think about all the delicious jellybeans I could have eaten)
I would be bummed but then I would eat stuff I had never like the taste of and save a lot of money
5.What is the most embarrassing thing you did in 2014?
Hahahahaha. oh 2014. Um. I crashed a car by accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brake.
6.What would you choose as your last words?
Um wow. I don' t know. *dies*
7. If you could look like anyone in the world, who would you choose?
Natalie Portman because wooow.
8. Why is your toe bleeding?
Tis not.
9. What did you just look at besides something on your computer?
Joseph holding part of our blender.
10. What is your current emotion? (bored, sad, tired, annoyed, excited etc)
Tired
11. Did you realize that I rebelled and made eleven questions?
Yes, yes I did, Faith.

And so concludes. All the bloggers I know have been nominated already so I will not be writing anymore questions. Sorry guys. If you really want some then if asked I'll post some to be answered in the comments. Thanks!

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Thoughts from a Protagonist

When writing a story, your protagonist must meet people along the way. Sometimes they meet people who become great supporting characters, and others they meet only exist for a few paragraphs. Some of these may be friends. Some may be love interests. Your character may invest themselves wholeheartedly in those few paragraphs. They might fall in love. They might think it will last many chapters. They may be determined to force it to last many chapters. But that's not your plan. As the writer, your plan may be to rip this away from the protag, to bring them pain and heartache and numbness. Sometimes when your character loses people, they will be sad. Sometimes they will cry. They will think they are getting better, and then one night they will read a blog post and realize they aren't. Or something, Maybe they really will be, but in the moment you are not writing much hope into their story, Obviously they will go on, as you don't write cowardly protagonists. Despite this, they might not know what to do tho, or how to think. They might just smile at work and speak in a telephone voice and put on a brave face and soldier on. They might never sleep or they might sleep to much or at the wrong hours.They might lose themselves in the lives of other characters they watch or read or listen to. They might not know how to feel.
When a character reaches such a point, it is up to the writer to save them. Maybe the character knows the writer will save them and anxiously awaits that day, but doesn't know how to stop hiding, how to listen to the writer. Maybe you've taken a hiatus from writing until your protag can get their crap together. Maybe you're just waiting for them to remember they aren't the ones writing the story.




I should be sleeping, but I'm not. I was catching up on some blog posts by my dear friends when I came across one from the middle of January. It was a post by Margaret, titled "Why I Recommend Guitar". Congratulations, Mag. I cried. Anyway, I need to sleep as I'm working a 9 hour shift tomorrow. Good night all.

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The Start of Something

Hmmm. So I started a post about how hard it is to finish things several months ago. I still haven't finished it. How ironic is that? We'll see if I ever finish it at this point.
Anywho. I'm kinda in a writing mood today and so I think I'll write a short story or something. We shall see what it turns into.

Once upon a time.

Hmmm maybe not that.

In a land... no.

When I was born, my mother held me tightly and whispered her final words.

"Thrive, my child."

She didn't name me, she didn't tell those gathered around what to do with me; She just commanded me to thrive. How she expected me to do that as a tiny infant I'll never know, but I will always have that first word with me.

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"THWIVE!" screamed Logan, a little louder than necessary.
"What do you need?" I asked him in an exasperated tone.
"I just want you to pway wiff me," the four-year-old boy whined at me.
"I can't, Log. I'm busy ironing these clothes your mother gave me."
"But Thwiiiiveee. I'm bored!"
"Can't you go play with Penny?" I looked around, searching for a sign of the young girl. "Surely you sister wouldn't mind keeping you while I do the laundry."
"Fine, Thwive. I'ww go find Penny."
"Thank you, Log."

Now you may be wondering what that was about but let me assure you. Scenes like these are nothing strange for me. Almost all of my waking hours are spent doing chores for the Taylors and convincing the children to go play somewhere else. It's just my life. You may also be wondering if I'm ever going to fully introduce myself. I suppose now would be as good a time as any.
Hello, dear reader. You have probably picked up on this by now, but I'm Thrive. I was born about seventeen years ago and promptly orphaned. My father died before my mother could even annouce the joyous news of her pregnancy to him and my mother died soon after I was born. And by soon, I mean soon. Less than two minutes after I was born, my mother left the realm of the living and entered the realm of the dead. I now live with the Illustrious Taylor family, a wealthy family of five. Lord and Lady Taylor took me in when I was five and raised me as their own. When I was sixteen they allowed me to start working for them in order to make some money. Thanks to their kindness I will be able to...


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Insert pause of about two months.

Okay I lost the flow of this story during the break, but if there's any interest I might try to pick it back up. No promises though!

Well. I'm pretty terrible at this blogging thing, I must say. I don't know why. I mean, I can understand why I put off writing essays and research papers: they're terrible! But blogs are supposed to be fun and thought provoking and about whatever happens to be on my mind. Ah well. It's a new year! We shall see what becomes of this blog in 2015. I think my plan is going to be to post at least once per month. Yay for goals!

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Motivation

We do what we do because we want what we want. I think this phrase sums up my motivation problem pretty well. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it's the hardest thing to just get up and start laundry, or even to go get a drink to keep myself hydrated. We would call this problem laziness, but I would argue that it's a problem of misplaced priorities.

Many times what I want doesn't line up with what God wants. I want to sleep, I want to watch tv shows, I want to do what I want to do; and while I would never intentionally put it into words (although I am right now), I want what I want more than I want what God wants. This is a really flawed way of thinking that comes from a huge place of pride in my life.

1 Corinthians 10:31 states, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." When I place my wants above God's, that shows that I'm more worried about doing things to the glory of Kate than to the glory of God.

We need to be sure to keep the Lord the focus of our entire lives, whether in keeping our house clean, or finishing work we've been given quickly, happily, and well. In fact, when we keep God at the center of our lives, we should be seeking out opportunities to serve others and to give the credit to God.

Try to keep in mind who is The Most High as you go about your daily life, and be encouraged by the fact that this same Most High has designed us to be at our happiest while glorifying Him.

Praise God that serving Him is a joyful thing!

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A Poem

So April is National Poetry Writing Month, and while I don't plan on writing a poem every day, I am sitting and waiting to see the lunar eclipse, so I wrote a small poem:

A month of rain clouds
Pouring out their tears
Raining from the heavens
In pear shaped drops
Leaving the sky forever

(hint: look at the first letter of each line)

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An Introduction

Before I fully get started on this blog, I think it's proper that I introduce myself. Hello! My name is Kate, and I am 16 (for four more days aw yeah). I have two lovely parents and 5 younger siblings which I will tell you all about in a bit. My favorite color is yellow, and my favorite dessert is ice cream. I've been a Christian since I was very young, but only in the past few years have I really started to understand the meaning of that statement and the extent of God's grace. I am about to finish my junior year of high school, and although I have all my credits and could therefore graduate next month, I'm going to take a year to get a head start on some college classes. I plan on getting a college degree in either computer science or computer programming. And although I plan on getting a college degree and being educated, I greatly desire to be a stay-at-home mom. Of course I only want around two kids or so, which brings me to my family:

First, my parents. My Dad and Mom have been married for 17 years, and my Mom has birthed all six of us (in other words, none of us are adopted). My parents decided many years ago that the Lord had called them to homeschool their children. So after I had been in kindergarten for one semester, they pulled me out and I've been doing school from my bedroom ever since. Don't get me wrong, my parents have been very involved with my education. In fact, whatever they've done must work, I got a 32 on the ACT a couple months ago.

Mom loves drawing and painting and things. She's very artistically inclined. Oh and she's been trying to write a book for several years. Maybe when she finishes it I'll give away a signed copy or something. ;)

Dad is extremely intelligent and very computer savvy. He has a degree in computer science and he always knows how to fix a broken laptop or messed up router.

Next up we have all five of my younger siblings (nicknames will be given because of reasons):

1. Will- Will is my 13 year old brother who enjoys reading, playing board games, and playing video games. He's not very into sports and never has been. Recently we learned that he has a disease called Crohn's Disease which is an autoimmune disorder of the intestines. He was severely malnourished and was the size of a 9 year old, despite being 12. He was put on a feeding tube last year and, praise God, he has gained about 30 pounds and grown close to 3 inches.

2. Arwen- Arwen is your typical 9 year old girl. She loves dancing, and tea parties, and all that stuff. She's a bit of a drama queen, and has a tendency to diva-ness.

3. Nate- Nate is 7 and he is a type a personality. He's a "go go go" kinda guy and he enjoys exercising and running and having things in perfect order. One time I challenged him to a push-up competition and he did 100 while I only did 50. Dad still won't let me live it down.

4. Jack- Jack is a 5 year old follower. He has a few opinions, but he has no problem with following whatever crazy plan Nate has thought up. One time Nate and Jack decided to run away and while Nate, as detail oriented as he is, wore a thick coat and carried a packed suitcase, Jack had nothing except one small backpack with his karate gi. I think that sums him up pretty well.

5. Grace- Last but not least, Grace is 2 years old and she is a cute little girl if there ever was one. Her favorite movie is Frozen and she will grab the DVD case and yell, "Elsa! Elsa!". She also loves yelling at mom and I in loud drawn out ways. She loves pretending to ice skate and dance, and she sings Let It Go anytime it's mentioned.

Yep! So that's me and my family! I have a small Westie (that's a West Highland White Terrier-- a dog) named Ella and our family has a cat (we've had him since before Nate was born) named Stitch. Thanks so much for reading! Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite color is! :)

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Beginnings

As you can see, I have decided to start a non tumblog, for a few reasons, which I hope I shall be able to sum up here:

1. Tumblr is not as well laid out for writing deeply moving, personal posts and the like, and it would be my hope that this blog will be more about things I contemplate and things I do than it will be about people and things I obsess over most of the time.

2. I have several friends who keep blogs- Maggie, Caitlyn, and Claire- as well as my dear Mother. I find other people's blog very interesting to read and therefore I think I might possibly be interesting to others.

3. A blog can be used as a time capsule of sorts, and later in life I'll be able to look back on this and see how I've grown/how I used to be an idiot and the like.

4. Despite my claimed hatred of writing, I really only hate being forced to write, and as this blog is not forced in any way, I believe it will be a refreshing outlet for me to practice writing and hone those skills I rarely use.

That's all I can think of at the moment but I hope this can be fun and interesting for all of us involved, both for me in the writing and you in the reading.

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