Leaps of Faith

These two different in personality, but same in the incredible friendship they give me girls are some of my best friends. They both bring me so much joy, laughter, and memories. I keep them around for many reasons but below are a few of the many. These two girls have joked around for awhile about when I'm going to write a blog about them and I have decided it's about time. Emilee, otherwise known as fellow GG, sweet Em, Emlee, or sometimes gal pal. I have known Emilee for a really long time through my dad being her softball coach, being teammates with my sister on a travel softball team, and her mom being our insurance agent. However, I truly have gotten to know her and have enjoyed being around her this past year. We have gotten extremely close through our youth group and through mutual friends. Em always keeps me honest, she somehow knows how to make me laugh at the stupidest things, and bonds with me over the ridiculous amount of terrible pictures we take together. She l...

At the beginning of each year many people make out a list of resolutions for the new year. I've made resolutions for the past few years and normally at the end of the year I would find myself rather disappointed as I would be stuck in the same place as I was, at the beginning of the year. I would still be stuck in bad habits, gained weight rather than lost it, still letting negative aspects of my life control me, etc. All of this was true until this year. At the beginning of this year I made a few simple resolutions that I actually thought were achievable and that I had good reasoning for. They included saving money (reasonable because I am going to college in eight months.. did I really just say that?!). Another one was to stop drinking pop (this was never a problem for me, but somehow I quickly picked up this addiction last year). A few others were to not necessarily lose weight but consciously make healthier choices, to stop swearing, and make more time for myself. So here I am ...

A few days ago, my friend's mom Facebook messaged me about donating some of my clothes to our school clothing closet. This is a new idea at our school and while our community has been nothing but gracious and supportive in their donations, there was a need for some clothes in sizes bigger than a size eight. I put it off for a little while thinking about having to part ways with a few articles of clothing (which should not be a problem if you've ever seen my hoarder's dream closet). I've always loved clothes and especially shoes. They weren't always new; I've learned that sometimes my cousin's hand-me-downs were better than new $80 Abercrombie & Fitch jeans that my parents bought me in sixth grade. It didn't matter what kind of clothes, I loved them. I loved the options I had to dress as formal or as informal as I wanted. I loved that I could change my outfit two or three times a day if I really wanted (I learned rather quickly that this isn't as ...

We all have something different we love about Christmas. We all have one thing that we think of when someone mentions Christmas. Whether it be the music, the lights, Jesus, the food, family gatherings and parties, having a break, or the overall Christmas spirit, there's at least one thing we love about this time of the year. Although there are many things that I simply love about Christmas, I've recently been reminded of the one thing that I love the most. Although there are giving people who are just givers by heart throughout the whole year, I feel like Christmas time really brings that out in a lot of people. About a month ago, my parents, siblings, and I were talking about people that we needed to buy Christmas presents for. We all mentioned a few people that we consider special that were priorities for us; however my brother mentioned someone I never would've thought for my brother to think of. Not only did he want to buy presents for this person, he even insisted that...

A week ago we had a senior class meeting. We filled the theater with our entire class and discussed yearbook requirements, class trip ideas, and all things involved with being a senior. With this came a paper of information we have to fill out about ourselves, the stereotypical hero, quote, birthday, etc. Above the lines, it stated that you may only fill each blank with one answer. Some of them were easy. I mean what senior doesn't know their birthday or full name? However, two of them stuck out to me, my hero and my nickname. I have acquired many nicknames throughout high school. Most of them include jokes about my name: Hope, Foxy, Faithy, Foxy Faith, and Foxy Mama. However, I've acquired my favorite nickname through something that has nothing to do with my actual name. This nickname happens to be "Mom." Although I'm not sure of the exact person who first addressed me by this name but everyone quickly adopted it. Weeks after a few people gave me this nickname, i...

A lot of people talk about their schedules or lives being like a plate. If they have a lot going on or have a lot of responsibilities at a certain time, they have a lot on their plate or a full plate. Well, I've got a full plate all the time and sometimes I even have a dessert plate. I've actually learned a lot about how to distribute different things onto the main plate and onto the dessert plate to be able to take on so many different things. As a lot of you know I'm highly active not only at my school, but also at my church, in the community and with my family and friends. Although I'm not in any sports, I'm involved in almost every club at my high school. I'm FFA president, FCA leader, Key Club treasurer, Sub Debs treasurer, and a member of many others. Between club activities, running my sister and brother around sometimes, going to chiropractor appointments, fighting the struggle of switching cars what seems like every month, and babysitting, I somehow fin...

My eighth grade year I thought my life was made (little did my naive eighth grade self know, that the best was yet to come). I had some great friends, one of them included a shy, sweet girl named Johnna. Our friend group made a lot of great memories together, but at the beginning of my freshmen year that was taken away from me. I didn't feel like I fit in anymore and we all parted ways and made new friends. This wasn't a terrible thing, I learned a lot from it and made new friends that I am still incredibly close with. However, my junior year we got into a big friend group, "pals." We did everything, I mean everything together. Of course we had disagreements, however at the end of the day, we had each other's backs no matter what. Through pals, I became reunited with Johnna. This past spring and over the summer, Johnna quickly became one of my best friends again. We share so much in common, our love for Jesus, kiddos, organization, and Lauren Daigle are amon...

Inspiration: the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions Someone that has truly been an inspiration to me in many ways, but especially for my blog is one of my former teachers, Mr. Nathan Ogle. I met Mr. Ogle my first day of freshmen year as I stepped foot into his English class and by the time the bell rang and I walked out, I already knew that I was inspired by his class, his love for his job, and his outlook on life. Little did I know that I wouldn't only get to have him for both semesters of English my freshmen year, but also both semesters of English my sophomore year. I knew how lucky I was because he didn't teach many freshmen classes, yet somehow I didn't have to switch teachers at semester and I am forever grateful that I was with him for those two years. However, Mr. Ogle wasn't just my teacher. He was/is one of my biggest role models. While I was in his class, he had two blogs and I read them frequently. He is actually ...

Some of you already know exactly what this blog post is about and some of you are probably completely lost. Before some of you become misled about the title of this blog post, the Legacy I'm about to talk about isn't Merriam Webster's version of legacy: a gift that was given to me by will especially of money or other personal property. However, Legacy has been a blessing to my life and has been something that I will forever cherish. Legacy is the name of my youth group. I haven't always been a member of Legacy; actually I started going there one year ago at the end of this month. This didn't matter though, I can still remember how accepted I felt the very first time I went there. My best friend, Johnna actually invited me to their Christmas party and to be honest when I got there I felt so guilty because this was a party and I didn't want them to get the wrong impression that I was only there because of that reason. Little did I know that these people would hav...

Confidence. Something I've always struggled with. Ever since I was in middle school, I have always compared myself to everyone else. Whether it was in the sports that I tried and miserably failed at, the expensive, sparkly shirts that the other girls wore, or the one B that I got my freshmen year which would keep me from achieving my goal of being one of the valedictorians. It was a constant battle. See that picture above? I would've never posted that my freshmen year because it's just of me and I didn't want people to think I was selfish. I never wanted anyone to mistake that I thought too highly of myself and was conceited, so I guess I took the exact opposite path. However, I don't think a lot of people noticed it, actually I must have covered it up pretty well. At the end of my sophomore year I remember my mom telling me that one of my teachers had told my mom that he wanted his daughter to be as ...

Introducing: My Fam I thought that before I really got started I should introduce some of the people I will be talking about and the people who truly make me who I am today. So what better people to start with than the four lovable crazies that I have lived with for almost eighteen years? I'll start with my momma, the one who holds our family together. She is mentally and emotionally one of the strongest women I know. I mean it takes a pretty special person to not only work with special education students everyday for the past twenty-two years, but to love them unconditionally. She takes any kid in as her own. She has the sweetest soul who loves nothing more than to live simply. My mom is a giver, a teacher, a traveler, and a boss (in more ways than one). My momma has given me her love for kiddos, raspberry-filled cupcakes, and Christmas. Next is my dad, my opposite. Although my dad and I butt heads more often than we agree, I've actually come to learn a lot from him. ...

I am a total kid at heart, so it just so happens that I noticed that the name of my first post is the title of my favorite song from one of my favorite movies, High School Musical. However, I promise you this blog isn't about my childish loves and this post has nothing to do with High School Musical. I've always wanted to start my own blog. I love reading other people's and seeing their tips, life journeys, and motivators. I love writing. I love how it can be as formal or informal as you make it. I have been thinking about starting my own for awhile, but hadn't really shared the idea with anyone. I had a lot of doubts about the whole thing. What would I write about? Who would read it? Will I have enough time to keep up with it? Well, I finally decided to dive in and take the plunge. I decided that if this continues to be something I enjoy and even if I can reach just one person, this will be worth it....