You said you would never leave me, I believe you, I believe...

Favorite line from that song, probably.  Today I'm going to pick up four copies of the Flyleaf album.  One for me, one for Andrew, one for Patrick, and one for Bridgewater.  Bridgewater is off the hook for paying me back though, because tomorrow is his salvation birthday.  One whole year of being a Christian!  Woo Hoo!

I have to go clean Grammy's house now, so this is just a short blog.  But since I haven't blogged in forever, I owed it to you.

Mara

I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo...

Andy's surprise party was a success!  There were 23ish of us not counting adults, and we played Rock Band, MarioKart, and ping-pong all night long.  Lots of food.  Lots of friends.  Lots of fun.  Good times.

I am currently wearing an old worn out white t-shirt with "I'm A Ding-A-Ling!" scrawled across it in Sharpie and some pink and orange plaid shorts, and my hair is thrown up in a clippy thing.  I tell you the truth, I am uber comfy.

The Olson's are in town, so we've been chilling with them the last couple days.  Right now Zach is watching some comedian on YouTube, and I don't even know where Sophie and Tanner are at, and the little boys are in bed.  Today we went to see the Spiderwick Chronicles at the dollar theatre.  I thought it was pretty okay, and Zach and Tanner hated it.  Go figure *laugh*  It wasn't as bad as I expected though.  I also got some shorts at Aeropostale.  They're super cute.  I like 'em.

Rock Band is a cool game.

I think going to sleep sounds like a fantastic idea.  Goodnight!

Mara Tenille
The Butterfly

Fwd: never tried this... i wonder how well it will work??

This counts as a blog, right?

 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?

Hot pink and black.  I've had a thing for blue lately, too.

 
ARE YOU IN A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP?

Depends on who you ask.
 
TO WHOM?
Again, it depends on who you ask.

WHERE DO YOU SEE IT GOING?

If I could see the future, I'd tell you, but for now I only have hopes and dreams and God.

WHAT IS THE GREATEST THING GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU?

He's showed me that I'm worth it.  I wish I could express the magnitude of that.

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Singing in crazy places full of people... I think that's pretty huge.  I love it.

HOW IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENTS?

Good.  We like each other usually. *laugh*

FRIENDS?
Good.  I wish I could spend more time with them.

SIBLINGS?
Well, I haven't killed any of them yet.  Nah, we get along pretty well.

HOW COULD THEY BE IMPROVED?

Spending more time talking and listening would be fantastic.  It's hard to find time to invest in people.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO BY YOURSELF?

Write.  I love to write.  Or sing.  I sing when I know no one can hear me.

WITH A GROUP?
I really like to just chill and do whatever.  Watching movies or TV at someone's house is one of my favorite things to do with people.  Watching Ninja Warrior at Bass's house is one of my favorites.

WHAT IS THE LAST MOVIE YOU SAW?

Hmmm... I don't remember.  I Am Legend maybe?  No, there have been more since then... I'm not sure.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST GOAL IN LIFE?

To glorify Christ with my life, and to love the people around me in a way that magnifies Him.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BAND/SINGER/GENRE?

I listen to Rock, mostly.  I really like Anberlin and Skillet right now.  I like tons of bands though.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST BEEF WITH SOCIETY?

This question is fantastic.  In general that's a hard one to answer, but right now at this moment probably the way society judges people in the same breath that they tell you not to be judgmental.

WHO IS YOUR GREATEST ROLE MODEL

Hmmmmm.  C.S. Lewis.  I wish I was like him.  He's one of the people that I'm going to look for first when I get to heaven.  As far as people I know, I'm not a very role-modely person, so there isn't much of an answer for me.

---

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Hello, I swear I won't be too long...

Today was a weird day.  I didn't like it very much.  But that happens, and we live on.

The Almost is a good band.  Right now I'm listening to Dirty and Left Out.  Good stuff, I tell you.

Today we decided ('we' being me and Mom and Sophie) that instead of saying "I swear, _______" (real life example: "I swear these eyelashes are shorter than these ones!") we would say "I tell you the truth", because Jesus said not to swear, and because he was always saying "I tell you the truth".  Since we want to emulate Christ, this seemed like a wise path to take.

I seriously think the eyelashes on my right eye are shorter than the ones on the left.  Or maybe it's vice-verse.  It's hard to tell when the only time I ever really see my eyelashes is in a mirror, and then I get confused.

Algebra test tomorrow!  W00t!

Mara Tenille

 

PS) In case you're confused, or I appear to be confused, this was written yesterday.

You are like a poem, you can warm the coldest fear...

In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite.
  - Paul Dirac

I read this on my Quotes of the Day.  It made me laugh.  I love poetry.

Yesterday I cut my own hair.  I trimmed the bottom, cut my bangs, and added another layer to the top.  It turned out pretty nice.  I like cutting hair a lot.  I'd like to get really good at it.  I think it'd be fun to be able to cut hair.  Hair is fun.

Today we went to church and then went to lunch at Yanni's with lots of friends from church.  It was fun.  I ate so much food though.  Delicious food.  Now I'm really full.

Alivia named her Build-A-Bear after me.  I feel so special now. *laugh*  That little girl is awesome.  She's adorable.  I've always wanted a namesake, too. *giggle*  I can't wait until I have my own little girl.  Being grown up will be fun.  I like being a teenager though.  There are pros and cons of basically everything though.

I don't know what's happening now, but Mom needs the computer.  So bye!

Mara Tenille, the butterfly

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, how great thou art...

Here's a nice thoughtful Mara-felt-pondery-today post.

 

It's amazing to me how God designed us.  Everything about it is just crazy.  Extraordinarily beautiful and complex and rich and abstract and poetic.  I adore it.  I love seeing what God has created and being so overwhelmingly inspired by it.  It's an amazing feeling.  Feeling is amazing.  To feel, to know, to comprehend, to discern, to sympathize, to love, to  hate, to misunderstand, to laugh and cry and do it out of sheer emotion.  It's astounding.  Think of all the things we, as people, feel.  And think of how you can just look at a person and, depending on how well you know them or they conceal it or whatever circumstances, understand their feeling.  Obviously, no one person can know everything someone is feeling all the time, and no one person is ever going to understand someone perfectly well from the get-go, but think of the depth there.  Think of how complicated emotion can be, and how easily we can sometimes pick up on it, or shift into it, or cause it.  We are meant to feel.  Emotion gives life color.  It makes things more real, more impacting.  To love makes things so much more beautiful (to be loved even more so), to hate makes things so much more bitter (to be hated? That seems different somehow.  Hmm...).  To love and lose makes both, but differently.  Think of the differences in perspective of people who have felt one emotion so strongly and how it altered their entire being.  Think of how God uses emotion to tell us things, to show us things about ourselves and others that we would otherwise never know (or even need to know, maybe).  What would life be if we didn't feel things?  Would it even be worth it?

 

Think, too, about how we feel for each other.  A friend was having a bad day of sorts today, and it altered my own feelings.  How amazing is it that someone else's feelings matter to me, because I care for them ('care' being a combination of emotion and conscious decision to be good to someone, to act as well as to feel?  Love is a verb, yes?  And love is a feeling?), and that beyond that, I feel them too?  Because they are hurting, I hurt.  Because they are uncomfortable, I am as well, even if it has nothing to do with me and my circumstances personally, aside from knowing that person.  Beyond sympathy or empathy or even just being sensitive to others feelings.  To feel for someone.  To bear one another's burdens?  To hurt when they hurt, (even without understanding.  Is that the same?  Does that change things? How much?) and to laugh when they laugh.  How amazing is it to love (any sort of love) enough that that person's feelings become your own.  Become a part of your feelings.  A part of who you are.  How is that possible?  Aren't my feelings my own?  Why should anyone else understand or know them, much less feel them as well?  How can someone even do that?  That astounds me.

 

How can anyone believe that we have no purpose when such complexity exists in us?

 

Sincerely,

Mara Tenille

The Butterfly Child

The pictures you took that covered your room...

Here is the desktop wallpaper I made yesterday. The dandelion's awesomeness was achieved through a random series of filters and stuff that I will probably never be able to duplicate. So just know that this is a one-of-a-kind work of art and nothing will ever be like it.

Sincerely,
Mara Tenille