I'm now halfway through my second week of school! Yay!

Last week was especially long...

My four college classes swiftly became two. Mom and I realized that with multiple dance performances, one of which being an hour and half away, and four finals, the first few weeks of December would not be very fun for me. We decided that two would more than suffice and withdrew me from government and english. Even with the absence of those classes I'm still at TJC much more than I prefer to be. On Mondays I get there around 11:45 and don't leave until 6:15! Though I know it is a lot less time then some people have to spend there, it is is unpleasant for me-- being such an intense homebody. :)

The first day of school was so sad. After having the campus almost completely to myself all of July I'd forgotten what it was like mid-semester. It is crowded! I had only laughed at people's comments about spending half an hour to find a parking spot so I had a nice surprise when I showed up to TJC monday morning. 

Recent Readings: 

"It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God!" 

- Philippians 1:9-11

"Conduct yourselves wisely to outsiders making the best use of your time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

- Colossians 4:5-6

"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

- Romans 15:5-7

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."  - Colossians 2:6

Alright.. dad is sending me to bed. Goodnight, friends!

- Mal

...and so the busyness begins.

Hello, friends of mine! 

I'm doing well, nearly in the beginning of the conclusion of my high school days. Haha! I'm looking forward to that part of it, but everything else regarding school sounds extremely unappealing to me at the moment! Longing thoughts of summer days at Rockin' C easily manage to taint my excitement for the weeks to come. I find myself wanting to go back in time instead of forward, but I know this year has great things ready to happen! Though unappealing, school doesn’t sound miserable. College Algebra should strike a chord of fear in me, but I actually feel somewhat excited! After trudging through geometry last year, algebra seems - for lack of a better word - fun! I must be crazy.

Nutcracker auditions happen in three weeks and my excitement about it has expanded overnight! I'm so ready for wintertime and the Nutcracker brings back wonderful memories from last year’s holiday season. Having snow on our opening night, riding with Sarah Nicholas and Hannah Lockard, spending an afternoon soaking our feet in painfully hot and then ice cold water at Julia’s house.. I'm looking forward to another year of crazy dancers, long rehearsals, extensive costume fittings, and hysterical memories. 

I can’t wait to have overcast days, with the more than occasional rain. The leaves, rather than being on the trees, will be flying around the sky and in piles on the ground that I will take great pleasure in jumping in. Yes, I know it is only August, which should be way too early for me to be looking forward to reading in front of a fire, but I’m excited all the same. I've discovered that many times it is the anticipation of an event rather than the actual happening of it that is best.. so I no longer attempt to stop my happy expectancy of things to come.

This year I'm a baby senior having skipped a grade.. benefits of being home-schooled. I'm also a freshman in college! Hopefully with two year's of dual-credit classes I will have at least completed my freshman year. My schedule at the junior college is pretty chill I guess, but with four dance classes to teach and many to take in addition to various other things I'll be very busy.

Thinking of the craziness to come sometimes overwhelms me, but verses from the Bible such as "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and knowing God wouldn't give me more than I can handle restores my confidence. I know that I am competent in most things, and where I am not, He is.

Now, as it is precisely 1:38 A.M. in the morning, I must stop writing. I've been sleepy for hours and yet here is where I've been the whole time; in the living room, sitting on the couch, with my head in a towel, my jammies on, and a Macbook in front of me. My bedtime has come and been gone for a long while now and I do believe it is time to get some rest before church in a few hours.

Goodnight!

- Malorie Grace

Busyness nearing.

Here I am, once again.. with the intention of writing, but of what? I'm not sure yet. We'll see!

It is so odd because though I want to say how crazy my life has been lately, it hasn't really! I've had an excessive amount of free time. I dread becoming busy but get tired of having nothing to do.

This will all change soon. The week of August 9th, my life will become crazy. 

That week Academy classes at TJC are starting, which means I will teach my first dance classes. I'm very excited to have this opportunity, once that I've been praying for and desiring for years. I'm nervous, excited, happy, and so many other things!

The Ballet Tyler summer intensive is all happening that week, which means that I will have dance class from 9:30 to 3:30 everyday. After ending those classes I will quickly run over to TJC to begin teaching at 4. 

It is unfortunate that they have to happen the same week.. I know I will want to spend all day preparing for new job, but instead I'll be exhausting myself in my own ballet classes! I'm depending on the Lord to guide in the the best of my time and give me strength to persevere through so much craziness!

Last Friday, after spending hours of Thursday deciding which classes to take, my mom and I went to the dual-credit office at TJC and registered for college classes! This semester I will be taking ballet, government, college algebra, and english 2. I have mixed feelings.. one minute excited, the other upset, and always nervous! Being a home-schooled sixteen year-old taking this many college classes on a non-christian campus is sort of intimidating! That is only one side of it of course.. I've been dancing at TJC for years so I'm comfortable on the campus and I took college classes at Teen Mania last year, so this isn't completely new for me. I have to continue to remind myself of that fact! :)

*I know I'm very delayed in posting this, but it was pretty much a completed note that had yet to be posted and I hate letting six paragraphs of writing go unreadable. :D

"a quick succession of busy-nothings"

I recently watched the movie Julie and Julia, which is what inspired me to resume blogging. Though I don't intend to become famous by cooking my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking (I am NOT a cook.. I desperately need to work on my culinary skills) and I don't delude myself into believing many people are reading this, it is inspiring all the same.

"You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life."

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in·ter·est·ing (-iŋ)

adjective

exciting curiosity or attention; of interest

This summer is interesting, (to say the least) as every season past has been.
I have come to expect all of my experiences to be interesting.

Yes, sometimes it is refreshing and relaxing to have a mundane, ordinary event, but generally I prefer spending my time doing things that cause me to learn something and be challenged to some extent.

Rockin' C, for example, was definitely not mundane OR ordinary!

As usual, I didn't seem to value it as much until it was finished. Now I think longingly of being back at the ranch. During my first week at home I was nowhere near content simply sitting at home, but unfortunately that was all there was for me. Now I've developed a taste for my home-life again.

Today, for instance, my day consisted of a "quick succession of busy-nothings."

I woke up to my father inviting me to an 11:30 lunch with himself and Abigail. I accepted and got up immediately.

After that delightful outing I read Mansfield Park for awhile. (Thanks to that book for the above quote)

Piano playing. Facebook-ing. Bible reading. Journal writing. Blogging.

That's it! Pretty nice, really.

What has happened since I last wrote here?

Eclipse with Kathrine. :)
A visit from Hannah and Darrell.
Dance class with Thereza, where I almost DIED. It was RIDICULOUS.
I've read:
Anne's House of Dreams
The Two Towers

Last Sunday I went back to Rockin' C for the first time in two weeks! Upon arriving I discovered that the gate was locked and there was no way for me to get in! Oh dear! I called and texted Jason, texted Richard, and texted Robert. After sitting there for fifteen to twenty minutes while trying desperately to get ahold of someone (and having terrible cell phone reception) Robert came to the rescue! Yay! I finally go through the gate and it was so good to be back! Brent greeted me by running out of the Lodge (slow motion) while singing Chariots of Fire. :) Haha, I participated in the normal sunday routine of pulling luggage and having a cookout on the hill.  It was a very fun time.

So that's about it for the evening! Just a small update on my life and the little rambles I like to make occasionally. I'm getting sleepy now..

Goodnight, friends!

"Rockin' C is the place to be!"

I just finished a five-week job at Rockin’ C Ranch! I was a counselor in training there, working with kids between 5 and 11 years old! It was an amazing experience, I learned and grew a great deal! It was a very stretching experience, seeing as just waking up at 6:15 every morning was difficult, not to mention having between five and twelve children constantly surrounding me. I survived however, more than that, I enjoyed it! I hope I was a blessing, I strived to act as Jesus did, as a servant.

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45

These verses and many others challenged me while at Rockin' C and at home to deny my self and my own interests, as Jesus did, putting others first.

My Campers

A wonderfully spent summer, I'd say. :)

Living, loving, and learning.

I just got back from Rockin’ C. Leaving was a very bittersweet experience. I now have many good friends there and it was such a wonderful time! The memories made there will forever be cherished. It was hard to leave knowing that if I stayed the friendships would continue to grown and more memories would be made. At the same time, my family is so dear to me, and seeing them only once a week wasn’t my favorite thing. I missed playing the piano, drinking cappuccino, and being able to watch So You Think Can Dance or read The Green Mile whenever I pleased.

I’m so glad, however, that I was able to be there! I value everything, my time especially, so much more than I did before. It is such a blessing to be able to sit here, listen to music, and write.. what a luxury and joy this is after working nearly 24/7 for five weeks!

I do intend to do something with my summer. Even if it is just getting up at seven every morning, going to dance class, and spending time in the word, that will not be a waste of my time! I could read a lot of books, perfect a piece on the piano, or earn money by babysitting. Whatever it is, I will not let this summer leave without me having accomplished something!

Lately I’ve begun to enjoy the Bible immensely. I’m reading for pleasure, not out of obligation, which makes me so happy! The word’s of the apostle Paul continually bless and challenge me.

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” - Colossians 1: 9-14

His words are beautiful and so full of wisdom and encouragement! The Father has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints of light so I may dwell eternally in the kingdom of Jesus rather than the domain of darkness! Phenomenal.

Alright, this is the end now. :)

Quotations..

Just a few quotes I enjoy. I hope you enjoy them too!

Some people, were born to sit by a river. Some get struck by lightning. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people, dance. - Benjamin Button

Stories don't always end where their authors intended. But there is joy in following them, wherever they take us. - Renee Zellweger/Beatrix Potter

There is some kind of bigger thing that we can all appreciate and it sounds to me you don't mind calling it God. But when you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines through you. - Into the Wild

"Good friends are always together in spirit" - Anne of Green Gables

"Have you any unfulfilled dreams, Anne?" asked Gilbert.

"Of course. Everybody has. It wouldn't do for us to have all our dreams fulfilled. We would be as good as dead if we had nothing left to dream about." - Anne Of The Island

She forgot lovelorn youths, and the cayenne speeches of malicious neighbors, and all the problems of her girlish existence. In imagination she sailed over storied seas that wash the distant shining shores of “faery lands forlorn,”… she was richer in those dreams than in realities; for things seen pass away, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - Anne of the Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows;

here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud,
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide;
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart:

I carry your heart. I carry it in my heart.

-E. E. Cumming

It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Albus Dumbledore/J.K. Rowling

“The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must therefore be treated with great caution.” - Albus Dumbledore

"Oh He answers, He doesn't always speak. What He does is His answer." - Abigail Forney

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?" - Anne Shirley