The Current Issues

So much has gone on since my last post....not only have I gone to Creation but feelings have been dealt with and situations have been rectified....that being said...let's get started---

Wednesday, the 23rd, me and my youth group left for the Gorge, where we hoped to experience the joys and wonders of Creation Festival, a once a year christian music festival where christians come from all over the west coast (and Canada) to listen to the various groups and join together as one to glorify His (Jesus) holy and amazingly magnificent name. The experience was more than I had hoped for. Not only did I draw closer to the people around me but also to Jesus. It was here, among people I didn't know, that I felt my freest, something I hadn't really felt in a long time.

As to the whole rectifying of situations goes, I realized I had been building a wall between me and one of my dear friends. Without knowing it I had become bitter and resentful towards them, something which is not in my nature, and certainly not of God's. Last night we talked for the very first time in a long while. And I don't just mean casual chit-chatting, but situations were discussed and things, that I had never even thought about were put on the table. Although I now feel at peace about alot of things, I still have a nagging feeling in my gut for some reason. Maybe it's the fact that it feels like me and my friend are initially starting over in our relationship; the fact that doors are now open and communication can flow is a good sign, but somehow something still feels out of place?

One of the subjects me and my friend discussed what our views on dating. It is widely known that I do not date, and that I never will. At seventeen years of age I have never been asked out on a date, further more I have never really "liked liked" a guy, save a select one or two. And it is now my readers that I will now give you my reasons why I do not date.

I believe that dating leads to intimacy not commitment. By pursuing a non-commitment relationship I believe that you are setting yourself, in the future, for hard and painful heartache. My solution: don't try "clothes" on before you're ready to "buy". Why shop around, trying on people, if you aren't ready to settle down and commit. "But everyone dates! You're crazy for not dating!" you might think. And I agree. I am crazy for not dating. But why am I crazy? Could it be that I am only crazy for going against the pressures society has put on people to date and "shop around" and "have fun"? I don't need a guy to have fun.
Secondly, in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, the friendship stage is often missed. When you and the person are alone you never get to see how they truly act around people they aren't trying to impress. I mean come on, when you go on a date you are trying to put forth a good impression. Girls take hours doing their hair, makeup and putting together an outfit. For what? To be impressive. Now take those same girls and put them with their friends. They are free to be themselves, makeup or not. In a group of friends you aren't trying to impress, you are just being yourself. Within a group of friends each person can see how they interact with the people around them: what makes them tick, how do they treat people they don't particulary get along with? These are just some of the things couples avoid to look at when they are alone on a date.
Thirdly, I want to pursue purity in every area of my life. That just doesn't mean not sleeping with anyone until I'm married. By being pure I am pursuing what God wants and keeping myself, my heart and soul, complete until one day, when I find that awesome guy who I will give my heart to, my everything, without reserve, no strings attached. It is my belief that when you have a boyfriend you give part of yourself away to that person. You get emotionaly attached, and before you know it, you've given a slice of your heart away. Boyfriend after boyfriend you go, until your wedding day comes and instead of giving your spouse your whole heart, you can only hand over the little slice you have left, every other part invested in someone else and some other relationship. "...do not stir up love until it pleases" (Song of Sol. 3:5). Do not stir up love until it please. Do not stir up love until it pleases. Pleases who you might ask? Pleases God. Wait until God brings that special someone into your life. Wait. Seek. Listen.
What's the true difference between courting and dating? In dating the person is responsible for finding their mate. In courting the person must rely on God to bring them the right person, when God is ready. When God is ready, not when we're ready. God's timing is key. His timing is all that matters.

Tuesday and Wednesday.

Alright folks. It is already July 16th. This. Is. Crazy. Insane! :)
Anyway, here's the low-down on what's been happening in the life of Brie...contain yourselves...you might just get too excited (oh yeah, it's that intense...ok...maybe not!).
Yesterday was an absolutely blissful day. I had the day off which meant sleeping in until 9:45 (when my mom woke me up) and heading the gym, where I ran consistantly for 25 minutes at lightning fast speed (ok, maybe not exactly lightning...think more like graceful gazelle? lol). After doing a few other aerobic activies at the neighborhood YMCA, it was time to go home, a.k.a. take shower. Once dressed, smelling good, and ready for an exciting afternoon my friend Hannah Atwood, a lovely, lovely girl who makes me smile uncontrolably, came over, and watched as I picked up my overly-cluttered room. Chatting and whatnot the whole room cleaning process went pretty quickly and painlessly. Next, it was time for pizza (thanks to my mom and some unknown frozen pizza brand). While we were eating it occured to me that, this very Tuesday, "Penelope" an amazingly well told modern day fairytale was out on DVD. Rushing to Target (with our bellies full of pizza-deliciousness) I bought the said movie (Special Edition mind you!) and came home and watched it until our hearts content. It ended, me and Hannah parted ways and before I knew it, it was time to go to youth group. It was amazing. Laughing, a not-so-intense game of "capture the flag", rockin' worship, and finally a sermon from our very own Shayla Dohner completed the night. Or so I thought. Spontaneosly, I, Sarah, Phillip, Ben, and two other of the "youth-ers" went out for a late night meal at Wendy's. Good times. Good times. The evening concluded with me driving myself and Ben home, which came unfortunately soon.

Wednesday: Work.
Woke up this morning at the early hour of 8:30ish because my room was shockingly bright with the glaring sun beaming through my closed blinds and curtains (I have to get darker curtains!) and made myself a batch of banana pancakes (yes, I did pull a Jack Johnson...) and once again watched "Penelope" (I know right....I'm a bit obsessed lol). Took a shower, vacuumed the bottom half of the house (per the request of my loving mother) and headed off for work. Work was slow. Fun. A bit weird. But all together slow. I think I have been officially classified at possibly a "good girl" or the "nerdy Christian" because I don't participate in there sometimes weird "girl talk" and have declared that I can quote lines from "Monty Python" and "Princess Bride" at the drop of a hat (two movies which I think are hilariously funny). It is what it is. Weird. But it is.
Anyway, nothing else really to report. Work ended with an oddly times rush and before I knew it, it was 7:10 and I was heading out the door, talking to Phillip via phone (bluetooth) and was home. Now here I am, sitting at the conveniant computer desk, still sitting quite smartly in the "office nook". It is here that I will leave you readers, and say "adios" until my next, very exciting blog. :)

The Scottish Highland Games

Yes, yesterday was probably one of the most memorable days of the summer.
Here's how it went: went to church with the bestie (got to see Michael and laugh alot!), followed with a ride home to eat some grub...then an exciting ride to Mt. Vernon where the family, Sarah, and myself endulged in our Scottish heritage (well, ok so Sarah is actually Italian and German....but don't tell the Scots that haha). It was so much fun!
The fair was pretty busy but even with the people, bagpiping, along with some Scottish games competitions, it was actually one of the quietest fairs I have ever been to. Men were walking around in kilts, the local Oregon band "Men of the West" played a jig or two (check out their Myspace...it's impecable!), watched a couple of sheepdog trials, and finally got to see burly kilt-clad men throwing 20lbs. of hay 16 feet into the air without hitting the measuring stick...ah it was amazing. Sarah got a henna tattoo on her ankle, I got a chocolate waffle cone (kudo's to Sarah) and we all snacked on some of the best kettle corn of my life. :)

Yes. I do love the highland games.

Work and Harry Potter

Alright. Second day of the blog. Here we go.
Work was good, long but good. Usually my five hour shift days go pretty fast, but today it was busy and pretty slow. Meh. Not so fun.
So, after my not so fast day at work I was greeted by my brother, Ben, who insisted that I sing for a song he was recording (he just got an 8-track recorded and has played with it constantly for the past couple days). So, a-singing I went and before long I was on the couch finishing up watching "Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban" (my second favorite book in the series...possibly third), which I had attemped to watch last night before almost falling asleep on the couch.
I have to say, I love those movies. They have everything a person could want: action, adventure, just a touch of romance (without getting to mushy-gushy and way totally graphic), fantasy, good vs. evil....it's basically my favorite set of movies.
Anyway, finished watching HP and the dad and brother went to get pizza and slurpies (it's Slurpee at 7-11 today!!).....ate some pizza (ok maybe a little bit more than some haha) and now am switching between watching "2 Fast 2 Furious" and the TV series "Dog Whisperer" (my mom's like favorite show).
Tomorrow I will be covering someone's shift which just happens to take place between 6:30am in the morning and continues until 1pm.....I'm not looking forward to waking up early but I am enjoying the fact that I will be getting an extra 6 hours or so on my pay check (which is always appreciated).
So ya. Today has been a pretty good day and I'm really looking forward to this weekend (especially Sunday, which will consist of men in kilts, saber tossing, and hagus food carts...I'll explain later haha). But for now I think I am going to go and perhaps reread another HP book....maybe the "Prisoner of Azkaban"????
So for now I say "ado" and look forward to chatting at you tomorrow. Have an awesome Friday night!!

The First Blog....

Hello there fellow bloggers. Well, today is the day I’m officially opening up this blog, and in it I hope to reveal the happenings of the coming days, whether they be dull, exciting, or unnatural :].
Anyway, the day has been actually quite uneventful so far. I woke up this morning with the intention of going to a doctor’s appointment but figured out, through my mom, that the appointment was actually made for next week, so with this new information and insight, and unable to go back to sleep I decided to buck up, wash my face off, and get ready for the day (of course that is my definition of “getting ready” which consists of eating a peanut butter and banana quesadilla and rereading Harry Potter, haha).
After reading a few fabulously written chapters of J.K. Rowling’s masterpieces I decided to, once and for all, start a blog, and thus here I sit, typing at the computer which is situated rather cleverly in our spare room, with the computer desk sitting smartly in the closet, which my mom has turned into, what I believe can be referred to as, an “office nook”.
Yesterday was pretty chill and laid back. I’ve been waking up pretty early these last couple of days (early of course being a relative term) around the hour of 9 o’ clock in the morning. I had no plans and therefore I pretty much spent most of my day reading and watching T.V. The only remotely exciting thing that happened what that I was scheduled to work at 6pm, which gave me something to look forward to. Speaking of my job, I probably should clue you in on where I work: Jamba Juice. Yes, I am a smoothie maker, purposed to sell all natural smoothies and vitamin formulated “boosts” as we refer to them, which, when speaking to new customers are “tasteless, nutritional supplements that we add to every smoothie which gives them extra dietary value”, and if you have seen the SNL skit titled “Jamba Juice” with Natalie Portman, I can say nothing more except, “It’s all we live for”. Anyway… I arrived at work rather early with the intention of buying a smoothie for my dinner before I started my shift. I walked into madness. Blenders flooded the sink, our “Dipbox” where we keep all of our frozen ingredients, was completely bare and lacking. Of course I clocked on early. Getting straight to work I threw on my chocolate brown apron, which has Jamba’s multicolored “swirl” plastered across it’s front, and placing a bright orange visor precariously on my head I began to pour smoothies in the Jamba fashion (“John, I have your Power Strawberries Wild with Energy for you!”). Between that and doing dishes in lightning speed the night passed rather quickly and I was utterly surprised when my best friend, Phillip, walked in the door.
“Hey!” I greeted cheerfully. He smiled and took his place in line, where, after ringing up the couple in front of him, took his order (an Original Banana Berry with Immunity). Our visit was short but was nothing less than a nice surprise. I love when my friends visit me a work (especially those who I call my “besties”: Sarah Danae and the other being, of course, Phillip) and it’s all the more fun when they stop by unexpectedly. It gives me this kind of jolt and warm fuzzy feeling, it lets me know that the people, who I care so deeply about, actually care enough about me to visit me at work. It’s a nice feeling.
Anyway after the visit work continued pretty steadily. We had a family of five come in two minutes before closing (each of course ordering a smoothie) and four other people after that which Lindsey (the Lead in charge) had to politely turn away. The night finished with the two of us returning to our cars and me heading off home.
Thus, my day ended, and it is now that I leave you, my readers, so that I may go and get on with my day. I look forward to your comments!
Have a great day (hopefully the sun will come out!)!!!!!