Alive, Kicking, and Tagged

Hello there, blogosphere! I must give you all my heartfelt apologies for the lull in my blogging of late. That thing they call life swallowed me alive, however since all of you are probably rolling your eyes and wondering if that's just a fancy way of saying I've been procrastinating on Pinterest and Instagram (Oh alright, yeah, that too), I'm giving you an update on what's happening in my life right now - proof that I really am doing stuff and not using "life" as an excuse.

Firstly, since my last post, I turned 22. I'm officially starting to feel old, yet at the same time it makes me see others around me much younger than I used to. "Oh, you're only thirty? That's not that old." Having said that, I honestly don't think I will ever feel the age that I am. Or look it. I was taken for a sixteen year old again a couple of weeks ago. I don't believe my inner child will ever let my outer self grow up. Moving on...

Earlier this year, I enrolled for and was accepted by Andrew Wommack's Charis Bible college that has just opened up in QLD. I am currently studying via correspondence. The decision to do Bible college was not any easy one to make, as I didn't receive clear guidance on whether or not it was something God did or didn't want me to do, however since I've begun, I'm beginning to think it was the right choice. I am loving the teaching, and am learning so much. Typically I should do three hours two days a week, but since my life is pretty hectic, I find it easy to get behind, so I'm going to be switching it up to two-ish hours three days a week in order to keep on top of it. But the study is easy, and the exams are simple enough for someone like me to accomplish, and though at this stage I don't think second year and a move to Queensland is in God's plan for me, I think this year will be very rewarding.

Keeping up with housework has been one of the major biggies when it comes to taking up my time; the older I get, the more responsibility I take on. I love it though. Keeps me busy feeling productive and helpful with the rest of the family.

Along with that, music has been another big part of my life. What with recently becoming a worship leader at church and music practises switching to once a week instead of once a fortnight (so much yes) the amount of time we spend together jamming in our garage-turned-studio has substantially increased, and the time spent at church playing with the musos will also go up. My siblings and I have also been endeavouring to write and record our own original songs, and I'm excited to announce that we have our first unofficial "single" up on YouTube, which you can hear here. I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have on it! We hope to get some more up on there soon, once we get them recorded. My brother +Honda Boy has become quite proficient at recording and mixing, and manages to persuade his assortment of recording equipment to make us all sound a lot more tolerable than I could on my own, so keep an ear out for updates.

Graphic designing has also had a booming season, with several of my first paid jobs underway, and doing working for one of my favourite customers, +Katie Daniels with her Supervillains series. (shameless plug there. Go and check it out.) I've been really excited to design the logo for a friend's sound studio, my second time creating a logo. Logos are still not my strong point, yet I think with all this practise, I'll eventually get good enough at it to advertise it as another service I can provide. I do think book covers will always be my first love though.

As you can see, spare time is somewhat of a rare commodity in my life at the moment, and when I do happen to acquire some (generally due to the fact I've forgotten to do something important) I spend it eating, which leads to my recent decision to jog daily, and besides that, reading. I have a gigantisaurus reading list at the moment, just a handful of the gems I've read/been reading through are: The Me I Want to Be and Know Doubt by John Ortberg, Death by Living (again) by N.D. Wilson, The Sacred Search by Gary Thomas, How to Ruin Your Life by Thirty by Steve Farrar, and No Compromise by Melody Green. I won't bore you with the other fifty on my list. However what with all this reading, it also means I've been doing a lot of book reviewing too. Go check out Into the Book to see some of my latest scribblings about what I've read.

A couple of times of late I have had the special opportunity to give offering and communion messages at our church. I've really reveled in the challenge of putting down on paper the things God has given me/been teaching me in a message and presenting it to a congregation. Bizarrely, for all the things I dread and fear, public speaking and singing before a crowd are not things that I dread, and I really enjoy the experience. Along the lines of church, last term myself and two of my brothers were invited by a friend to attend his Bible study/discipleship group which we have been attending one night every week. It's been very insightful and challenging, and I thoroughly enjoy being in the company of like-minded Christian young adults with whom I can have meaty discussions with. It's grown me and helped shape up in certain areas of my walk with God in many ways. I may be heading up one of these nights this term on the topic of doubt, for which I'm praying for guidance and insight as to what I should share and how I should put that together. I'm looking forward to seeing how God brings out my desire to speak and write messages over the course of this next school term.

Over the past couple of weeks, since they have been school holidays, we also spent some time visiting some old friends of my Mum's, and having friends drop in, visit, and stay over. There have been a few instances where we also went over to Tahlee, a Bible college campus type ministry to help our adoptive grandparents cater for school camps and tours coming through. That was a tremendously satisfying experience, serving a room full of guests meals and morning tea, getting to wear caps and aprons, and bustling around the kitchen together. Serving as a family in a different setting is hard work, but such rewarding fun!

Well - I do believe that has caught y'all up with what has been keeping me busy over the last few months! And with that, I've also been tagged by the delightful +Elizabeth Kirkwood over at her blog and I thought this post would be a good excuse to throw a few random facts at you, if you are indeed still interested enough to be reading (hurrah for you if you are! You deserve a medal). The rules are pretty basic: provide 11 hopefully not-boring facts about myself, answer 11 questions, and then ask my readers 11 different questions. Mwahaha! Okay, so here goes -

1. My fringe goes curly when I cut it.
2. I love every genre of music except heavy metal and rap.
3. I think nothing beats old books.
4. I print in capitals, and my cursive is messy.
5. I'm a pyromaniac.
6. I think coffee is amazing, and tea is not coffee.
7. I relate with Eleanor from Sense & Sensibility.
8. My fictional soul sister is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
9. I chew my lip and/or tilt my head when I'm thinking or processing.
10. My personality adapts to different people when I'm with them.
11. The one Bible verse I want to fulfill before I die is Isaiah 58:6.

And now for mon Shawnie's questions (I swear, I will complain at you loudly for making them so hard next time I talk to you, missy)

1.  Would you rather freeze to death or be burned alive?
How about not dying?! Probably freeze, even though I hate the cold. I think it'd be less painful.

2.  What is the prettiest sentence you read last?
Pretty, hrm... There is a kind of magicness about going far away and then coming back all changed. - Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

3.  If you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be?
Perhaps a sparrow. I know they are cared for by God.

4.  How many types of oranges can you name?
Uhhh... none. Unless you're talking about the colour, and then I'd say bronze, golden-brown, tawny, etc.

5.  Song you last listened to?
It was either Love Will Have the Final Word by Jason Gray, or Wake by Hillsong Y&F. And now that I've finished proofreading this, Giants Fall by Francesca Battistelli.

6.  Favorite superhero-franchise character, and why?
Did it have to be a hero? I plead Loki is a hero. A terrible, misunderstood, underappreciated hero. *nodnod* ... *sigh* Alright. Iron Man. He's an awful role model, but he makes me laugh. I like to laugh.

7.  What is your dream pair of socks like?
Ones that never lose their partners in the washing machine.

8.  What does your best friend do that always makes you laugh?
... Exists. Honestly, they don't even have to look at me sometimes to make me laugh.

9.  What does the word ‘lamppost’ mean to you?
Um, a lonely old English pole standing on the street? Why, is it meant to mean something significant?

10.  How would you describe the sun to someone who has never seen it before?
Depends on whether or not they know what light is. If they don't, I'd tell them to think of the opposite of darkness condensed into one spot that makes everything on earth visible.

11.  What is a favorite piece of poetry you’ve read in the 12 months?  (or further back, if you wish)
I honestly can't say. But it was definitely by either +Elizabeth Kirkwood or +Andrew Joyce. Although recently my sisters have been coming up with some clanger humorous poems that I've gotten a kick out of as well. XD

There. Done. Now for my questions...

1. What is the quickest way for you to fall asleep at night?
2. If you disappeared off the face of the earth and had to substitute a book character to take your place, which book character closest to your own personality would you choose?
3. What memory do you have that you believe has come to define a certain part of your character?
4. If you were called upon to give a speech on something you know a lot about and have had a lot of experience with, what topic would you choose?
5. What would you want your last words to be before you die?
6. What type of chocolate do you think should be the only acceptable variety?
7. Would you consider yourself a townie or a country kid?
8. What is something random or eccentric that you like or do that not many people know about?
9. If you lost your voice, and could only have music to speak for you, which artist would you choose to use the lyrics of?
10. How did you meet your best friend and what about them made them stick for you?
11. Is the cake a lie?

Thankyou for reading guys! And I'm not going to tag anyone. If you would like to answer the questions in the comments, or in blog posts of your own, go for it. I'd love to see what you come up with! I've got a few posts swirling in the back of my mind at the moment, so don't go too far away. I'll be back before too long. Thankyou again for reading, my lovely blog followers! I pray this finds you all well and enjoying life.

P.S. 
I know, some of you are probably wondered whatever happened to that writing competition I was going to host. Well don't worry. It's still on the way! Poke me about it, and I will hopefully get it up and running soon.