Youth group (new)

For seven long months I struggled with no local friends. The closest close friend was an hour from my new home. Through those months I kept asking God why things were the way they were, why didn't I have any local friends? why was he keeping that from me? Was there a reason?

The fist few months we travels to our old church every other week, but gradually I began to realize important friends had left and the others didn't notice me anymore. . they had gone on without me. And I still hadn't gone on without them, that hurt more than not having any friends at all!

So after we stopped going to our old church and found a new one I desperately tried to get into to the youth events there, but I seemed to miss my chance every time I tried.

A little under a month ago my mom contacted the youth pastor at our new to church to get any info she could about them, things I could get involved in and go to etc.

yes it's blurry =)
I'm the one in the white sweater.

Well God had answered my prayer, that Friday I went to one of the best youth events ever!

As you can imagine I was nervous beyond belief when I got there, but I talked to really nice small group leader, and as I was talking to her a guy came up and asked me if I had said I used to live in Frederick MD, turns out he lived there too and now lives only a few miles from my house on five acres also, we had a lot of things in common due to the fact that we were both homeschooled and lived in the same city and state, we talked for awhile and then the lady I talked to when I first go there introduced me to her small group. I really hit it off with them and enjoyed a really great night with teens around my own age.

Looking at it now I think God wanted me to meet those people at that time. That night was a blessing for me.

 Thanks to all who made me feel welcome, I really felt like part of your group that night! It was so fun!

Victoria. . .

X-Life

In the course of seven months I have adjusted to my new life, my new view of things that used to be important.

I see things differently than I did before. The small things I though were important aren't  important anymore. A lot of my hopes, dreams, and feelings stayed the same because I am still the same person I was, just a little different. But I figured out change changes you, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot! 

In my X-life I lived in the city, went places, did stuff, saw people at really fast pace. For some reason it seemed you always had to move fast. Now I don't ;)

There are things and people I miss A LOT from my X-life, but those people will NEVER be X-friends because I moved. A good friendship lasts forever, and as for X-things. . .you move on or find them where you are.

So tip for anyone facing change: The sooner you loosen your grip on the things(not the people, keep them) of your X-life the sooner you will connect with your current life and it's promises =)

And always fallow where God leads.

Victoria. . .

 

Woods

Now that I live within a few hundred yards of my own  little forest I have discovered how much fun woods can be to explore and hunt through.

Woods are kind of magical, if you stand deep enough in to the woods you can't see anything but trees, all you hear is the sounds of of nature and the occasional scuffle that scares you out of your wits!
It seems so much drama can be born in woods, books and movies are examples.

I find woods fun to hike through and picture large tree houses or a wooded scene from a book I

have read. Or make up a story of my own and let it wander through the woods. I just watch it. This may seem weird, but again I am a writer =)

Woods are relaxing and peaceful. We have a little stream in our woods, and if you listen you can hear the quiet gurgling of the fresh water going over a tiny version of a waterfall.

I love my woods =)
(short and sweet, did you notice?)

Victoria. . .

Virginia

Fun facts on my new home state of VA:

In VA you can get your learners permit when you are fifteen and nine months.

65%  of VA is covered by forests

Cardinal 

 Virginia is known as "the birthplace of a nation".

Eight United States Presidents were born in Virginia: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson.

The State nickname is "Old Dominion".

The first peanuts grown in the United States were grown in Virginia.

The states of Kentucky & West Virginia were formed from sections of the state of Virginia

The first Thanksgiving in North America was held in Virginia in 1619.

So now you know a little about VA, and so do I! 
I'm happy in my new home state and now call it home. 

Victoria. . . 

VA's flag

American dogwood

Unplugged

In my new life I struggled 6 months with no local acquaintances much less friends.
Life was dull and boring. I felt like I was always doing the same thing, never anything new.

I was unplugged from teenage social life, and I did not like it. Who would?
I kept on thinking that God had made things the way they were for a reason, and  all I could do was pray and jump when opportunity knocked.

About three weeks ago there was a knock. I answered, and actually made some friends!
The knock was a youth event at our new church!  I got there and talked to a really nice small group leader, I meat a guy who used to be from Frederick MD too, and he also lives only a few miles up the road from me, and I was introduced to a small group and got to hang out with them for the whole youth event. It was the most fun I had in a long time. God truly blessed me that night.

So this is me me telling you I am no longer unplugged. . . I am being plugged in (locally!)
=)

Victoria . . .

Trampolines

One of the first things and I begged my for after we moved was a trampoline. After awhile we were sure we were not going to get it. But on Christmas, there it was, Our brand new 15x15 trampoline with netted sides.

Despite the fact that it was winter, and a harsh one at that, we were on the trampoline almost every day.

And now with the weather warming up jumping on the trampoline is one of our favorite things to do with our dad after dinner. Go crazy on the trampoline, bounce high, let everything go.

Sometimes when the wind is blowing, and the sky is clear, I  can jump, close my eyes, and for half a second I feel like I am flying.

It's so fun to watch my brother, dad, friends, or myself go flying through the air after being launched.
I'm sure I look stupid, but at that moment I don't care.

Here is a few really cool trampolines I found:

Victoria . . .

Stars

Genesis 1:16

God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.

He made the stars also. Those five words takes God's power and set it right in front of you.

God is so great, his power so wonderful, the bible could sum up one of the most beautiful things in creation in five words. He made the stars also. 

When I first moved out here I was aw struck by the the  twinkling dots in the sky that really showed themselves to this city girl. Mainly because I lived in the city!

The pictures in this post are not from my house. The stars in the country sky cannot be captured with a picture, or described with words. The only thing you can do to experience it is to see them. 

They twinkle and shine, all you can do is keep staring until you feel like your one of them. 

There is not much you can do to describe stars. You just have to see them, and know that way beyond those miraculous twinkling sliver lights there is even greater beauty. Heaven. But you will never get past those stars unless you accept God as your Lord and savior.

All you have to do ask him to come in to your heart.

Victoria. . .   

Rain

Rain has always been great inspiration for me. I don’t know why but the days I always want to write is when it is raining. I always feel my imagination let go when I am sitting next toa window watching the rain fall from a soft grey sky. That downpour that always makes you feel like you are soaked to the skin as soon as you stepped out in to it  that the best for me. It may be a little weird, but it also made me feel gloomy and sometimes sad when it rains which in turn helped me write my sad, depressing, or gloomy scenes in my book. 

“sad is happy for really deep people.” 

                                                Sally Sparrow (Doctor who) 

I’m not like that 99% of the time. But there are those 1% days when sad is happy.

I also love to sit outside and watch the rain fall. I love to listen as it pit patters off of everything. When I’m out here and it rains, all you can hear is the rain. No cars, no people. Just rain.

It feels fresh, and gives me a little shiver that is hard to describe. 

As some of you reading may know I am a bit of a drama queen. So thunderstorms are like one of my favorite types of weather because they are so dramatic. They make me feel dramatic, with their thunder and lighting. I like to freak out like they do in movies when a big storm coming, but it's a fake freak out, and it's fun! (yeah I'm really weird)

Rain days are special too because my hard working daddy doesn’t have to work on rain days. The job he has he is working seven days a week. So rain days are fun for my family because my daddy is home with us =)

Everyone has weird or wonderful things that inspire them. What inspires you?


Victoria. . .

Quiet

Short and sweet is my deliverance today.
Quiet isn't a word you can link to a city. Especially Frederick MD. Where I lived there were always cars driving by, people shouting, ambulances and cop cars wailing, loud music playing, and the occasional search helicopter.

I went to sleep listening to this, woke up to it, and for as long as I can remember it was my background noise.

When I moved out here I realized I could step outside and the only thing I would hear was the songs of nature. Birds, wind. . .it became the new background noise. It was noise that calmed me down instead of stressing me out.

unfortunately we didn't leave all the midnight music rockers in Frederick. Up the hill from us, on most friday nights, they're having a grand old time and playing their music loud enough so I can here.
But most of the time it's good, sweet, peaceful quiet. =)

Victoria. . .  

Photography

Since I was kid I always loved to take pictures. I like posing for them, setting up photo shoots, and taking pictures in general. The only camera I have ever used was the ones on my phone and iPod. Which, even though a good camera, it never could do things to quite the justice I wanted. Sometimes the beauty I wanted to capture was to great, and could only truly be experienced by sight. Then other times it was just my camera was’t good enough!

And to my joy, three or four weeks ago my mom bought a real professional camera, this is a really nice camera. Well after that it was another week and a half before I got my hands on it. And when I did . . .I took three pictures and fell in love with it. And in the past week or so have taken more pictures that I can count! 
Pictures of flowers, birds, planes, the sky, grass, trees, my home, my pets, and our chickens. I even took a picture of a brick! 

Pictures can be magical, and like they say worth 1,000 words.

Now I’m a little jealous, and I want a camera of my own like my mom’s. But the price for her camera, even on a really good discount was way out of this no allowance, non income girl'
s budget. Plus I am trying to save for a car, a laptop, and I am going to Florida for a week or more in May. So I’m stuck sharing. Which Is totally fine =)

So get out there people and take some pictures!

Victoria. . . 

OK

"I'm okay." 

We use this to tell people we're fine, that we aren’t upset, that we're....okay. 

A lot of the times for me after I moved I told people I was okay when I really wasn’t.

My friend Ryan would sometimes ask me if I was okay. I would say yes when the answer was really no. I wasn’t sure why but my problems in my mind seemed so big that I couldn’t explain them to anyone and I would explode if I said “no I’m not okay.” 

Maybe I said I was okay because I thought I might cry if I said how I really felt. I’m not sure now the answer to why I said “I’m okay.” when I clearly showed I felt otherwise. 

It made me feel good that my friends noticed something was up. But I also didn’t want to tell them what was up. Strangely enough some of my most depressed moments was when I was with my friends. I guess it was because these were the friends who lived so far away from me now, who I used to hang out with all the time. On the days they came to visit me It made me sad to know that soon they would leave and I wouldn’t know how soon I would see them again. 

Thus the voice saying “I’m okay.”

And the heart saying “no I’m not.”

There were people like my Bff Ellie, Ryan, and my parents who could tell that even though I said I was okay, I really wasn’t. I still didn’t talk much about what was wrong. The person I confided in most was my Bff Ellie. 

Today things are a little better. I think if someone asked me if I was okay, I could say yes and mean it.  

Maybe now if they ask me what’s wrong I can say what's wrong. 

But I know I feel a lot better today than I did five, six, seven months ago. I feel. . . OK =)

Victoria . . . 

New things

The amount of new things I have encountered in the past eight months is a good number of new things for sure.

1. When I moved I had to get used to being twenty minutes from everything not five or ten. 

2. I had to adjust to the kind of stores they have in my invisible town of Gore. 

3. The quiet was new to me. 

4. For seven long moths I had to cope without even a few local acquaintances.

5. We changed from a small church to a indescribably large church.

6. I had to get used to country life, which I actually was fine with.

7. I had to change where I went when I was mad, sad, or upset. Before I would just swing on the tree swing in my old backyard until all my problems flew away. Now I have  tree that I can see over the front yard. It's really peaceful. 

8. The people who had been in my life on a weekly bases, were no longer with me much.

 These were some of the bigger changes, little ones fallowed like:

9. No wegmans where we lived (we adore that place)

10. No ten minute drive to the park.

11. Every trip in to town is minimum of two hours.

So travel was a BIG change. Aka new thing. 

And if I though really hard I could think of all the other little new thing that make one BIG change. But I think I listed enough for you to get the idea =)

One change = 1,000,000 little or big new things

This is what it will be like for most entering a new situation, and or a new life style . . .be prepared!

Victoria. . .

Memories

No matter how far away you get from someone you love there will always be one thing that distance can’t take away from you. Your memories.

Life isn’t perfect, but when you miss someone you can remember the perfect(or imperfect) moments you had with that person. 

When I miss my Maryland friends, I just remember them, it leaves a smile on my face. 

I can close my eyes and pick a day and time where I remember something funny or great happened, and I will be there all over again listening to the people say the thing I had preserved in my memory. The things that made me happy or made me laugh.

I recently made some new friends, I am getting in to some events at my church, and going to a co-op next year where a lot of the kids at a youth event I went to also go to. 

And now,for some reason,  the world doesn’t seem like it’s on the verge of ending anymore.

I still have my really close friends that I miss A LOT and really wish I got to see more. 

My memories of the past have paved my path for the future. There are friends I never hope to forget, and I want them to stay in my life forever no matter where I go or where they go. 

What I am saying is that God gave me some wonderful memories of my friends and family, the kind that will always put a smile on my face. These people that were and still are in my life are the most important people in the world to me! Besides my direct family of course. =)

The memories of these people keep me going till I see them next. 

Life has it’s complications at every turn, bumps in the road will slow you down, and stop signs are everywhere. But while your going remember those people that made you laugh and smile and maybe even cry. God has or had them in you life for a reason.

Victoria . . .

Land

Land. An investment that usually spans a great distance. It could be woods, fields, valleys, or hills.
Land is a wonderful thing.It's something that allows you to broaden what you do with your space and time.

The possibilities of stretching landscapes are endless. Plant a garden, build things, do stuff.
The fun you can have running over grassy hills or leaping through wooded slopes goes on forever.

I love ridding my ridding my bike down our hilly yard, hanging out in the woods, climbing trees, and running until I'm out of breath. These are some of the things I enjoy most on my land. I did climb trees when I lived in MD, but my roof was the only view I had.

There is something about taking a look around you and and the land you see(most of it anyway) is mine. That hill is mine, those woods are mine. It must have been really daunting when God showed Abraham all the land he could see and said it was his.

Land is a gift. And for some, a privilege. This is short and sweet because I am VERY tired.

Land is fun, useful, and like I said before, a gift.

Victoria. . .

Kites

Kites have always been so cool. Even when I was little I loved to watch kites soaring high above. It's a wonder why I only got my first Kite few years ago. 

When I got my first kite I still lived in my small neighborhood with my small backyard.

So I didn't get to fly it much. Then we moved out here. And there is definitely room out here to fly a kite! I have spent a couple hours trying to fly my kite. And most of the time I fail =(

But I did manage to get it up and keep it up for awhile. I hope to have many more good flights in the future.

Did you know these kite facts?

The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft).
for a train of kites 9740 metres (31,955 ft).

The world record for the longest 'kite fly' is 180 hours.


Kite flying was banned in Japan in 1760 because too many people preferred to fly kites than work.

More adults in the world fly kites than children

In 1826 there used to be a stage coach service between London and Bristol using kites instead of horses.

There are over 50 million kites sold in the USA every year.

The longest kite in the world is 1034 metres (3394 ft).

The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft).
for a train of kites 9740 metres (31,955 ft).

Happy kite flying! 

Victoria. . .

Joy

James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Some days I feel really happy and joyful. I have a great life.  

 I the have friends and family I love and who love me. I have more blessings than I can count. So I should be joyful for the trials that come. Right?

Joyful. . .joyful. . . joyful. . .God is joy. 

After my move I wasn't very joyful. Like you have figured I was mad and a  little confused. But after a long time with him I see my need to trust God, and when I do that I will have joy.   

joy

noun

1. 1.

   a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

   
   

   
   

   The definition of the word "joy" is lacking. You cannot have joy without the maker of joy. 

   You will never truly be joyful without God. If you think you have joy when you don't have God your hanging on to a false happy feeling brought about by the things that make YOU happy. Those material thing will let you down, run away and never come back.The things of this world that make you "joyful" will only crush you in the end. God is always there, he is the source of joy that never ends, never goes away, and will always love you.

   
   

   Make God your joy. =)   

   
   

   
   

   Victoria. . .

Impossible

All the days that I wanted life to rewind, all those times I wanted to turn and run, all those hours I spent questioning. Why? Because I wanted. Two words. I. Wanted. 

The self centered two words that I let rule those days when I wanted the way thing used to be, to be the way things are. 

But all that time I wished and hoped that things would stay the same, deep down I knew that it was Impossible. It was impossible for my life not to change, for some of my friends to step out of my life and others in, it was impossible for me not to change.
Normal is a word made up in peoples head as the definition for what is comfortable to them. What they like, what they want, who they want to be. 
There is no such thing as Normal with God. Or at least that’s what I feel like he’s is showing me. 
God let me be in my comfort zone for a while, then he needed me somewhere else. Here. As much as I tried to ignore it, this was where I needed to be.

A new track was started, a whole new game began, triggered by God telling me I was moving. It wasn’t something I accepted, not something I liked. 

But God knew I needed to learn that change was good, that he uses change in the best way, and that change would be hard. I also needed to know that God used those hard change to draw me closer to him. 

Some how I feel like this is God writing this and not me. I feel like the pen really. 

So as Impossible as this may seem, the change you and I go through is for a greater purpose. Time and time again it may feel like change is bringing you down, but I think God uses it to try and lift us up.

Yes there are people who I used to hang out with ALOT that I miss. Yes it was(and is) hard, and yes it will get easier. 

Don’t think these words from me, I am merely the messenger who needs to fallow the advice she delivers. 

Victoria.. . .

High school

High school. The two words that bring so much pressure into a teens life. Mainly because this is a whole new start to a whole new game. You have to act to cool, dress stylish, and fit in. Or that is what most kids think.

It’s not like that for me. It never was going to be. High school for me was just another step( I act cool and dress stylish all the time anyway lol). A big one, but not as big of a deal as it is for most public school kids. I don’t have to worry about looking perfect every day of the week, dating, populars, or fitting in with the crowd. I make my own God centered crowd, and anyone who doesn’t like me for who I am can leave. 

The work load did increase by like 50%! 
Because now were getting to the serious stuff, the things I do here and now will effect latter. My high school grade will affect where I go to collage and so on. 

Every day I spend most of the day doing school. That doen’t sound like news to a public school kid, but for me it was half day school, other half free time(1st grade- middle school). 

I do like my school and I’m getting pretty good grades so far. 

It’s still hard, then again no one ever said it was easy. As time has gone on I’ve gotten in to my routine, found what school work is best to do when, and what is harder for me.

Sometimes I have bad days where all the thing I try and learn swim in one ear and out the other, I get frustrated and have a hard time understanding the simplest instructions. On these days I give myself  a break and take the day off. I don’t do this a lot because one missed day can effect my whole week!  But it’s nice to be able to do it when I need to. 

I’m really proud that I have survived my freshman year. Almost. 

When I was younger I used to hate school especially math. 
I would get so upset with it and start yelling at the math and my mom, and I start to cry and scream that math wasn’t important and I didn’t need to learn it. Those days are gone mainly because I'm MUCH older and I switched my math curriculum to Teaching Textbooks (best math curriculum ever!) 

And now I have really good math grades usually higher than an 85, and I enjoy it! 

Life gets more and more complicated with every year, and some days I feel like I just can’t deal with it. I feel like if I read one more word from the Iliad, or attempt another science math problem, I will just shatter in to a million pieces or explode! But God, my family, and friends get me through. 

Really if I think about it my high school life is about ten times easier than the average public school kid. I can take a break when I need to, I don’ have to worry about fitting in, 

or bullies, etc...

So I thank the lord for my Homeschool High school blessing. =)

Victoria..

Garden

this is not my garden =)

 Veggie gardens are one of the most common city and country self reliance choices. Many use even the smallest back yard for their little hobby veggie gardens. Others use their lots of space to plant and harvest lots of things.

April seems to be the start to a lot of our new projects such as bees and a our garden. Our garden has just been started and isn’t even showing little greens pushing up out of the soil. 

So alas I cannot tell you how my garden food tastes, or what is looks like, or what is like to work in the garden. =(

 We do have it laid out and have many thing growing in small containers that will then be transferred to our garden once they get bigger. 

The work I have spent on our garden was a few long hard hours hauling bricks and outlining the beds with them. 
But I know without a shadow of a doubt that fresh, organic, fruits and veggies from my yard will be the best ever! 

And I can’t wait to see the little sprouts push up out of the soft Virginian soil and grow big, and colorful, and be so pretty I wont want to eat it! I’m excited for those days. I had a garden before, but it was filled with amazing flowers. But a garden where we will grow thing we can eat and not have to get from the store will magnificent! 

garden lay out

We are going to have Carrots, peas, lettuce, zucchini, onions, peppers, strawberries, blackberries, cucumbers, celery, melons, asparagus, and so much more! 

With enough space we decided to go all out on our garden! 

Hopefully in a few months or so something will be up, grown, and ready to eat. 

The idea of not needing to buy food from the store is so foreign and weird to a lot of people, and in some cases myself. 

We have chickens - not buying eggs

We have bees - not buying honey

We have a garden -not buying fruits and veggies =)

I really like all of this and hope that one day soon we can get goats, and maybe next year I can do goats for G. 

Victoria. . .  

Friends and family

my going away party

 Family and friends, the most important thing to me and my greatest motivator, besides God of course. 

My church was small, I became friends with all the teens there. We were a crazy group that had the best of times together, parties, youth events, and church. We would always be in our circle talking about the stupid and funny stuff that we did or didn’t do. 
Those were some of the best days of my life. But as I have discovered this past year, things change. My friend Abby went away to collage in California, and I left, and not long after that a really good friend of mine left my old church too. Our lives would never be the same again, for the people who left and the people who stayed.
But we will always remember our good times and hope God blesses us with more.

youth trip.

 I don’t get to see my BFF very much, once a week, and we can’t hang out, and hardly have time to talk. I miss her so much. <3

My other group of friends was at my co-op, that was even a crazier group of kids we had a blast, most of us were in drama(so fun) and did comedies for gallery day. 

My friends are true friends that I can count on, and even though I’ve lost contact with most of them I know they were and are trues friends.

My going away party was a blast I had a whole bunch of my teenage friends over, and we played games, ate food, and stood around the little contained fire. My friends are the best and most of them Christians. My dad says he loves it when I get together with my friends because its so different from when normal teenagers get together. 
So to all my friends out there I love you and miss you all! And thanks to Abby, Ellie, Ryan, Amber, and all my other friends for helping me adjust to my new life.

And my family, gosh i miss them. I love my family and my little cousins, they are the best. 

Two of my cousins Rose and Elanor who are 6 and 4, they are my joy, we love to play together and do all kind of fun stuff and dress up, and I used to baby sit them all the time. After I moved I heard my aunt talking about how she was having two teenagers from her homeschool group baby sit Rose and Elanor, that did more than break my heart.

My cousins and me.

Two girls that my aunt had never meat were going to babysit MY cousins, I should be babysit them! But I knew I couln’t , and that made me want to cry.

All my cousins seem to get bigger every time I see them! My cousin Adam, gosh he gets taller every time I see him, he is seven and I still remember holding him on my lap when he was little. I was little too! I would have only been 7 or 8.

 I love my cousins so much! And I miss my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, and ALL of my cousins, some of which are in TX, and some in PA. 

So love to all of my family <3!

Family and friends mean the world to me. People who don’t have time for friends or family have no life! 

God gave us family and friends to be there for us and for us to be there for them. Family and friends are a gift from God don’t keep love them and appreciate them. 

Victoria. . .