Drizzly and Grey

Well, how are you all, my lovelies?

I should partially apologize for not actually saying anything and just posting poems these last weeks.  What did you all think about the last one; the untitled one?  That was something different and new on here, so I just wanted to see how it went.  Yay?  Nay?  Okay.

The South has the weirdest weather; ya'll.  Like, it goes from crazy cold, and ice and snow, to wearing a tee shirt outside, to snow again.  Whhat?  It is actually really terrible because I've been wanting to go through my clothes; ya know, pick out the stuff I don't want/doesn't fit anymore and tidy things up; but I can't because with the weather changing I can't put my winter stuff away; but I can't have all winter because tomorrow it might be sunny again.

It is grey (or gray.  Can someone please just decided on one spelling and save us all the heartache?) and drizzly today.  It snowed last night but now it is kinda melting and it is slushy.  Yuck.

School.  Tis my life now.  And I am a little scared because today and tomorrow are like, completely blocked out with school subjects plus some.  And I am going to be out tomorrow evening....soooooo, yah.  (ps. See the blue container of salt in the top right hand corner?  Yeah, don't ask.) ;)

I'm going to a Brandon Heath concert!  This will have been only my second concert in my entire life, and guess who the first one was for?  Brandon Heath.  *nods solemnly* Actually I do really like his music.  My dad does too because he plays guitar. lol

   Well, my siblings have momentarily left to distract someone else for a little while, so I better get back to Algebra. 

Love ya, peeps!

~Jessica

untitled

it was that feeling

an emotion with so many ways to describe it that left it still so unexplainable

that feeling that leaves a beating in your heart that physically aches

an feeling that overflows the emotional heart to a point that it burdens your physical heart

that feeling of wanting to run and fly and do everything beautiful in the world

but at the same time leaves you wanting to just be still and soak it in

that emotion that surges through your chest at the sight of one

the notes of a song

the words on a page

not what they say 

or look like

or sound like

but what they feel like

like water rushing

panting

hungry but never filled

a feeling so absolutely beautiful that it hurts

one that you don't even notice that you feel until you step back

and instantly crave it like air itself

then everything floods in a surge of longing

a feeling that makes you close your eyes

to avoid distraction of what cannot be absolutely

terribly

wonderfully felt

something that can be lost

never stolen

it is always the choice of the one

something that sends tingles through your body

something every author

poet

songwriter

silent soul

has tried to describe

a feeling such that a combination of all the songs

poems

books

stories

thoughts combined cannot fathom

never neat

messy

terrible

painful

beautiful

every color

and sound 

thrown together in one big mess

emotion that makes your heart race

and your mind unable to decide whether to keep up with it

or silently let it run it's course

something that cannot be recreated or imagined

something that changes us 

and can either change with us

or abandon us

something that makes you lose your head

logic

and sense

and makes you think that you would do anything and everything

to make the moment last yet another moment more

it makes our eyes brim with tears

both happy and sad

angry and forgiving

all rolled into one roaring flame

it is a emotion that must break something inside of us

to make room for itself

but even if it leaves 

that piece broken never comes back

the scar it leaves never fades

the scariest thing about it is that it doesn't have to happen

and it can leave a feeling of dread that someday 

it might be there no more

a scared kind of fright that makes you want to try all the more to make it last

despite the consequences

despite the fear

despite everything thing else in the world

only to have that feeling

so you try anyway

no matter what

you try anyway

oh darling

you just have to keep trying

love.

Eyes On You

Once upon a time

Is said to never be.

A fairy tale, a myth.

A child's fantasy.

Happily ever after

Doesn't exist they say. 

Only in books does it reside,

In dusty pages lay.

Love at first sight,

No it can't possibly be.

Gullible people fall for it,

But never ever me.

But all of this is false,

For none of it is true.

It was no fairy tale,

When I laid eyes on you.

Blog Redesign Questions

Hey!

As you can tell, I played around with the colors of the text and stuff with my blog a little bit.  I don't exactly love it, but I was just bored. lol  Do any of you know a good blog designer that is still doing designs for free? (I'd put their button on my blog and all that, but free money wise)  A lot of them switched over to charging for designs and I don't want to pay for one. lol  Any ideas?

Thanks!
~Jess

*UPDATE* Emily from Lynde Avenue is doing it for me!!  Yay!! =D *

Guest Post! {Katie}

 *That SUPER awkward moment when you find ANOTHER post that you never published.....oooopppss..  I am so sorry ya'll!!!!  Ugggh.  Sorry Katie!*


Hiya! Welcome to (Almost) Perfectly Pink! How are you today?

     Hi there! I am doing great today! ;)

How old are you currently?

    I am currently 14 years old. I turn 15 in January!  *Happy Late Birthday, Katie!*

Do you have any siblings?

   Yes! I have a younger brother (Drake,13), and a younger sister (Emma, 10)!

If you could live in the world of any book you've read, which would it be( Bible books included.)?

   Hmm...Wow, good question! I think I would have to say Warrior cats! It is a wonderful series! Of course, most of the characters are cats, but still! I'm a cat person. :)

Do you like banana? Hummus?

    Well, I like bananas in smoothies, but other than that, nope! It's more of a texture thing really. :) And hummus, I love it! It's simply delicious on cucumber sticks! :)

Have you ever had a penpal?

    Yes, I have a few penpals actually! I just love sending and receiving letters! :)

Favourite genre of music?

     Oo, this one's hard! I love so many different kinds of music (except for rap! Bleh.)! I really like country and pop for dancing, and classical to relax.

Do you live in the city, the country, or somewhere else?

     I live in the city. Though I do think it would be nice to live in the country!

What do you like best about the place you live? What do you like the least?

     What I like the best...hmm...I just like our house. This is where I've lived for most of my life, so it's home for me. :) Worst thing: There's too much light pollution so you can't really see all the stars and the milky way. I just love astronomy!

What is one thing you would like to do someday, and what is something you can do to reach that goal?

    One day, I would really love to see the Aurora Borealis. It's just so beautiful! And for the second questions, Plan a trip to Alaska! Lol. :D

What is your favorite season?

     Either fall or spring. The temperatures are decent then so we can have the windows open. It actually helps me concentrate on school when they're open! :)

Do you share your room with a sibling, or do you have your own room?

    Yes, I share a room with my little sister, Emma!

How long have you had your blog?

    I've actually only had my blog for about a month and a half, so I'm new to blogging! I am really enjoying it!   *Like 6 months now!  Wow, keep it up Katie!*

What inspired the name?

   I thought Lilies of Grace was a beautiful name. I looked to see if it was an available name, and it was! :)

What do you like writing about most on your blog?

    I love posting pictures of nature, and encouraging scriptures. I also love writing post like my post "Count your Blessing". :)

What do you like best about having a blog?

   I really love reaching out to people and inspiring them with Scripture! I just love it when I get comments saying I encouraged them or brightened their day, it's a wonderful feeling. :)

Thank you so much for interviewing me! I had a great time answering these questions! Keep up the great work on your blog! ;)

Thank you, Katie!  Great answers! =D

Guest Post {Mikayla}

*That awkward moment when you find a guest post meant to be posted, like, half a year ago.  I'm so sorry Mikayla.  Thank you for being understanding.  Anyway, here it is.*



Hiya! Welcome to (Almost) Perfectly Pink! How are you today? =)

Hey Jessica, thanks for having me! I'm doing amazingly well and getting better every minute with you! =D

How old are you currently?

Fifteen. I turned fifteen in July and so far its been awesome. =D

Do you have any siblings?

I have six, Nicole, Sarah, Rose, Michael, Grace and Rebekkah! I'm the youngest! =D

If you could live in the world of any book you've read, which one would it be? (Bible Books included.)

Ohh that's really hard, I love so many book settings. I guess if I had to pick one it would be Radialloy by Grace Pennington because its Sci-Fi, the characters are so awesome, the setting is amazing and I love the adventure! =D  

Do you like bananas? Humus?

Um, bananas are okay. There better sometime then others. =/ I've never had Humus. =P 

Have you ever had a penpal?

Oh boy, my life has been one penpal after another. =D I think I have had about fifteen, only about four have been really serious-writing-all-the-time pen-pals. =) I love writing to people and meeting new people. =D

Favorite genre of music? (example: country, classical, rock, etc)

Classical and stuff like Toby Mac, Jason Grey, Steve Green and Mandisa, I don't know what genre of music that is. =P 

Do you live in the city, in the country, or somewhere else?

Country. All country. =D We get no phone signal at our house and we're half an hour away from any store but I love it. I like to just go and explore the creek on our property. =)  

What do you like best about the place you live? What do you like the least?

The best thing is that there's a real community, I know most (if not all) my neighbors. If anything happened to one of us all the others would help out. Also we have lots of space to roam, all us kids can be on walks on our property and we wouldn't even cross each other. =D The worst thing is that some of our neighbors believe we're all deaf so they play music REALLY loud at all hours of the night. =P 

What is one thing that you would like to do someday, and what is something you can do to reach that goal?

I would like to write a best selling book. I can write a lot right now so hopefully I can get good enough to write a best seller. =) 

What is your favorite season?

Spring. There are so many flowers, green leafs and its extremely refreshing after winter. =D 

Do you share a bedroom with a sibling, or do you have your own room?

I share a bedroom with my sister Rebekkah and its the funnest thing, if I had the option of having a room of my own I wouldn't because we both help each other out where the other is lacking. Like I really love dusting, straightening and sweeping the room thoroughly once a week but I hate taking out the trash so I do the dusting and such and Rebekkah takes out the trash. =) 

How long have you had your blog?

I've had it for a year and three months. =D *Which is now about a year and 8 months.*

What inspired the name?

Well, I had just started dancing a lot and I danced while chewing bubblegum so I came up with a story based off that then I wanted to start a blog and I thought The Bubblegum Ballerina would be a cute name. =)

What do you like writing about the most on your blog?

I like writing about my book characters and my friends around the blogsphere. =D

What do you like best about having a blog?

Being able to talk to a wide rang of people at one time and share my writing and get feedback on it! =D 

Thanks for having me Jessica!

Are You Sitting Down? Good, Cause I Got Videos...

Better late than never....

This quote basically sums up my entire existence.  Anywho, waiting exactly 4 months and 8 days isn't that long...Right?

And the sad part is that I actually uploaded these right around Christmas, but never got around to announcing it.

I'm a terrible person, I know.

    So, enjoy these videos, filmed in like, November, and when you laugh about my awkwardness, remember that I would never be like that, I'm older now. ;)

Video #1

 

Video #2

Okay, so there is a video #3, but of course neither Youtube or Blogger will upload it for some really wacky reason.  So video #3 is missing.  Sorry. =/

Video #4

Video #5

And there ya go.  Enjoy peeps.

~J

ps.  Thank you all for your sweet comments on my Life post.  I read all of them and each one warmed my heart.  Seriously, you guys make my day.

pps.  Can you pray for me?  I had a job interview this past week and am still waiting for an answer, possibly until Wednesday or Thursday.  I just need wisdom in some decisions about life.  (Deciding what to do with your life is hard, dudes!)

Life.

How would you describe life?  Some may say fleeting; which is certainly true.  Others might call it hard, rough, or unfair.  But, what is life, really?  Truly?  When you really think about it, life is all we have.  Without life you have nothing else.  If you don't have life; you do not exist.  Yes, life is fleeting.  Very fleeting.  Yet, it is really all we possess on this earth.  We can never get the time we spend back.  Never.

  Last year I had seven people who I knew pass away from this life.  Seven precious people in seven months.  First, my grandmother, on the day before my birthday.  My great-grandmother not long after that.  Three very dear people from our church.  And a little boy who I "knew" only through a blog his mother kept, but he passed away from cancer at age six.  All of these people; all at different walks of life, all left this earth.  They all had things in common.  They all shed tears.  They all had hardships.  They all had trials, joys, hope, and moments of fear.  They all had life.

Life.

 Each person is completely different.  Each person has a completely different story.  No one lives the same life, yet we all live.  We all breathe.  We all have moments of complete sadness and despair, and tears of joy.  Moments when we wanted to stand on the highest mountain and shout, "I love life!"  And moments that made us want to curl up in a ball and die.  Life is full of ups and downs.  Of grief and pain, yet of love and hope.

In one word, life is beautiful.  

   Beauty does not equal perfection.  Beauty does not equal joy and hope at every second.  Sometimes beauty is a tear stained cheek.  But it is still beauty.  Life will never be perfect.  It will be a mess!  But there are many different things that make it beautiful.  Think of all the different things you have loved and experienced.  Sunrises.  Babies' giggles.  An elderly smile.  Joy on a child's face at Christmas time.  Cool grass against your toes.  A animal nibbling at your hair.  Uncontrollable laughter with friends.  Holding hands as you walk quietly.  These moments that seem to not even need words.  They themselves say it all.  These are little puzzle pieces that fit together to form life's beauty.

No matter how sad life gets though, it is worth living.  Because we have a purpose.  We have a reason we are here, and nothing will ever change or affect that purpose.  Our purpose is solely this:  To bring God glory.  That is the reason we exist.  The LORD created us because he loved us. He looked on Him creation, including us, and called it good.  Very good.  And it is very good because He created it.  But sin got in the way.  And we became terrible, fallen creatures.  But, because the LORD is such an amazing, loving, holy God, he created a way for us to, even in our fallen state, bring Him glory.  To complete our purpose.  And how we do that is by following His Son, Jesus Christ.  When we confess that Christ is LORD, that the only way to eternal life is through Him, and then strive to live our life serving Him and bringing Him glory, we have completed our purpose.  Now, that is an ongoing challenge.  It is far from being something that gets checked off our to-do list and is then done forever.  This is something that we must think about, pursue, and strive for by Christ's grace constantly.  And we will fail.  But through God's grace and love we can keep trying.  Life will never be meaningless as long as we have Christ as the center.

  But, life will come to an end.  And it is so hard for those of us left on this side.  While we know, if they trusted in Christ, that they are in Heaven, it is still very saddening to be left behind by those so dear to us.  It is something that we never get over.  Not on this side of eternity.  But, we can have hope.  Even through the sadness, we can have hope in Christ.  Hope in the eternity that we have waiting for us.  Hope that someday our Savior will call us home as well.

  Hopefully this post has been one that as made you stop and think.  About how important is is to not waste our time, but instead do the things that have eternal value: spending time with family, witnessing, reading our Bible, praying.  But there is one other very important point I want to bring up.

  Life is beautiful.  So doesn't everyone deserve to live it?  Abortion is one of the worst, and yet quite hidden, sins.  It is murder.  There are many different excuses given to why abortion could be right, but really it very easy to truly see how truly terrible it is.  They say it is a woman's right to choose, but why isn't it considered a serial killer's right to choose too?  When someone is pregnant, it is because there is a baby human growing inside of them.  You aren't pregnant if you only have tissue inside you.  Tissue doesn't suddenly become human.  A baby is human from the moment of conception.  And every single person, no matter if they are still growing in a mother's womb, or if they are a successful businessman, or if they are a village child in Africa, needs to have the right to live.  They all need have a right to be born.  To breathe, to love, to be loved.  To laugh, and smile, to see a sunset and drink water.  The excuse that they might not have a good life is not valid reason at all.  None of us have perfect lives.  But that doesn't mean we shouldn't live at all.

  Let us live each moment to the Glory of God, and with the amazing appreciation for the beautiful gift of life itself.

~Jessica Joy