Thursday, April 30

Flying Pigs Have Been Spotted Across The US

If you misspell “swine flu”, it comes out “swine flew” and that, dear readers, is how rumors spread.

But this is not about ungulates defying gravity.

This is about learning to deal with whatever comes your way. In this case, it’s dealing with our entire state being forced to cancel public gatherings for the next 5 days due to a certain flu. No church, no public parties, no ballet… The church I can do without this week, seeing as how I’m in the process of finding a new church anyway. The ballet…well…can’t really do without that since there are only two weeks until showcase. Not that I care. I know my parts well enough for now, so let’s just say I can go without that too. That leaves the parties. And that poses a problem. Remember when my friends wanted to take me to The Rainbo Palace for a birthday surprise? That’s tomorrow. And the lockdown lasts 5 days. So, of course, my mother is relatively crushed since she planned it all and I’m wondering what I’m going to do with 9 copies of a mix CD that were supposed to be given out to all the guests. I can’t say I’m not disappointed too. It’s rare that any friends I have ever get to know me, and I won’t have these ones for much longer, so this was going to be the way to end it all with a bang. And now here is where the “learning to deal with whatever comes your way” comes in. I have two options in this situation. 1] Sit in my room staring at the wall tomorrow wishing it worked out. Or 2] Pick up a few of the ex-guests and play the 9 copies of the mix CD while we all stare at the wall together. They might both sound boring, but at least with Option 2, there’ll still be a chance of something fun. Who knows, maybe we can make our own Rainbo Palace. … Okay, no, on second thought, I don’t want unicorns painted on my wall.

ANYWAY, for those who don’t really want to hear about my life and just want to get to the moral of the story here: when things don’t turn out right, you always have two options. The first is always to let the bad times get the best of you and mope all alone. The second is to do what you can to make it work a different way. To quote Miley Cyrus (which is a one-time thing that I will later swear I never did) “life’s what you make it, so let’s make it rock!”

Here’s to Peace, Love, & Not Letting The Turkeys Swine Flu Get You Down
~Lola

Tuesday, April 28

Well Today Isn't Fun

I woke up feeling like a freight train hit me. My bedroom was being de-spiderized, so I camped out on a mattress on my parents' floor. Well, my dad's in Vegas for a conference so I figured I'd spend the day hanging out with my mom. Bad idea. I pulled some frozen waffles out of the freezer and put them in the oven. I set the timer for 5 minutes so I could flip them over and went to find a jacket. Buried in the closet, I didn't hear the timer go off and the waffles got a little too toasty. Well Mom went all "WIRE HANGERS!!!" on me and said I'll never grow up or be worth anything. So now I'm worthless, immature, and I've been hit by a freight train. Nice. So now I'm sitting in my room again, wiping at a few tears, drinking spice chai, wiating for my dad's plane to get in, wishing I was anywhere in the world right now but here.

On a positive note, Matt Thiessen got a Twitter.

Here's to Peace, Love & Frozen Waffles,
~ Lola

Tuesday, April 21

The One Thing Everybody Needs

I saw a commercial today for Mighty Mend. Billy Mays was forcefully telling me that Mighty Mend, a fabric glue said to withhold up to 100 MPH wind speeds, was the one item everybody needs. Unconvinced, I changed the channel to Good Eats - a little less loud and a little more beneficial to knowledge. But what the obnoxious spokesperson said got me thinking. What really is the one thing everybody needs? If you ask a salesman, he will say his product, whatever it may be. If you ask an atheist, he will say oxygen. If you ask a Christian, he will say God.

Now, don't get me wrong, God is definitely what everybody needs, but God isn't necessarily a thing (He is a person and a supernatural being, to be exact)

The one thing that every person in the world needs is love. It's what keeps families from falling apart during the hard times. It's what makes friends never forget eachother. It's what makes the unnoticed act out. It's what makes a society survive.

There are so many different kinds of love that it's hard to narrow it down to just one. There's the love that God feels for us, that so often is taken for granted. There's the love of a parent to a child and the reciprocated love from the child to the parent. There's the love of two people who were made for eachother. And there's the love between friends who care more for eachother than often is said.

I want to write about the last kind because so often it goes unnoticed and so often it's what is needed most. When something goes wrong in life, many times things could be so much better if we were reminded by someone that we do mean something. That there is another person in our life who cares about us. Things could be so much better with nothing more than a hug in the hallway or a reminder that they're thinking of you. So many times people are too shy or too busy to remember, but to someone, one small action could brighten a rainy day. I know I've felt that way so many times.

So don't be afraid to show someone the one thing that everybody needs today. And no, I don't mean Mighty Mend.

Here's To Peace, Love, & Being Sure You Show It
~ Lola

Sunday, April 19

PJ/'s Post

I know that this blog is supposed to be about me, but today's blog is about one of the most amazing people in my life. He's been my best friend for almost two years now. Though I've never gotten to hear the sound of his voice when he laughs or watch him smile except from the other side of a computer screen, he's never once lied to me or let me down. We've shared the deepest conversations, talked about the stupidest things, experienced our fair share of awkward moments, and had the most wonderful times. He's changed my life for the better, and he's much more of a friend than I could ever deserve.

Today he's another year older. As he begins a new chapter in his life, I pray that this one is filled with adventures, happiness, and hope as his life continues to reflect God's love to all who have the privilege of knowing him.

Since I do believe, he's my only reader, I bet you didn't think I could get any mushier, but I did. I love you and hope you have a wonderful birthday, PJ/.

Here's to Peace, Love, & Forever Friends
~Lola

Thursday, April 16

Starting Over

Lately, I've been spending more time in prayer, and I feel like maybe God's trying to tell me something, but I couldn't quite place what that something was - until this morning. I awoke for no reason at 5; finding myself unable to sleep, I pulled back one of the curtains in my bedroom and watched the sunrise over the treetops in the front yard. That's when it hit me. Endings can be happy and great, but sometimes it's the beginning that's beautiful. Think about the word "beginning" and what comes to mind? For me, the word brings thoughts of hope, new life, and the chance for something wonderful.

Throughout the day, it's as if God flipped the lightswitch on. The Weather Channel predicted "the start of a beautiful spring." I had the chance to pic out fabric for "the beginning of a fun summer project." My dad officially "began his role" on the local jury (sure, that's not amazing but it helped to get the point across to me.) I am sure I heard the words "beginning" "start" and "new" a thousand times today. But maybe it's not the world that's suddenly different - maybe it's God trying to change my perspective to a more hopeful outlook. Either way, I've made up my mind that the past is behind. I'm starting over for the last time,and I don't know how it will turn out, but I have the feeling that this beautiful beginningmight finally reach a happy end.

Here's to Peace, Love, & Starting Over,
~Lola

Monday, April 13

Does This Qualify As "Good" News?

This morning I was pondering the phrase "good news" and came to the conclusion that there is no such thing. Now, I'm not being hopeless and saying that all news is bad. What I mean is, in order to be a silver lining, there has to be a cloud; being one of the "cup is half empty" people, I tend to see the cloud first.

For example, today my dance instructor informed us that we've completed 8 minutes of choreography to Vivaldi's Summer. She said it's wonderful news! So wonderful, in fact, that we can go ahead and show off and do the whole dance! My group was ecstatic. But to me, that "good news" meant 4 more minutes of choreography to learn in one Saturday that I will most likely not be there.

In another example, Relient K didn't post their weekly webcast yesterday as they said they would. I was a bit disheartened as I waited till midnight to see if it was just late. (not like it's that big of a deal since John Warne might not be in it anyway...) But one of the band members blogged that it was because they were so busy making the new album more amazing than the last. But I first noticed the cloud again.

However, if you caught onto this, the silver lining is always far brighter than the road block it's hiding behind. So maybe we should try our hardest to look at that instead of the looming clouds. Because I know I'd much rather have another "FiveScore" than a third video blog posted on schedule.

Here's to Peace, Love, & Finding The Bright Side
~Lola

Sunday, April 12

I Promise, I Didn't Forget About You

I'm sorry I left you. Things got a little ippy around here, so I didn't have a chance to update you. I can't say nothing's happened.

The seventh was my birthday. I got a Relient K cake, which of course is completely amazing in every possible way. I also got a Relient K book for my guitar. And a wacom tablet. I should have fun with that.

Yesterday I got a Thousand Foot Krutch T-shirt. Which is cool. Now I'm set on what to wear to Ignite in Chicago.

In other news, tomorrow is my best friend's cat's birthday. I don't know what to put on his card. Maybe something witty about cat's pajamas or something. Even though I used that on a sig I made him last year. Oh well.

And now that I've talked about everything non-important, I need to tell you the reason why I'm sorta depressed at the moment. See, last night I was thinking over Easter and how much it means and I made a promise to God that I'd stop myself from thinking lustful thoughts that I've been struggling with for over two years now. I've promised God so many times, and I've broken it every time, but last night I really thought I could keep it this time. But it wasn't even 24 hours before another promise fell through. And I feel like I've messed up too many times, fallen too far that God stopped listening and doesn't even want to hear it again...gives me this hopeless feeling of being far from everthing and I don't know what to do about it.

Sorry I burdened y'all down with that. It's just a big problem in my life right now and even if nobody reads this, it makes me feel better to say it to someone because up until now, nobody's ever known about any of this except my best friend and I never really explained it even to him.

So Here's To Peace, Love, & Trying To Find A Way Home...=(
~Lola

Thursday, April 2

Let's Go To Candy Mountain, Lola...

Greetings from the end of the world.

Tuesday is my birthday. I already received $75 from one set of my grandparents. I intend to go spend it tomorrow night on a fancy Chinese dinner in the nearest big city. Should be fun. And then I get to come home and be reminded that I live in the middle of nowhere. For example:

I was at ballet last night and mentioned wanting to hang out with some of the other dancers over my birthday. Their only suggestion for nearby activities was that we go roller skating at the only rink for 50 miles - The Rainbo Palace. Firstly, they need to spell it right... Secondly, I've been in there. The walls are painted light blue with rainbows and a big castle. All it lacks are the unicorns. On second thought, I think they have one of those too. The floor has large uneven cracks all over it. And then there's the music. It's literally not been updated since the rink's opening in 1983. I suppose it's better than nothing though, since there literally is nothing else. But I'll stop complaining; at least I know I won't live here forever...

On a different note, I had a lovely opportunity today. Having nothing better to do, I watched my brother's science class dissect a (very large) grasshopper. For some odd reason it brought Mr. Miyagi to mind....anyway, the experience goes on my list of "most disturbing experiences ever" along with all the other dissections I had to watch for school.

Since tomorrow is completely free until evening, I think I'll stay up extra late tonight. Maybe watch my favorite three movies (Shall We Dance, The Importance of Being Earnest, and National Treasure if that gives you any glance into my taste in humor). Maybe it can help discourage dreams of grasshopper intestines and unicorns.

Here's to Peace, Love, & Magical Leopleurodons
~Lola

Post Script: I took a Lord of the Rings quiz today which said I am Samwise Gamgee. Not that that's even remotely related or important to this post.