Post-past Update

Hello everybody!  The last time I tried to log on to my blog site, I was redirected to my local community college's website or something like that.  It was odd.  On the contrary, today when I tried to log-in here it was easy peasy!  So, coolio ;)

Lots has changed, I feel.  Though I still have the same yearnings as always.  I still crave the name of Montana and the theory of my experience when I visit that state.  I'm still involved in AMTC, though I'm kind of in an "off-season" (though that's no excuse!).  I am preparing for the Winter Convention and the Summer Convention has yet to happen so I definitely feel under the radar.  However, I'm still in that...I still love to bake and cook!  Yesterday I returned from visiting one of my favorite places in the world which is the cottage my Grandpa and Grandma built and provided their family to enjoy.  It's in White Hall, MI and that is where my relatives and I congregate in the summer.  So I still love love that place and my family there.

On the other hand I'm not working at my church like I have been since I've been 16 years old.  I worked at a gas station for 3 days and I have been extended a gracious opportunity to work with my sister at a health and fitness facility, but I think I'm going to decline that offer.  There is this quote from C.S. Lewis that splashed me when I read it:  “The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ” 

I like this quote and I've thought about it since months ago when I read it.  I don't want to sell things to people.  I've been cleanings things for an income which I don't mind and I get some satisfaction from.  I've watched and cared for people's kids and I enjoy that as well.  And finally, I've settled on a business that has surrounded me for longer than I realized.  (Warning!  This is a long entry!)

 In 5th grade I was 10 years old.  The summer following 5th grade, I turned 11 in August.  By my 11th birthday when my family spent the day at Brookfield Zoo, my memories include me sipping on Root Beer soda and my mom begging me to eat half of a turkey sandwich while we waited for the dolphin show.  I dramatically refused the sandwich.  Since the beginning of that summer, I had lost a fair amount of weight.  Growing up I was always a "seal" with a thick layer of chub to provide my beautiful childhood with energy and my layers were also the result of taking rich pleasure in eating.  I was self-conscious of my chubby body, but it was what it was...

I got braces put on when I was 10 years old.  That's a good time to lose weight right?  I mean people expect you to lose weight when you get braces put on.  I read a book about a girl who was "diagnosed with anorexia".  That doesn't make sense, how do you get "diagnosed" with eating too little?  My 10 yr. old self thought, "That's silly.  What I'm going to do is not eat as much as I can control, and when I'm thin I'll just start eating again.  Duh!"

So I made it my ultimate mission for that summer to concentrate on not eating, and getting skinny!  And it was on my 11th birthday in August where my first memories lie of my mother encouraging me to eat.  Previous to this memory, I was getting compliments on my slimming figure that summer.  I enjoyed that.  I was enjoying immensely my thinning figure and the compliments and confidence and control I was feeling.  "Mama, what are you trying to do, making me eat that sandwich?  I'm on a roll, now!"

Maybe I'll write more about my journey another time.  The point that lies in my experience of anorexia lies where my mother and I started seeing a dietician.  This dietician was a Juice Plus distributor and it was during my 6th grade year when I was 11 yrs. old when my parents bought the Juice Plus nutritional shake so they could make shakes for me to provide more calories.  I'm now 20 years old and I really love that Juice Plus shake powder.  It hasn't been a consistent usage of Juice Plus since 11 to now at 20 years old.  In high school I went through another "flip".  I still didn't have a healthy relationship with food; I gorged myself and attempted other means of control over my body through food and exercise, etc.  I still live with some of these demons, but in most cases, life is a marathon not a race, right?

Really my point through this post was to say that I will be investing in the product of Juice Plus and talking about it with people.  There are so many nutritional lies out there and because I have the privilege to live in America and be an American (Yay, I appreciate America!), I also see the imbalance I have experienced and see in others, where depression and longings are lathered and subdued with American-dream prizes like food, isolation, and material possessions.

The essential product that Juice Plus provides is that of 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains that is proven to do so much for our body.  Numerous real-life testimonies of the benefits of Juice Plus can be shared on how Juice Plus has positively effected people.  Trust-worthy and prestigious studies have been done on how Juice Plus along with a diet of whole fruits and vegetables, gives various diseases a serious run for their money, curing plenty of cases, or at least severely limiting the negative effects of disease.

Well anyways, I'm on a journey now with the product of Juice Plus, going back to God's food from the Earth including fruits and vegetables.  If I would "sell" anything, it's the hope and security each human has in a God that is their biggest advocate, Jesus Christ.  Underneath that concept, health and well-being effect people's emotional and physical and spiritual health so I'm eager to learn about the health and nutrition field too.

So, I'm on the road again... ;)  I'll blog again soon, I hope.  Another thing to ponder, that has stuck with me, is 1 Corinthians 7:32-35.  Hmmm, any reflections on that, baby?  Quickly I say that there is truth in that while a married person is anxious to please the spouse, the unmarried are anxious to please the Lord.  There is good and purpose for both lifestyles!

With gratitude for my Grandfather's cottage and God's Grace and Ingeniousness,
Miss Rae (aka Kyla ;) ) 

Not my most flattering.

Facebook is rather lonely.  And odd.  And full of questions and assumptions.
I'm currently finding health/fitness/& nutrition really annoying and frustrating.
In addition to finding desire rather annoying and frustrating.

Ok, let me tell you.  I just scrolled down for a good number of minutes so I could see his name and click on his page, but not sink low enough to actually typing in his name anymore and finding him that way.  You know what I mean?  I shouldn't have told you that.  I'll probably regret it.  I'll also probably regret eating something now because I want to not eat in order to feel smooth and clear; to feel, understand, appreciate - MAN!  Commercials, today, are GOOOOD!  Examples: Panera Bread, AT&T, and I'll finish this tangent when another good commercial intrudes on my thoughts - my other senses.  Smell, touch, sensations.  (I ate some fruit).

Oh, and I'm finding the new iPad commercial ridiculous.  First reaction.  And THE BIG BANG THEORY IS FREAKIN HILARIOUS!!!!

Earlier today when I was skipping my work-out, my mind was full of things I wanted to say.  To type.  To write.  This is so the age of short sentences and big spaces.  Isn't it?

I need to write a Personal Statement kind of thing for my application to massage school.  And then I was thinking-what if I don't want to do massage?  I don't feel like massaging anybody right now.  I feel ("felt", because I thought these things awhile ago) like standing in this shower, letting the lovely warm warm water wash over my back, smelling the yummy shampoo and appreciating having "longish" hair to rub it in.  But then I think, this - taking long showers that I don't need - is a rich thing to do.  What about that book I started reading like twenty minutes ago?  The one about the ten-year old girl who is telling her story of her divorce in Yemen?  She wrote that she didn't have plumbing.

What disparity is this?  Are some parts of this life fantasy?  Confusion?  Short and long arms depending on what you can touch to be reality?  Humor, cleverness, thoughts, perspectives-they only go so far until you're, rather I, am just a...jerk, an ant, a little girl whose big, pretty eyes and silliness that pleases the heart are not her own, but belong to whoever gave them to her.  The Creator, A Creator.  It always comes back to this, doesn't it.  Because it should. 

I have to get up early  tomorrow.  Like at least 2:30 am early.  I heard the other guy close his door and probably go to sleep.  Smart young man.  I should very soon.

But I just want to say some more things.  Am I sure I want to go to massage therapy school?  That word is so stale in my mouth: massage.  Or am I just saying that to get out of something else?  To find some "quick-fix" purpose?  Doesn't Alice from Alice in Wonderland say, "I would be a great many-things"?

I desire encouragement, reality, companionship, heartbeats, adrenaline, warmth.  And I desire to be a tool of aid for others to experience these things as well.

I'm finishing reading Ree Drummond's novel on her love story and she is clever and funny and so perhaps my ramblings have become ripe enough to blog about them due to listening to her speak in my mind.  Or it's my environment - the home of another's life where other ramblings have developed into blogs.  But while I'm at it I want to note because I can; I'm still waiting for my fit.  My divine hug and perfect fitting.  My perfect fit either into another's arms, into a set of personalized footprints where my bare skin would plunge nicely in stone, etc...

I think I'm running out of juice.  Too much, too much.  Is massage therapy REALLY what I want, is it REALLY TRUTHFUL AND BRAVE????????  Because I could see my heart fluttering beautifully living in some open naturistic place, in a Western state of America, wearing printing dresses, and wiping food off of a number of kid's cheeks.  And these kids would not be from my womb, though I'm sure, that would be exciting.  No, they would be from many other wombs and there is dark green, vibrant grass in the background and kites and I think I'm sounding like my naturally poetic and beautiful sister, Ayla.  I'll leave the rest of the ramblings of close, but not tangible realities for her, for this night.  I, on the other hand, should sleep for some hours...

Thanks for the opportunity,
Kyla Rae

What is Acting?

hmm.  Sometimes I love thoughts.  I love questions with no answers.  Sometimes Philosophy, sometimes no Philosophy.  I ask, what is acting?  And that's really more simple of a question than I intended for it to be.  "Acting", in my words, is simply portraying emotions and identities that are  intentional, deliberate, to move along a story.  I'm sure there are just about 200 ways to say this.  And I'm sure someone, nay many people, would tell me I said it wrong- WHATEVER!

Last year, while studying at North Park University, I was in a class called, "Ethics & Art".  It was a really good class, really interesting.  My professor was legit.  We read, Master and the Margarita--such a fascinating novel when studied in a class.  Within this class of ethics and art many great and annoying questions arose like; What is art?  What is the point of acting?  Why perform?  Why....[insert a question here that often feels pointless].  This same semester I took an Intro to Acting class by Dr. Bergman--awesome class.  Awesome.

I need to cut to my drift.  ;)  I watched Fear last night, one of Reese Witherspoon's first movies and Mark Wahlberg is in it too.  (Ladies, you will think twice about how foxy Mark is after watching this movie).  It was on TV and I was house-sitting, kind of, anyways the movie was on and since I am a developing actor myself, I thought it would be a good experience to see one of Reese's first hits!  It was slightly traumatizing.  Oh, Margo. <3  Ughhhh.  But after any story, I ask, what was the point?  Why was that film made, that production paid for and worked for?  

What was the point of producing the film, Fear?  I think what I may have taken the most away from this novel is that protective, embarrassing dads, are really just that-protective and the embarrassing part might just have to tag along with that wonderful, wonderful trait.  Thank God "Nicole" had the kind of father she did.  He was a fighter!  No matter his physical shape, his social status, he fought for his family.  Way to go, Nicole's father.

I think this is the "biggest" lesson I'm taking away.  Plus that line that Mark or "David" says in the beginning of the film, "When something seems too good to be true, it often is."  Um, perhaps a resounding tchyeah.

Huh.
--Kyla 

 

Really Silly

I love being really silly, but that's not really what I'm going after in this post at the moment.  At work today, I was setting-up a room with a co-worker who has some kind of mental disability.  When I say "setting-up a room", we had 15 "rounds" out and eight chairs had to be set-up in an "open" position around each table, towards the stage.  Ha!  It's not a complex job, I just liked adding lingo because I think I'm cool...
Anyways, so my co-worker friend, let's call him, David (not his name), and I were working on the chairs.  We were both un-stacking the racks and slipping in chairs around tables and all of my words lead to this: David was groovin'!  He was taking one chair at a time, lifting it above his head, jerking his neck, holding the chair between his knees, etc. all the while sheepishly taking glances at me, waiting for me to make exclamations.  He loves getting attention and writing this out, I am reminded, Doesn't everyone love getting attention?  Who doesn't want to be praised, encouraged, admired, etc.?  Sometimes this gets annoying with David.  Or to use one of the five fundamental emotions, I would choose angry.  Why do you need to be praised, David?  Can't you enjoy something you did and not need someone else to notice?
But it came to my attention today while I was watching David that I was just like him.  I, and other people who don't live with mental "disabilities", look as "ridiculous" as David did-let me explain.  I am tender at saying David looked ridiculous, but understand that this is not offensive.  David was so proud of himself for lifting a chair above his head and he sought praise for his super cool actions.  You know?  For something I could do, too.  You know?  But as I was watching him today (It was probably God, right?), I saw myself in David's position, with God looking at me like, "Yeah, Ky, I'm happy that you're happy.  I think you're so cool, too.  But you do know that what you're doing is no big deal for me, right?  I can do that, any day, any time, and I invented things like arms and chairs and muscle, weight, gravity.  But you know, I'm glad you think it's cool..."  Haha.  Wow-it was a cool vision for me.  One that made me enjoy David even more.
That could be another note; how I enjoy working with people who have mental handicaps.  It is so lovely to me...

with love (love is patient, love is kind, it does not boast,... 1 Corinthians 13:4-7),
Kyla Rae

Otch-ah-boo-boo

Friday night, AMTCing, doggie-appeasing, and scripture-therapying.

John 17:15, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one."

Um.  While learning about acting and performing, it encourages me to learn massage therapy.  Funny, huh?  I think it's because acting scares me subconsciously so much, that I would love to "fall back" on massage therapy.  And as a massage therapist, I don't have to speak.  ;-)  I'll just-pray...and use my massage therapy training on you... :)

*Some faces call for "noses" and others, don't.  I thought this necessary to share.

"God desires our life and prosperity with unimaginable fervor, so much so that ‘the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him’ (2 Chronicles 16:9)."

I'm never in over my head.  No.  No, no, no.

Ha!  This is so not a baking-blog anymore.  Especially now that I'm transitioning into a vegan lifestyle...
Hahaha :-)
Wishin' you sweet dreams whenever you decide to go to lulu... ;) (my friend, Leah, calls that going to bed),
Kyla Rae 

Feels Like School

Huh.  I'm glancing down at the (o wait, the time is up - on the upper right corner on this laptop) time and notice that the minutes are passing...promptly.  And here I am, clicking on different tabs and reading short articles/blogs and I wonder, with surprise, "Am I procrastinating?"  But I'm not in school right now!  I took this semester off to feel like I am alive again!  But after my initial defensive responses, I acknowledge that yes, I am procrastinating.  Even though I am not enrolled in classes, I can procrastinate, which sucks because I thought that I would be over that!

Tomorrow I am scheduled to go to Launch Weekend with/for AMTC.  And I didn't realize until like twenty moments ago, how big of a deal I think this weekend is.  And I don't exactly feel prepared.  Which stinks and is only my fault, obviously.  So- I'm going to have my blog page open next to my AMTC website so I can share and release any "urgent" thoughts I have, etc, but please note, I  am working... ;-)











love,
Ky

Forks Over Knives

Forks Over Knives, a film produced by Virgil Films is a very convincing, educational, and beneficial movie to watch.

You know, from personal experience, I know about food and anxiety.  Yuck, uck, uck!  Food has caused me so much anxiety!  And...just knowing, that God created this stuff, this food that science is now proving is best for us, for humans in every single way, points to our Creator and His care for us, His total knowledge, and the fact that in every way, us humans will come back to Him.

I might be able to talk more about food anxieties later--not that most other Americans have not experienced them.  I'm one of the many people who have struggled/struggle with eating disorders, but God's way doesn't bring upon eating disorders or anxiety.  And the best part is that God's provision with food, doesn't condemn me or tell me that there is something way wrong with me, etc, but it's that God has provided.  Everything I need.

It makes sense.  Hmm...how awful would it be to practice a vegan lifestyle?  How awful would it be to live without meat and dairy?  I will miss Greek yogurt, but that's okay.  and eggs, I'll miss eggs.  And ice cream.

I can't think about the above.  I'll just have to watch the movie again....

Seriously!  Take note of this!  God provides--He already has provided, eh?  (I'm not saying other food/meat/etc. isn't totally tasty and that I won't eat it.  I'm not saying the switch and "saying no" won't be difficult.  I'm just saying, you and me both, siblings, it's probably worth it!)

love,
Kyla

I Got Passion in My Pants and I...

The first time I heard those lyrics, I was appalled.  You could have noticed, too, because my jaw usually drops and stays that way for some time when I am shocked about something.  Scandalous.  Shocking.  Most dance music puts my jaw on the floor with its lyrics.  The problem is, I want to be on the floor, too.

The problem is, I had so much fun tonight at this dance class at a fitness gym this evening.  so much fun!  I sweated a lot and shook my hips and booty a lot and we were JAMMIN'!  It was a blast-for myself, at least.  Now going back to the lyrics again, you know the song, "Shots".  Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots (I don't know how many times it says it...) and then it goes, "Everybody!!"  The beat is so fun and you rally with other people and are like, "Yeahhhh!"  That song?  It's a "picker-upper"--all you have to do is jump up and down and smile and the song will take over your body, you know?  But the lyrics?  I ask myself, now, why is drinking a bunch of shots important?  Why should and why would I do that?  Is that fun?  Why do so many people think that's fun?  When I think of heavy drinking, I think about forgetting life, people, obligations, memories, and my control...is life so miserable, for most people, that forgetting life is the best thing about the weekend?  And in contrast, why does the Bible say that drinking excessively is a sin?  I refuse to think that command, to not get drunk, is a pointless command to just be a fun-sucker.  Where do people get that typical "club dancing" is sinful?  Grinding?  Booty-shaking?  Oh-because it encourages and asks for lust and actions following lust.  Why would the Bible say lusting is wrong?  He made us sexual creatures...

Okay, I'll stop with the italics.  Shoot, I walked away and I forgot my train of thought, where I was going with this.  :(  BUT ANOTHER THOUGHT crossed my mind when I heard some other lyrics in this class tonight--I thought about the sex industry and sex-trafficking children.  It doesn't even need to include children, anybody being moved-around, bought, forced, harassed, raped for money, is wrong.  Doesn't everyone kind of agree with that statement, Christ-follower, or not?  The song lyrics were, "sexy ladies," which made me think of a store called something like that, that I passed walking West on Lawrence in Chicago.  Walking that same direction, on that same street, I also pass the Admiral Theatre, a Gentlemen's Club (I want to look up why these places are called Gentlemen's Clubs).

ANYWAYS, I have a hard time keeping things condensed when I write, but from tonight's incredible fitness dance class (and the music was loud and this is very important), I came to thinking about dance, sex, Jesus, hip hop fitness classes to Christian music, hip hop fitness classes for God-fearing people, hip hop fitness classes that are fun, and difficult, and God-respecting, and...I think that sums it up.

Now, where do I go from here?  Does Satan take our bodies and use loud beats to twist them into dishonorable shapes and moves?  Or would I see Jesus...dancing...with me?

"Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle-yeah..."
 

0::0\**Taylor Swift**/0::0

These are my favorites of Speak Now:

http://youtu.be/BcWhjU8StrQ

http://youtu.be/lsGMo7hi8N 
(cover by another beautiful gal)

http://youtu.be/nK_u_V76o60

it may be considered silly, but I really like T.Swift.  and i remember this first semester, at school, there was this speaker who spoke on "going first" and how when she goes first speaking, it is less scary for another person to do so, and it goes on and on.  and i bring this up with T.Swift because how she talks about loves and feelings and attraction, it makes it easier for me to go second you know?  that was the whole theme of the speaker's was about going first, so another can go second.  does this make sense?  it was a wonderful speech and evening, i remember.  and T.Swift's 3rd album is pretty wonderful, too.  you go, girl.  you just keep writing and singing your pretty lil heart out! 

love,
Kyla

Hosea

1) There is a really neat song by an unknown artist that is taken from the book of Hosea, chapter 2 (I have used ESV).

haha, good point, huh?  gives a lot.

2) Hosea chapt. 13:14
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.  Where, O death, are your plagues?  Where, O grave, is your destruction?"

and then right after this part, is the following, verse 15:

"I will have no compassion, even though he thrives among his brothers.  And east wind from the Lord will come, blowing in from the desert; his spring will fail and his well dry up.  His storehouse will be plundered of all its treasures."

Not so nice to read, huh?  I agree.

I need to read the whole chapter--chapter 13.  and I need to know and remember who is Ephraim.  But I also need to take the dogs out.  This will be a daily thing.  Maybe today I can go to the bookstore or library and read and think...

3) I woke up this morning, with the opportunity to sleep-in, and I think I'll start school.  I don't know if this was an intentional answer from God, but...I feel like I would have peace not going to camp in Arkansas, though it would be amazing, but to start massage school and develop the opportunities I have already.  Maybe another time, I can travel South.  Or West.  :-)

love,
Kyla

"I heard you were a Wild One. OooOoooOoo"

http://youtu.be/tYVJ2YQzmr4

Before the above song came on the radio this evening, driving home I heard a T. Swift song, "Ours".  I really enjoy T. Swift.  I'm not sorry for that either.  I am aware that I am perhaps, more cynical, skeptical, sad about love and relationships than most Joes and Janes, but Taylor Swift songs kind of bring out the optimism in me. 

Like I really enjoy her song, "Sparks Fly", and while we're on the topic, I really enjoyed purchasing and owning her first two CDs and looking forward to owning her latest one as well.  Thanks Taylor Swift, for writing about and singing about love that I am not creative enough or trusting enough to think about.  *taps fist on chest a couple of times and throws it at T. Swift--that's a "homegirl" signal*

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/speak-now/id399727924#

I want options.  I ask for them.  But now, I really don't feel like making a decision.  I don't like making long-term goals.  Goals like, "I'm not going to cut my hair 'till ____", or, "I'm going to finish this semester in school" are okay.  Like, for the most part I make those kinds of goals and I keep them.  But goals like, "In 5 years I'm going to ______", or something like that, I am NOT comfortable making those kinds of goals.  I don't really know why.  I find it to be silly for me.  I feel like I'm a gal who is on the chain of the weakest link.  If there is a disaster, I'll either die or I'll be under a bridge somewhere or saved by a whim--you know what I mean?  That's an extreme example, but what I'm talking about is I don't make goals because 1) I don't know when my time is UP. 2) (and most influentially) I don't want to be chained to anything.  If I make the goal to be a teacher in 3 yrs., but get the opportunity to join a circus for a year or something whimsical like that, shouldn't I, and wouldn't I, take that?  Is anyone getting to see my perspective?

For example (and the beauty of typing a bunch is that this is my blog, so I can type and type...), I told a friend in the Fall some of my "dreams".  One of my dreams was to work in and be a part of an orphanage!  I want children to be played with, instructed, and valued.  I want children to be told that they are beautiful/handsome everyday and eat home-made meals....la dee da da, a dream of mine is to work alongside an orphanage.  Well when I told him this, he will periodically ask me, "How's your orphanage?"  And I think to myself, "You can't ask me that!  That's a...that's a...a dream!  A far-away dream!"

Essentially, what I want to say is again, I don't know what to do.  Ha!  I want to:

-work at summer camp in Arkansas this summer

-go to Paris with YWAM this summer

-become a Jazzercise instructor

-start massage training at Soder World's academy because it appears to be such a beautiful and peaceful place

-meet Jesus, semi face-to-face because I'm scared.

-live in an Intentional Community although the longer I go without visiting one, the more energy it takes to say its long name and the more living by myself in a cute apt appeals...I don't think this is a good thing.

-take dance lessons.  develop as a dancer.  love dancing.

-work with/study/finish college and get a degree in Special Education, Elementary Education...

-work hard and complete my AMTC training and opportunity

-order some hot drinks to go with Jesus and proceed to go on a nice long walk with Him.

-move.  Move South or West.  I don't know if I still have dreams of going to Montana.  Maybe once Schaumburg has warmed up, I'll fantasize once again of going to the beautiful, free state of Montana (never been there-I just assume it's a beautiful and "free" place to be)

-Jesus. ? 

What should I do first?

-Oh, and not think of myself all the time.  I am not the center of my life.  I never should be.  Never want to be, it's not the best thing.  Others.  Others are what my eyes are focused on.  Serving them because this is how I serve the Creator.  I don't want to live for me.

http://www.shaunaniequist.com/ (< she's lovely.)

Starting Over

Spring feels like a good time to start over.  It's a time where birth, or re-birth, is encouraged.  I'm looking out the window now and see the sunshine, though I know the air is still crisp and chilly.  We have a set of black chimes in our backyard and the sound of it is nice.  It's not constant, not expected in a certain matter, but instead it literally just "goes with the flow" and makes tings and tangs with the beat of the wind...
I wasn't intending on going on a tangent with that.  No.  The idea of rebirth did spring forth (haha, get it?) when I opened this big Bible we have in our kitchen.  This Bible was a gift to my mother and her first husband when they got married.  I opened it to Psalms and it was chapter 23; how the Lord is our good shepherd.
I pause.  I'm thinking.  I've realized, or I've known this for awhile, but that I don't believe--the Bible.  I don't believe it to be personal.  I don't believe it to be for me.  But if it were, it sounds really good.  Here:

Pslams 25:
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my god.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are form of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.

 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way. 
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
For the sake of your name, O Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?

The chapter goes on.  Chapters 23-27 are all real...cool.  :-)  I just want to believe them.
On a whole 'nother note.  I'm sick at the moment and therefore I have made the following decisions:
DoTerra oils (essential oils), I think, really help! 
JuicePlus--I will take JuicePlus more diligently!
Tea...I should take a break from coffee.  Yeah, definitely.

 

Psalm 25:1  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God.
Love...Kyla
http://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/210-psalms-25-and-26/

Pumpkin!

1.  Pumpkin is my favorite.  My favorite dough, at least, is that of pumpkin.  Or baked goods.  Pumpkin oatmeal cookies = the bomb!  Pumpkin chocolate chip bread = so darn good!  Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!

2.  http://media.willowcreek.org/  << thank you, so much, Pastor Hybels.  A really good sermon--you will benefit from this, no doubt!

3.  AMTC?  C'mon!  I need to work on it.  I need to think of a schedule.

4.  Should I start massage school at the beginning of this summer?, baking internship?, camp counselor?

5.  Starting this week, I will tithe and save whatever money I attain.

6.  Instead of taking up space on my cell phone, I need to write down the quotes I have "locked" from Twitter.  :-)  Most of them are from C.S. Lewis.

http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/Pumpkins.html

I am currently unable to load pumpkin pictures here--rt. click is not cooperating :-/  it's okay!  don't worry!  :-)

Locked Tweets on my phone:::
           "Christian, if you feel like you are sinking, Jesus says to you, "Take heart.  It is I.  Do not be afraid."  Matt. 14:27 --John Piper
           "Each of us at each moment is progressing to one state or the other-" --C.S. Lewis
           "We do not merely want to see beauty, we want to be united with it."  --C.S. Lewis  

I Ate the Divorce Papers

I ATE THE DIVORCE PAPERS 

by Gabriel Benjamin Davis

I ate them.  That's right.  I ate the divorce papers, Charles.  I ate them with ketchup.  And they were good...gooood.  You probably want me to get serious about our divorce.  The thing is you always called our marriage a joke.  So let's use logic here: If (A) we never had a serious marriage then (B) we can't have a serious divorce.  No.  We can't.  The whole things a farce, Charles -- a farce that tastes good with ketchup.  (Beat)

I mean, wasn't it last week, your dad asked you the reason you walked down that aisle with me and you said, "for the exercise."  Ha, ha.  That's funny.  You're a funny guy, Charles.  I'm laughing, not crying.  Ha, ha.  I'm laughing because you're about to give up on a woman who is infinitely lovable.  (Beat)

For instance, Pual.  He has loved me since the eighth grade.  Sure, he's a little creepy, but he reeeally loves me.  He's made one hundred twenty-seven passes at me, proposed forty-seven times, and sent me over two hundred original love sonnets.  He sees something in me, Charles.  And he writes it down, in metered verse!  (Beat)

....... (monologue continues) ........

ORRRRR, "DATING HAMLET"

by Bruce Kane

"To be or not to be that is the question..."  (Dropping the Shakespearean tone and replacing it with a modern sound.)  No, it's not...That's not the question.  That never was the question.  The question is, "Will you marry me?"  That's the question.  But when you're with a guy who can't make up his mind about anything, what you get is "Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the sling and arrows of outrageous..."  

No, I don't like how that one continues...let's keep looking!

THE BAPTIST GOURMET

by Jill Morley

G'morin'!  Welcome to Chanel Sixty-Four's "cookin' with Tulula."  I'm Tulula Lee May, your Baptist Gourmet and before I lead in a recipe, I'm gonna lead you in a prayer.

Lordy, Lordy, let me learn.  Not to let my souffle burn.  And if it does, oh promise me this.  Someone in my kitchen will like it crisp!  Amen.

Last night, I was divinely insprired when the Lord came to me in a dream and He said, "Tulula, you are my culinary link to humanity.  I bestow upon you the celestial preparation for fried grits."

Ingredients are hominy, cheese, and the life-giving energy to all the Lord's creatures...fat.

First you baptize your ingredients  (Throws water on the ingredients with fervor).  You're baptized!  You're baptized!  You're baptized!

Next, we finely chop the hominy and the cheese, which I have already done because they won't let me have the air time I need.  (Smiles and winks at a producer off-stage.)  Isn't that right, Jimmy?  (Under her breath.)  Producer Shmoducer.

................. (monologue continues) .......

I'm still in the process of memorizing that, Glass Eels, monologue, but I need to prepare a "funny" monologue, as well.  That's what the above are about.  :-)  

It's March, by the way!  Happy March!  This means that my 21 yr. old sister will be 22 yrs. old soon and March 17 is only about three weeks away!  Less than!  And by March 17, I need to be prepared for AMTC.  Woot wooty.  ;-)

With love,

Kyla  :-) 

Monologues

I'm going to write down the monologues I have memorized so far, as well as the one I want to memorize next.  Also, perhaps I'm going to buy a keyboard.
And I would like to try my dance videos from the library.

I want to memorize the following monologue.  It is named, Glass Eels, written by Nell Leyshon.  It goes like this:

       I think I'm like my mother. 
       She came down here at night.
       I know I shouldn't come, but I can't stop myself.
       I know she came here.  Sat here.  Swam in there.
       She's not in the house anymore.
       I used to look for her.  I found things she touched.  I found a piece of paper with her handwriting.  I found a shoe in the garden.  A dress she'd worn.
      It hadn't been washed.  (Lily sits up).
      I want to tell you this thing.  But I don't want you to look at me.
      Look away.  That's it.
      If you look at me I'll stop.
      I used to think everyone had dead bodies in their houses.  I'd go in the room where he got them ready.  He caught me one day, looking at the powder he used on their skin to tighten it.
      I was gonna use it on me but he took it from me, said it was only for dead skin.
      I started going down at night and if we had one I'd lift the sheet from their faces.
      I used to think if I looked at them long enough I could bring them back to life, make them breathe again.
      One night there was a new one there.  I took the sheet and peeled it down.  Stood and stared.
      It was my mother.
      (Kenneth looks.)
      No.  Don't look at me.
      It had happened late at night and no one had woken me to tell me.  That's how I found out.
      Her skin was streaked with mud.  Her hair still damp from the river.  A piece of weed in it. 
      (Pause).
      I stood there and tried to make her breathe again.  Tried to make her chest move.
      Nothing happened.
      So I reached out and pulled her eyelids up, to get her to open her eyes and look at me.  But her eyes had rolled back and there was just the whites.
      I tried to pull the lids back down but they had stuck.
      I had to go upstairs and into my dad's room.  I had to tell him to come with me, to see what I'd done.
      He followed me down and I showed him.
      He saw and then he turned and grabbed my arm, too tight.  He shook me and screamed at me, told me I shouldn't have gone and then he hit me.  Here.  (Touches face.)
      Some things that happen to you, you get them in here.
     (Touching face) And you can't get them out.
     I wish you could take it out so I didn't have to remember it.

And this is what is given to me in the monologue book.  This is the description:
     Lily, a confused and emotionally fragile young girl, struggles to confront her own internal conflicts with faith, spirituality, and the intrinsic value of human life.  The only person she is able to share her nightmare story with is Kenneth, a family friend who has known her all her life.  Here, late at night, Lily is mysteriously drawn to the river where her mother died and where thousands of eels are stirring as they anticipate their solitary migration to the sea.  Lily now recalls a childhood memory about her father and appears to be asking us what went wrong...and why.

Yeah, so, any thoughts?
--Ty...man I go back to...may I use my real name yet?  ;)
Miss Rae :*

ATMCing

I think I may be onto something...I like to write.  This is the THIRD TIME TODAY that I have been writing a blog.  Well...sorry? 
I am AMTCing.  This means that I am, on the screen next to this one, reading the ATMC modules provided for me.  And I was going to write notes on this blog, however, I vaguely remember them telling me to not share their information.  So...I don't think I should or am allowed to.  But I don't remember, exactly.

And wow, it's amazing what happens when people who both believe in Jesus Christ--praise Him--talk together.  Conversation and time spent is so different among Believers, than people who do not acknowledge the Deity of Jesus.  I wonder why.  It's fascinating.  I say this because I just got off the phone from speaking to a woman who, God-willing, will meet me in France and help me evangelize the Gospel to people who find all of their value in the satisfaction their bodies bring.  Oh, flesh.  How enticing and tragic it is...isn't it?  Anyways, speaking on the phone with her, though I do not know her, I know she cares for me and is my advocate.  Weird, right?  Sometimes I feel like Christians love me more than Christ.  But this just shows that I have not investigated or allowed the love of Christ to penetrate me.  And I pray that practicing preaching the Gospel, will penetrate me.  Hm...does anyone else have "Faith" issues?  I must not be the only one.  ;)

Okay.  Back to AMTCing...  :-)

Wow.  I have a lot to read and know. 

See ya!
--Ty