Year in Review...God Style.

Hey y'all!! Happy New Year's night!! I can't really believe its been a whole year already, it feels like its flown by, and at the same time, has taken forever. There have been amazing times, horrible times, accomplishments, failures, but I know that thanks to God, I'm still alive and have a lot to learn.
And the summer...I went to Summit and I went to Boise, and those two trips basically made my summer.
 Summit was a combination of really good speakers and a mix of really genuine and superficial people, you had to kind of pick through the people and find the good ones. Honestly, although I learned alot, it wasn't my favorite experience of the summer. I've never really liked church camps and retreats...I never really felt like I belong with the people that are there. I dunno, I've tried a bunch of times, and each time, its been a struggle. Parts are good, but the overall feeling I'm left with is not belonging.

The trip to Boise was a blessing. I was able to see huge mountains and I had alot of fun hanging with my friends: Rachel and Alex, two people who have been a part of my life for a very long time, and it was really fun to be with them again. But honestly, my best experience this year came right after that, and that was dual enrolling at UWF.


I was really nervous beforehand, but I went and I signed up for four classes and it was the best thing I did all year. I look back now and I realized how completely skewed my opinion was of myself. The world, for me, was seperated into to two groups: normal people, and me, and as far as I was concerned, those two groups could never mix. I was so hard on myself, I viewed myself as a social outcast that could never really mix and blend into the student life at UWF.


Maybe I am a person that "normal people" will want to become friends with. It was a total revelation to me, and honestly, I am still surprised by it sometimes.
I realize now that I totally catagorized myself, and that was really wrong. UWF helped me realize that there are so many different types of people out there that there is no such thing as "normal". There are super wild people and super conservative people, frat boys and ROTC guys, the campus is just overflowing with different kinds of people, and that is a wonderful thing.

The problem is that throughout that semester, I began to fall away somewhat from my roots, not reading my Bible as much, not praying as much, letting a cuss word slip out here and there, and now, as the year draws to a full circle, I am realizing that one part of my life that needs to change, so I've decided I want to do a summer long YWAM discipleship training and missions trip, to really bring closer to God and keep me grounded. I look back on the years and see how far He has brought me, how much He has done for me, and how much I owe Him.

 New Year's Resolution that really counts this year is to make God the center of your, and my, life. Weight loss, makeovers, and goals are all good things, but if God is not FIRST and CENTRAL, if we are not seeking FIRST His Kingdom and His Righteousness, then all our efforts are worthless. He is all-powerful and deserving of all our praise and efforts, everything we do should be done to give Him glory. And you know what? If we focus on God and really straighten out our priorities, I have a feeling all the other goals will fall into place :)

Matthew 6:33Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

33 But seek first the kingdom of God[a] and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Anyways, have an amazing New Year's night!! Celebrate, reflect, and praise God for giving you another year of life, that's sure what I'm going to do!!

Love,
Ari

Little Tidbit :)

found here

Oh yeah. I wanna make my own felt itouch cozy!!


found here


                 found here



This is so cool...and must have taken just forever to make!!
found here
                                                      
 
I love cupcakes!!! found here :P



So that's my craft ambition of the day :) What have y'all been doin?
Love,
Ari

Pastel Things

I am so sorry my posting has been so...snail's pace :P School, work, friends--the whole high school caboodle has been rapidly and remorselessly devouring all my time and I sincerely apologise. I also am sorry that most of these posts aren't my original photography anymore...I promise you, I have been taking pictures, it just takes forever to get them online, then edit them, then post them, I find it so much quicker these days just to browse other blogs and pinterest and the like. But I promise I will be posting my own photography soon--never fear :)

 This picture is amazing....the film looks so cool!

Best tiny frog picture ever :)

Best. keyboard. ever. I wants it :)

Oh yeah. One more owl picture. Just for the extra awesomeness:)

All pictures from pinterest

So.

Yeah.

My life has been so crazy lately. I know I haven't been writing much about my personal life lately, at least not as much as I used to. Alot has been going on with me lately, and I'm not sure how to describe it. This past semester, I've felt like I'm a butterfly that was shoved out of its chrysalis before it was ready. I went from home schooled all through middle school and high school, to being full time on a secular college campus. It's been a weird transition, but not a bad one on the whole. I adjusted well to classes, the assignments were pretty manageable, I made friends, I met a boy...it seemed really wonderful. But what I didn't realize was as I was going along, caring so much about fitting in with my new friends, I forgot the one Person who actually matters. Jesus.

I'm not going to be one of those pansies that pretends everything about their Christian walk is perfect even when it isn't. I may not be a perfect Christian, but I know better than to do that.

It's been hard, I'm not going to deny it. I feel like my priorities, my hopes and desires, what should come first, it's all tangled up in my head. As I entered school, I felt I finally had a chance to be something other than the homeschooler. I had a chance to have a life, to have a ton of friends that i could see practically every day, to have a normal life. But as I went on...I began to realize that if I didn't put Christ first, seek Him and His Kingdom and His Righteousness (Matthew 6:33) FIRST, , my life was going to get pretty lopsided, and that's exactly what happened.

My attitude started to take a downward spiral and I lacked direction in so many different areas.

But last week I finally broke down and talked with my mom about it, and I'm going to try to bring my life back on track again, to better than it was before. Could y'all pray for me? It's been a rough time, and I need as much prayer as I can get..but I'm really starting to feel more hopeful.

I always forget how powerful God is, how much I need him and how much I need to be thankful for.

If anyone could bring me back on track, it's Him.

Anways:)

That's my little outpouring of the soul...any prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Love you girls!!

Ari

Serenity Captured.

I had the best day at the beach the other day. I didn't touch the water, just walked around with my camera taking pictures. The lighting, the angles, the shapes, the shadows...it was beautiful, praise God! Sometimes I forget how much I truly love photography, I'm constantly surrounded by the same scenery, but when I go somewhere else...it's amazing. I had such a good time, and I hope you guys enjoy these pictures as much I loved taking them :)

As for me...I've been having an awesome time. God blessed me with a few friends in all my classes,  I went out to lunch at a local restaurant McGuire's Irish Pub with my friends from english class...it was so much fun!

For all y'all homeschoolers out there--if dual enrollment is an option in your town--DO IT. I don't care how shy or socially awkward you think you are, college will be good for you. It's been amazing for me :)

Have a great weekend y'all!!

(Oh yeah. I'm breakin my southern gurl accent y'all :P)

Love,

Ari

Splashes of Inspiration

found here

What a wonderful idea! Yarn in a fishtail braid!

*source unknown*

Look at those colors!

Love at first blush etsy shop...I want that necklace so bad!

D'awwww look at those blue eyes!! :)

So that's my little splash of inspiration for y'all today :) Have an awesome week girlies!

Love,

Ari

Summer Swept Back

First of all, I must apologize for going all AWOL on you guys...it's been a busy week, but I truly am sorry for my absence, I'll try to warn you guys the next time something like that happens, alright?
So...it's almost fall, guys!! And I am so excited! Fall is one my favorite times of year. The light gets more golden and the air gets cooler, an people start to break out their warm things that they haven't been able to wear in forever...it's a wonderful time.

But I am SOSOSOSOO excited because I finally have my camera charger back, so I can finally share some more pictures from Idaho with you guys!! So without further ado..Idaho pictures!

And the scenery was just gorgeous, what a display of God's majesty, beauty, and creativity!

Okay, there are tons more, but I am SUPER tired and thats all I wanted to edit...again I am super sorry for leaving you guys for so long...but it is the school year, and honestly, I can't say my posting is going to be super regular. School takes precedence over any blog, and that's just the honest truth.

So have an awesome week girls, and enjoy the photos!!

Love,

Ari

All Things Cute...and Cute...

Check out all these cute little animal critters that I found while blogsurfing!

These little bandits can be found here

I love this plate design by Jim Bobart on etsy!

Look at the little snail!! Royal Mint at etsy.com

Yeah. Like I said. I have this thing with owls. Made by NightOwlHandmade on etsy :)

Awh.  source unknown.

A Coyote with fireboots! I swear some people are so creative!!

Corduroy shop on etsy.com

A bird. On a coaster. Yep. It's adorable. found here

Kay girlies. That's all for today :) Had an amazing time at college, and its just a gorgeous day today...so I'm VERY happy!!

Have a great rest of the week!!

Love,

Ari

Somethin On My Mind...

Hey girlies! It's labor day! Which means no school! Which means I have time to sit here and do a blogpost! So everybody benefits :)
So. You know how was up in Idaho? Well I had a suspicion that my camera charger got left uo there somehow, and just yesterday my friend Rachel up there found it!!

I love that these earrings from mooreaseal.etsy.com look like chevron marks :) And arrows :)

This awesome bag from modcloth!!

And if this little beauty from here 

Sorry its a short post today....but these things are what's on my mind :)
Love,
Ari

Indian Soul

Okay...so this picture is mine...but unforunately I don't have any more because my camera charger is missing :( So you guys have to be okay with pictures from other blogs okay?

That's what I've been doing for the past few posts, but it's probably going to bea while before I find one or get another charger, kay? I'm super sorry it can't be my photography, but the images are beautiful, I'll be sure of that :)

                                                                Isnt this shirt gorgeous?

this picture from here




                                                                  

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source unknown

I've really been inspired by native american style clothing and jewelry lately..take a look at these dresses, I just love them--

$40 threadsence.com

$26

$39

$35 gypsyrig.etsy.com

$25

$25

$28

 

$46 laceydu.etsy.com

$9.00 threadsence.com

$18

$39

Anyway, thats my collection of inspiration for today :) I just love feathers, wild horses, and geometric patterns. So finding these pictures was like heaven to me.

My second week of school was pretty awesome, I learned that I actually like my algebra class instead of hating it like I thought I would, and i'm meeting tons of awesome people in all my classes.

*sigh*

If I knew school would be so much fun, I would have gone ages ago.

Have a great four day weekend guys!!

Love,

Ari