I Forgot I Had A Life!?

I just realized something awful the other day . . . I haven't updated you all on my life in a long while!!!

For that I am sorry! 

I have been living . . . I just had forgot to tell you all ;p 

Anyways . . . Life. 

Ummm . . . I mean to update you. But where to start???

I have been busy. But with what? (Ever feel like that ;p) 

I have been busy trying to work too much. I actually had to let go a couple of jobs these last couple months. I just couldn't keep up with it all.

I also had to sell most of my goats ;/ I have one goat right now. A white doe named Luna. But I really don't take care of her. My little brother, Josiah, does. Awhile back I asked, very serious like, him, "Josiah, is my goat still alive?"

When I first bought Luna she was so wild it took us several hours to catch her... that to my best milk goat! I must say I'm proud of what she has become :D

For some reason my mom thought that was hilarious. But I was truly curious if Luna lived yet ;) 

I did something really crazy.

I planned a bunch of consecutive traveling for the month of January. I don't know why . . . it just sorta all happened.

The first two weeks I spent with my good friend, Mary, and her small family in Kentucky. That was a great two weeks. She, her husband, and her baby were so great!

Mary's daughter, Annalise, seemed to like me fine after the first initial shock of me invading her home.

From there I went to a friend's wedding in Tennessee, and was able to see a bunch of other friends in the process.

While in Tennessee I went to this Tuesday night worship service I used to go to a lot as a Ruby girl. The message was really good. Of how fasting can be beneficial to our spiritual life, and show us that we are capable of doing what seems impossible.

Made me want to fast. And almost think I should.

They also said something a long the lines of how one does not know the art of pondering a thought anymore.

That made me think. And feel sad. Sometimes life does move so fast that you don't give enough time to thoughts that should be given a lot more consideration.  

I so wanted to just fast and be able to ponder the beauty of life and God and everything good. And I still do.

The newly weds :D

Went on a lovely walk with an old roommate, Shelby.

Awesome time with friends!

Ruby girl reunion (the one in the center was the bride).

Spent a great, couple nights with one of my best friends and her husband :D 

After that I tagged a long with a friend for a couple of weeks.

We went to her sister's place in Illinois to see her new baby niece. 

We can imagine that she smiled at me ;) 

Then we drove to her home in Florida and had fun there for a bit,

Creepy pictures were abundant here ;) 

And had to get an artsy picture too ;) 

Meeting a really sweet friend of Lizzy's :)

Lizzy and I at the beach

Me in my natural habit: Laughing over stupidity 

 Then we picked up another friend and went to a Shindig where Michael and Debbie Pearl were.

The Shindig was really good . . . loved the lectures of the Pearl's.

The three of us before going to the Shindig.. wind loved our hair ;)

When Mike Pearl silently joined our selfie ;0

So much that I'll give a brief on them:

They were an abridgment of this series he's working on through Romans. He talked of sin, what sin was, and how to overcome sin. It was really powerful!!!!

The last message was my favorite - he talked about the brain, titling his lecture "The Science of Addiction and the Brain."

He told of the different hormones that affect the brain, how some made one feel happy, others sad or depressed.

He gave percentages of how different things skyrocket our amount of intake of different hormones - here's one:

Dopamine: (amount of happiness intake)

Normal good things - 10%

Sex -100%

Alcohol and Cocaine - 100-200%

Meth - 1250%

Those percentages made it click in my mind why people like alcohol and drugs so much. 

He then went on to say how so many people strive to thrive off of these happy hormones alone - and showed us the results: fried, unhealthy looking brains. 

It was an interesting concept, that sadness or occasional feelings of depressions are not bad, but balancing to one's health.

He went on to speak of addictions (a large focus homosexuality and pornography), and how these addictions affect one's mind, deteriorating it to look like something not very nice. Had some really scary results and makes me feel even sadder for those dealing with both, and other unhealthy addictions.

It was really good!!! And loved learning more about the brain. And made me come up with this:

 It's okay to experience moments of sadness, that I shouldn't push them away or feel guilty about them, but understand them, and thus live a more balanced life, emotionally and mentally. 

I did a lot of other things at the Shindig, too . . . Archery (I did decent considering it was my first time! I actually hit the target most of the time :D), volley ball, and dancing among meeting many people I knew and didn't know ;) 

"Known" both of these people awhile through social media . . . great meeting them ;) 

getting ready to dance :D 

Also, while at the Shindig, my friends and I stayed in our van (like hippies). After the Shindig we followed this family around for a day and half that was staying in this really neat looking bus. We found out afterward that they were neighbors of one of my aunt's!!!

Old school bus they remodeled . . . really neat!

At a fort in St Augustine, Florida

And then I came home!!!

(Which was the best part of the whole trip, lol.)

For some reason, this time I was ready for my travels to be over. It was fun, but exhausting. I think I shall take a break from such for a little while at least ;) 

After being gone over a month it is nice being home, getting back into my work and writing. 

Can you believe I took a complete break from writing (besides journaling!?)

All my blogging had been scheduled before I left. My fiction sat idle while I was away. 

But I kept my mind fresh by reading lots of thought provoking things . . . and now my fingers are aching so bad to free my raging mind of all the ideas stored with in!

Be prepared for some awesomeness, guys!!!

Or at least I hope it shall be awesome!! ;) 

And I have been having fun with some new projects!!! Making necklaces from shells I found in Florida, knitting, and tie dyeing! 

So many fun things!!! Life is really a fast moving adventure, whether at home or no.

Sometimes I just want it to slow down so that I can take the time to "ponder a thought". How epic would that be? To be fully rested, fully content and one with God, smiling at the world despite of tears that may be forced up on us?

I think I learned a lot on these journeys:

I need to stop and think and breath. And stop overthinking on top of that, I've been told by a close friend ;)

It's good to smile and laugh and encourage those both in others, but I shouldn't spurn tears either. Both are to be embraced in their own time and way. 

Life is beautiful even when nothing is happening. Sometimes the truth is it is more beautiful in those times.

And, so, I think that counts as an update, yes? Maybe I'll give another one soon :D And I'd like to leave you with a question I asked one of my friends: Do you live to make memories, or to remember memories already made? I'll give our answers in my next post ;D