Fly Away to Neverland?

     Sometimes I wish that Neverland truly existed. That I could simply fly away to that place and stay for a time. A place where little boys and girls of my aquaintance would never be too old to sit on my lap, hold my hand, or wrap their little arms around my neck and place their head on my shoulder. A place where little ones who are soon to be starting school would just stay that way forever. A place where sweet junior high girls wouldn't worry about makeup and boys. A place where I wouldn't have to worry about college decisions or adult-hood. Or where friends wouldn't grow up and move on.
     Sadly, no nuch place exists. People grow up and change. Little ones grow big and junior highers start highschool. Friends graduate and attend college. Change is a part of life. Oh, sometimes it hurts, other times it's bothersome, victorious, and exciting. There are so many seasons of life. I haven't seen 20 years and already I've experienced so much change. But God brings change along for a reason. He can use it to fashion us and grow us to be more like Him. Even when we go through bad change.
     So yes, there are many days where I wish I could fly away to Neverland. To simply never grow up. You know what, though? Change and growing up is all a part of the story God is writing. I wouldn't miss this adventure for anything.

                  In Christ,
                               Josie
    

A photoshoot and a "jam" session

 Last week, I spent the night with my friend Tiffany. Yes, you've probably seen her name come up alot on this blog. She's one of my best friends and we do almost everything together. We go the same church, we see each other for 6 hours every Wednesday, and we talk on the phone a lot. And lately we've been able to have several sleepovers, slumber parties, whatever you want to call them. This particular day we were just planning on spending a few hours together, but it was getting close to supper time so when she came to pick me up, she asked me if I wanted to spend the night. After talking with my mom, I said sure. So, in the morning, I would just ride to church with her family.

We went to the mall for a bit, then back at her house we decided to do a photoshoot. I love taking pictures and Tiffany is a fantastic model. She's also patient with me when I get into "photographer" mood. Tiffany likes taking pictures as well, and is getting better and better at it. I'll post a few that she took of me.

                                  

                                                          

                                                       

                                                        

                                                         

                                                       

                                                           

                                                           

                                                    
           After about twenty minutes, we were freezing. We both voted on going back
  inside. Later that night, Tiffany pulled out her guitar and we just started singing. We did that for a about an hour. There were some laughs and jokes. So I call it a "jam" session. But really, we were singing about God and everytime we started laughing and became less serious, I had to remind myself who we were singing for, even if I was just for "fun".

I love days with Tiffany. I'm blessed to have her as a friend. I was blessed to be able to go shopping with her, take pictures, fix and eat a yummy supper, watch a movie, laugh, talk and most of all worship the same God together. It was a good night. :)

                         That's all for now, everyone. God bless!

                              ~Josie

 

                           

A Day In Chicago With My Two Besties

          On a cloudy, chilly, "looks like rain" kind of day six days before Christmas, me, my friends Katie and Tiffany and their moms took a trip to Chicago for Tiffany's birthday. We left before 9:00 in the morning and got home after 11:00 at night. First, we took a tour of Moody Bible Institute, then we headed over to Macy's for some shopping and lunch. Then, we went to the Water Tower Place.

     Have you ever spent the whole day in a big city with two of your closest friends? Well, it is a blast, let me tell you.



The three of us with our awesome fedoras. Except, I think Katie and I should have switched.
 

                                             Macy's was huge. I think it had 7-8 levels.


Tiffany stylin' her sparkly fedora

L-R Tiffany's mom, Katie's mom, Me, Tiffany, and Katie at the amazing restaurant

                                        
             Lunch was amazing.
The restaurant itself was beautiful and spectactular, but the food

was beyond delicious. Out of all the fancy and different things to choose from, Katie and

I chose burgers. Not everyday "McDonalds" burgers. No, they were amazing and gourmet and delicious. Katie put her fist out for a fist bump. "Burger buddies," she said.

I love these girlies.

        After lunch, we walked around the city for a bit. Even though it was in the 40s, we were walking towards the lake for part of the time. So of course, it felt colder. We saw some cool sites as we walked along, and took some pictures. Debated where to go next.

                                                          

                                   

                        We decided on the Water Tower Place. Although it wasn't as big
as Macy's, it had so many stores! The first store we went to was the American Girl Doll store.
I had wanted to go there since I was little, so I was really excited that we did. We also went to the Lego store (I have never seen so many legos in one place), Claire's, Forever21 and a couple of other stores.        

                                            
                      My day in Chicago was slightly exhausting and cold. Yet, it's one of my favorite
memories from 2012. I am so glad I got to spend close to fourteen hours with those two girlies
you see there. They are my best friends and spending the whole day in the city with them
was an adventure. I hope we get go there again soon. :)

                              Blessings,
                                         Josie