• I’ve been soooooo lazy this holiday weekend! I was supposed to write my last speech for my public speaking class [thank GOD, I hate that class] yesterday…but as you can probably guess, it never happened. Now my speech is on Thursday so it’s not really a big time issue, but still, I wanted a free Sunday. I guess that’s what I get for wanting a free Saturday -.-
• I’m sort of scared for this speech [although I was scared for all of them], though. It’s a persuasive speech about how we should have freedom of inquiry in the classroom. This is the main message of Expelled –that teachers [and scientists and stuff] shouldn’t be fired just because they question what textbooks say about evolution. However, before me, someone else is making a speech about why intelligent design should not be taught [and I'm guessing mentioned] in schools. It’s tough to go after your competition because you’re pressured to argue and be better than them. So just pray that I won’t let it affect me too much! I just need a good grade!
• I finally got to watching FlashForward online and finished the nine episodes aired so far yesterday [hence the lack of speech]. The writing/script is pretty mediocre and cliche a lot of the time, but the plot is interesting so I’m hooked. Although I honestly hope it gets canceled fairly early so that I can see what happens without having to deal with the actual show for too long.
• I’m addicted to Hello Hurricane.
• CHRISTMAS IS LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY. It’s scary, isn’t it? Nevertheless, I’m excited! All the decorations in my house are up and everything (:
• Only three weeks of school before winter break. 21 days…I can make it, I think.

First off let me wish you a very happy Thanksgiving!!!
Second, let me apologize for being so boring lately. Last week I didn’t really blog at all. It was just…crazy. Especially Sunday, which is why I took a break from my weekly posts. A lot of not good stuff happened that day. I lost like 4 pages of some homework that was due the next day, so I had to do all 8 pages in one night. It was horrible. And then when I found out that my homework was gone for good, a couple from church that I’ve known since I was 2 years old came over and told us they were leaving the church. It hit my family, especially my mom, really hard. And whenever my mom is all sad, it makes me really sad too. My home was not a very pleasant environment that day.

But you know what? As I look past this week, I have SO much to be thankful for. I’ve been reminded a lot this week of how much God does for me. You might be wondering…”like what?”

- I’m thankful that God helped me be diligent with my work so that I finished my 8 page assignment hours before I thought I would, despite what happened that night.

-I’m thankful that God has given me some awesome friends that can help me through all those tough times and really cheer me up like they did on Sunday. You know who you are! You’re awesome.

- I’m thankful that God motivated me to rewrite an essay for AP English Lit I got a C on, even though it was optional [and tedious]. I was hoping for a B, since getting an A on those essays is impossible. Well you know what? I got an A anyway and now I have an A in the class! Nothing’s impossible with God, man.

- Although this is might sound materialistic, I thank God for gifts! Last week I got a ton of packages in the mail [mostly new music!]…early Christmas gifts, a couple prizes from contests I won, gifts from distant friends, etc. I’m thankful for the free music because I love  new music and I’m cheap. But I especially like gifts from distant friends because it makes me feel like I have a little piece of them, despite being a thousand miles apart.

- I thank God for the new friends I’ve made this year at school. Yesterday we had a little “picnic” and played charades for like three hours in the library. It was the most fun I’ve had for a while. My cheeks were hurting from laughing. I really like those girls.

- I’m thankful that God reminds me of His presence when he takes me out of major crises. Yesterday I lost my very expensive college Spanish textbook. Almost 200 dollars worth [that I would have to pay for]. As I was panicking about it in math class, my math teacher handed my book to me. Turns out someone in her last class had it for some reason. I told her, “You are like an angel sent from God!”. It was incredible.

- I’m thankful that God has given me intelligence [because I'm not really talented in any other area, haha]. Yesterday I got my PSAT scores. I got a 194 out of 240. Not bad. I’m in the 95th percentile, meaning that I scored higher than 95% of all the juniors that took the PSAT this year. Because of that, I’m eligible for the National Merit Scholarship thingy! It’d be so awesome if I got it.

- I’m thankful that God made me Hispanic because minorities only have to be in the 95th percentile to be eligible for the scholarship. People who don’t fall into a minority [like you know, "white people" haha] has to be in the 99th percentile. And I am definitely not that smart!

- I’m thankful that God has given me such a great church. Last night we had a little Thanksgiving Eve service, which was really encouraging and reminded me about how there’s ALWAYS something to be thankful for. And I just love all the people there. They’re practically my family!

- I thank God for my mom. I get mad at her a lot, but she’s still so awesome. On Monday morning I decided to have a little talk with her about the whole people-leaving-church thing because she was still really depressed. I basically did it to express my opinions and tell her that even though it’s getting tough, I know God wants me in that church and wants to use me there. What I didn’t find out until later when my mom told me, she said it helped her a lot and she’s been in a much better mood since then. She’s told me that she’s thankful for me a lot this week. It’s good to know that I’m not a terrible daughter!

- I’m thankful for Thankgiving! Great food, awesome friends, encouraging message. This day just helps put people in a new perspective. Your life doesn’t stink as much as you might think! Again, there’s always something to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving Day, guys :D

This song is a classic Rhett and Link song.
I remember watching this during my 120 Rhett and Link video marathon. Good times.

Wales & Badgers Song

We’re going all the way back to 2006 for this one! [I was only in 7th/8th grade...wow]
Perhaps this argument is pretty pointless nowadays, but in this debate Rhett and Link, I mean Flower and Caribou, raise the question of which is better: cash or card? [feel free to add in your own opinions]

Cash vs. Credit/Debit Debate #1

• I actually finished my homework BEFORE writing this post. Woo hoo.
• Today was pretty funny…my pastor played my voicemail message for when I miss a call [which is often; I'm not much of a phone person] because at the end I say “…and remember, God made you special and He loves you very much!”, like from Veggie Tales. He said that he totally wasn’t expected to be encouraged like that via voicemail message and how it’s a good way of ministering to people, with even the small things.
• However, my message also says something like, “Sorry I didn’t answer your call, chances are I’m on Facebook. You should try to reach me there. Just kidding…except not really.” And that is totally true. Haha. Again, I’m NOT a phone person. My phone is only right next to me when I’m out of my house, because when I’m in it, I’m on my laptop. Anyway, this lady at church who has been on my case about my Internet habits for a long time now asked me today, after Rollo played the message, how long I could go without Facebook. I didn’t really know how to answer that with an exact number, so I was like, “I don’t know…” and she just gave me this death stare. Now I won’t deny that I probably spend too much time online but what a lot of older people [who are not as Internet savvy] assume is that everything kids do on the Internet is useless crap. It might be true sometimes, but I also use Facebook to TALK TO PEOPLE. Ya know, ask people about homework, connect with those who live far away, form new friendships, etc. I use the Internet for research. I use the Internet to network, even if I’m only 16. Besides, I would be more than happy to part with Facebook to go on a no-technology trip with my family or with friends. During youth group service trips I don’t cry myself to sleep at night because I’m not on Facebook. I don’t even miss it. At the most part I only miss the people I communicate with through it. I just wish people would understand that before they make such extreme assumptions, although I know where she’s coming from too.
• I think that’s enough. Hehe.

Most of my blog readers from long ago know how much I love Phil Wickham. Heck, he’s the reason why I started this blog in the first place! I’ve been a very devoted fan for two years and you might remember my whole obsession and how I went crazy when his sophomore [major] album Cannons released. To this day, I love love love that album. Yesterday I preordered his newest album, although you get an immediate download of both the normal version AND an acoustic version. So before you buy it, let me give you a quick-ish review of Heaven and Earth (:

I’ll start off with a general, simple description of the normal album. It’s a nice blend of great worship lyrics with a not-so-worshipy sound, making it stand out from the sometimes generic worship albums we see today. However, if you’re the kind of person who likes the usual, simple worship music, stick with the acoustic.  As a little gift for the long-time fans, there is a song on Heaven and Earth from his very first independent album Give You My World [a little blast from the past] called “Because of Your Love”. As far as I’m concerned it isn’t too different from the original, which is definitely a good thing. (:

I consider this the more opinionated part of my review. Now in case you couldn’t tell, the album is very thematic, focused around the topic of heaven. The theme element makes all the songs cohesively flow together, although at times one might find themselves wishing that there was more  of lyrical distinction between the songs. Luckily Phil is a magnificent songwriter so overall the lyrics do not disappoint at all. However, I would have liked him to experiment more with the melodies in order to make all the songs sound different, not only from each other, but from the songs on his other albums.

It might sound that I’m bored with this album, but the thing that I really enjoy about it is how Phil’s sound has evolved a bit over the years. His first projects have no fancy sound effects at all. Cannons has a little hint of them in some songs. However, in this album you can tell that they’ve stepped it up with elaborate sound effects, which I think increased the overall sound quality. For this very reason, I actually like the original better than the acoustic version of Heaven and Earth. In my honest opinion, the acoustic version sounds too much like ordinary worship music that all sounds the same after a while. But again it’s all a matter of preferred music taste, so don’t let me discourage you from buying the acoustic stuff [although it's only available with the $30 preorder package that will be unavailable soon, so get it now!].

So far my favorite song is “Eden”. Maybe because it’s the only song that I really know since I downloaded it a month or two ago…Or maybe because it’s such a beautiful song (:

Overall, I must admit I liked Cannons better. And despite the fact that my review is not all “THIS ALBUM IS INCREDIBLE”, it’s still definitely worth the money. I do plan to listen to this album a lot during the next couple days/weeks, and I’m pretty sure it’ll continue growing on me. Overall, from a more objective standpoint [and I'm sure eventually from a subjective one too], I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Now it would make more sense if I posted the actual commercial first, but I personally enjoy the behind-the-scenes video more. As you might know, I’ve been to Salt Lake City and stood inside that very tabernacle that Rhett and Link go to in the video!  (:

How We Sell Cheap Haircuts

• Now you might be wondering why I have changed the title up a bit today. Well my blog stats lately, and today especially, have been miraculously awesome.
• I think the reason for the good stats is this. YES. JON FOREMAN RETWEETED ME. I’m STILL excited for it. Just to avoid confusion, he was asking his Tweeps to come up with words that rhymed with purple, silver, or orange. And it’s true, Hello Hurricane is incredible. GET IT! If you’re poor like me, ask someone to get it for you! Haha.
• Veteran’s Day is this week. I finally get a FULL day off of school. YAY!
• I never finished Pearl Harbor…but I did finish the essay from last week, don’t worry ;)
• Now that the show I wanted desperately to go to is cancelled, I really just want to go to any concert. But alas, no one else is coming to South Florida. Story of my life.
• This Holiday Life is too good. I miss them :(
• I think I’ve had a little too much coffee today. Whoops.

You know what, I’m just gonna make this post up as I go along. I wanted to share a post with my readers [all three of you], but wasn’t sure of a specific topic, so I’ll just enlighten you on my life lately.

So I don’t remember if I mentioned the Owl City/Deas Vail show in Ft. Lauderdale I REALLY NEEDED TO GO TO…but I guess I’m going to have to live without it. The show is sold out. When I read that, I literally was about to cry. I felt the tears in my eyes. I had a feeling all along that it was too good to be true, but just knowing that now it’s impossible for me to go, I’m pretty bummed.

This last week at school was so…blah. I had a couple tests, which sucked so bad. I wrote yet another mediocre AP essay, giving me a C as the first grade of the grading period -.- The whole AP system is just EVIL. Makes me feel so stupid.

However, there have been good points. This week I sat with my friend Lauren from Cru to call some people who had filled out some surveys and contacts cards at our table/weekly meeting. What we do is pick the people who showed some interest in Campus Crusade and/or a bible study and stuff, call them up, and set up a little meeting with them so we can talk to them. Sort of like follow up. I am NOT very good at talking on the phone, but it wasn’t bad at all. I set up two meetings with people, maybe three after I call this girl back. I’m sort of apprehensive about doing all this, but I will let God use me regardless.

Another amazing thing that happened this week was finding out that my wonderful friend Daniel from J-ville ordered Switchfoot’s new album for me!!! I’ve heard it’s awesome, which is expected from a person as brilliant as Jon Foreman, so I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
- Literally right after I published this post I went to check the mail and I now have it in my hands!!!

The Food Network is unusually addictive.

I posted Rhett’s hillbilly alter ego Rusty interviewing his dad a while ago, but I never posted the video of Larnold and his father! Enjoy. I’m pretty sure this is all improv, which makes it even better.

Fathers Day Extra: Larnold and His Daddy