WHY I LOVE MY BFF/ WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A FRIEND

Yesterday was my BEST FRIEND FOR TOTALLY LIKE EVER WITHOUT EXCEPTION'S birthday and I regret to inform you, the internet that I live 2,500 miles away from her. This is an appreciation post about her and how much I love her!!

You have probably heard me talk about her before. A little back story, we 'met' in the church nursery when we were little tiny babies and have been best friends for life ever since! Here is my testament to how awesome she is, pal for life, please enjoy. If you aren't said best friend, please read this as what I look for in a friend.

Just knowing that someone out there is rooting for you, and isn't afraid to show it. Someone who wants you to be happy, joyful. Like for real. And they can tell if you are faking it or not.

Unbearable. That's what life would be without them. Just unbearable. Because they are there for you through your ups and downs. When telling anyone else in the universe is impossible, they will be willing to hear you out. And not judge.

Loving each other unconditionally is essential to friendship. My ride or die and I are basically inseperable and we live thousands of miles away and though it's terrible, we are able to have a great friendship without seeing   for months at a time. If we ever fight, it doesn't last. It's kind of not worth it to fight, because we need each other for survival XD #13yearsandcounting #ithink

In being best friends, we need to be brutally honest sometimes. Being able to tell the truth without getting hurt or gossiping is a huge deal, especially at this age. And it's not only that. Honesty also means showing your tre personality. When I am at her house, I like to eat all of her food and she has no trouble farting in front of me, or wrestling her little brother, which I will gladly take part in. We are family

Adventure is one of my favorite parts about having a bosom friend. All of my best stories have happened with her. Like remember the countless times I almost got away by hiding under your feet in your car? Remember the 100 otterpops? Remember the lightning storm and the trampoline? The glitter incident? Flooded barbie pool? SHOWER CURTAIN COURTROOM?! We're basically kindred spirits

Almost cried while writing this because I was listening to Count on Me by Bruno Mars and the whole time I was like PREACH IT BRUNO and I just miss her so much GIRL I NEED YA BACK IN MY LIFE

I can count on you, you inspire me, I miss you every day, and I love you a lot.

Love, your BFFTLEWE

Bubbles :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEIRDO

p.s. comment something about your best friend. what do you look for in a friend?

The Ichthus Experience

Wednesday morning I got up at 6:30, grabbed my bags and headed to church to have a short Bible study, then drove to Lexington, KY for the Creation Ichthus Music Festival. Little did I know how much fun I was going to have and how much I was going to grow.

Day 1

Day 4

On the first day, my group got there around 10, after talking to the most random people and getting lost several times. I didn't really know the people I was with because I only moved to the church a couple of months ago, so making new friends was really good for me.

If you've ever been to a camp of any sort, you know it's pretty common to connect with people extremely fast and be able to mess around and still get to know each other through deep conversations. I really enjoyed being able to do that.

Newsboys Concert

The concerts were crazy! I saw a whole range of artists from rap, to indy, from heavy metal to contemporary pop and hymns. I loved all of it, and got 2 albums. My favorites were a band called Author and a singer/songwriter named Abe Parker.

I also got a whole bunch of free stuff, but aside from that I bought 2 t-shirts that I love and really want to show you!

On the second and third days it rained really hard and since the festival was held in a horse park, everyone got muddy and gross and smelled of something quite similar to animal poo.
I had to give up my poor green flip flops which did me no good anyway, and battled the rain head on.
Everyone was stationed at a canopy pole in our camp ground during the storm so we wouldn't blow away. I secretly enjoyed the rain because it was cold like back home, instead of hot and disgusting.

God's promise after the storm :)

Saturday was a gorgeous last day. We played Frisbee with strangers and tied dental floss to the legs of one of thousands of June bugs. I couldn't believe that it was already over, and how much I had learned about God through talking to others and hearing music.

A henna tattoo I got for free (before it dried and peeled)

 :) I'm sorry to bore you all to death, so I'll wrap it up. Thank you for reading and hopefully you all have had a blast this week too!

Have you ever been to a music festival?

How to Take a Compliment

I saw this teenager post on my Twitter feed the other day from @HuffPostTeen and I got really excited because this would make a great blog post! Obviously I googled 'how to respond to compliments' and I feel I have researched this subject thoroughly. Ok, not really, but I'm doing my best!

com·pli·ment

noun

ˈkämpləmənt/

1. 1.

   a polite expression of praise or admiration.

   "she paid me an enormous compliment"

   synonyms:

   flattering remark, tribute, accolade, commendation, bouquet, pat on the back; More

verb

ˈkämpləˌment/

1. 1.

   politely congratulate or praise (someone) for something.

   "he complimented Erica on her appearance"

Personally I get embarrassed when someone compliments me and I don't know what to say. I think a lot of kids these days have that problem too, and it all comes down to confidence. I have previously written a post called How to Be More Confident and you should probably read that too, if you are really serious about this.

Via happymonsters.tumbr.com

It really is pretty simple. You just have to have the courage/confidence to go through with these three "easy steps." 

1. SMILE
2. SAY THANK YOU
3. SINCERELY RETURN THE COMPLIMENT

Ok, the last one is really the hardest. But with a little practice, you'll be a pro! 

Here is my guide of how to return a compliment: If they compliment your appearance, make a nice comment about theirs! If they say something about your personality, say something about theirs! If they praise your actions, praise theirs right back!

But here is the important part. WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE COMMENDS YOU FOR SOMETHING.

Do not, I repeat, do not, deflect praise. It's not modest, it's a teensy bit rude, kind of like rejecting the person that gave it to you. For example, someone says to you "Wow, your writing piece was very impressive"

Yes: Thank you so much! I actually just finished reading your last post and it was amazing, especially the part blah blah blah 

No: Oh, no it was garbage, I suck at writing

A lot of people these days try to play down their work to be modest, but it makes the rest of us feel terrible. I know when I tell someone they did a good job, and they say they didn't even care about it, I feel like a talent-less wreck! Do you know what I mean? I tried really hard and they didn't, but they still did better!

This is especially a problem on social medias, because sometimes people post selfies to get praise, and then act like they are super ugly or something. It makes me a little upset! I just want to shake them by their shoulders and yell at them "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!!!!"

To fix my anger, I have decided to challenge myself by complimenting people way more than normal. Since I've been watching Parks and Recreation a lot, I have been catching on to Leslie Knope complimenting. 

If you want to do my challenge too, next time someone says something nice to you, be sincerely nice back to them. It shouldn't be that hard. You can do it!

Love, Bree♥

p.s. you are a wonderful tropical fish and thank you for looking at my blog

How To Clean Your Bedroom

Since school is over for me, I've been spending way too much time in my room, and in order to get anything done, I need my space to be clutter-free and organized. Cleaning your room could take 30 minutes to a few weeks, depending on how messy your room is, so be prepared to do some work!

• Get ready! I like to put on some music that I can sing along to, that will distract my mind from straying too far into cleaning. Let your family know that today is official cleaning day! When they know you are already doing something productive, they will be less likely to add random chores to your to-do list.

• The first step is to make your bed. That is usually the main part of a bedroom, so wash your bedding, including pillow-cases, and make up your bed again!

• While your bedding is in the wash, perhaps move onto a smaller project, like removing trash, getting rid of useless papers, organizing your makeup, nail polish or something like that. Organizing the little things makes your bedroom look much more efficient!

• Get as much as you can off the floor. If you don't have a lot of shelf space, place items into specific stack-able boxes. When less is on the floor, it's easier to vacuum/sweep and your room looks bigger.

• Laundry is always on the floor in my room, and it is my #1 problem. (I might be writing this post to avoid putting it away) My dresser is rather small, so fitting everything in is always a struggle. If you have the afternoon off, put on some music or a movie, and get rid of all the clothes you don't wear. You can give your old clothes away, donate them, and I usually give them to my younger sisters as hand-me-downs. My shirts are about 50% camp shirts, 20% School shirts, 10% ugly and 20% wearable, so I try to give away my old school tees and the ones I don't like. DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED TO CLOTHES

• Re-organize decorations. I have a cork board in my room and every couple of months I like to replace the items on it with newer things. I have post cards, drawings, quotes, pictures and a ton of other stuff that I can rotate through, to leave my room looking just a little bit newer and more exciting.

Those are just a few ways to start de-cluttering your room!  Remember to work on one project at a time until it is finished, so that you don't have several different messes in your room and no work done at all. 

Did I miss something important, or do you have a great way to clean? Let me know in the comments!

Have fun cleaning and don't procrastinate too much! -Bree

How to Be More Confident

As you may know, I am entering freshman year of high school next year. And, due to the school system, we have so many high schools that if you don't go to the one by your house, you won't know anybody, and I have made that decision.

So I have started looking at, you know, good ways to start off high school, that kind of thing, and I came across a TED Talk about confidence that I really enjoyed

If you don't have time to watch a lady talk about the science of being empowered for 18 minutes (look it up), here is a quick and concise version!

Basically, she said fake it till you make it! Definitely be yourself, but by acting confident, you will become more confident and even the stress hormones in your body will go down. If you literally act powerful, like spreading out, making yourself bigger. In the wild, leader or "alpha" animals stand taller as a way to intimidate people. That works for humans too!

It goes both ways. Sitting with your arms and legs crossed and your head down certainly doesn't help. Studies have shown when you sit like that the stress hormone levels rise.
 Start making it a habit. Stand taller. Uncross your your arms, it makes you seem more open. Smile. You'll seem more open and happy about what you are doing and people are more likely to talk to you.

Acting Help Wanted...pls

Hi it's me Brenna which you probably guessed and I really like performing arts!

Something you might not know about me is that I'm going on my 3rd year of school choir (with a different director each year) and this year's teacher has showed me the wonder of Broadway! So we went and saw Newsies and it was super inspiring! So now I'm taking a theater class in school and pretty soon I'm due to perform a monologue from Diary of Anne Frank. 

And perhaps audition for Aladdin Jr. at the local high school. I know acting isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you have any tips, please tell! 

 And while we're on the subject, let's talk about the best musicals out there! 

ANNIE

SOUND OF MUSIC

NEWSIES

HAIRSPRAY

QoTD: What are your favorites?

Popular by Maya van Wagenen (vintage wisdom for a modern geek)

One of my friends let me borrow this spectacular memoir by Maya van Wagenen, who was reeeeeaaally young when she wrote it! Like 15 or something. Anyways, it's about her doing a social experiment of sorts. The summer before eighth grade she finds the book Betty Cornell's Teenage Popularity Guide. Written in the 1950's by a teen model, she gives tips on becoming more socially acceptable and things like that. Though some of it is out-dated and you'll hardly find a 14 year old girl wearing a girdle, straw hat and pearl necklace at the same time anymore, Ms. Cornell also gives tips on simple dieting, tasteful makeup and how to talk to people around you. Maya decides to dedicate each month of eighth grade to a chapter of her book. The response she gets at first is not what she wanted, but she powers through, and at the end, her results are amazing! 

I hear you thinking. Being popular is overrated! They are all terrible people! She's fine just how she is! But in this book, Maya learns very valuable lessons and shows some serious gutsiness. I would never have been able to do what she did. And it really worked for her. Following the book pushed Maya out of her shell and her school's atmosphere was enormously improved by her, just one person! I also really loved the fact that the "vintage wisdom" is still mostly applicable today.

I'd recommend this for any teen girl, popular or shy, rich or poor. It was a great eye opener on how you don't have to look like a  paper doll to make friends. If you read it, please let me know what you thought of it!

Before

After