my thoughts on national donut day.

in case you didn't know:

friday june 6th 2014 [yesterday] was national donut day. 

did you know this? because i didn't. and donuts are my 2nd favorite food. 
how did i find out? 
well maybe it was the 50000 pictures of donuts on instagram. 

when i attended decker prarie elementary school we had one day a year that was my favorite. that was "dad's and donuts". what could be better? 
maybe it would be the mom's and muffins day? [i can't remember if that actually existed or if i just made it up. oh well.]  
anyway, you brought your dad to school [early] and then you go a donut [worth the early]. 
it was the best. my elementary school knew the way to my heart. 

dear decker prairie elementary:

i loved representing the school every friday with my school shirt. i also loved being the one to take the flag down at the end of the day, and carefully fold it up. i loved being on the jump rope team and in the talent show in fourth grade. i loved having roller skating in pe class. i loved all my teachers [mrs. almond, you were a jokester]. but i especially loved dad's and donuts. thanks for making my childhood a great thing. 

love, bethany

but really, shouldn't every day be donut day? probably i think so. 
so i would be eating a donut [or maybe two. you know, in honor of my elementary school] but my mom and i are cutting out sugary sweets [this is really hard for me, especially the donuts].

so i am asking that you make a sacrifice for me and eat a donut [or maybe two. one for you and one for me]. 

dear national donut day:

i already have you in my calendar for next year. i promise i won't forget about you.

love, bethany  

until next time,
- the depressed & donutless b

 

***also, if anyone wants to buy me a donut maker i wouldn't say no. okay, thanks. bye. 

constant.

being consistent is hard. [who knew?]
probably because i am human [but also that's probably not a good excuse].

do you know when the last time i blogged was? [ha me either!]
blogging is really hard. because i need to have something to say. and then gather the motivation to actually write it. i really do love writing, and blogging, and reading. but it's hard.

consistency. 

my friend kimberly recently came and visited me [when i say me, i really mean alaska]. i like kimberly a lot, we are pals. the last time i saw kim before she left i said, "keep in touch". she then said, "out of sight, out of mind".

i may or may not have told her that when people are not directly in my life [as in i don't see you on a weekly basis] it is really, REALLY hard for me to keep up with you. i may have even used the saying "out of sight, out of mind" [kim has a good memory]. it's not that i don't like you because really i do. my brain just has a hard time keeping track. and probably i will pull the "i am busy" card. so, ya. relationships are hard.

consistency.

if being consistent with people is hard, you can image being consistent in my relationship with God is hard too. because of time. i don't like to give my time up and i like making myself busy. so sometimes i make myself too busy. and what i recognized myself goes right along with a quote i heard:

"if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy."

this is such a truth. i am learning to protect my sacred time with Jesus.

praise the Lord that God is faithful and his love is constant, even if i'm not.

***if you have any suggestions how to do any of these things more consistently, i would love love love to hear them! 


here's to more consistent blogging, relationships, and time with Jesus.

- b

weekend retreat.

i have worked at the same youth group for around two years now. we go on a retreat each fall and winter. it involves a mini road trip and lots and lots of games [most of which i am no good at and that make my body ache for dayssss].

the trip started off well...i forgot my toothbrush. i may or may not have just stopped at meijer to buy a new one because i was too lazy to climb three flights of stairs to get to my room [judge all you want].

our driver, who just happens to be my boyfriend, wasn't too thrilled. i however, found the experience and my new toothbrush quite enjoyable.

the theme for the weekend was aroma [as in what kind of smell do you have?]. the thing that stuck with me the most was this analogy that they gave:

restaurants smell. each individual restaurant has an individual smell. when you go to restaurant you smell the smell. if you stay in the restaurant you become numb to the smell. when you leave the restaurant you take the smell with you. people smell your restaurant-ie [yes that is a word] smell.

sin. when we partake in sin. we feel bad. but when we bask and abide in that sin we become numb to it. we don't notice. we don't notice the stench we are letting off. but the people around us do. ouch. 

what a great realization i had. there are things i have been holding onto that don't necessarily mimic the actions of Christ. what kind of stench are you letting off? 

we always rent a 15-passenger van [party car].

beautiful facial expressions from Al, Dana, and Zach.

this would be dodge ball. notice the line of females not playing. 

i am one of those people.

since the olympics are happening, we were divided into teams with a team country.

ours was the best [also known as Jamaica].

each team made a banner. apparently people in Jamaica eat goats so obviously we drew a goat, a fork, and a knife. obviously.

one of the games was a couch relay thinger. each team had a couch...and we  had to CARRY it in the SNOW all around camp and do different challenges. every member of the team had to be touching part of the couch AT ALL TIMES [we unscrewed the pegs from the bottom and used that as part of the couch].

[also, i was obviously breaking the rules by taking this picture and not touching the couch. big deal.]

one of the challenges was to take pictures with our couch in the four corners of the gym.

there was a different type of picture in each corner.

this was duck faces and peace signs.

awkward family photo.

planking.

spelling "QHC" [Quaker Haven Camp].

Rusty and Tabitha Lumpkin were the speakers for the weekend.

They did a wonderful job and taught us lots of interesting facts about whale vomit.

[google it]

me and the boy. this is my camp/soccer mom look. ha

zach was upset because a snowplow was ahead of us.

we could barely see because of the snow it was stirring up.

i LOVED it.

even if we did have to go 1000000 times slower.

it took out a couple mailboxes too.

no trip to quaker haven is ever complete without a stop at dairy queen.

really.

i think the kids would cry if we didn't stop.

so we did.

i mean...i'm not complaining.

until next time,

B