Last Post Before 2014

Hi all.
Wow. It feels like 2013 has gone way too fast...really, it should perhaps get charged with a speed fine.
And before I know it, 2014 is knocking on my door.
So, I guess this will be my last post before 2014. This year will never happen again. It's over. All the laughter, experiences, moments, tears, changes of 2013 are going to be kissed goodbye forever. I want to remember that and never take another day for granted. You only live once.
And that being said, here's something I designed today. (Yeah, I used the same sort of thing for my blog's banner)



Shine! It's a short life we're living.

When The Birds Call

This is quite an unprofessional poem. But I felt it- and I put it down in words. (Image via Pinterest)

They fly above me
So high in the sky
Just where I wish
I could be

I hear the birds call
I hear their caw
I hear their wings flap
I hear them sing

How easy it is to get lost
In a perfect moment
When everything else blurs
And the birds call

Should I capture the moment?
Should I let it fly away
Like the birds
To go home to its nest

Or should I just live
Live the moment
Live it for what it is
And listen to the birds call

When the sun sets
And the birds call
I know tomorrow will be different
And today will never happen again
So do I capture it?
Do I let it float
Beyond the horizon
Past the ocean
Maybe through the clouds

Because no one knows
What tomorrow will bring
Things could change
You might wish you had just sat there
And listened to the birds call
And lived the moment
Where you could be yourself
Even though you’re still not sure
Who you’re supposed to be
What you’re meant to do

Just listen to the birds call
Just live the moment
Just take a second
And let your soul soar

Listen.
Can you hear
The birds call

They're there-

If you choose to listen.
Can't you hear?

The birds are calling.

Request!

Hi. :) I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day - like I did.
Would you mind doing something for me? Could you check out my friend's blog, HERE? I would love it (and she would, too) if you followed her blog. She's Afrikaans, so English is her second language. Don't worry if there are a few mistakes or something like that.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Have a great Friday. ;)

Hero

Christmas is tomorrow. Wow. And tomorrow I celebrate the arrival (on earth) of my glorious hero that happened, well, quite a while ago. He's awesome and I'm glad to be celebrating. And me being me...here's a poem. (the doodles in deep space below is a mixed media created by my Mom)



You know I'm a sinner
I'm not worthy of your love
I don't deserve your friendship
Or your protection
Not sure why you forgave me
And showed me so much grace.

But I was standing there
I was wounded
I felt broken
I felt like giving in
I was on my knees
I was aching
I was lost
I was tired and scared.

I needed a hero
And you came for me
You loved me
And set me free
You healed my pain,
You mended my heart
You gave me hope
You picked me up
You showed me the way
And never let me go again.

I needed a hero
I was all by myself
With the darkness closing in.
I needed a hero
And you came for me.

You didn't let the bad things I've done
Come between us
You saw I needed a hero
And you came for me
You were my hero
You are all I need.

I still don't understand
Why you saved me
Why you let it all
End so happily
I deserved to die
I was going to die
But you came for me
My hero came for me
And now I see
How much you love me
You know how I can tell
Because

I needed someone to help me
To get me back on my feet
I needed someone who cared enough
I needed a hero
And I know
That you are my hero
Cause you came for me
So thank you
My hero.

Merry Christmas for tommorrow, everyone.

Happy

I am happy today. :) So watch this video. I absolutely love the song...it's also played in Despicable Me 2 - a movie I enjoyed.

Well, I think it's very important for us to be happy. No, I think it's important to God. He wants us to go through life with a joyful, cheerful heart. I'm gonna try and be happy for Him.

Nothing Without You

I wrote a poem again. I'm always dreaming up poems, but I barely post them. And here it is.

When I stare out the window at the rain
And that helpless feeling nags again
You know I just want to give up
You know I’m not sure who to turn to
So you let me know
I can always turn to You.

I don’t know what to do
Everything’s a mess
Nothing makes sense
I might as well cry
And let everything go
In one big sigh
Who else is there for me?
You help me to see
You are there for me.

There’s no answer to my frustration
Or my confusion that’s sitting over there
And I’m sure that somewhere around here
Roams my huge amount of despair
I know it’s helpless
You show me it’s not
You take me under your wing
And make me want to sing.

I’m like paper in a fire
Burning fast
I’m like Yesterday
Still living in the past
You tell me that you love me
You let me run to you
You let that happy feeling sink in.

I’m like a daisy
On a night of frost
Frozen cold
Dead petals fall
You tell me that you love me
You let me run to you
You let that happy feeling sink in
With out You, I am nothing.

Christmas Tree Illustration

Hi, everyone. :) Yesterday I started drawing a Christmas tree for fun, and today I finished it. So I thought I'd just share the result with you.

I drew it with gel pen and colored it in with normal coloring pencils.

Merry Christmas, Buon Natale (means Merry Christmas...so, yeah, Merry Christmas on repeat), Happy Holidays, Noel, Joy, Peace and thanks for reading!

Goodbye, Mandela

Last night, Nelson Mandela passed away at age 95...it's an extremely sad thing for a lot of people all over the world. He was a wonderful example for any leader. This post is a tribute to him; I decided to add some quotes of his.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who feels no fear, but he who conquers it. ~Nelson Mandela

It always seems impossible, until it's done. ~Nelson Mandela

Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell and got back up again. ~Nelson Mandela

Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemies. ~Nelson Mandela

I've never met the man, but I respect him all the same. So goodbye, Mandela. We'll miss you.

Don't Forget

I'm afraid. I'm afraid of forgetting. I want to keep my memories close, I don't want them to fade. I hate to think I won't remember.

The good times. The m o m e n t s. The people. The then and there. The who I was in that second. The thoughts. The stories. The little things. The happiness. The surroundings. The tears and laughter at the same time. The lesson. The feelings. The dreams. The sunsets. The conversations. The gifts in everyday life. The love. The wind howling - the crickets chirping, the birds singing, the beauty of simplicity. The lovely, blue sky days. The rainy, chilly days. Diving into the ocean. Running fast. Swinging. Twirling. Singing while doing the dishes. Playing with brothers and sisters.

I don't want to lose sight of all of it. I want to wrap every wonderful memory in transparent paper so that they're safe, but I can still look at them and feel them at anytime I want. When I am 67, I want to be able to look back on my past and remember...

I don't want to forget.

It's That Time of Year

^Image via Pinterest - not my own.

I love Christmas. I love December. I love Christmas trees, wrapping presents, thinking of making other people happy, all the delicious festive food...and the celebration of the day of Jesus Christ's birth most of all. Isn't it such a wonderful thing? It gives me goosebumps thinking about it. This time of year makes me happy. I enjoy dwelling on the fact the Jesus came to earth for us. Christmas is my favorite celebration.

Ginger and Kimbo

^ Two of our cute baby guinea pigs. I just wanted to share this pic I took of them with you...anyway, quick post is over, thanks for reading. (or just looking at those fuzzbuckets)

Free Fonts

Hi everyone! I've been downloading lots of free awesome fonts for my photoshop, so I thought I'd share some of them with you. I get most of my fonts from Font Squirrel (click on it to go there), they have great stuff there. But the other day I was on Pinterest and I repinned something that led me HERE. Click on the link - trust me, I found wonderful fonts.

^ These are some of my favorites. Anyway, I hope you can get some great fonts...

HERE's a tutorial that I used to add them to Photoshop CS2. Well, my two favorite fonts from above are Confetti Stream and Little Days. Which two do you like best?

Little Brothers

I was playing with my two of my brothers yesterday, and we decided to take a few photos. :) Not all of them turned out how I wanted them to, but I decided to post three pics anyway - three unprofessional pictures...well, we had fun. Reilly and Levi are such darlings. (most of the time...)

Little brothers. Don't you just love them?

Reasons Why I Love My God...

He's always there. When I feel like I have nothing left I have Him. When there's no one to turn to, He's there. When I'm at my wit's end He helps me. When it feels like no one loves me, He does. When I'm crying out in pain, agony or sorrow, He answers me. He is always there for me.



He inspires me. When I look around and open my eyes - the ocean, the people I love, the living, breathing, beautiful creatures everywhere, the sky, the pretty flowers that decorate the garden, newborn animals and newborn people, the sunsets...God is artist of the universe; and there's nothing more inspiring then His artworks.



He comforts me. He looks after me, always blesses me and gives me more than I need. His Word always makes me feel better. He loves to hold me in his hands and make me feel precious, safe and happy.



He amazes me. Every time He answers my prayer and gives me more than I asked for, every time He does a miracle - when He makes a way for me. Every time I remember what He went through for me - every time I remember what answers he had for the Pharisees when He came to earth. He came to earth! He came as flesh and blood. He died for us. All of us. He amazes me.

I also love Him because He gave me my Mom, who took these beautiful pictures. Click on anyone of them to go to her online Society6 store.
Thank you for reading this. :)

Guinea Pig Family Photoshoot

My sister and I breed guinea pigs - and we really love them. :) I find them wonderful creatures, and to me; the more the better -12 is the most guinea pigs we've ever had, but at the moment we have six...anyway, I'm going to share some pics of them so that you, too, can see how cute they are.

^ Enter Caramel - one of the first guinea pigs we got. He's an interesting character, and he's very sweet.

^ Flossie, the oldest female with a precious personality.

^ Here's Holly - a guinea pig who has a lot of attitude (really) and even though she isn't such a good mother, she had her first babies six days ago. Still, I tell her well done for having them, since I reckon they are the cutest batch (that's what we call the litters of guinea pigs) we've had yet and she has her good moods where she can be a lovely little thing.

^ Dinopig. Okay, no, I'm kidding. That's not her name. ;) It's just that she has a mo-hawk hairstyle (that was more visible when she was young) and my older sister decided to nickname her Dinopig. But her real name is Hazel.

^ Introducing Kimbo, little darling! He is one of the two babies born six days ago, and he's super precious.

^ And finally, Ginger. She's so adorable and I love how she loves her brother.

*Random Post*

I'm bored. I've used up most of my creativity for the hour on something else. I still feel like posting...so, here's a random blog post. First of all, I want to link to someone else's blog post called 'What a Sweet Reminder'. If you love Jesus and believe in Him, you will probably think it is really sweet. :) Click here to go through to the Laughter And Lipgloss blog and see what I'm talking about. I'd also appreciate it if you went and checked out my sister's blog HERE. She hasn't been on for a while, but she is back to posting often now.

Next... 'twas Pinterest that made me believe in love at first sight.

Major cuteness factor. I love corgis! (image via pinterest - NOT my own)

Well, hope you enjoyed the random blog post. Thanks for reading. ;)

Settling In With Sunsets

We've been in our new house for more than a month now, and we're enjoying it. God is overflowing our cup - we are living in an awesome house, we're near the beach, we're on the same street as our grandparents, we have the most amazing view and awesome sunsets.

^ Our view from our balcony. We can see Gordon's Bay, Strand Beach and Cape Point. Every night when the sun has gone down all the glittering lights come out and it is beautiful. Not to mention it's still breath taking during daytime.

^ Our Quantum, which we call 'The Mothership' reflecting beauty.

^ I took some photos of Grace while we were jumping on the trampoline. It was fun.

I'm sure I see more pictures of our view coming in the future, but for now, these are all. :) Thanks for visiting my blog and reading this post.

P.S. All of the photos were taken in Somerset-West, South Africa. 

Slow Down

I know the feeling of rushing through life all too well. Pressing the fast forward button on the remote of life. Not living in this moment and instead living in the next. Wishing the days away. Procrastinating. Saying 'I can't wait' about 10 times a day in my head or out loud. Feeling like my yesterday and today memories are fading and blurring. Going too fast. I'm going to fast...too fast to slow down... I know I need to slow down.
I want to live in this moment. I want to put my foot down on brakes. I want to remember these days and keep these memories. This isn't going to last forever, and in the back of my head, in a dark, dark corner, I know it so well it makes me want to weep. So I'm going to live while I'm alive. I'm going to cherish the people I have. I'll remember that the best things in life aren't things. I know I'm going to miss these days, but I want to miss them as well as being fond of wonderful memories from good times and times spent with the people I love, instead of  by without clear pictures of my past. Scars are apart of who I am. I'd rather feel something than nothing. My life is fulled with almost completely good stuff. I need to take time. To take time to be thankful I know Jesus Christ. To take time to be with this amazing family I've given. To take time to not lose my reward. To take time to learn from the Bible.
I pray that God will help me to slow down and live for Him, the way he wants me to live. My life is like short journey, and speeding on the highway will just make it go faster.
Stop. Slow down. Spend more time with God. Live today like this is the day you'll be remembered for. And love. Give and share love to everyone you meet. Let them see Jesus through you. Ask God what He wants you to do next. But don't skip years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds. Not a second.