Photoshoot with Allie

HELLO!!! Here in Tennessee it has been a snowy, winter wonderland for almost TWO WEEKS!! I have spent an awful amount of time on my computer and have watched one too many episodes of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta. It's what I do. I haven't been to school in 13 days (counting weekends) which could be a bad thing but I don't see it as a bad thing really. Except I will not remember anything when I go back and have a mountain of homework to do for about a week, but you know, I will get over it. Now that I got that little update out of the way, I wanted to share these photos that Lynn took of one of my best friends, Allie, and I! This was back in early January, but it was such a fun day and we are extremely awkward. We clearly don't know how to take photos. 

These photos describe our relationship. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Hope you're all staying safe & warm! 

Much Love,

Kaitlyn 

Happiness is Key

Hello blogspot fam. 
I am sitting here, on my couch, about to have a mental breakdown over a dumb math assignment I have online. Then I'm thinking...wow Kaitlyn you are completely overreacting, but it's the small things that get you sometimes ya know? Then I remember Ephesians 4:27 where it tells us to not give Satan a foothold. I think this math assignment was sort of the tip of the iceberg for me but hey HAPPINESS IS KEY! This is probably going to sound odd but stick with me here. I have been watching a ton of Ellen lately and I just noticed how she, and other people she brings on her show are SO HAPPY despite what they are going through. I am blessed beyond measures and really don't have a reason to be unhappy.  So this is my challenge for myself, and you. Everyday for the next month write down five things that brought you joy that day. I will start with mine for today.

1. I got to sleep in because I didn't have school
2. I learned a new joke
3. Found some new music
4. Got ahead on schoolwork
5. Had a fun snapchat convo with my friend Allie

LET'S GET HAPPY!! I will write my five things down each day for a month and share them with you on March 20th :) 

Hope you're well!

-Kaitlyn

from my heart.

Looking at the world around me I see and feel so much judgement. It's not fair. No one deserves to be judged on what they are wearing, how their face looks, or a YouTube video they posted about some challenge. After all, we are all the same in God's eyes, right? So why can't we look at each other that way? I'm not gonna say I haven't judged someone or something before, because I have. It's human nature to be judgmental, and I'm human. But just because it's human nature doesn't mean we can't try and make it less of a habit or problem. WE can be the difference! So, that girl is wearing something that isn't your style. Go her for expressing HER style. That guy doesn't look like Harry Styles. Go him. If every guy looked like Harry Styles or Zac Efron we would be bored. After all, doesn't the Bible say in 1 Samuel that you shouldn't consider appearance, you should look at the heart? {1 Samuel 16:7} So let's live that out. Let's learn to get to know people before we decide what we think of them. I'm sure you've been judged before too, it hurt didn't it? So who are we to judge? That's right, no one. So look at things through the Lord's eyes -- be what He is -- l o v e.  Genesis says we are all made in his image, isn't that so great?! We are all His creation and beautiful in our own ways! So let's be love fam. Be the light.

Much Love,

Kaitlyn

S.O.A.P. {how i study the Bible / do my quiet time}

Hey homies,

I haven't written in a while and I sincerely apologize. I finally got a new computer and I am looking forward to a lot of new blog posts!! Hopefully 2015 will bring lots of new posts! Anyways, today I want to talk about how I study my bible / do my quiet time. I got this idea from Pinterest anad absolutely love it.

I use the acronym S.O.A.P. 

S is for Scripture: I write down the scripture that really stand out to me or have significance to them. Or if I feel like God is really speaking to me through the scripture.

O is for Observation: I write down what I observed in the scripture I wrote down. For example: what God is teaching whoever is in the scripture, what God is teaching me, etc.

A is for Application: This is when I write down how I can apply the lessons I learned through the scripture to my life.

P is for Prayer: This is when I pray for me and me only. Now don't get me wrong -- I love praying for other people and do that all the time separately. I find it really hard to pray for myself so this is a way of forcing myself to do so.

I hope you saw this as helpful and that maybe it will help you out!! I am not saying you have to do this by any means, just showing you what helps me! Hope you're all having a great 2015 so far!

love always,
Kaitlyn

Merry Christmas!

Thought I would stop by and post real quick and say Merry Christmas! Hope you are all enjoying your day and spending time with your loved ones. I'm looking forward to the coming year and hoping to make it extremely "jolly." 
Much Love,
Kaitlyn

God is still good.

Hello Blogspot Fam,

It’s been a while. Both mine and Lynn’s lives have been nothing shy of stressful lately. Both of us are juniors in high school, and it seems to be the most time consuming year yet. I personally am balancing school, a job, and somewhat of a social life all at the same time and it has gotten a little crazy. I put the blog on the backburner. In these recent months, I have learned a lot about myself and the ways God works. In mid September some things happened and my world felt like it was falling apart. I was in over my head and didn’t know how to deal with it. I had a friend straight up tell me that I needed to turn to God and no one else. And so I did. That friend and I have been holding each other accountable since then and it’s been so good for me! I feel like I am finally right with God. I spent about a month studying Job and boy oh boy that was a kick in the face for me. Job was SO BOLD! I love the Bible and how transparent God is through it and I love living by it. I find that I am just a genuinely happier person. If I hadn’t had God through these past couple months I honestly don’t know where I would be right now.

Now for the hard part. In March of 2013, mine and Lynn’s pastor was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of melanoma. Lynn and I go to a rather large church, and this was a huge deal. Obviously. All of the treatments and things he took were all clinical trials and there was no guarantee that they would work. On November 18^th, Pastor David passed away. This has been such a rough and heartbreaking week. But I have learned a ton this week. Last night David’s son, Josh, spoke at church (the day after his dad died…how bold right?!!) and kept reminding us of Romans 8:28 and Romans 6:23. God makes things work together for good for the people who love him, and I am confident that David and his family love the Lord and will soon see the good in this. I have constantly been reminded of Luke 23:43 where Jesus says this: “’Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” I have no doubt in my mind that David is with the Lord. Through this, I have learned that the Lord is still good, and that we should turn to him and no one else. Because after all, he has all the answers, right?! Who are we to question God?

I am looking forward to being able to get back into the swing of things on the blog! Hope you’re all having a lovely fall season so far J

Love always,

Kaitlyn

dare: have better conversations.

//image source//

Next time you need a conversation starter, try one of these questions!  

much love,

Lynn