Publicity, Good News Club, and cars stop for buses

Hey friends!

Well, I was SOOOOOOOOO excited to get all of my publicity stuff for the conference today! I got four packages, which included: three posters, two books, two DVD promos, TONS of flyers, and all of my instructions!! I was so very happy!!! :D (and still am! :D)

As I looked at all of my flyers etc. it hit me that it was my job to get the word out. Two Rivers holds around 2500 or so and we want to fill it up! Very exciting! You will be hearing more about the conference and my publicity job soon, don't worry ~:-)

Here are some pics of my goodies:

Today I also had the privilege of going to Good News Club. GNC is like a Sunday school type thing on Monday afternoons for inner city kids. We go pick up the kids in the CPA bus and then go to the Freewill Baptist Church somewhere in Nashville (it's down the street from Bobbie's Dairy Dip). It amazes us how the parents send off their kids with a bunch of white people on a bus! Hey- we have candy and cookies! haha :o) GNC is amazing and is so fun! There are probably about 20-30 kids that come. Half of them have very interesting names so can be interesting to pronounce. :o) There are also lots of silent letters- for example, Kendria is pronounced Kendra. There is another precious little kid who has a very interesting name which has been shortened to Duah by the leaders. :o) This was my third week to go to GNC and I really hope to make it a weekly thing! There are also lots of great quotes:

~Jarvis, after being asked how school went with the added 30 mins: "It was an extra 30 mins of nothin'"

~Kendria: "Does God have a momma?" Me- "No, God does not have a momma." "How come he don't have a momma?! Everybody has a momma!"

And lots more!

Once we have picked up all of the kids and come back to the church, we sing songs and then read part of a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible (which is awesome!). Today the story was about the little children coming to see Jesus. After Will, one of the leaders, reads part of the story, we pause the story, and are split up into groups. Each group has 1-2 leaders with 2-4 kids. Today Jenny and I had four very hyper and energetic little boys. After we split into groups, we pray, finish the story, answer some questions, do a craft, and pray again. After that is snack time and then GNC is over. I really enjoy going!!!

Here is a picture of me with a very cute little girl named Rikhia:

Be blessed today!

Matthew 19:14

¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Love,

Lily :o)

P.S. "Cars stop for buses" is a phrase used by GNC leaders since we pick up kids in a bus :o)

Monday Madness

Hey friends!

Hope you had a nice weekend and Palm Sunday! I cannot believe that Easter is this Sunday- and that we are in the 4th quarter of school!! Where does time go?!

I wanted to share something cool called Groupon! Groupon is a cool way to save money on different restaurants in your community. One week we got a coupon for Far East Nashville- yum! I think it was a buy $40 in food for $20. The latest deal is buy $10 of ice cream at Maggie Moo's for $5! Check it out!

Be blessed today!

Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Love,

Lily :o)

So what is Bubble Tea?

In response to Bekah's question, here is a post about bubble tea!

From: http://bubbletea.com/

Bubble drinks are usually cool, refreshing, and a sweet drink with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. Sometimes the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavoring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. And if you like it like the Asians do, the cool drink usually includes a healthy tea, infused by a flavoring.

Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, the color varies. I've been told that the white and translucent pearls are made of caramel, starch and chamomile root extract. The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which add the black color.

The consistency of tapioca pearls are somewhere between jell-o and chewing gum. They are the size of a marble.

A clear cup with black balls on the bottom can easily identify bubble Tea drinks. Another obvious trait is a huge fat straw. The fat straw is needed so that the tapioca pearls can be sucked up with the drink and eaten. Bubble Tea's appearance definitely makes it unique.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from recent happenings!

I love this picture and these girls! Some of my dear friends! (missing Maddie who was taking the picture and other Mako girls who could not make it) We had a Mako HS girls' photo shoot with Maddie, an amazing photographer, and one of our divers! She is awesome!
Wow- after a storm one day we were reminded of God's promise to us!

Ariel
A collage I made for lit class- symbols of my life

My dear sisters!

Julia as Sissy from Carol Burnett's Gone with the Wind

Cutest thing ever!!! The Brady Bunch! Julia is Alice (middle) and Cara is Cindy (bottom left)

My dear friend Mara! I love her! She is a great friend!! (for more about the adventures of Lily and Mara, see the Hopi/bubble tea/chasing a cat post :o) We played dress up! (nevermind that she is a senior and I'm a freshman! We had FUN! :D)

Love,

Lily :o)

Book Review Friday and other thoughts

Hey friends!

I have not blogged much this week- whoops!

Well, school started back yesterday... I was very sad for spring break to end! It was a nice taste of summer though! Anyway, I was not very excited about having to go back to school, but had a great day! My day included laughing for five straight minutes in lit lab: smack the table, all of us crying, and stomach hurt kind of laughing :o) It was great! :o) Now what were we laughing about?! :o)

Last night Nana, Julia, and I watched the new Pride and Prejudice and had ice cream! Ahhhh soooo good!!! I love it!! We also saw a gorgeous double rainbow after the storm! I will hopefully post a pic soon! It was amazing- and such a great reminder of God's promise!

Mom and Dad are coming home from Utah tomorrow! They have sent us lots of picture messages (love that unlimited! :o) so it has been so fun to see pictures of where they are!

Our Start Here books came on Wednesday!! I have already started it!

Book Review

This week for school we read a play by Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun. My rating: (1-10) 4

Yup, this was definitely not my favorite book! This book did have really great symbolism, though. It is a story about a poor African American family in Chicago in the 1950s. This family consists of Mama (Lena), son Walter Jr, his wife Ruth, and their son Travis, and Lena's second child, Beneatha. Walter Sr., the dad, has died and the family is waiting to get the insurance money of $10,000. All of them have dreams deferred- being a doctor, being rich, being happy, having a big house, etc. In the end they realize they need to stick together as a family. This book would have been much better without Walter Jr. spouting trashy words every other sentence, though this was part of his characterization. I did not care much for that. :P

Lily :o)

Talent Show, bubble tea, chasing a cat, and Hopi Indians

Hey friends!

Well, New Song's annual Talent Showcase was last night! So fun! The girls were awesome! We are at Nana and Papa's but at some point I'll upload some pics and videos! Julia was great as Cher (from Sonny and Cher)- Mom, Dad, Nana, and Papa were laughing the whole time! :o)

Last night my dear friend Mara came with us to the Talent Show and spent the night! Dad took us to get bubble tea at a place called Fat Straw in Edgehill Village. Yum! The tapioca balls were very interesting... ;o)

When our neighbors a couple of houses down go out of town, we watch their cat. Ariel is a nice lil kitty. Last night Mara and I went to put her in the garage early since we would not be home till 10. Ariel had other plans. Those plans apparently included me and Mara- who is a true friend- (I was barefoot so as not to ruin my cute shoes haha- we were both all dressed up for the talent show) chasing Ariel through the woods for 30 mins. Good times! (great Oldies- haha Mara this is for you!) Anyway, we could not get her. So I called Mr. Rick, who was the backup for when we could not take care of her, and he somehow convinced Ariel into the garage later. It was quite an exciting adventure!

All I could picture was Anne and Diana chasing a cow through the muddy field... :o)

Well more later! The girlies are going to bed so I best run. More including the Hopi, photo shoots, and more. :o)

Love,

Lily :o)

Future posts

Hey friends!

I am going to post about each of my "Websites I like" links so you can know more about them.

• Free Christian Music
• Johnny Farese
• LION of Zambia
• Masterpiece Theatre
• MoneySavingMom
• MTHEA Makos
• Nashville Do Hard Things conference
• Our Church
• PluggedInOnline
• RBCN on SermonAudio
• Rebelution
• Skype
• SolidJoys
• Special Saturday
• SUSIE Mag for Teen Girls
• Symphony Program- go for free!
• Wildwood
• WNAZ 89.1 Radio

W

Tonight is New Song's Talent Show! Mara is coming with us!

Love,

Lily :o)

W

Money Saving Mom

We love Money Saving Mom! I have gotten so many fun freebies from her site. A current freebie is a free photo strip from Shutterfly's new Wink! Check it out! On Wednesday I got a free little tube of Burt's Bees new toothpaste and a cute little sample of a body wash. Once I even got a free roll of toilet paper! :o) Not only does she list freebies, but coupons, recipes, guest posts, craft ideas- it's awesome! Check it out!

Fun at the Graves!

Today Julia and I went to hang out with Ms. Lydia, Elijah, and Haven at their house! We had many fun adventures including the library and Sonic. :o) We ate yummy food and had lots of fun playing!! Elijah to Julia- "You come back here after church?" "No, we are going to go back to our house." "Oooh, stay a while longer!" As soon as he woke up from his nap, he was ready to play! "Where Julia, Mama? Ready to play!!" :o) Haven was also very happy and cheerful- especially swinging! :o)

Haven and Elijah both loved reading books and were very attentive listeners! Here are some pics; the first one turned out a little better :o)

Thanks so much for having us! We had so much fun!

Love,

Lily :o)

Wonderful Merciful Savior

From Ms. Dawn Wyse:

a doctor in haiti sent Eric and me this youtube video that he took after the earthquake. I can't believe he took time to track us down, but he wanted us to see this. I hope it blesses you all as much as it did me.

Dear Dawn and Eric-- The girl in bed is 14 years old and had an appendectomy a few days earlier. She was kept over in the unit because of a complication but recovered well. She had witnessed the deaths of several nearby patients. There were 22 patients in our tent unit, which was classified as the ICU for the University Hospital compound. I was helping run the unit for the International Medical Corp, it was about 105 degrees midday inside. There was no privacy. The people never complained and were always calm. They taught me the meaning of "Blessed are the poor". For the first time I admired impoverished people. I had told the girl she looked well enough to go home but she had to wait for clearance by a surgeon and had found a surgeon from Duke to come by and was examining other patients. Their soft three part harmony could be heard several patients away and was so beautiful I had to record it, the patient, her sister and mother granted my wish. I had no idea it was a song of faith and since they speak french it took a little while to sink in what they were singing. When I understood they were praising Jesus and they were so content I had to fight back tears. These are a resilient people, strong, beautiful and unassuming. My two weeks in Haiti were exhausting and a mini eternity. One day I got to work in a clinic 45 minutes from the Univ. Hosp. Along the road there was not a moment the devastation wasn't apparent. Expressions of faith were seen on buses and heard from town squares, the churches were overflowing, their faith preceded the earthquake. Your song was a high point of my trip and pretty well provided its theme and I can't get it out of my head. I have shown it to many people on who ask about the trip, bringing it up on the phone. Thank you. --Chris Ryckman, M.D.--(Chris)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_-VsKwEKk or see below

P.S. to the Memphis post

I forgot to say that on the way home from Memphis Dad and I counted license plates from 25 different states! And we saw the last three in Green Hills! :o)

Sea Monkeys

Julia is our "little farmer." She always has something green and cheery growing somewhere around our house! She is also our main pet caretaker. Very sadly, the last of our crabs died this week. But Julia has a new pet venture! Sea monkeys! (Google 'em if you are curious!)

Now that you are probably thinking that the Scotts have reached the bottom of pets :o), we are having fun with them! They will probably get as big as 3/4 of an inch. As Mom said, "we are getting closer and closer to having the ideal loser pet." Haha. Most people have dogs or cats but the Scotts have crabs and sea monkeys. :o)

Our sea monkeys are babies and can only be seen swimming through the water with a flashlight right now. But, we have a microscope so have been looking at them! Cara decided they look like hammerhead sharks. :o)

Mom, the biology expert :o), was curious to know what the class/order the sea monkeys are in so here it is: Species: Artemia salina Family: Artemiidae Order: Anostraca Class: Branchiopoda Subphylum Crustacae Phylum: Athropoda Kingdom:Animalia

Checkin' out the sea monkeys
I know this looks doubtful- but trust me! There are lots of lil sea monkeys in here :o)

Memphis!

Dad and I got to go on a very fun father-daughter trip to Memphis this past Wednesday-Friday! It was so much fun!!

We went to:

-Graceland (which I- surprisingly- really enjoyed!)

-the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks

-the Pink Palace Museum, saw two great IMAX movies at the Pink Palace Museum (one about the Alps and the other about Lewis and Clark)

-the Civil Rights Museum

-rode the trolley (and got laughed at for accidentally being on the trolley that just goes up and down the same street :o)

-drove over to Arkansas

We ate at Rendezvous the first night and had ribs- yum! We ate at the Flying Fish the second night- fried seafood and fries- one night which was good. On Friday afternoon we ate at Hueys- burgers and fries. It was all very tasty!

I really enjoyed getting to spend time with dear Dad!

I also learned about the SEC and NCAA basketball tournaments! ;) But on the way home I had Disney trivia time with Dad! haha poor Dad :o)

Here are some pictures! More to come!

THE weirdest store ever. They have EVERYTHING! It was crazy!!!

In the movie room at Graceland :o) (This made me think of Hannah W :o)
On the roof of the hotel! It was super windy!
Another mirror picture at Graceland

By the ducks at the Peabody!

The Lorraine Motel- the wreath is where MLK Jr. was shot

At the A Schwab on Beale Street- the crazy store! :)

The Pink Palace Museum- not very pink haha
At the A Schwab
Jacqueline Smith has been protesting the Civil Rights Museum for (when we were there) 22 years and 48 days. Wow.
The Lorraine Motel
Rendezvous BBQ!

Yum!
Dad said it was like a smile :o)
Going back into Memphis
Another rooftop picture- we went up there at least twice every day! :o)
A trolley

I was lovin' the Vera at the Peabody! hee hee :)
View of Memphis by night from the roof- so pretty!!

Well, this was a long post! Thanks for bearing with me :o)

Love,

Lily :o)

Tuesday Thoughts

Hey friends!

Today I: went shopping at Kohls and got some really cute clothes (including a banquet dress- see pics!), went with Mom, Dad, and Cara to Far East Nashville for dinner (YUM!), FINALLY figured out how to work the dumb ole DVD player (or um Dad taught me how... :o), and am going to Memphis tomorrow with Dad! Yay!

Here are some pics from my phone... please try to get past the fact I look kind of strange in the second one with the angle... :o) haha :o)

Dinner at Far East Nashville!

Here is the dress I'll probably wear to banquet... :o) (the blue one)
These dresses are so fun!!

Love,

Lily :o)

So what is the Rebelution?

So, what is the Rebelution? Why do I wear a tshirt that says Do Hard Things? What is all this about me being the publicity captain for a conference? I mean, aren't I just 15? Isn't planning a conference for adults to do? And why would I want to do hard things? Why should I go out of my comfort zone?

The Rebelution is a movement. It is a teenage rebellion against low expectations. It is going against the common thinking that teenage years are just years to waste. Very often if a teenager is being a slacker or not doing what's right, people will say, "Oh, well they are just a teenager." I remember when I turned 13, Mom (jokingly) said, "So, are you going to start slamming doors?" ;) Most people think of teenagers as rebellious people- in an awkward stage between childhood and adulthood.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. It is an awesome book, and very motivational! They are very soon publishing their follow-up book, Start Here, which we have already ordered! This second book is the application to their Do Hard Things book.

So what is the Rebelution?

Alex and Brett Harris, authors of the Do Hard Things book, put it in a great way!

The official definition of the 'rebelution' is "a teenage rebellion against low expectations." When you look around today, our culture does not expect much of us young people. We are not only expected to do very little that is wise or good, but we're expected to do the opposite. Our media-saturated youth culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations.

The word 'rebelution' is a combination of the words "rebellion" and "revolution." So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it's not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It's a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious, and apathetic culture. Actually, we like to think of it asrebelling against rebellion.

And it's exciting, because the Rebelution has become a type of counter-cultural youth movement among young people from around the world, who are not only rejecting the lies of popular youth culture, but they're returning to biblical and historical levels of character and competence.

In 1 Timothy 4:12, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." In other words, as young people we are called to be exemplary in all areas of life. Our generation is falling incredibly short of that calling. Instead of serving as the launching pad of life, the teen years are seen as a vacation from responsibility. We call it the "myth of adolescence." And the Rebelution is all about busting that myth.

Our battle cry is just three words, but it's an explosive concept: Do Hard Things. That's it. And "do hard things" is a mentality. It's a mentality that flies right in the face of low expectations. The world says, "You're young, have fun!" It tells us to "obey your thirst" and "just do it." Or it tells us, "You're great! You don't need to exert yourself." But those kinds of mindsets sabotage character and competence.

Do Hard Things is just the opposite. It's how we build character and competence. It won't drop to meet the low expectations, it won't just do what comes easily, and it won't become complacent. It applies no matter who you are or what level you're on, because there's always something harder to do, something that will take you outside your comfort zone and cause you to grow.

The Rebelution is made up of three fundamental parts. We've talked about character andcompetence. The third is collaboration. It's not enough for us to be individual exceptions. We have to create a counterculture. We do that is by networking and encouraging one another in our common cause. That's what the Rebelution has become. When you have a community of young people committed to doing hard things for the glory of God and the good of others, that's an incredibly powerful thing.

Are you interested now in the Rebelution? :o) Guess what?! A conference is coming to Nashville!

So about me, a 15 year old teenager, being the publicity captain: Going with their theme, DO HARD THINGS, this conference is for teenagers by teenagers! Here are some of the numbers from past conferences:

The Rebelution's Do Hard Things Tour came to seven major cities across the United States in 2008 -- Charlotte, Portland, Denver, Minneapolis, Dallas, Des Moines, and Washington, D.C. We're not about the numbers, but we love to share numbers that show God is working in our generation:

• 16,200 teens, parents, and youth workers reached in 2008, up from 4,200 in 2007.


• 14-year-olds worked with Convention Centers, 15-year-olds manned $50,000 robotic cameras, 16-year-olds managed grassroots publicity, 9-year-olds ran Audience Response Technology, etc. These were events for teens, by teens.


• 8,800 miles: The farthest distance traveled to attend. Represented were Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and 43 of the 50 states.


• 500 bold professions of faith in Jesus Christ with every head up and every eye open.


• 3,200 attendees at the final conference outside Washington, D.C.

Mom, Lily, Julia, and Jenny all went to a conference in June 2009- wow! It was amazing!

Well, this was definitely a long blog post!

I will post more about the conference!

If I did not answer any questions you may have about the Rebelution please comment!

And I highly suggest that you check out the Rebelution website and the book!

Blessings!

Lily :o)

We are all playing in the Honor's Recital tonight! 7 PM at Lipscomb's Collins Auditorium! It's free and there will be a reception following. :o) Love Lily :o)

Hey friends! Well, I am done with my solo! 1 down 3 to go! God gave me strength to get through! I am posting from my phone! Check back soon! Love Lily :o)

SPRING BREAK!

Hello friends!

WHOO HOO!!!!!!!! I am now on spring break for two weeks!!! Celebration time!!! :D This means that I will be blogging more often! :o)

Today was a good day! I had all my work done by 11:30 last night- yeah!! :P This afternoon we had a lab at Lipscomb- we dissected a shark and a sheep brain.

This Saturday we have a big piano competition- please pray for us!

Check back for more soon! Future blog posts include: the truths behind homeschooling, so what is the rebelution?, why i love swimming and the makos, books i love, movies that are worth grabbing a friend and some popcorn, and more!

Be blessed today!!

Lily :o)

Some recent pictures:

Lily and two matching Valentines- Olivia and Megan :o)
One of the most amazing gifts ever!!! I taught some piano group lessons after Ms. Kathy had her surgery and she gave this very fun box of candy to me as a thank you.
Lily and more very cute Valentines!
Lily and Baby Haven :o)
A very cute picture of Cara by Dad
A picture of cute Julia I took

Tuesday Thoughts

Hey friends!

Check out the new template from Smitten Blog Designs! You can get really cute, free templates from Smitten Blog Designs!

You can also see more cute, free templates at The Cutest Blog on the Block.

Lily :o)

Monday Madness

Hey friends!

Just a note that I will not be blogging a whole lot this week. With school and piano I will be one busy chick! :o)

After this Thurs I will be on spring break for two weeks!!! Celebrations!!!! :D

Check back soon for more!

Thanks for reading!!!

Lily :o)