2011 :: In Pictures :: Part 1

2011 :: in pictures!

Coming soon --- 2011 :: In Thanks and 2011 :: In Words

{Note: I made a folder on iPhoto with photos from 2011 I wanted to include. How many were there? 217= craziness! So since I don't have enough time to post all 217, you don't have time to look at 217 pictures, and the post probably can't hold that many, I'll post the highlights and maybe some links :)}

 Rang in the 2011 New Year with these lovely ladies (+Jenny, Julia, and Elaina Joy)

 Annual Mako HS Girls' Party at the Cheesecake Factory!

 Mirror pic in Claire's!

Second home - ISC!

Regionals

 Sweet and beloved sisters of mine!

 Dear friend!

 Hannah on her birthday! I miss having her as my roomie!

 Pottery paintin' with my Mako girlies! (+Beth)

 Valentine's Day watching Emma with my girlies- yes please!

 Chem lab partners!

 Annual BOTB!

 Pretty sister

 Picnic!

 The dear Dad!

 Sweet Ceces! (+Mom)

 Pretending that I play harp... :)

 MTHEA Teen Banquet! (here are soooo many fab pictures from this evening! Check out my posts here and the talented MadelinePhotography pics here)

 Love them!

 Theophili!

 This is a picture of my room during the time we didn't have electricity for five days....

 Tea with my dear Nana!

 Chem class!

 Fam night out at the Symphony

 Easter!

 Easter with Papa and Polly Jane!

 Polly Jane and Lydia!

 Crazy side of chem lab partners :)

 Senior toast!

 White Queen

 Health class!

 World lit!

 Algebra 2!

 Julia's 8th grade graduation!

 Mom and Julia and the beautiful cake they made!

 MTHEA 2011 Graduation!

Part 2... coming soon!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that you have had a fabulous day celebrating the birth of our Savior, surrounded by family, friends, and dear ones! 

Jesus came as a little baby into our fallen world. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross for OUR sins, and rose again. He is now seated at the right hand of the Most High King!

The best present we could ever receive is the gift of life that God offers to us. He offers us the FREE gift of salvation! Though ipods, trips, computers, cameras, and toys are wonderful, none compare to the gift of life God gives to us. 

Thank you, Lord, for the best present of all. May we keep our eyes on You!

Love and blessings,

Lily

A few links...

~Luke 2

~Guy dancing in public with an iPod: Christmas Edition (filmed in Green Hills and Cool Springs!)

~My new blog: for such a time as this.

~my other tumblr: life with lily.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

One Thousand Gifts:: Take Twenty-Nine

928-961

928. Christmas break!

929. fun Christmas parties

930. fun friends to celebrate with

931. dear friends in for the weekend

932. Apple's super impressive and very awesome customer service

933. finding parking spots in the crazy Christmas season

934. safety when I'm driving

935. shopping with the fam

936. a dear and wonderful friend and her mom visiting our church when I was having a rough day

937. hanging out with great friends

938. the dear and amazing friends that I have been blessed with

939. Advent

940. Pandora

941. spending three hours searching for a specific gift and finally finding it

942. my family's love

943. family game night

944. swim meets

945. precal at Starbucks

946. being DONE with exams!

947. a good first semester

948. a dear sister willing to edit 70+ pictures for me

949. that sister getting up at 5:30 one morning to decorate the tree

950. being proud of a sister in a performance

951. Pinterest :)

952. getting to see and hold a precious new baby girl (!!)
953. the gift of life
954. being able to go to prayer meeting
955. poinsettias, egg nog, and peppermint ice cream

956. our dear church family
957. playing every week with amazing musicians
958. fellowship
959. celebrating Christ's birth on a Sunday

960. that Jesus came as a baby to a fallen earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for MY sins, rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of God. Thank you, Lord, for such a gift!

961. "Silent Night"

Silent night! holy night!All is calm all is brightround yon virgin mother and childHoly infant so tender and mildsleep in heavenly peace!
Silent night! holy night!Shepherds quake at the sightglories stream from heaven afarheavenly hosts sing HallelujahChrist the Saviour is born!
Silent night! holy night!Son of God love's pure lightradiant beams from thy holy facewith the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord at thy birth.

Be blessed!

Merry Christmas!

Lily

Where is my identity found?

Lecrae:: "Identity"

I’m not the shoes I wear, I’m not the clothes I buy. I’m not the house I live in, I’m not the car I drive. I’m not the job I work. You you can’t define my worth.

My identity is found in CHRIST.

The past few days in numbers

Taking a quick study break to write a post! I am sad to be missing Walk Thru Bethlehem :'( My Spanish final is 8-10 tomorrow.

Here are the past few days in numbers...

-16.5 hours of sleep from Wednesday night to Saturday morning
-2 fun friends hanging out
-2 exams
-2 Spanish study sessions
-0 meals at home (Mom is out of town :( - and I have been gone)
-3 meals at Chickfila
-1 celebration day of my dear friend Joelle!! (I love you!!)
-1 trip to Opryland- so pretty!
-1 dance recital- everyone was amazing!
-1 Mako HS party- so fun!
-2 swim meets- one HS and one MS
-1 trip to Murfreesboro for the HS swim meet (Makos won!)
-1 regional cut (!!)
-2 seconds dropped on my 100 breaststroke
-2 awesome coaches
-1 most stressful meet of my life (not even kidding)
-1 tank of gas
-2 stopwatches as head timer (magic words: "I was a swim coach" :)
-1 JB song stuck in my head all day yesterday
-4 more days of school
-2 weeks till Christmas
-1 dearly missed mama while she is in Miami for our cousin's wedding (so sad we couldn't go!) :(
-3 more exams (one tomorrow, one due Thursday, one on Thursday)
-0 presents I have bought... (I have a bunch of shopping to do!)
-1 very fun but crazy-busy weekend!
-Several good chats with Julia

-LOTS of dear and fun friends!

-1 tired girl who is ready for break!

Lily

One Thousand Gifts:: Take Twenty-Eight

901-

901. my wonderful church
902. our fabulous church family
903. a super spectacular Christmas Spectacular!
904. dear ones who put in a lot of work

905. poems, a play, songs, duets, piano, harp, guitar, and more
906. super cute costumes
907. spunky little sheep
908. adorable kids

909. worshipping the King together
910. Christmas music
911. Christmas sermons (can you tell I really get into the Christmas spirit? :)
912. dear friends

913. good chats with dear women
914. 41 people in our house, fed, in 24 hours
915. my AMAZING mom
916. lots of fun friends

917. my teacher leading a study session
918. yummy food
919. happy Christmas plates, mugs, and cups
920. fruit of lots of Spanish studying

921. celebrating the births of several dear, dear friends this week- I am so thankful for you all!

922. laughter
923. egg nog and peppermint ice cream
924. my Spanish class
925. peace that God has my future in His hands

926. peace and joy when I am thankful

927. Verse of the week from Keith Beauchemin:

Psalm 77:1

"I cried out to God with my voice --
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me."

God's ear is always ready to hear the cries of his children.  If you read verses 
2-10 you will see that the psalmist was in despair.  He questioned whether God's 
mercy had ceased, his promises had failed (vs 7) and whether God had forgotten 
to be gracious.  He believed that God had not heard his prayers.  


What changed?  What gave him hope again?  He remembered God's past works of 
redemption (vs 11-20).  Then he began to see that GoD was magnificent and 
glorious.

Our present circumstances can often warp our perception of God.  If we look at 
God's past works of redemption in the lives of his people and in our own life, 
then we will again start to marvel at the greatness of our God.  Then we realize 
that he does hear the cries of his people and so in faith I must believe that he 
hears my cries.

Peace and blessings to you,

Lily

One Thousand Gifts:: Take Twenty-Seven

854-900

854. my dear family! I love you!!

855. family outings

856. breakfast or lunch with Dad (he takes each girl out for lunch or breakfast on Saturdays!)

857. homeschooling

858. the Academy

859. amazing teachers who love us and want us to succeed

860. our wonderful Academy family

861. Thursdays

862. swing dances

863. much-needed chat time with dear friends

864. physics labs

865. long walk with Dad on Thanksgiving

866. wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family

867. midnight shopping with my favorite shopping buddy- Mom!

868. Black Friday shopping

869. my study hall clean-up crew

870. their willingness to get down on their hands and knees and scrub the muddy floor with me

871. cheerful and hard workers

872. class discussions

873. laughing all day

874. spanish studying with a sweet new friend

875. my spanish class!

876. last test before the spanish final= done!

877. "So where do you go to school?" "Umm... uhh actually I'm homeschooled..." and then the person tells me a ton of homeschoolers we both know

878. trying to explain the whole dual enrollment thing :)

879. an awesome Thanksgiving break

880. Christmas music!

881. Pandora

882. playing Christmas carols on the piano

883. the Christmas Spectacular tomorrow!

884. my Mako girlies

885. our awesome lane

886. FIST BUMP

887. lots of fun and laughter amidst hard practices

888. interviewing a sweet neighbor for a Spanish assignment
889. Christmas lights
890. lights up outside
891. pizza night when we go buy the tree
892. tree shopping
893. celebrating a dear friend

894. joy because of Christ
895. grace in difficult times
896. lessons the Lord is teaching me
897. peace that His plans are best
898. peace that He has a plan for my life and future

899. a new schedule that is changing my life (!!) called the Pomodoro technique! (ask me about it!)

900. Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

What are you thankful for this week?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, this week will be filled with lots of final studying... Only TWO MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL TILL CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!!! (can you tell I'm excited?! :D)

Love,

Lily

Christmas Songs

{Belated} Thanksgiving post coming soon!

I love Christmas music! So much! I can only listen to it around November-early January. I can't listen to it before. haha.

Here are some of my favorite Christmas songs!

~I just bought "Christmas in Diverse City" by TobyMac and friends during Black Friday shopping! It was $5 at LifeWay! I am LOVING it!

You can sample it here.

I especially love "Christmas This Year" (TobyMac and Leigh Nash), "The First Noel" (TobyMac and Owl City [!!]), and "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (TobyMac). Check it out!!

~"For Unto Us" by Point of Grace. You can see it performed here or sample it on iTunes here (#9).

~"The Christmas Song: Chestnuts" - Justin Bieber :) Hear it here.

~"Angels We Have Heard on High" - Charmaine. Listen to it here.

Enjoy! :)


What are your favorite Christmas songs?


Love,

Lily

Friday

We are on Thanksgiving break!! Whoo hoo!! LU and Whitver have all of next week off :)

~Starbucks is doing the fabulous buy one get one free holiday drink deal again! November 17-20 ~ 2-5 pm.


~I am loving the new Coldplay album!

Here are my favorites:



(also check out the cute official music video here)




(check out the official music video here)




Here is Mike Tompkins' acapella version of Paradise:




I love Clocks:



What music are you currently enjoying?

~ Lily

Verse of the Week ~ from Keith Beauchemin

I needed this today.

II Cor. 1:3,4

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

There are many reasons why God brings trials into our lives.  In this passage Paul reveals two of those reasons.  Last week we looked at the first reason which is so we can experience the comfort of our God who is the "Father of mercies and the God of all comfort."

The second purpose is so that we can comfort others who are experiencing trials.  This is God's pattern:  he brings trials into our lives, then he comforts us, then we see a brother or sister suffering and God uses us as his instrument to comfort them.  God brings trials into our lives not only so we can sympathize with the sufferings of our brethren, but also to equip us to reach out to them with the comfort of God.

You see God's most common way of comforting his people is by bringing other people to minister comfort to them.

How can I comfort my brother or sister?  Paul gives the answer, "comfort those in trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves were comforted by God."  Maybe you were comforted by the verse a brother shared with you, a meal, the prayers of the brethren, a hug, a card or note, or a visit in the hospital. Whatever it may have been, the point is that most of the time God uses his people as his hands and feet to comfort others.

So, as we have been comforted by God, let us look for opportunities to comfort 
others.

11:11:11 on 11.11.11

Random Thoughts

~ It is fall! The leaves are falling, the weather is chilly, and scarves and coats are everywhere. This is the weather for hot chocolate and pumpkin spice lattes.

~ One more week till Thanksgiving break!! :)

~ Today was my fourth Spanish exam! I am loving LU and my Spanish class! I love my professor and have loved getting to know people in the my class and the class after mine.

~ Went to see Straight No Chaser at the Ryman with some dear friends last night! It was fabulous! They are such a fun group! Check out their "12 Days of Christmas" video below!



~ This picture made me laugh:

~ Quote:
"When I look at culture, I see we have so many gifts given to us that allow us to be lazy. I’ve heard it said that any culture that makes ease its goal has already begun its demise—I can’t think of any nation where this would be more relevant than my own. The United States has become the culture of comfort—growth, strength and beauty are not things that come from comfort. They are refined qualities that are brought to the surface often by pain or trial. … All of us, myself included, have a tendency to be caught up in hype. But the Gospel is about being humble to the point where you’re willing to pick up your cross and daily pursue a communion with this gracious God who loves the world."

— Switchfoot’s frontman Jon Foreman 

~ Tonight is the Academy's swing dance... I am excited!

~ I love Whitver. It is the best.

~ This video is so cute:




 ~ We had a swim meet last Thursday- the Irish Relays! The Irish Relays meet is SO FUN. Everything is a relay! There's no pressure to make cuts and it's everyone's first meet. The Makos won :) Probably the most exciting races: the TSHIRT RELAYS!!! I helped with the transitions! We had a team in the first heat and a team in the last heat- and we got 1st and 2nd overall!! It was amazing!! Whoo hoo Go Makos!


~We had another swim meet on Monday- we lost by four points :( It was a super close and fun meet! It was fun to see our Wildwood/BHS friends :) I missed my breaststroke regional cut by .01. :p I went a 1:30:00 and the cut is 1:29:99. SO SAD! But I will hopefully make it next time :)


~HOMESCHOOL MAKO SHARK.

~Today I am thankful for all of the men and women who have sacrificed for our country!!

Love,

Lily

It Is Well With My Soul

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well, with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well, with my soul,
     It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

(lyrics from here)