beautiful blogger award.

Thank you to Ireland for awarding me!!! :)

Rules:
1. Link back to the person who gave you the award (done!)
2. Answer the questions

Questions:
1. Why did you start a blog, and why are you continuing it?
I started a blog when I was nine because my friend had a blog. I continue it because I have "met" some really cool people through blogging ;)
2. Describe a usual day of your life.
Everyday is different - especially in the summer. Yesterday I went swimming at Faith's friend's house, a couple days ago I was in Salem. Most of the time, I don't know what I'm doing on a certain day until it just happens! That's how I roll ;)

3. Best collaboration with a blogger?
I don't know... there are so many! Aunie always responds to comments, so she's always really nice... Lizzy sent me a friend request once, and that was the first blogger I ever "met." So there are a ton.

4. The worst collaboration with a blogger?
The worst is probably when someone stopped following me...

5. Explain what having this blog means to you.
I can share my thoughts, photography, style, etc. with a bunch of people. Then, I can "meet" those people! :D

Now I award five bloggers!!!
{1} Britt
{2} Aunie
{3} Lizzy
{4} Faith
{5} Emma

from blog life to real life link up.

1. Do you have any real-life blog friends?

Yes! Polkie!

She and I have known each other since the third grade (I think...). We also went to school together for about two years. She was the person who told me about blogging!

2. Which Blogger are you dying to meet?

There are a few... ;)

Ireland from A Pearl of Great Price

Emma from Beautiful

Britt from Encouragement for Everyday Struggles




Sophie from My Happy Place




Jocee from the Cupcake Dictionary




Lizzie from ~Lizzie Photography~




Aunie from Aunie Sauce

3. Which Blogger's closet do you want to raid?

Aunie. Definitely Aunie.

4. You are stuck on an island. Who would you want with you to help you survive?

Hmm.... tricky one. Probably Britt.






5. The first blogger you connected with?

That would be Lizzie! :)




6. Any blogger that you admire and look up to?

Nadia from Lilies Among Thorns.


7. Who is the craziest/funniest blogger?

Hm..... Amber can be crazy! :)

8. There's a reality television show for bloggers, who would you want to be casted with you?

Probably Emma... we seem to be a lot alike!





9. Would you swap careers with any blogger?

Well... considering I am 12 and have no career at this point...

Nope:)


10. Favorite blog design?

Oh gosh.... they are all awesome! Aunie Sauce is probably my fav.

Head over to The Magnolia Pair and link up!

a break.

I have homework and finals.... so I will be taking a break from bloggin' for a couple weeks!

Lamb Show was super fun... more about that later!

letters.

dear bff,
thanks for always being there. when people started to make fun of me at camp, you stood up for me. that time i sneaked into your neighbors yard, you told me that i shouldnt, but i didnt listen. then when your dad saw me, you took the blame. you do your best to agree with what i say. and, until the third grade, you let me believe that santa claus was real. youre awesome.

dear someone,
you drive me crazy, ya know? am i annoying to you, or am i a good friend? speak up, dude!

dear 4h leader,
one word describes you: awesome. i love ya! you have been helping me develop my talents since i was nine. you drove me to fair everyday when my mom had younger kids and couldnt just leave at six a.m. you let me ride your horses. you even let my lamb stay at your house, and you feed him in the morning!

dear piano teacher,
first of all, congratulations! you are going to have a baby this week! im sure the little girls are gonna be a big help with taking care of him (although the two year old told me she wouldnt go near his diaper). thanks for helping me prepare for my recital on june 8th, even when you were eight months+ pregnant!

dear readers,
like my lower case post? :) thank you so much for reading {growing up grace}. its because of you that i blog. you guys are amazing!

dear jocee,
thanks for the inspiration to do this "letters post"! i love your letters to eli, and im sad hes gone. i look forward to more of your posts!

Here is Jocee's button!

having a crush on someone ( a repost).

This was re-posted from Beloved Star by permission from Nela.

Honestly, haven't we all had that feeling before?
Let's say that you have this really great guy friend since childhood, and as you both get older you start to notice him far more as you did when you were younger. Then from out of the blue, you find yourself actually liking him! Has that ever happened to you?
Or maybe one day at church a new family comes to visit and they have a son that's close to your age, and suddenly you can't stop thinking about him?

I'll admit it can be hard sometimes to keep our relationships with our guy friends as brothers in Christ.
Some find it easy to do, while others...eh, not so much.

So here are top 5 ways of keeping yourself emotionally checked when it comes to dealing with crushes.

#1. Don't be flirty around them
It can be hard to keep our emotions checked when we're around our crush. Sometimes you can't help but do something to get their attention. Instead treat them with respect and honor, and don´t go over board by showing too much attention to any particular guy.

#2. Dress modestly around them
Now girls, we should all know that guys see us differently than other girls do. It can be hard for a guy to keep his thoughts emotionally pure if you're dressed "immodestly" in front of him. So why don't we help our brothers in Christ out by dressing and acting in a Christ-like modest way?

#3. Support your local chivalry
When a guy offers to do something nice to you, accept their offer with grace and gratitude. As godly ladies we are to encourage our brothers in Christ to be gentlemen and to ready to assist those in need.
And try not to let any of that chivalry go unnoticed! Remember to say thank-you, and perhaps tell them how much you appreciate their help. :)

#4. Be kind
As Jordan from Blimey Cow once said, "Don't be nice to him just because he's the guy that you like, be nice to him because you're nice to everybody." Couldn't have said it better myself. ;)

#5. Be yourself
If he's the right guy for you, then he will like you for who you are. Not for who you pretend to be. It's better to be true to who you are than to lie to others about what you're really like.

Well there you have it! 5 easy steps to treating your guy friends as brothers in Christ.
Hope these tips were helpful to you. :)

_____________________________________________________

A note from me, Grace;)

I decided to ask Nela if I could repost this because I know this is what a ton of girls struggle with - how to handle a crush! If you have a crush, remember to keep your mind pure. See them as a friend instead of a "boyfriend," especially if you are younger, like me. I believe that dating as a preteen or early teen--which is very popular--is not okay.

COMING UP ON GROWING UP GRACE: A letters post, inspired by Jocee

cute hair ideas for this summer, part one.

When someone says, "Summer," I think, More time to experiment with hair and makeup!

One of my favorite blogs, Girls for God (a fashion blog by a Christian girl) always has cute summer fashion and hair ideas! I tried some out, and loved them! I'd like to show ya! (But I also have my own ideas, so this is going to take two posts. Be on the look out for part two!)

Know what Girls for God said? Toothpaste gets rid of zits!!! Gotta try that out... anyone with me?

Sorry. Getting side-tracked.

Another good hair blog is Bye Bye Beehive!

Anyway, here are some of my favorite ways to do my hair! This post will be more simpler ways to put up hair...
.

Barbie Pony Tails from side and back

Half Up Half Down But Mostly Down

Almost Like a Braid But Not Really

Braid in the Pony

the versatile blogger award.

Thank you to David for awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award!
*Quick Edit* I just fixed the link to David's blog!

Rules (there's rules in the blogging world, too?! :))
1. Thank David (done!)
2. Say 7 things about myself
3. Award 15 people this award

Seven Things
1. I play the piano (five years) and the guitar (three months)
2. I own four rabbits, two fish, and a lamb
3. I cannot wait to be 14 (a year and a half to go!)
4. When I go to college, I want to major in business and take photography & graphic design classes
5. Many people think that I am fifteen
6. When I go to camp, I tell everyone that my name is Alex
7. I am guest posting at this blog soon

15 People
1. Emma
2. Lizzie
3. Aunie
4. Ireland
5. Bailey
6. Brooke
7. Amber
8. Felicia
9. Sierra
10. Faith (aka lil' sis)
and the first five people to comment on this post!

i bet you didnt know these things about me.

1. As of March 31st, I have a lamb named Noodles. {Pictures coming soon!}

2. As of a couple weeks ago, I have my own room. {Again, pictures coming soon!}

3. I am very sorry I have not blogged. {Very VERY sorry:(}

4. My little sister participated in the 2012 Miss Outstanding Teen program as a Princess. {GO FAITH!!! Her teen got first runner-up :D}

5. I have a blog called {growing up grace}. You should look at it sometime.

new week new blog {week nine}.

This week's new blog is A Pearl of Great Price, by Ireland.

A Pearl of Great Price is like {growing up grace} in that it's just about the life of Ireland. What she does, what she enjoys, her photography, and her faith. She posts a picture a week for "Wordless Wednesday..." that are always either beautiful (her pictures) or cute (little kids) ;)

So go check it out!

new week new blog {week eight}.

Hey! On today's New Week New Blog, I'd like to introduce to you Sierra's Booklist.

I've been following this blog for a while, but it wasn't until recently that I started really reading it, if you know what I mean. This past week, I've read almost the entire blog, and enjoyed every post. I even bought a book on my Kindle Fire that she reviewed! [you can see it on my right sidebar]

On Sierra's Booklist, Sierra reviews books that she has currently read. Her reviews are very thorough, yet they don't contain spoilers, and at the bottom she says what age group she thinks the book would be appropriate for.

Please head on over there and follow!!!

new week new blog {week seven}.

Borrowing Photographs is a cute, well-designed blog with LOTS of photography.

Emily Ruth is a christian girl who has an amazing talent with a camera. I totally recommend this blog to anyone with an interest in photography. She mixes in her words and daily life with her photos. She also blogs about Jesus Christ.

P.S. She also has a 365 blog {here}

new week new blog {week six}.

Hello, and welcome to New Week New Blog; a great place to find new blogs and meet new people.
Everyday Emma is a super cute blog by a super cute girl. She posts about her life, Christianity, and design. She does a lot of designing, and her own blog design changes about once a month (and it's always adorable.)
She hosts giveaways, and blogs about giveaways she believes her readers would enjoy. And, speaking of giveaways...
She wants to have one for her blog's birthday.
And she wants it to be HUGE. {click here for more info}
But in order to have a HUGE giveaway, you need lots of followers. So, I am asking you to help her reach 100 followers!
Here is her button (how cute is it?!)

tag and music.

Heeeeeeeeey!

So, today after school (BTW, I aced all my tests!) I went to my first guitar lesson. It was super awesome! This guy with the two cutest kids (babysitting!) is teaching me. He's pretty cool:)

So, I am super happy because 1) I am starting to play guitar and 2) I started piano again! I took about a year long break, and I just started back up and am loving it.

That's my guitar teacher's daughter's hand above ;)

This was my guitar before my awesome teacher fixed it.... somehow Jarrett found out where is was.... and you know how little brothers are...

Also, the awesome Ireland awarded me the following:

Here's the rules
1. Post these rules
2. Post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions the tagger asked you
4. Ask 11 new questions for the people you tag
5. Go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged


11 Random Things:
1. I'm random
2. Today I translated a paragraph from Latin to English
3. I want to play drums
4. I have the cutest pets ever
5. I bet I follow 200+ blogs
6. I am currently typing on a Dell Laptop
7. I took a quiz and found out that if I were a cookie I would be a sugar cookie
8. It has rained. All. Day. Long.
9. One of my best guy-friend's couldn't focus on Latin to save his life today (he asked me to whip a dude with my hair feathers. Weirdo. Just kidding, he's pretty cool)
10. My bedroom wall is cluttered with a Jeremy Camp poster, pictures, the poem I have to memorize, and Zac Efron's signature (yes, I have his signature)
11. I am done with this list.

Now, here are the questions that Ireland asked:

1. Are your ears pierced? Yes, but most of the time I forget to put in earrings.
   
2. What is your favorite singer/band? Adam Cappa.
   
3. Do you prefer to wear skirts, pants, dresses or shorts? Pants!!!
   
4. Are you into photography? Umm... let me think... YES!!!!!!!!!!!!
   
5. Do you have any pen-pals? If so, how many? Sadly, no
   
6. What is your favorite school subject? Umm... not Latin... I think History
   
7. Are you home schooled? Partly. I go to school once a week and am home schooled (I guess more independent study), but I was hone schooled until 5th grade.
   
8. Do you like reading? Sometimes. It really all depends.
   
9. What is your favorite book or book series? Beverly Cleary's books are pretty good (yes, I know they are at a 3rd grade reading level, but the're cute ;))
   
10. What is one of your hobbies? I like riding horses a lotl
    
11. What is your favorite animal? MONKEY!!! I have a pet one. His name is Jarrett. (For those of you who don't know... Jarrett is my eight-year-old bro)

My questions for the bloggers I tag:

1. Do you consider yourself weird or normal?

2. What two colors go together best?

3. Do you play guitar or piano?

4. Pink is.... a) YAY! b) BLAH.

5. Have you ever heard of Adam Cappa?

6. Do you listen to KLove?

7. What is your favorite number? Please explain why.

8. Which word do you say more: Funny; Silly

9. Does your name start with any of the following: J; Z; Y; Q; W

10. Do u use txtin language?

11. Do you wear a watch on your left or right arm?

I tag:

1. Amber

2. Emma

3. The first three people to comment on this post!