Countdown.

Stole this from my good friend Giann. :) And since nothing extremely exciting has happened over the past couple of days, I decided that posting this was better than nothing, right?

Ten things I wish I could say to ten different people: 
10. I want to be just like you when I grow up.

9. I miss you two thousand pounds! (which equals a ton, get it?)
8. I pray for you every single day.
7. I think you're the coolest person alive.

6. I love you so much!
5. We really need to hang out. 
4. You helped me through a tough time and you don't even know. Thank you.
3. I want to steal your wardrobe.
2. When are you going to upload those pictures?!
1. I wish you didn't live so far away.


Nine things about myself: 
9. I think if I were famous, which I want to be, I would be best friends with Taylor Swift.
8. I love salty snacks.
7. I love white grape juice.
6. I'm extremely excited to meet my husband.
5. I've never missed a Jonas Brothers tour. 
4. I've been to 12 concerts not counting little ones at youth rallies and things of that nature // Carrie Underwood, Jonas Brothers-6 flags, Jonas Brothers-WYLMITE tour, Demi Lovato-DE State Fair, Jonas Brothers-Burning Up Tour, American Idol Tour-'09 with David Archuleta, Jonas Brothers-World Tour, Nick Jonas & The Administration, Jonas Brothers-2010 World Tour, Allstar Weekend-Glamour Kills Tour, Allstar Weekend-Glamour Kills Tour, Frankie Valli-DE State Fair.

3. I want nerd glasses.
2. I would rather be at a TeenPact event then anywhere else in the world.
1. My favorite girl names for my future daughter(s) are: Olivia, Bailey, Lily, Kaylee, & Daniella. Just to name a few.


Eight ways to win my heart:
8. Smell good.
7. Have swagger. A.k.a. Dress as well as One Direction.
6. Sing me a cute song. (Preferably What Makes You Beautiful. But any romantic boy band song will do.)
5. Have brown eyes and dimples.
4. Love to take pictures.
3. Be good with little kids.
2. Make me laugh so hard that I come close to peeing my pants.
1. Love God more than anything else.


Seven things that cross my mind a lot:
7. Food.
6. National Convention.
5. Clothes.
4. "I'm cold."

3. "I have to pee."

2. Making lists.

1. Loving God.

Six things I do before I fall asleep: 

6. Kiss my mom goodnight.

5. Watch t.v.

4. Check facebook, pinterest, instagram, and twitter.

3. Wash my face.

2. Plug my phone in.

1. Talk to God.

Five people who always make me smile:

5. Liam Payne.
4. Harry Styles.
3. Louis Tomlinson.
2. Zayn Malik.
1. Niall Horan.

Juuust kidding. I love One Direction, but my life doesn't revolve around them. :)

Five people who always make me smile:
5. Liam Payne. Uncle Mark

4. Harry Styles. Any TeenPacter.

3. Louis Tomlinson. Heejun Han.
2. Zayn Malik. My grandma.
1. Niall Horan. Brian Regan.


Four things I'm wearing right now:
4. Mark Flamos window washing shirt. <3 
3. UD sweatpants.
2. Fuzzy socks.
1. My hair in a messy bun.


Three songs that I listen to often:
3. Everything About You // One Direction
2. Children of God // Stephen Curtis Chapman

1. How Will I Know // Whitney Houston


Two things I want to do before I die:
2. Hang out with one of my favorite celebrities.
1. Get married.


One confession:
1. When I was 12, I stepped on a rake. It was hilarious!

More Jesus

Last weekend, I went to a youth conference in Ocean City. It made a great impact on me and I'm sure a lot of other people as well, so I figured I'd share about it. Be prepared for a long post. I'm a note taker for one, and for two, we had a lot of great times.

On the way to OC, we played guess who. Which is basically 20 questions, but not limited to 20 questions. Love that game. We finally arrived at the beach front condo we were staying at, and I was shocked at how huge it was. It was basically just a big 2 story house on the water. And the kitchen looked like it came straight out of an '80s movie. :)

Before the conference actually started, there was a time of prayer. So when we arrived, the V Youth circled up in the corner and started to talk to God about the upcoming weekend. What I kept praying for was open hearts and that we would let what we hear change us dramatically. 

One of the first things out of the bald headed preacher from Louisiana's mouth was that somebody is looking at our life. We are all following someone and someone is following us. And whoever is watching us, needed us to hear this message.

Pastor Greg's (bald guy) first message was called Get A Grip.

We are in a tug of war battle and the enemy is pulling back. We want to see change but we keep getting weaker. What we need to do is take a new grip. The first step in that is letting go. Letting go of something old that can cause us to be ineffective. Letting go of our hurts: We need to trust in God even in our pain. Don't substitute God with something that will only temporarily numb our pain. When Jesus was on the cross, he didn't take the sour wine to numb His pain. He knew that God was big enough to over come it. Letting go of our habits: Our strength is sacked by habit. The devil wants us to believe that we're sick and he wants us isolated. We are only as sick as our secrets. The secret to letting go of habits is telling one right person, who can help us. The second step in getting a new grip is taking a fresh hold on our purpose and our commitment. The devil attacks our identity not our purpose, but our purpose is tied in to our identity. That's why culture tries to get us to conform. But we are unique, created to stand out. We are the most stable when we are in God's identity. Not everyone is going to like you, but someone is needing you to be you. Someone is looking at your life. Also, we are to fulfill our duties. Use our gifts and talents.

After that message, there was another time of prayer and some of our youth group went up towards the stage. At one point during the prayer, he came over to the corner of the room where we were and started prophesying. He said that he saw artists. He saw musical talent, creativity, drawing, and things along that line. The amazing part? The only people in that corner of the room was our youth group. Then he began to lay hands on and prophesies over a few people individually. First, he came to me. He said that there was a gift that I wasn't sure if I'm supposed to use and he told me that I am to use it. God has not given me a spirit of fear. He said more but I can't remember it all. I wish I could cause it was one of the coolest things to happen to me. 

It was time to go back to the condo. We played a game of pterodactyl. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the video of it so you can see how funny it was. My face hurt the next day because of it. We ate lots of cupcakes, popcorn, and spicy chili doritos. We played "what if I answered the wrong question", which is  one of the funniest games ever invented. We stayed up til 4 am talking about our future children's names. And lastly, we (well, me and Christa) got up at 6:30 to take pictures of the sunrise. I think I took 100 pictures. But that's just how I roll.

For breakfast, we went to Denny's. We talked about cancer. And things that can give you cancer. Which is pretty much everything nowadays. It took us forever to get our food and we were a couple minutes late to the first session. But it was all good. No one got yelled at or anything. 

The first session of the day was about SWAG. Staying Wild About God. 

I just realized that this preacher must like steps. Cause that's how he always breaks it down.

Step 1: Build strong relationships. We can't go solo in life. We have no idea what one good relationship can do. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls down and has no one to help them up." Step 2: Plant seeds of encouragement. People who love Jesus encourage others. Small seeds of encouragement will grow. Even with our body language we can draw people to God. Step 3: Plan to have good attitudes. In the middle of chaos is when our attitudes are challenged. Sometimes we just need to step away and get a new view of the situation. Step 4: Hand off our gifts to others. Our gifting is what makes us awesome. Use it to bless others. Who are we blessing with our gifts?

After the message, there were breakout sessions. The one on Spiritual Authority really spoke to me. 

If you can't find your Christian life in the Bible, you aren't in the faith. (How convicting) God has authority over everything and the authorities that exist have been established by Him. We need to submit to every authority then, because ultimately, it is submitting to God. The opposite of submission is rebellion. Rebellion is a principle of satan. It says to do what you want, that you have authority over yourself. The only exception to following our authorities is if they are telling us to sin. That is the only exception. He also talked about dating and I agreed with most of it since my recent change of heart when it comes to that stuff. Dating practices marriage, but then it also practices divorce. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, so if we want to be with them, in a way it's like incest. When we get married, we become one, so then it's not incest because you can't commit incest on yourself. God is going to send you a spouse, and a boyfriend or girlfriend might get in the way. 

After the mini sessions, we had free time. So we went out for pizza and then mini golf. I got 2 hole in ones. (I'm aware that's not proper grammar) I did a happy dance and then yelled it to everyone else in our whole group, who were usually across the room. :) Then we went back to the condo and played some more games before the night session. 

The last session was called 2 Secrets the Devil Doesn't Want You to Discover.

The guards beating Jesus at the time of His death were just pawns of the devil. And the devil couldn't hold back. But he made a mistake. He let us know the two most important things that he tries to destroy in us. The first, prophetic is magnetic. The guards mocked Jesus, telling Him to prophesies. Prophesying speaks hope into hopeless situations. It strengthens and encourages. It brings life to people. The second secret is becoming a worshipper of God is the first step to becoming a leader. The guards mock worshipped Jesus. Worship establishes our positioning with God. Pride is the enemy of worship. If the devil gets our present worship, he gets our future leadership.

After that message, we just had a time of worship. And after that, a time of prayer. Pastor Greg prayed over the youth pastors there, and then he began to pray over the youth there. Which is when he came up to me again. He said that he saw leadership in me. I don't remember everything, but that was what he mainly said. It really hit me, because about 5 years ago I visited a youth group and that youth pastor prayed over me and said that I was a leader. I didn't understand then, because I barely had a relationship with God. But in the past couple of years I've realized that what he prayed was true. Also, at dinner right before we went to the session, I was talking with my Aunt Christine about that moment from 5 years ago. We were talking about how I got prophesied over on the first night and she asked if that had ever happened before. So just a few hours after that conversation, I was told once again that I was a leader. 

Much to our dismay, the conference was over and we had to get in our cars and head back to the church. Unfortunately, I had to drive home being indescribably tired. The next day, I took a four hour nap after church. :)

So, there was the weekend in a nut shell. Hopefully, what you read spoke to you just like it spoke to everyone else there too.

Heejun!

I had to blog about this.

There was no way I could pass it up.

Remember that one post where I talked about that guy on American Idol? The hilarious dude with the voice of an angel? Well you should know, that he's pretty much my new favorite thing. Every time they show him on Idol, he gets funnier. 

So, last night I had a dream I was on a date with him. It was a really fun time actually. You know when you have some dreams and they totally are freaky and don't make any sense? Well this wasn't one of them. Haha. It was like I was just chillin' with my pal.

I follow Heejun on twitter and noticed that he responds to a lot of his followers. So, I figured I'd tweet him about it in the rare chance that he'd respond. What did I have to lose?

So, I'm sitting on the couch after a frustrating day, eating cheese and crackers, when my phone goes off and informs me that-are you ready for this-HEEJUN HAN REPLIED TO ME!!! All of the caps, exclamation points, and bold, italic, and underlined font in the world does not describe my reaction.

Here is just a taste of the thoughts running through my mind:

If I weren't me, I would be furiously jealous of me right now!

HOLY CRAP. What a sweet Valentines Day present.

The potential next American Idol just talked to me. ME.

Amy needs to answer her phone so we can scream together about this.

I'm probably going to say "I can't believe he tweeted me" 100 times during every next episode of American Idol that I watch.

My heart hurts because it's beating so fast.

I wonder if he'll ever mention this moment in an interview when they ask him "what's the weirdest/funniest/coolest thing a fan experience you've ever had?". That would be unbearably amazing.

If he gets to the top 12, I'm going to the American Idol concert tour this summer and I'm going to try to stay after and meet him and ask him if he remembers this.

So folks, I just had to let out all of my joy, merriment, excitement, and pure bliss. Thank you for your time. Unlike my other posts, this is the only topic I'll be rambling on about. I thought it deserved it's own post. I'm gonna go cry buckets of joy now.

Summer Bucket List

Little known fact about me:

I LOVE to make lists.

I love to hand write things and I love to plan things. Combine the two and you get a list maker. I write lists when I'm bored or when I'm really excited for something, even if that something is half a year away.

Recently, I made a summer bucket list. If we talk a stroll down memory lane, you'll find out that in 2010 I made a summer bucket list. The difference? That list was unrealistic and this one is full of adventures that are fully attainable. My old list, for instance included things such as parasailing, taking a road trip, making a time capsule, and getting old time photos taken. I'd like to point out that I would really love to do the previous mentioned adventures. I just don't see those things actually happening and I want to cross everything off of my list to the best of my abilities. It will make me feel more accomplished.

So, in the case that I remember to do so, I will keep you updated this summer on the status of my list and the adventures and merriment that will come along with it.

Without further adieu, here is what I will be attempting to do this summer:

build a sandcastle

get a car (I've talked it over with my parents, so this one is actually feasible) 

stay tan

go to a shorebirds game

go to the Delaware State fair

go to an amusement park

chill out in Central Park (perhaps my most anticipated item on the list)

get a henna tattoo

actually wear my fedora

start exercising (which I've kinda already started)

get more shoes

get multiple swim suits

go to the $1 movies

grow my hair really long

lighten my hair (probably with Sun In)

keep my nails painted

get a second ear piercing

have photo shoots with friends

pay for the person behind me in the drive through

get a makeover at the mall with MAC makeup

go to National Convention & go on the blob this this time

make a fort out of blankets

blow bubbles

take underwater pictures

play with sidewalk chalk

play mini golf

have a scavenger hunt

go to Chuck E Cheese

complete a puzzle

go laser tagging

have a pool party

go to a water park

have a paint fight with white shirts

make stupid videos

dye a streak of my hair purple

run around in the rain

eat at Old Mill and buy another t shirt

"Why yes, my favorite's Gouda."

I went and saw The Vow this weekend with the girls from youth group. You're probably thinking to yourself right now "I'm so happy for you Allison! That's all you've talked about for days. I'm glad that your dreams came true." WRONG. I was extremely disappointed by the movie and I would advise you to save your money and watch it when it comes out on dvd. Don't get me wrong, it had some great parts. Channing Tatum always plays the sweet, hunky, sensitive guy, so that never fails to make me happy. I just felt that the ending could have been better. But I will give thanks for the romantic parts. 

I'm shooting a baby this week! Yes, you heard right. A newborn baby and her parents. They'll also be smiling while I do so. No, I'm not some crazed murderer. My friend from middle school had her baby last week! Crazy. She asked me to take her baby's new born pictures. So yes, I'll be shooting them. But with a camera instead of a gun. Being a photographer sure has it's perks. You get to see people smile, you give people lasting memories, but by far my favorite thing is telling everyone that I shoot people. 

I've tried to do my TeenPact alumni research paper roughly 5 times already. Every time I end up on Pinterest, Facebook, or Kendi Everyday. And it's not that I open my macbook and I'm tempted to go on those sites rather than do the work. I just loose focus rather swiftly and it gets to the point where I'm not getting any work accomplished anyhow. Today, I did manage to do more work than that of previous attempts. However, it still was not much. So I shall try again tomorrow. Wish me luck. 

Oh, hey. Remember my last post? About me giving over my love life to God? Well, yesterday morning, my aunt calls me up (who is also the pastor's wife) and informs me that they are going to put my blog up on the projector and that they wanted me to read that post since it's Valentine's weekend and the post has to do with love. Lucky for me, I had nursery duty and someone else read it instead. I didn't care that it was being read to everyone. If I didn't want people to read it, than it was quite foolish of me to post it on a blog, eh? I just didn't want people look at me and say things such as "awwwww" or "I didn't know you could write that well". That would have made me feel on the spot and awkward. For some strange reason, I'm perfectly fine with people complimenting it after church though. Don't know why.

Saturday night I watched She's The Man. I am thoroughly convinced that there is no movie funnier. Also, I can pretty much quote it from start to finish. One time, my dad had to disconnect the dish from the tv in my room, so I watched this movie every night for 3 weeks. I did not once get sick of it. I think I might even watch it again tonight. That's how I determine if a movie I like actually makes it in to the "favorites" category. If I can watch it at least thrice (I like using that word :P) a month, then you know I love love love it. The cheese/tarantula scene is my favorite part of the whole movie by far. The videos are some of my other top favorite parts.

Heejun, my love life, and the circus.

I haven't been posting things lately. And that gets on my own nerves. I guess I just let all these thoughts pile up in my head and then when I go to write them, it gets overwhelming and I end up writing way more than I had planned. But today I'm going to give a brief update on my life and I promise I'll try (emphasis on try) to keep it short. Well, shorter than the rest.

I've started reading the book "When God Writes Your Love Story". Life changing book right there. So over the course of the past week or two, I've given up my love life to God. I mean He's the creator of all things. So when you think about it, why wouldn't I just let Him have control over it in the first place? His way is perfect and He'll bring me a guy who is everything I could hope for. But making this decision is way easier said than done. It's relatively easy to give up a single life and let God bring you someone. But, what if you already have a relationship-that's-not-technically-a-relationship-thing going on? Talk about a struggle. So I've had to try to explain these thoughts to a certain person in my life who has become really close to me lately (you can connect the dots on what I'm getting at there) and not going to lie, it was one of the most difficult things I've had to do. But I feel so much peace now that I've given God control. And everyday I get more and more excited that someday I'll meet and fall in love with someone who was created to be with me.

It's the time of year again! Yep. American Idol! Usually I end up more frustrated at the show than happy with it. But that was before Heejun Han auditioned. If you are lost right now and you think I just hit a bunch of random keys, I didn't. Right now, you need to watch the video posted above. After you do, you will see why I love this guy so much. I seriously am praying that he will win. Not only is he freaking hilarious, but his voice just gives me chills. My mother and I are now in superfan mode and just this morning she made a twitter so she can follow him. Also, he is a Christian. Can he get any better? Love you Heejun! <3

In other news, I've started doing Zumba. Not an actual class that you take in public. Where people can see you looking foolish. We got the Wii game. Let me tell you, I feel it working. My body is sore. But I'm happy about that. 

Last night I went to the circus with my cousins and my little two year old cousin Ellie. Cutest little girl ever if you ask me. I realized that I don't think I'll ever fully grow up. At least not on the inside. I was still captivated by the little dogs doing jumps and turns, and, excuse my lack of knowing their actual title, the people who are in those circles that rotate and they jump rope and do flips in them. I sincerely hope that you know what I'm talking about, because that is the best way I can describe them. My apologies. 

Tomorrow, the girls from my youth group and I are going to see The Vow. *insert cliche girly squeal* I'm predicting it to be my favorite movie. Channing Tatum. That's all that needs said. But add in Rachel McAdams, one of my favorite actresses, and a sappy, unique story inspired by true events, and the result is one very gleeful Allison. 

Alright, well the post wasn't THAT short. But it also wasn't my longest post either. I'm coming to the conclusion that I like to write a whole lot more than I thought I did.