I'm back :)

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

After a roller coaster of events, this verse is what keeps me moving forward.

I haven't blogged recently because I've been experiencing simplistic yet new emotions recently that I have been unable to describe via typing. A series of fortunate events has led me to see, quite blatantly, the change in my character since the beginning of high school. It's such a beautiful thing to realize that everything that has happened in my entire life, has led me to where I am today. If anything had gone different, who knows where I'd be! It makes me appreciate everything in my life that has happened, good and bad. I no longer regret my past mistakes, because I have either learned from them or am in the process of figuring out how to learn from them. That isn't to say that there are not things in my past I wish hadn't happened-but it's out of my control and I'm striving forward now.

I have also become comfortable with the fact that I am going to college, and things will change. Change used to repel me, but I have come to the conclusion that nothing advances with out something changing (which sounds so obvious, but to me, it was a hard realization). The change may not seem directly for the best, but eventually it leads to a success. OH MY THAT RHYMED.

To conclude this short but sweet post, I must say that I am extremely jubilant recently. I always want to hug people and jump around. Yes, I admit that when I am happy I exert myself upon others in public. That came off a little weird.

GOODNIGHT WORLD

Addition to my last post

http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/home/departments/community-involvement/news/local-option-levy---november-2011/

http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/home/departments/community-involvement/local-option-levy/

^^these links are a lot more specific in terms of the Beaverton school district's need for bonds. Make a difference, vote for more moolah for the schools! Thanks :)

If you respect me you'll read this!

I hope that got your attention. I am currently writing this post in order to accomplish multiple things. The first being that I want to help support my favorite stations, OPB and PBS. Become a supporter by donating your time or money, so that broadcasting stays local and TRUE. You don't want your factual news channels or radio stations tampered, do you!!??! So help keep these great news resources local and alive in your area.

(just copy and paste these into your URL browser)

http://www.pbs.org/about/support-our-mission/

http://www.opb.org/support/

NEXT I want to express to any of those reading how frustrating it is to blog for me. I love it, but here's the deal. No matter what I say, I always feel like I am not saying it the right way. As in, I feel like I am limited by my own vocabulary. There's little I can do about this right now, but hopefully in college I'll expand my verbal skills a little farther. I am so jealous of those people who are naturally gifted at using more expressive and specific words on a regular basis. I shouldn't be too hard on myself though because I am a primitive blogger and I haven't had much practice simply writing down what I want to say spontaneously, with little organization.

Another very important topic: If you are eligible to vote and have not yet heard of the school bonds, PLEASE VOTE FOR THEM TO PASS! Here is more information on what exactly it is.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2011/09/14/opinion/letters/doc4e6ecb02d8de4042168376.txt

As cliche as this is, The students are the future, and they need the best education they can get to deal with the mess that a certain past president has left for us.

Side note, I am now considering a major in political science. Interesting stuff. Nothing more here.

For the crowd out there who is feelin' optimistic

The things that the Lord does in my life on a daily basis...just wow. Every day I pray, and EVERY day I receive. God is truly amazing.

I was driving home from the YOUNGLIFE T SHIRT GRAB that was at THPRD tonight, and I just had this bubbly sensation going on in my stomach. And no, it wasn't the orange soda I had consumed just moments earlier. Ever since I've been letting go of the control factor in my life, things have been, almost effortlessly on my part, falling into place perfectly. The only limit on blogging is I can't show you how blessed I am, my life is a 'you just had to be there' kind of thing. :)

Anyway, here are some images that add to my cheery mood tonight. Enjoy! God Bless.

Finally, an organized post!

Reasons why I don't like texting all the gosh darn time:

1) Calling a person and discussing whatever said topic is, is immensely quicker and less time consuming than texting them all day.

2) A CRAZY AMOUNT OF EMOTION IS LOST WHILE TEXTING-you can't see there facial expressions, hear their voice, tone, sarcasm, or even clearly understand what mood they're in.

3) A leading cause of fights in high school is directly linked to text messaging. It also creates an easy way for people to say things they wouldn't say in person. (as does any internet or social networking site)

4) Serious conversations are tempting through text because you feel bolder-but if you can't do it in person, then it's not substantial or even genuine at ALL. No exceptions...

5) So many awkward things can happen. Sending a text to someone random when you meant to send it to the person you've been texting all day...awk. Or butt dials, awkward flirting, creepy people, etc. etc.

6) Phones die during conversations, people don't. (hopefully)

7) Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and texting 24/7 makes the fire kinda die out quick

8) If it was that important, you'd call


I UNDERSTAND that texting is a great way to communicate things like grocery lists, quick questions, and chatting every once in a while with people but jeez people, we are wasting away the precious days that we've been graced with! One of my goals this year is to spend more time in reality than on some technological device. Believe it or not, my generation has more conversations on the inernet than in real life...craaaazyyy. Alright well that's my rant for the night, if you want to talk to me don't be scared to text me but just know that I prefer calls :) MUCHLOVE

ps shout out to my friends who started blogs: Trevor Allen, Kendall Davis, Eric Webber and Anna Duncan (soon Jake Peterson)

My top 5 values

I was watching a PBS viewing of a man who had established his top five values, and with that he decided to strive for his dreams and in everything he did, use those values. It intrigued me to blog about MY top five values. They are in no specific order, because they are all of equal importance and work together to make up a unified whole.

1) Kindness

2) Faith

3) Honesty

4) Open-mindedness

5) Charity

With that being said, I really believe that if someone strives to achieve (noticed, strives) all of these values, then the world would, simply stated, become a much better place to live.
Of course, we all falter and can not actually live up to the expectations we set for ourselves. But if we don't set any, then how do we know what were trying to accomplish? Without goals, our lives would be an inconsistent mess of confusion, chaos, anger, depression, etc. etc. As a senior in high school, this type of behavior is not uncommon. Teenagers sometimes believe that nobody can tell them what to do! Not even themselves? And they follow no pattern in their actions. The result, is drama drama drama and more drama. Not to mention loneliness and counter-productivity. People fascinate me in my school. It's actually become a hobby with my friends to just watch some of the lives of the people who attend Sunset, like it's public television or something. Very entertaining, although not desirable.

Anyway, I feel really good today. I'll update you on how long my good mood lasts. Although I refuse to limit myself; If I have my way, it'll last a very, very long time. Thanks for listening :)

Ps Abe Lincoln was the first to use emoticons in a speach-he drew a smiley face next to the words just so he'd remember to smile. Thanks Mr. Ciebert for that fun fact of the day. (my IB english II teacher)

Come what may.

Proverbs 12:25
Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

These are some of my favorite verses this week. No matter who you are, where you are from, or what your story is, a fresh start is awaiting you. It's NEVER too late to become brand new. Ever. So do what you've always wanted to do, don't dwell on the past, and don't worry about the future. Simply live your life in awe of God's grace and do all things to honor him and the world you live in. At least that's my perspective. :)


Also, Come what may, the title of this post, is from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Once again I can't stop listening to it, because it's such an inspiring and emotive song.

Lots of Love.

IT'S BEEN SO LONG

Well, it has been a week. But that feels like an awfully long time, according to my friend AJ who pretty much told me I'm a slacker at blogging.

ANYWAY-school started off with a bang-aka 3 hours of homework a night. But I made a bet with my good friend Annie that we are going to be optimistic all year about our education. After all, it's free! Well, not really. We still have to pay for IB exams and what not, but it is definitely all worth while in the end.

Recently I've been extremely overjoyed with life. I've been noticing all the small and beautiful things that I haven't taken the time to look at before. I've been praying every night about how grateful I am for my life and the people/things in it. Even my dog, Wilson. He's the cutest darn pug I ever set my eyes upon, and he's mine :) But my point is, ever since I've changed my mindset from slightly anxious and apprehensive about the future to a more positive and reassured one, I've been feeling incredible! And, things have been going my way (which is awesome). I think something that really helped me was prayer and lists. I guess I'm now not only a blogger, but a list lover. (Bucket lists being my favorite) Another thing I've been keeping consistent at is exercising. Like my parents and just about everyone else in the world always says, to be healthy is to be a well rounded person in terms of mind, soul and body.

I don't really have anything important or cool to say at the moment, I'm just procrastinating from studying history. Thanks for listening :)

FRESH START-

but that's what they always say.

HI. My name is Anna Barlow. I start my senior year of high school tomorrow at Sunset. I will slowly be getting back into my routine of waking up at 645, leaving at 710, getting coffee at Papa's Haven off of Cornell, then heading to Sunset around 730, which I know is earlier than most seniors prefer to get there. I am rather picky when it comes to routines-especially for school. I don't really know why.

SENIOR YEAR CHECK LIST
-Finish the year with outstanding grades
-Take advantage of EVERY opportunity that comes my way, after all it's my last chance to leave my mark on SHS
-Make friends with everyone (it's possible)
-Get into the college I want
-Be happy
-^Off of that, continue a healthy relationship with Jesus
-Don't stress
-Do everything as if it were my last time doing it (which it is this year)
-NOOOO PROCRASTINATION
-Get help if needed
-Don't skip a single class and ONLY miss it if severely suffering from the plague
-Eat healthy
-Drink tons of water
-HAAAAVE FUUUUUUUN


I have mixed feelings about this last year. I hope it's not the last time I see certain people. It's a very bittersweet feeling, don't ya think?

Country girl

So tonight I went to the Oregon State Fair with some of the best girls around. It was so fun-and The Band Perry was even performing! We got decent seats for only 24 dollars and ended up sitting by nice company (except the people behind us...rude). Anyway, while listening to the music I was overcome by a feeling of happiness. I LOVE country music. Country anything, really. And I had forgotten! I feel like a southern country girl at heart. Honestly, something about it just makes me feel so good. ALSO I would literally do anything for T Swift tickets. My friend just won some on KUPL and I am SOOO jealous. So if anyone gots the hook up....you know who to tell.

I will post pictures of the fair later :) It was so much fun! Especially during this busy weeks of preparing and applying for college.

A year for new relations

With school starting around the corner, I've been doing a lot of thinking. (well more than a typical summers day) As a senior, my hope is that my class can at least make an attempt to break down some of the cliche cliques and groups that we've established over these past three years. Yes, it's good to have people who you are close friends with and trust, but it's equally if not more important to reach out to those who may not be as good at making friends as you. If a mass of people, all together, decided to make a change to how we act towards those left out, it would seem almost un real. I've always been an optimistic soul but I just have this fantasy of a school where we are all kind to each other despite our differences. I mean really, it's easier to be nice anyway instead of putting in all that extra effort to be mean. Right?

I just wrote this to blab about my hope for SHS this year. I also hope people will be more genuine and up front with their feelings and emotions. That could reduce the amount of cyber bullying we see every single hour on twitter (that may be an exaggeration). Anyway, I went to sky high yesterday and am SORE. It's slightly embarrassing.

Goodnight world!