This post is about Jesus, and if you don't share it you're going to hell.

Did the title get your attention? Did it scare you a little, or did you flippantly pass it by like the heathen you are? (I guess if you did that you wouldn't be reading this question anyway, so I'll assume you were terrified!)

Because this is a post about Jesus. 

Do you love Jesus?
Because if you do, you better prove it by sharing this blog post.

You do know what Jesus says about not forwarding these kinds of things on email, Facebook, or Twitter... right?

Ok. So this is something that's always kind of bugged me, and I wonder why I haven't really written about it before (or why Blimeycow hasn't made a video for it, for that matter. ;) But I think God might have told me "Go for it!" So here I am, writing this post when I meant to write a different one. :D

There are a lot of chain letters on the internet.

Some are just random: 

"Share this if you heart Justin Bieber!!!" 

Some are threatening: "If you don't share this post or send it to everyone you know, your toenails will grow into your mattress while you sleep, you'll never find love, and a demonic warthog will kill your family."  

And some make you feel guilty: "Matthew 10:33 says, '...Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.' Share this post if you're not ashamed!!!" 

 The first one is harmless (maybe a bit annoying, but harmless), but the second and third chain letters can get really annoying. The second one because they typically verge on ridiculous, and the third one because, well, they're a different kind of ridiculous.

I can't say I know the intentions of the people who make those kinds of pictures or stories that are passed around by religious guilt. Either they want to make something that gains popularity so bad that they feel the need to guilt people into sharing it, or they actually think it's their way of evangelizing or something. Whatever the reason, there is no logic in it. If somebody posts a picture of a sock, and I don't 'like'/share that picture, does that mean I've just denied the existence of socks? Um... no. I like socks. I wear them. People see me wear them. I just didn't happen to share the picture. :P

Living with the internet, there are a lot of interesting things going on that weren't issues before. People can play games about exercising without ever exercising their jiggly behinds. People can convince the world that they're a beautiful blonde twentysomething when they're really a middle aged bald guy with a foot fungus. And of course, people can proudly proclaim they're "not ashamed" of Jesus at a click of a button without having to commit to it in "real life."

How did people prove they loved Jesus before the internet? 

They used their lives. 

They followed His commands instead of following Him on Twitter. 

They shared God's word in love instead of threatening hell to people who won't share a picture.

If you don't want to deny Jesus, then don't actually deny Jesus. If people ask what you believe, tell them. If other people deny Jesus, don't agree with them. That's what Matthew 10:33 is referring to.

So the next time you get one in your email, or your news feed, or your Twitter page, or your blahblahblah... Don't let it make you feel guilty. Look at it as a challenge to prove that you love Jesus by obeying Him! I've shared stuff like that before, so I'll do it too. :D

Memory Monday: Fence Wars

It started out as a typical summer day: my sisters and I throwing ourselves around on the swingset, having a good old time, when...

Something suspicious.
A random little boy is in the Yegermanjensens' yard. (We later learned he was a cousin).

As I swung up and down, I caught glimpses of him walking around their backyard with a stick. He looked kind of bored, and as I was going through my "Who could ever not like me" phase, I thought we should be friendly and say hi.

As I proposed the idea, Karissa thought I was crazy. "No. You don't want to do that."
"Why not?" I asked optimistically.
"I don't know. Just don't."
"Oh, let's be friendly!" I chirped as birds perched on my outstretched arms. I think a deer bounded into our yard, too...

So I enthusiastically popped my head up over their fence.
"Hi! My name is Kaylee!" 

In retrospect, maybe my friendliness was taken the wrong way. Maybe he didn't want some random buck-tooth girl beaming at him over the fence while he was reflecting the meaning of life with his trusty walking stick. 

Because then he was all, "Boys are better than girls." 

Without wiping off my flight attendant smile, I replied, "No, they're both equal." 

Then, something unexpected happened: For the first time, I witnessed a human being snap. Fury latched onto his face and drove him to the pear tree by the fence. He roared "BOYS ARE BETTER THAN GIRLS!" and then proceeded to chuck pears at us. 

And then things got stranger. 

The boy's 13 year old sister walked outside. Normally, this would be the part where she witnesses her bratty little brother throwing fruit at strangers' craniums and cries, "Brother! Whatever are you doing? Cease this madness immediately!" 

Nope. Instead she sprayed us with the hose. 

Then she tried to dump a bucket of water on our heads.

It fell in sheets down our fence and mingled with the dirt below. We, the pacifists that we were, just stood there perplexed at the whole ordeal as our oppressors' cackles traveled into the summer heat.

...But eventually they got bored and went inside.
Karissa had her moment of "I told you so," and I indignantly felt my efforts at friendliness wasted.

Maybe he would've been friendlier if I brought him a sandwich... :P

Snow White and the Huntsman

We saw Snow White and the Huntsman on Wednesday.

Are you jealous? Well, you should be.

You probably wouldn't be jealous over the fact that we were late and missed the first 5 minutes of the movie, though. O_o We didn't miss *too* much, so I was still able to enjoy the movie without being lost from an essential piece of information.

But yes. As I said in my previous blog entry, it was cool, creepy, and kind of weird. But I still liked it.

For those of you who don't know the plot, here you go: "In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart 

plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Charlize Theron) 

[who is] out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth)

 dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin

 joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power." 
~Rotten Tomatoes

So here are my thoughts on the movie.

For a retelling of a fairytale, I thought the plot line was pretty creative. They were able to do a lot with it without totally straying from the traditional story.

The graphics/costume designs were also awesome.

^Costume designer Colleen Atwood, and two of the most elaborate costumes in the movie

The graphics added a lot to the movie, except I think that the forest part was a bit cheesy.

Ok, it was really cheesy. And slightly disturbing. Josh and I were laughing through the whole part. :P

I also thought the brother/sister interaction with Fin (Sam Spruell) and the Queen was a little creepy. His pixie bangs are short enough to be able to display "CREEPER" on his forehead. XP

And on a random note, I noticed that Kristen Stewart's acting was actually a little better in this movie. I mean, I still wouldn't crown her one of the best actresses of our time, but I think she's at least improving. I also noticed that she plays the "most beautiful" role a lot. I wonder if it gets to her head... :P

So yeah. I think if I were to rate this movie, I'd probably give it 3 stars. I didn't think it was awesomely spectacular, but I still liked it enough not to feel like I wasted money to see it. haha :)

And by the way... (SPOILER to those who might want to see it...) apparently Chris Hemsworth's kisses can wake the dead. ;)

Ok, ok, just kidding. XD

Psychobabble

This post has no direction whatsoever. Why? Because I need to write more, but I'm out of brilliant ideas and all that's left are random musings about infomercials and baby hippos.

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, I thought I'd write a post on why llamas are cooler than alpacas. Then I woke up and realized I thought that. Then it didn't sound so amazing. But I leave you with this: Sure, llamas are ugly, but alpacas are that kind of cute that is simultaneously creepy enough to write a Tim Burton movie about.

I got a camera for my birthday a few months ago in hopes that it would be easier to use a more compact little point and shoot camera for my blog posts. Then I lost it. >_< So I won't have any amazing selfies to post. (I'm probably doing you all a favor... who likes to look at other people's selfies?!)
Just kidding, I never take selfies. :P hehe

My church does an annual bike ride for Father's Day, and I'm totally excited! It sort of has me thinking about getting in shape, though. I mean, occasionally I do some lifting (somehow that fork has to get to my mouth), but I rarely exercise. So I got some awesome Nikes with neon pink laces! The fact that I spent like, $60 in graduation money should be motivation enough to put them to use. :P I think I'm going to try running. If you see any posts after this that aren't written like "jfhesklhgjkrdhgfkvrdhbkdrl," you can assume that I'm still alive and mentally stable.

I saw Snow White and the Huntsman last night. It was cool, creepy, and really weird at the same time. haha I liked it. I might write more about it in a separate post. :)

Life is hard, but God is good. I'm so glad that I can go to Him when I'm having a hard time. Sometimes I can be so ridiculously dramatic that I just go, "Nope. I don't need to pray. I'll just feel pathetic a little longer." It's almost like rotting your teeth drinking syrupy soda all the time, then switching back to water and remembering how good water is. XD

Now I'm thirsty. :P

Anyway... yeah. I think that's all the random topics I can scrape out of my brain right now.

I grajeeated!

Ladies and gentlemen, we will look back on this day when we're successful adults as the first day of the rest of our lives.

Because today we stand on the threshold. Look around you!
Our future begins TODAY.

Is that every graduation cliche in the book? I feel like I might have missed one. ;)

Last Thursday was the day that I had a little green and white tassel in my peripheral vision. I walked slowly and awkwardly to my seat with a line of other graduates. I walked up the steps to receive my diploma. My parents got to say a few things about me. I moved my tassel to the right as they announced the homeschooling class of 2012.

It was sort of surreal sitting in the front pew, playing with my tassel and listening to the speeches. Looking in the mirror at my flat hat and suffocatingly hot gown and no longer wondering what I'd look like as a "grown up." And yet I don't really feel too different.

Earlier that day I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it was awesome, and I'm glad I went through with the ceremony. It gave me a sense of finality in finishing high school (although I have some things to catch up on before the fall... *sigh*). I felt mostly relieved. I finally made it through classical literature and world history. I clawed my way out of Geometry. It felt pretty darn good.

We also got tons of pictures!!!

Mah family. :') lol

My Uncle Nathan and Grandma Beutler.

The Kaufmans. :D 

The crazy afterparty. (I made them take the lampshades off their heads for the picture. ;) haha 

Group Shot! 

Someone asked me what I'm going to do now that I've finished high school.
I just told them "SLEEP." XD

I'm gonna sleep off all the extra stress, then I'm going to PCC. What classes will I take? ..... Idunno.

Book Vs. Movie: The Hunger Games

So I finally sat down and watched The Hunger Games. Let the comparisons begin (And may the odds be ever in their favor)! 

Description: "In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed." ~Amazon

Alrighty, let's take a look at the book. 

Book: 

Pros: For one thing, I blew through this book in two days. (I could've probably finished it in one, but I got it in the afternoon and had to eat/sleep at some point... ;) Although it starts out a bit slow, Suzanne Collins knows how to write. 

The character development was pretty good, too. (I had a couple problems later in the series, but that's for another time. haha) Suzanne Collins made the characters believable and the dialogue natural. 


The plot line was creative, and I think the author made it obvious who the enemies were, and that the Hunger Games were not seen in a positive light by the main characters. Suzanne Collins did a good job with portraying how corrupt the Hunger Games were, as well as the Capitol. It has the potential of being a really thought-provoking book. 


Cons: From a Christian standpoint, the one thing you might want to take note of is the obvious humanistic worldview. There is no God or religion in the post-apocalyptic world of Panem, and everyone just sort of follows their own moral code. (There was a point in the book where Gale was trying to convince Katniss that killing people in the arena shouldn't be much different than hunting game, assuming the idea that we're all animals and it's survival of the fittest). So, yeah. You just have to take the good and leave the bad. 


Although the Hunger Games are looked on with contempt, there's still a lot of violence in this book. So if you're really sensitive to things like that, you might want to steer clear.

Movie: 

Squeeeee! I was so excited I got to see the movie in the theater! I didn't get a chance to a few months ago, but I got to watch it in the rinky-dink theater by our house that plays movies a couple months after they premiere. :D  


Pros: This movie was so well-done in terms of making it exactly how the book played out in the minds of its readers. It was like I was watching my own imagination. 

Katniss was played by Jennifer Lawrence (first movie I've seen her in, but she did a great job)

Josh Hutcherson was Peeta. (Swoon). 

Gale was played by Liam Hemsworth (I don't think there's any way his name can sound more British, but he's actually Australian. haha) 

Effie Trinket was played by Elizabeth Banks. 

I could go on and on with the cast. They picked all the right people. 

Rue... :')

The movie also brought to mind things that I didn't really see in the book. Sure, it was easy to see how the Hunger Games affected the Tributes and families in most districts, but the movie also showed how they could make other Tributes (the Careers) see the Games as just that: a game. They touched on that in the book, but I guess I didn't imagine it like they had it in the movie, and it just continues to show how messed up the Capitol is. 

Cons: I found pretty much the same problems as I did in the book. 
I also noticed that they kind of made Peeta look more... stalker-ish... in the movie. "I followed you home from school every day... every day." O_O 

I wasn't *too* thrilled with the ending, but it wasn't really bad or anything. haha 


So which one wins this round of Book Vs. Movie? 

I'd say this one is a tie. 
The movie complimented the book perfectly. The book is still worth reading because there are things in the book that weren't in the movie, so I think they balanced each other out. :) 

Lessons from Tetris

I've been thinking a lot lately.
I've also been playing a lot of Tetris.

Ah, Tetris. If you haven't played it, then get out of here. Seriously. Get some help.
Just kidding. :)
But if you haven't played it, this is how it works: The goal of the game is to keep the blocks from stacking too high. The blocks come in different shapes, and you have to line them up right so they'll cancel out and you have more space.

Maybe it was the fatigue tugging at my logic, or maybe I had some sort of epiphany, but I realized: Life is a lot like Tetris.

Think about it. Life goes on, and the blocks keep coming. Stuff builds up, and normally if you're careful you can resolve it. But sometimes when you're not paying attention, you make a mistake and that block winds up in an awkward spot that makes it difficult to resolve. Sometimes it's not your fault; Sometimes the game throws in that random block you have no place for.

It's easy to freak out at that one annoying block that threw you off. But if you focus too much on it, it's almost hard to make the right decisions and things get worse. But if you take the situation as it is and try to build around it, things might get better.

Life makes it hard to have all your blocks in a row. But you have to work with what you were given, and trust that God will help you through it. :)

Dittos... Tetris... gosh, I just love using nerdy things to make a point. :D