Dear Carly,

Hello, and welcome back to "Measuring God." I'm really sorry at how long it's been, but I haven't had the time or the resources to update my blog since June (or whenever my last post was). Really sorry about that. I actually have a friend who has been nagging me all summer to update... SORRY HEATHER! The first step was this past sunday-monday part of the weekend (beginning of the week? Whatever you call those two days). It was senior camp. Senior Camp is when almost all of the seniors from our school go to Timber Wolf Lake. We bond together as a class through many worship sessions, meals, and free time. It was a really powerful experience that we went through, and we really bonded as a class. It was really amazing to see the work that God did throughout the 36 hours we were there. I really learned a lot this weekend (or whatever), so I hope you enjoy hearing about it (you'll probably getting a few posts about it). We heard four sets of two word phrases t...

I don't know how many of you know this, but Disney's "Newsies" is one of my all time favorite movies (if not my favorite one). I know I've blogged about it before, but I thought I'd dedicate a whole post to my favorite movie.  The movie came out in 1993, and it was a total flop in the box office. If you ever get the chance to watch this movie, do it. It really will teach you something about life.  I've heard that most of the actors in the movie don't like to think about it because the movie did so terrible. It's funny because Christian Bale, who played the main character Jack Kelly, is huge now. He went from living in a dusty old basement to saving Gotham City. Pretty impressive.   The musical showed for the first time in 2012, after they updated the storyline and the music. I don't know much about it because I haven't seen it, but I have listened to the music from the show. I like the music better because it was re-written, and...

  Tulip Time is a huge festival in Holland for a few reasons: -the 3 parades (street sweeping, kinder, and the long one) -Dutch Dancing -TULIPS! I march in the parades with the band from my school. Since I'm not musically gifted, I can't play an instrument, so march in my costume and carry a province flag from the Netherlands (the original Holland). The first two are shorter, and the last one is longer (obviously). The second one (which takes play on Thursday) is the Kinderparade. This one has always been one of my favorites because all the little kids ge to march in it. All of the area schools have their elementary students march in the parade, which is tons and fun to see. They all wear costumes (although they don't have to wear wooden shoes, the lucky ducks.). It's fun to see all the kids, most of them having a great time.  Dutch Dancing is another thing that's huge for tulip time. As you can see from the pictures above, I am a ...

Okay, I know I said I would do some media fast reflections, but I don't really want to talk about those. Maybe I'll touch on that topic later. Today, I wanna talk about a few other things. Firstly, a poet named Jack Ridl came to my creative writing class today, and he shared some things that I wanted to write about. The first one is "try to create a really good with." At first, I was confused as to why he said "with" was the greatest word in the english language. But then he explained. You are always "with" some one or some thing. It's interesting because it's true. It's hard to describe anything to someone without also saying who you were with. For example, this weekend I was at Forensics State (forensics is a speaking competition) with my team, my coach, and a few teachers. Or, yesterday I went to get ice cream with my sister after school. Or, I didn't dance with my partner yesterday. That's really interesting. Then he said ...

Friday the juniors and seniors were let out of school early to prepare for a huge thing in our lives! (for those of you who can't read this, it says "b-a-n-q-u-e-t". Yes, that is ASL.) Banquet is our version of Prom at Holland Christian for a few reasons. 1. Prom is too suggestive (you know, teenagers having sex after prom...). 2. We actually eat food there (and it's pretty good). 3. We are just that cool. We couldn't have asked for a prettier night as it was the first night in Holland this year that was decently warm. Everyone was fine in our dresses, and we didn't need winter coats (which probably could happen in Michigan). All of the juniors and seniors head to the park to take pictures.  Then, we head to our location. This year's banquet was at the Pinocle Center in Hudsonville. We ate, listened to a comedian (who was also a ventriloquist and was pretty funny), and then danced. It was a really great time, and I won't bore you with to...

Trees are ablaze, wearing spring like Joseph wore his technicolored dream coat. But there is one section of the forest that doesn't. They've had their coat ripped of. They've been raped of their colors by something they cannot control. Death. The river seems peaceful, but it's a candy-coated guillotine  The trees are now bathed in ghosts, a sheet of gray covering those only a few paces from the river. You can almost hear the trees calling out for help, but the death plague has already got them. Slowly, they wilt, giving their strength over to the cancer. Their pride is slowly turned to shame as they wilt further and further into an eternal sleep. -Carly Palmatier I wrote this poem on our way down to Gulf Shores, Alabama over spring break. It was interesting because a huge group of trees seemed to be coated in pieces of fishing nets. I thought I'd jot somethings down about it, and this is what I came up with. I wish I could have gotten a picture to show you, but I...

I know it's been a while, so here are the two writing warm-ups that I wrote today in class and some notes about them. Warm-Up #1: Tone Stepping out of the car, a beautiful upgraded dollhouse greets you. The place where it lies is cleared out from the woods, with trees everywhere around it. The regular silence is never empty, it's always filled with a bird chirping or a bubble popping in the river or a tree whistling the wind. The dock is peaceful i the way it floats on the river. The dam is crowded with too many people there to swim. The river slides down it's slimy path, and even when you're floating  something still feels wrong. You can see the crayfish swimming beneath you, threatening to pinch. Getting out is a battle, fighting to pull yourself onto the dirty banks. The dirt covers your skin and makes it nearly impossible to get clean. Towels can't dry you off completely  and the rest of the water has to go away by itself. Walking back to the cottage hurts y...

So this past week was the week right after spring break, which for most people is a very stressful week, and that was no exception for me. It was a long week getting back into the swing of regular life. Friday was a bad night, in which after work (where we got out late, about half and hour after we were suppose to) I sat in my car and cried the whole 20 minutes on the way home. It was crazy and two of the girls at work were very annoying, giggling and not really getting anything done. I kept thinking "why me? why now? why this week? why today? why when I have to get up early tomorrow?" I was very frustrated, and my already small patience level was gone. I was ready to cuss them off and leave without saying another word (which isn't something that I would EVER do). I sat in my car crying, and then finally left for home. All that was on my mind was how much I hated those two girls and how I wish I would have swore at them. Then I actually started thinking about the night....

Well, I'm an upperclassman in high school and the stress about finding a college and deciding on an occupation is really high with my friends and me. I've wanted to go into architecture for as long as I can remember, and design cool buildings like this. But, more recently, I've thought about maybe going into the medical field. I've thought about the rush of being a EMT or the joy of being a pediatrician and working with kids. I've been confused, on top of that, my parents are really putting the pressure on to find a good college and start doing visits. It's hard to find a college when you don't even know what you want to do, where you want to be, or anything like that. It's sad thinking that I'm might have to leave my friends and go away, but I don't know if I want to stay close to home either -- and these are all things you have to think about when choosing a college. My brain has started to look like this... My creative writing t...

Today in creative writing, we talked about what the best parts of a story is, and what you have to do to keep a reader involved. I'd say it was pretty beneficial to me because I actually enjoy writing more than just blogging (surprising, I know). It's called being an organic writer, and there are six things that this article told us to do. 1) Re-evaluate what you've heard about story. 2) Let narrative forces rather than formulas drive your story forward. 3) Follow rabbit trails. 4) Write from the center of the paradox 5) Trust the fluidity of the process. 6) Re-evaluate continuously. I think these things are important, but they can be hard to understand. Pretty much what the author is saying is that you have to make sure to keep the plot interesting for your readers, make the characters believable and relatable, and don't worry too much on where you're going. If you're writing a story, you have to think about whats happening, what's going to happen,...

"Don't be afraid to be different." This is a sign in the classroom I'm in right now. It got me thinking about part of the post I wrote on beauty. I think that the main reason that people are scared to be individual is because the need to be that beautiful man or woman. Individuality in a person in similar to different spices in food. It would be boring if every food tasted the same, and that's why we enjoy different foods. Most of the foods that you look up look beautiful, and most of them taste pretty good too. So then, why are we so worried about having people with different "flavors"? There are so many different things that we are all made up of, even something as non-important as skin color. But that had become so important in our culture. You can't hire all these white people because you have to have some asian and some hispanic. Why should it matter, it's just the color of their skin. Most of them were born in America anyway, and so it...

Today, I've decided that I'm going to blog more. Since I don't know what yo blog about, I'm going to type up a poem that I wrote a little while ago. It's called Endangered Species. Endangered Species I am and artist I don't shape clay Or move brushes Or cut paper Or leave marks with a pencil I'm not in any art classes And I hate getting my hands dirty Most of the time, anyway In fact If you gave me  a brush I wouldn't be able to convince you That I can paint at all (My painting would look abstract, like Picasso, With my less-than-great painting skills) But I am and artist I'm part of the rare species Of artist that many like to Think they are (It's actually more endangered Of a species than it is rare.) It's a type of artist that Can not only make you feel insignificact And also make you feel Small Small as the ants crawling on the sidewalk Or BIG BIG as a forest of White Oaks Or shallow or humble or any ...

Well, I'm in a class called Creative Writing this semester (like I've said before), and while I'll do most of my writing in my notebook named Charles the Gay Guy, I'll be posting random things on here as well. My first post from there is something I wrote about beauty. Our prompt (or writing invitation as my teacher, Mrs. Rooks, calls them) was to write about beauty, and whatever came to mind. One of the first things I thought of was that comic with the western girl in the bikini, and the eastern girl in all black. Yep, that comic. Anyway, here are my thoughts: Beauty. It's a scary topic in our culture because it can offend people so easily. There are so many people eon this planet, so much beauty, and yet, nobody seems to have the exact same definition as another. The dictionary app on my computer claims that beauty it either "a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic sense, esp. the sight" or "a...

Hello, everyone. Sorry it's been so long, but I've been kinda busy lately. I've been learning sign language because one of my friends is legally deaf. Yesterday we learned lots of fun words, most of them which I can't remember. It's great to know that I'm learning a third language. One of my goals in life is to learn many different languages -- and so it's cool to finally start on my second one. Well, first hour in school I have a class called creative writing. It's a class where we learn about writing and we write a lot. Shocking, I know. Today we were doing some housekeeping things, like talkins about when we're going to handin our notebooks and stuff like that. It's nice to have a class where I do something that I enjoy as much as writing. On a totally different note, two of my friends broke up last night. We were talking to the boy at McDonald's (class, right?) and we were telling him all these different spiritual things and how he shou...

Well, it's been a while. Between the long weekends, the random crap, exams, and too much homework, I haven't really had much time to write. Well, actually, I have that's a lie, I just haven't written in a while. Also, I've been playing LOTS of videogames, and that really sucks up a lot of my time. My one "sport" started today, Dutch Dance. For those of you who aren't from Holland, Tulip Time is a time where we celebrate our Dutch Heritage  Dutch Dancing is a "traditional" dutch dance in traditional costumes.  This Link  shows one of three dances that we do. Yes, those costumes are hot. Yes, those are shoes made of wood. And yes, they do hurt to dance in. Tulip Time takes place in May, but we start practicing to perfect our work in January. We're pretty dedicated. Throughout the few years that I've done Dutch Dance (this is my third) I've seen many things. There are lots of tourists who come to see us dance, and there are lots of...

Alright, it's been a few days, so this'll just be a little bit longer of a post. Friday: Starting at about 9:30 AM on friday, my friends and I started a huge journey. We were going to watch all three Lord of the Rings  Extended Editions in one day. They are each 3.5-4 hours long, and it was going to be a full day. So, we started with the fellowship, and, while working on math projects and thank you cards, we trucked through the first 4 hours. After that, we buzzed down to the gas station closest to my house and picked up Subway footlongs for lunch. We showed on those while watching Two Towers  and we continued with our projects. After the second movie we went down to Speedway for a slushie run, and we all got our fill of more sugar and caffeine. We started The Return of the King  and kept working on our projects and our subs. I stayed in my pajamas all day, and it was one of the best 12 hours in my life. It was pure awesome. My friends decided that I would be a hob...

Well, today, once again, I went into work with my father and sister. It was a great time, even though I was really tired all day. I got paid for the yesterday and today, so that is always something to be thankful for. Something big that I saw God in today was music. My dad turned on his "Rush" in the car, and we rocked out. It was so interesting to hear "The Necromancer", "Natural Science", and some others, all of which have their own themes and stories. I am so grateful for all different types of music because of all the joy that it brings so many different people. There are so many different kinds that even I listen to, and ever song is so unique and different. It's just great! The Garfield comic of the day features John wondering if anyone will remember him once he's gone. That's something that I wonder daily. I hope that people remember me for all of the joy that I've brought them, and all the good things I've done; however, I fin...

Whew! It's been a long time since my last post, and I apologize. However, after ringing in the New Year, I decided that blogging is going to be my resolution! So, a new post everyday is in order. The title of my blog is Measuring God, and, to reestablish this, I don't mean to be disrespectful. I only mean to display the ways that I have seen God in my daily life, just to find all the good things that happen. Today, I got the privilege of going with my dad into work. He works for my grandparents, who let my sister and me come occasionally and work around the office. We (my sister and I) did lots of paperwork, like finding old papers and matching them to invoices and lots of copying. >.< I saw The Hobbit  a couple days ago and loved it! I started listening to the book yesterday, and I hope to finish it tomorrow. It such a great blessing to be able to read and watch movies, both which are so good. Just for you guys, I'll give you this:  http://www.you...