I am going to do something a little different for today's post. I will start with a few good quotes from this past week. Then, I'm going to move on to my big endeavor with a small preface. But first, the quotes:

1. "I just shocked my cut." -Danielle, my blonde friend, after jumping (literally- she is just under 5 feet and couldn't weigh over 100 lbs., 20 years old, and she drives around this HUGE red truck) out of the truck at Steak 'n Shake

2. Me: The best part about Sunday afternoons is going home and changing into REALLY comfortable clothes.

My cousin, Kelly, nods.

Kelly: And the worst part is avoiding to do everything that you know you should be getting done.

*But hey, the way I see it- it IS the day of rest.

3. Morton Church: "Greetings from Sarasota."

Tracy: Taryn, if we lived in Florida right now, I would invite you to the beach this afternoon.

Taryn: And I would go with you. You would study on the beach, and I would frolick around in the ocean.

Ahhh... I'm torturing myself... I only WISH I was in Florida right now.

Anyway, about 4 years ago (wow, has it really been that long? 2002- I guess so) I started a journal to expel my writing overflows. I would print out my works of writing (usually a minimum of 2 pages, ranging up to 6-8) and put them in a folder I had called my "Faith Folder." The folder was given to me from my mom for Christmas, and it was purely for organizational purposes. It had colored dividers and tabs to use for my convenience, but seeing that I didn't necessarily have a huge amount of coupons, recipes, and family members' schedules at my disposal at that point in my life, I decided to ogranize my spiritual life. Well, the most successful section in that folder ended up being the "Journal" section, as it has a thick, THICK stack of papers in there, enough to make a novel with, I'm sure.

What I'm going to do is extract single sentences, quotes, or small paragraphs of genuis that I had during these past 4 years of journaling. Don't worry- I'm not going to walk you down the journey of my personal life. I'm simply going to enlighten with strokes of insight that occurred during this process- pretty rarely, I'm sure- but they did occur. Not only will I be sharing that, but also sentences that you are allowed to laugh at- some of the things I came up with were quite humorous. As you will see, my journal was a place for me to just WRITE about whatever I wanted to- much like what my blog is for me, today.

January 9, 2003:
"Sometimes, a person's dignity can be measured by how easily they let really small things get to them- or how easily they don't." (more context- "If something really small is going to set you off the edge, then what is something big going to do to you?")

January 12, 2003:
"This is crazy. I should be studying for finals- but I'm not." (STORY OF MY LIFE)

February 7, 2003:
"Do I try to avoid letting Him have control over a certain situation so that I don't have to face what He may have in store for me?" (I'm talking about giving God complete control of my life)

"You know, it can all seem so difficult, but in reality, it's not. If you step back and look at your life in a perspective that lets you view each part of your life as a puzzle piece- then you can see the whole picture. Maybe it's not all put together yet (it shouldn't be)- maybe you're only staring at a blank table with nothing but a piece. If you try to put the puzzle together, it won't work, because unlike most puzzles, this one doesn't have a box with the picture right on the front of it. Only One knows what the end pictures looks like- and if you let God piece the puzzle together, you'll get astounding results."

February 11, 2003:
"Am I strange? Yeah, I am."

March 6, 2003
"For breakfast, I had a Milky Way (Mmmm) and then a bowl of Honey Combs when I got home. (My eating habits haven't changed much)

March 18, 2003:
"It's amazing how much knowledge and insight you can gain from just learning your personality type...." "...I guess I should say that I'm quite obssessed with the subject..." (and still am)

March 24, 2003:
"This is suppossedly my spring break... and they expect me to be happy about it? All I'm doing is working and being busy this whole week..." (Welcome to the real world, Taryn)

April 7, 2003:
"Someday, I'll wake up from this fantasy I've been living in, and I'll wonder why I have been allowing myself to miss all that I have! A lot of my days are spent in my imagination..." (Taryn. Hey, Taryn. Taryn. TARYN!)

extracted from my "Mr. C" essay:
"James, Jim, Mr. Carius... but to all of us down at Dairy Queen, he will always be "Mr. C." It is safe to say that every time that man walks through the door at Dairy Queen, he doesn't leave without somehow making us all smile." (That was my boss all through High School- best one there ever was!)

June 5, 2003:
"Tonight I got pulled over for the dumbest reason ever. I was only going 50 in a 30, and the police man didn't seem to understand it was because I was drag racing with my friend. Then, he busted me for carrying a time bomb in my trunk, what's up with that? Only kidding. But I really did get pulled over, and it was for a stupid reason." (I'm not telling you what it was)

June 22, 2003:
"You know, there are only certain times when writers can write, and really enjoy it wile making the most of their thoughts and skills, and that time is only when everything is secure: the inspiration, the mood, the emotions, and the words."

June 28, 2003:
"The mind is one of the most powerful instruments we have... The mind is so powerful, that sometimes I think my mind has a mind of its own!"

October 19, 2003:
"See, that's the beauty of being a writer- being able to define something that you know almost nothing about. I love it, I just love it." (That might not make sense, but it's so true.)

November 10, 2003:
"I love to take pictures, to capture memories, to experience feelings, to share these feelings with others, to make other people moved by a production, to connect words with images, to show that underneath everyone lies the capacity for inspiration."

December 30, 2003:
"My characters take me places that I can't even imagine until they take me there." (when I write stories)

March 22, 2004:
(I was going off of the song "If we are the body" from Casting Crowns. This small excerpt reminded me of what we heard about today in church. Ted Wtizig, Jr. talked about the importance of having FAITH and WORKS. This also reminds me of the verse Romans 1:16, a good one to memorize!)

"Which all brings me to my life's prospect: spreading His love and being a Light to anyone, no matter what the circumstances and who the people... I cannot be ashamed. It is a horrible thing to think I ever would be, after all Christ did for me. I mean, really... the magnitude of His sacrifice for me, a sinful person, so that I can have an opportunity to spend eternity with Him... and all I can do is be ashamed? It's amazing. Absolutely amazing how ridiculous, selfish, proud, and evil the human mind and heart can be. However, that is why i must have faith, and trust Him. He knows, and that's all I need to know. If I just have hte faith, then the rest is smooth sailing as long as I let God be the leader... and I stay right behind Him."

April 21, 2004
"This isn't illegal," Eric reassured us.
...when low and behold, flashing lights and a siren went off behind all 3 of us. We all turned in surprise as the cop car rolled up behind us and "pulled us over" in a parking lot nearby. We all rollerbladed around to the front of the vehicle like 3 criminals, standing there in shame." (We got pulled over for rollerblading... evidently, it's illegal to rollerblade in the streets of East Peoria ;)

August 24, 2004
"These days, everything is so quick and easy, and we are trained to want instant gratification in all things. But God doesn't work on our timetable. He isn't sitting there twiddling his thumbs, waiting to jump up and pamper us the second we ask something of Him. One thing we do know, though, is that God is a perfect and loving God, who knows exactly what each and everyone of us needs. He created us for His purpose, so why would He not use us for it? Yet we sit around and want what we want, when we want it, and for our own reasons. And we fail to remember Who is in control. Sometimes, God has an interesting way of showing us that very fact, and although it isn't always a pleasant experience, He is able to give us the rude awakening that we need."

My last printed entry to that journal was in Fall of '04. Ever since I started my blog, it has served as a great outlet for my writing passions- and it also fulfills my need to want to share and collaborate my thoughts with others! It's fun stuff. My blog sort-of "replaced" my journaling habits. Blog stands for "Web Log," and it gives its users the opportunity to share writing and pictures with the capability for its design to be tweaked aesthetically... I couldn't think of a better replacement. It's so much more interesting than black typeface on white print-out paper.

Anyway, feel free to comment about anything you read here... I'm open to agreements/criticism/thoughts/expoundings. I love you all.

T