March for LIFE!

Yesterday, my sister and I rode a bus from our church to the State Capitol building to join the rally against abortion. We met our mom down there (she came from work), and marched around while "Amazing Grace" played on the speakers. About 6,000 people came to show that they valued human life... including unborn lives.

The Governor spoke, as well as several other important pro-life activists in our state legislator. It was awesome to hear that several small steps of progress are being made on behalf of the voiceless. But we need to keep praying that abortion will be made illegal.

Some verses (ESV):

"You shall not murder." ~Exodus 20:13

"For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance:

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there were none of them." ~Psalm 139:13-16

A New Adventure

I have taken the leap and created a new blog.

Evergreena's Journal will continue to be my "main" blog, for my poetry, writing stuff, and other creative endeavors. I've done some things with photography here. But I began to realize, especially after seeing Hannah's new project for the year (which you can visit HERE), that I wanted to do more with photography.

The new blog is (tentatively) called The Adventures of Evergreena and Her Camera. You can visit it at camera-adventures.blogspot.com  It's still under construction, but I would love it if you would comment on it and follow me there.

My 2010 Reading List

Last year I read 36 books, from hilarious graphic novels (Rapunzel's Revenge) to non-fiction (Self-Editing for Fiction Writers) to awesome fantasy (Princess Academy, All My Holy Mountain and Curse of the Spider King, to name just a few).

Most of the books I read were children's books, with a few YA and one or two books from the adult section. I've decided that IN GENERAL, children's books are all-around best. They're mostly clean, vivid, fun, and full of action.

Here's the whole list from last year, in the order that I read them:
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (5 books)
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet
"Hook" novelization by Terry Brooks
Land of Elyon series by Patrik Carmen (3 books)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (read it twice)
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale
The Restorer books by Sharon Hink (3 books)
IronHeart by Victoria Kasten
Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce
Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis (audiobook)
All My Holy Mountain by L.B. Graham
The Magic Half  by Annie Barrows
The Candlestone by Bryan Davis (audiobook)
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Operation: Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (audiobook)
On the Run series by Gordon Korman (6 books)
Auralia's Colors by Jeffery Overstreet
Chosen by Ted Dekker
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
The Curse of the Spider King  by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper
Night Flying by Rita Murphy

These are just the books I read cover-to-cover, not including unfinished books.

 And here's my tentative reading list for 2010:

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (Re-read)
Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away by Elizabeth Enright (re-read)
The Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright
The Seems by John Hulme and Michael Wexler
Leepike Ridge by N. D. Wilson
100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis (re-read)
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (re-read)
The Simarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
Writing Fiction for Dummies  by Randy Ingermanson
The Pendragon series by D. J. MacHale
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen (she goes to my uncle's church)
Enna Burning and River Secrets by Shannon Hale

And I'd like to finish reading:
The Bones of Makaidos by Bryan Davis
Getting into Character by Brandilyn Collins
The Swords of the Six by Scott Appleton
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas
Volume A of the World Book Encyclopedia
Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, my pastor.

I will probably pick up more books along the way, but these are the ones that have caught my attention. I may post reviews for some of them, too. Which ones have you read?
Cheerio!

Hello, New Decade!

My 50th post, and the first of the year 2010! It's also the beginning of a new decade! Huzzah!

In honor of all my blog followers, I'm giving away this award to all of you. The "Good Times" Award! I made it especially for you wonderful people.

I'm looking both behind and ahead. 2009 was a pretty good year, even though I didn't accomplish many of my original goals. Let's review my "Big, Fun, Scary Adventures" list from the beginning of last year...

1. Read the encyclopedia
2. Build a treehouse
3. Edit my novel
4. Memorize Fighter Verses
5. Finish geometry
6. Get a driver's license
7. Start a card-making/altered book business

So... The only thing on my list that I actually accomplished was number 5= I did finish geometry. *joy upon joy*

However, I did memorize most of the fighter verses for 2009, and I read half a volume of letter "A" of the encyclopedia. And I did edit some of my novel, just not all of it.

Even though I didn't really finish all my goals, I did have a few unexpected highlights. For example:
-I graduated from high school
-My family drove down to the Grand Canyon on an epic road trip
-We made an award-winning movie
-I took first place in archery
-I wrote another novel, this time by hand.

And now, my goals for 2010, also known as Big, Fun, Scary Adventures!

1. Attend my first writers conference! 
I am all signed up for the Florida Christian Writers Conference, and I'm excited and nervous about it. My mom and I are going together, and I'll be doing the Teen Track with Bryan Davis, the author of the Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series. I encourage any of you who are interested in writing to come! I don't think it's too late to sign up.

2. Get my driver's license!
I've been putting this off for too long.

3. Write at least one song every month!
Ever since I got my keyboard, my interest in songwriting has grown, and now I've recorded a few short pieces. If I can figure out how to post them, I will.

4. Start a photography blog!
This is a last-minute idea I got from Hannah. I'm not yet sure what form my new blog will take, but I love photography, and she has inspired me to step out and try something new. I'll let you know more as this gets started up.

So these are my goals, my dreams, my adventures for the year 2010. I continually dedicate my life to Jesus my Savior, and I give all the glory to him. Soli Deo Gloria!