Announcement

A peek into a new chapter in my life:

Over the past 4 years my family and I have prayed about an opportunity for me to be Home schooled. I always thought it would be fun. This year the Lord gave our family a peace about this step in life. I am very excited to be home schooled my 9th grade year for several reasons.

• I know it is God's will and plan for my life right now. I know this is where He wants to take me on my life journey. I look forward to building my relationship with Him and fully depending on God to take control of my life and lead me.
• There are so many things i look forward to learning. Starting with science. I know there are several neat things to do and places to go to learn about God's creation. Also English: I am thrilled to choose different books to read and improve in my writing skills.
• I feel that with more time at home, I will have a lot more free time to work on the things I love. Photography for instance. With being at school all day and coming home to do homework I don't have much time to take tons of pictures. I also love to cook, paint and draw. This new opportunity will clear up some time for me to work on all those things and enjoy a few more pleasures in life.

I know this is all part of God's plan for me. I know that He will teach me so much over the next year, and I can't wait to see what He had in store for my life!

Siesta Key - Sarasota, FL

One of the best feelings :) sand between your toes!

Palm trees are the best!

Look what God painted.

This was right next to one of the restaurants we ate at.

We can't leave out the seagulls!

Last week I went to Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, FL. My grandma owns a condo off the coast of the Gulf. Last Monday my mom and I as well as some friends took a 6 hour road trip to the beach! There is nothing like surfing waves and building a sand castle with close friends on a hot Summer day! We had a blast. It was a great opportunity for me to practice taking pictures. The sunset was breath-taking. It was definitely a week to remember!

Coming up!

• Pictures from my week at the beach coming up later this weekend!
  

Lil' Miss Dangerous

Whenever I visit Iowa another fun thing I get to do is spend time with another one of my cousins. Emily (16), races stalk cars. She fits right in with the other men and stays way up on the top! I like to help her change the oil in her car and wash it. We always have a great time at the races!

Baby Violet

One of my relatives took this picture of me and Violet

Violet and her Daddy, Ben

As promised, here are some pictures of my first week of summer. This is my baby cousin, Violet. She loves to laugh, observe, giggle, cuddle and do just about what every other baby loves to do:) Violet and I were the only great-grand kids in town that weekend. I think we may be third cousins...I'm not quite sure how that all works. We both had a great visit to Iowa.

**I didn't have time to edit

Summer Begins!

Summer is here at last! It has been a while since I have blogged and i apologies.There are several pictures from various events that i need to post. I will get on that! Hold me to my word!
Here are some things that have gone on the past week and will go on soon.

• My great Grandma's funeral in Iowa. Even though it was sad, it was good to see family I haven't seen in quite sometime and meet my new baby cousin:)
• Read, read, read- Christy Miller
• Swim with friends! Also I have been helping my mom teach swim lessons during the late afternoons.
• This weekend much of the same things will be going on. In spare summer time I paint, read, take pictures, ride my bike...I just love summer! :)
• Oh, also I am watching a pet hamster for the summer.
  
• Starting on Monday we head to the beach until Saturday. I will post pictures of Iowa before I leave and then when I come home I will post pictures of my time at the beach

I hope you have a marvelous summer yourselves making memories and hanging out with friends and family :) Love, Maddy

The Final Days...

The temperature is telling me to go swimming
and the outside is beckoning my name.
The only thing keeping us apart
are my wretched final exams!

I dream of the days when I wake up with nothing to do. Even though it is so close I still feel that it is far away. I have a lot to look forward to over the next few months and even more within the next year (will be explained in a later post). This summer I look forward to all the wonderful opportunities I will have to take countless pictures at the beach, and in my favorite...COLORADO! I am trying to motivate myself into studying for the next for 5 days. I can do it!! Yes, yes... see. There's the motivation I need!! I have gone to school for 175 days this year...I can do 5 more, yes I can!
5 days left of middle school. I have made it through the good, the bad and the ugly. I can't believe high-school is almost here. I can still remember my first day of 6th grade. Truthfully I can. I am sad to leave middle school for many different bitter-sweet reasons, but I look forward to what the future brings and what God has in store for my life. I have been blessed with such wonderful friends and lifetime memories. I look forward to making more of both. :)

Georgia History #2

These are just some more pictures that I need for my power-point due tomorrow. It is coming along great so far. I just have one more slide and a few finishing touches to do. Hopefully all goes well.
I know the pics aren't that great considering it was at night, but I need them for my project.

My Perfect Day

My Perfect Day:

1. Wake up after sleeping in late, but not too late
2. Having my dad's chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast
3. Going to the pool with 2 of my good friends to swim and have fun. Once we swam long enough it started to storm (I love rain)
4. Since it was raining we decided to go see a movie that didn't last too long, but just long enough.
5. After the movie it would still be drizzling outside, so we would race to the car and get under shelter just before the bottom dropped out.
6. All 3 of us would go home, put on some sweat pants and talk.
   
7. Later we would all take out our Christy Miller books and read for a while as we listened to the rain.
8. My mom went to Zaxsby's to pick us up some dinner. The whole while we ate we talked and laughed.
9. Next we would take showers, put on our pajamas's and pick a good movie to watch.
10. After the movie we would stay up late, listen to music, and talk.

Some of the simplest things in life bring me joy. I look forward to thing summer when there will be no school, no homework and all the time in the world to do whatever I want...take pictures, explore, read, hang out with friends... the possibilities are endless!! :)

Growth, Heart Breaks, Friendships and Memories.

Me and one of my Best Friends, Mary Helen Douglas on the first day of 8th grade.

My sister and I before the first day of school


There have been several ups and downs throughout my 3 years of middle-school. Three years of growth, heart breaks, friendships and memories. As I look back and reflect on the the last years I realize how much I have grown. Not only have I grown on the outside, but I have also grown spiritually. There have been different phases of middle-school, different friends, and several other differences. All these things worked together to form me. Even through the hard times, the Lord used all the different circumstances to help me grow. I stopped trying to find my identity in the things that only last a moment and began finding my identity on the things that matter. Sometimes when I felt that all had lost hope and I wanted to turn my back and give up, God was there tugging at my heart. I can't list all the things that I have learned it one post.
I know one of the biggest things I have learned revolves around friends. Not only have do I know who my true friends are, and how a true friend treats you and loves you, but I have learned how to be a true friend as well. I have had shallow relationships in the past. Now my friendships are built on God. Praying for one another, encouraging each other and being there when things get tough. As I have my moments of reviewing, I look back... and through all the tears and hard times I have embraced, it was all worth it to get to where I am now.

Georgia History

I just loaded these so I could have them for a project at school. We are doing a History power-point. We got to choose a person, place or event in Georgia and collect information about it. I chose Mulberry St. in downtown Macon because there are some really neat buildings and events that take place there. Ga History is the funnest class ever, and the teacher, Mr.Kitchell is great too :)

SURPRISE!

She was so surprised!

Such a beautiful bird

Mom and Riley

Riley and the bird

Mack didn't like it to much

For my mom's birthday this year we went to Discovery Cove in Orlando Florida to swim with the dolphins. This has been her life long dream.
My dad planned everything, and we helped keep it a surprise. When she found out her birthday surprise which she was last expecting they were on a walk. Me and my sister met my brother up at the school. We set everything up, and not only was she thrilled to swim with the dolphins, but her son was home. We packed up and left that day. The whole family.
Before we swam with the dolphin (next post) we got the chance to go into the Aviary. There were so many neat birds of all kinds. Peacocks, turkeys, toucans, and other beautiful birds. We each got cups of food and the birds flew right up and ate out of our hands. One bird even sat on my head. It was so fun! It was so nice to have the whole family together!