Senior Summer

I live a crazy, beautiful life. Soaking up the sunshine. Working hard. Seeing friends & family. Enjoying my post senior year summer.

starbucks for lunch after a 5am shift.

baseball game with Megan.

sunset on the way home from work.

moments like this.

 fourth of july.

road trips.

You can follow along with my busy life at smalltowngirl_michlyn.

xoxo,
~Michlyn

Reflecting.

This is a post mostly for myself. Something that I need to write down so I can come back and remember. If you want to, go ahead and read along but I warn you - it might get a little long and be a tad boring. :)

Looking back on this year, it has been a year of growth and struggle. Good struggle & bad struggle. A full year of fitting pieces of a puzzle back together, erasing scars of my heart, and opening new doors. I look back and realize that I fit a lot into this past year and it brings nothing but joy. I had a lot of stressful moments but I had support and comfort after the storm. And that just brings joy that overpowers all the hard times. For that I'm thankful.

But something else I've noticed is that I have not grown in my faith with God. And that's something I've really struggled with in the past 2 years. You can go read this post and that gives you a little smidgeon of info. We lost our youth pastor around that time and it's been hard ever since. (We do have a new youth pastor now and he is super awesome! Just losing the one before him was pretty rough for a while) Someone really special to me asked me the other day "How is your walk with God?" and all I felt was disappointment. In myself. In my church. In my heart.

My faith has been tested a lot over the past 2 years and I've realized that I rarely turned to God when I needed something or was hurting. I turned to my friends or raged at my parents or cried alone in my room or complained to God. I never prayed to Him or thanked Him or cried out to Him. And I'm SO THANKFUL to everyone in my life who has and will always be there for me in hard times. Whether it's girls from my team, my parents, my best friends, or my grandparents. But most of all I'm so thankful to have a God that is so forgiving, so loyal, and so selfless. If it wasn't for Him not giving up on me or letting me give up on myself then I'd be in a lower spot in my faith than I am right now.

I'm the girl that tries to always have a smile on her face, who hates letting people down, and has a positive outlook on life. My life is beautiful. And there are times when I think "my life couldn't get any better" and times when I think "my life couldn't get any worse". But whether it's good, bad, or beautiful - it's not perfect and I'm not perfect.

So reflecting back on this year it's been an adventure. A crazy one. In 2014, I want it to be even crazier. I want to be crazy for God and for the life and future He has for me. Not the plans I have for myself but the plans that HE has for me. I want to strive to learn about Him and to seek Him in all that I do.

"But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me." 2 Timothy 4:17

xoxo,
~Michlyn

Where Does Time Go?

I should probably have a good excuse for being gone for weeks and weeks, but I truly don't. I have some posts in mind and will be getting some scheduled as it truly is "the most wonderful time of the year". (but also the busiest)

School has been extra stressful lately and with Christmas break coming up in 2 weeks, that means projects and papers all have to be turned in before the deadline. I've had far too many late nights this week and hope to stop that and get some sleep.

I hope to take some pictures of my siblings soon so we can put our Christmas card together and send it out before it's too late.

We had 2 nights where bountiful amounts of snow came and covered the ground. I usually LOVE the snow, and it's very pretty but driving in it is a completely different story. Thankfully we haven't gotten stuck, gone in the ditch, or rear-ended anybody. God's provisions are overflowing!

I'll be back soon! Stay warm everyone!

xoxo,  ~Michlyn

5 Rules on Being a Teenager

Being a teenager is always an adventure. It's the stages that are between awkward and mature. Obnoxious and responsible. They're your growing up years. It's not always fun and school usually gets more challenging, and you're trying to fit in and and and... I'm only 16 and even when I feel old, I know I'm still young. So since I've been a teenager for 4 years, I decided to write down some funny and basic rules on being a teenager.

1. Do not ask someone if they have a crush on another person. For the love of all things good and pure...do NOT do this. Unless it's your best friend or your sibling. (insert awkward stories) Because when you're just minding your own business and all of a sudden someone comes up and asks you "Do you like him/her?" and 10 other people hear and look at you and wait for your response...it's not ok. Because then you can end up blushing and those people can tell other people and there's peer pressure...so unless it's a safe situation, spare that moment.

2. Smell good. Please shower. Please please please. I know you're staying up late doing homework and waking up before the rooster crows but take the time to at least shower and put some good smelly stuff on. Because the last thing you want to be in high school is "that kid who smells like he just rolled in garbage". So just trust me on this and have good hygiene.

3. Stay out of drama. If you go to school or hang out with lots of other people your age, there's bound to be drama. Even if you try your hardest to stay out of it or ignore that girl that's had 14 boyfriends - it's bound to hit you in the face sooner or later. Because as soon as you ask Suzy about her boy problems...you're her clutch-the person she complains to about everything. Blah blah blah. Or as soon as you listen to that cute boy talking about how he snuck out of his house over the weekend...you've heard it and you can't go back. So stick with the right crowd and get some friends that you know are good to be around.

4. Respect your parents. I cannot emphasize this enough. Now, my parents are great...and I really truly mean that. They're teaching me life lessons and being my best friends at the same time. But if you respect their decisions for you, as their child, and listen to them - they're going to do the same to you. They're going to realize that you know your boundaries and you're a good kid. Don't push it and ask to go to bad parties or sneak out of the house because that's how you get yourself in trouble. Because they're doing the best they can and the least you can do for them is say "ok mom/dad I understand".

5. Be original. Yeah yeah this is so cliche..."be yourself" yadda yadda yadda. You've heard it 1000 times. But no seriously. I don't care if you're with your best friend, at church, or by yourself...just be you. I've had troubles with this in the past and the last thing you want to be is the person you're not. Hiding under some fake mannequin. Sing in the shower, make stupid puns, wear your sparkly converse from 7th grade (ha funny story - I still do that), hang out with both genders, read a book - who cares if someone calls you a nerd, play a new sport, just make sure you're doing it all for you. Not me or that cute boy on the football team. YOU.

xoxo,
~Michlyn

Valleyfair 2013

So here in my wonderful (yet crazy weather) state, we have an amusement park & it's called Valleyfair!!!

I've been going ever since I was probably 5 years old...from the Frog Hop to the Wild Thing, I treasure some of my favorite memories from this great and thrilling place. Both of my parents love roller coasters and I appropriately gained that gene. :)

And being the extra awesome parents they are - They got our church's 15 passenger van, packed a picnic, and took my sister Erin, me, and 8 of our friends this past Saturday for 12 whole hours at Valleyfair!

There are usually 5 guys and 5 girls, but when there are 2 groups of sisters we out-number the guys. :) And one of the guys is missing because he was camping with his family. But it was still such a fun day!

We are no ordinary bunch of friends. We entertain each other, can talk forever, tease each other, and laugh until our heads are ready to explode. We have inside jokes and all get along. My life would be so boring without these friends. 

Everyone...meet The Posse! 

This day was perfect. The weather was great, we rode the Wild Thing over 10 times, took ridiculous pictures, ate too much, and walked around until 10 o'clock at night. And from the caption above, yes, we have named ourselves "The Posse" because that seemed to suit us the best.

xoxo,

~Michlyn

Summer is Flying By

I don't know about the rest of you, but the fact that it is already July 18th just scares me. What happened to June? Why did it leave us so fast? Just hoping August doesn't sneak up on us like July did.

I've done so many fun things this summer! It's really been all about making memories! I've been hanging out with a lot of my friends and I've had the best times. :) Thought I'd give you a little instagram catch up & then give you the rest of my summer check list.

the summer started out incredibly rainy// rain go away selfie// babysitting// blind makeovers with Beka//

big sister's wedding// tanning :)// back to the 50's car show// bonfire// 

mango arizona tea...delicious// devotions// caribou coffee cooler - life is a journey// sparklers on the 4th of july

movie night with my sister Erin & mom and dad// the best lemonade ever// sunset after watching soccer// favorite shoes this summer

Checklist of stuff that I want to do before summer ends:

- Sleepover and fun day with Beka!

- Finish a few more goals from my 13 in 2013 list

-Go to Bunker Beach

-Photoshoot with my favorite girlfriends

-Hang out with my cousins and grandparents

-See Despicable Me 2

-Another fun bonfire night with friends from school

-Go shopping

-Re-do my family's blog

-Go to Valleyfair 

What have you been up to this summer? What's on your fun to-do list?

~Michlyn

Photoshoot {Tareh Jo}

This rarely happens, but I took my youngest sister out to our small, fenced-in backyard and decided to snap a few photos of her.

They turned out pretty darn well if I do say so myself. :) So here they are!

 She didn't really feel up to it...and that's kind of frustrating. But we worked through it.

Tried a couple different poses in a couple different places with a couple different hairstyles. (if you couldn't tell)

But there were definitely some favorites! Towards the end, I think she may or may not have actually been enjoying it.

My mom does a fantastic job on her hair, doesn't she?! And for some reason I was loving the pink!

I will admit her eyes are pretty gorgeous.

Ahhh...I just love this pose! It's so her "style".

And that concludes all the wonderful editing I've been doing for the past week! (excuse the massive sun flare in the middle of the pic)

xoxo,

~Michlyn

Wish I'd Never Grown Up.

You're sitting in your room...playing Barbies or Legos. Crashing cars together or combing your favorite doll's hair.

Laughing and playing like the world will never end. Running around in your superhero cape or dress-up clothes.

Looking at your mommy and wishing that you were as pretty as her. Dreaming to wear that red lipstick or bright nail polish. Watching your daddy shave and lift heavy stuff. Hoping to be as strong as him one day.

Just an innocent little kid waiting for the day when you're big enough to drive around a real car or do your own make-up.

Then 10 years passes by like the wind, and you're a teenager learning how to fit in and get through life's crazy stuff.

The reality is that growing up is way harder than we thought. It's more than just hanging out with friends, driving fast cars, looking pretty, or watching TV like a boss. No...it includes actually becoming responsible, paying for your cell phone bill, helping to grocery shop, watching your little siblings, working hard in school so you can graduate, and maturing into the person that God wants you to be.


And did I mention innocent above? Oh yeah I did...There are so many things that we don't know as little kids. We don't know what drugs or alcohol are, we don't know that bullying even exists in school, or what suicide even is. We think guns are things that cowboys use in the wild west not a common weapon, or that music in the world can be so obscene.

Yeah there's puberty to go through and good hygiene to learn but that's just natural and normal stuff. Of course there are those awkward and funny moments about that stuff, but it's just part of growing up.


And it's hard and frustrating, good and awkward, humorous and exciting. We just have to make wise decisions and live in the moment. Realize that no matter what we go through will pass and we will grow to become mature people.


And sometimes I pretend that I'm a little kid again with no internet access, playing Barbies in my room with my little sister, or swinging with the wind in my hair. But to live without pretending is to take the hard challenges straight on and crush them!



Deep down inside we're still that little kid...Just a bigger version wishing to go back in time.
~Michlyn