I've been blogging for three years now {and how good it's been}

    So as I was trying to find a suitable header picture for this new blog template, (the plague of my life let me tell you) and updating profile picture because they are (it seems like) decades old, I realized that I have had this blog for three years. Three years!! And oh, they have been a good three years.

    It seems like so long ago when I started this blog. So much has changed. 

   I was shy then. 13 years old, in Grade Eight.  I was homeschooled, and terrified of the idea of school. My hair was longer, and straighter. I was shorter. I took piano lessons. I loved horse back riding lessons. I was afraid of storms, and leaving home. I wanted to be a horse trainer. And then an actress. I loved to bake. I wanted to get better at writing. I didn't really realize what books meant to me. 

Look it's the picture of me from my very first blog post... I'M SO TINY

    I'm more outgoing now. I'm 16, and in Grade Eleven at a public high school. And guess what? I actually kinda love it there. My hair is short, and curly. (on good days) I'm still short, but not as short. I don't take piano lessons anymore; it's singing lessons now. I stopped loving riding lessons, and one chapter of my life closed. I'm not afraid of storms anymore. I've flown without my parents across the continent. I want to study English Literature, and work with a Theatre Company. I still love to bake, I'm just not as good at it anymore. I'm better at writing. I actually enjoy writing five page essays. (Strange, I know) I've come to understand how wonderful words are.  I've learned that stories are something my soul craves. 

Hey look it's me now. I've grown up a little bit ;) 

   Some things don't change though...

     I still hate getting up early. Like seriously, it's the worst thing ever. I still love tea and hot chocolate. I still collect books, and stuff my bedroom full of them. I still adore music. I still love fall, and Christmas will always be my favourite holiday. I still wish I lived in Britain, and had an accent. I still want to be in a movie. I still dream about the day I'll fall in love, and get married.

It's been a good three years. I've grown up a bunch. I've learned a bunch. 

    I've learned that growing up is hard, and sometimes it hurts, and that it's some of the most terrifying stuff ever.... but also that it's so good. I've learned that friendships change. I've learned that family is the most precious thing you'll ever have. I've learned how important it is to cling to what you believe. I've learned that it's ok to have doubts and fears about life, and faith, and future. I've learned how hard it is to be in the world, yet not of it. I've learned that this world is broken beyond belief; full of hopelessness and fear and sin and evil. But I've also learned that there is still wholeness there; and hope and peace and purity and goodness. I've learned that there's so much more to life than just silly little superficial things; and yet I've learned how hard it is to remember that. And I've learned that I still have so much to learn.

    I'm learning how to grip onto this wild thing that is life, and live it to its fullest. I'm learning how to view the world with a child's wonder. I'm learning to see beauty in the ugly, to see wholeness in what is broken. I'm learning what it means to stand up and defend those who need to be defended, and love those who need to be loved, and forgive those who need to be forgiven. I'm learning to laugh more, and cry more. To feel more deeply and love more recklessly, and find peace in chaos, and hope in darkness. 

     I'm learning more than ever what it means to grab hands, and lock eyes with the One who created me and put words in my mouth, and a song in my heart. I'm learning how to walk with Him through a beautiful yet broken world; with heart bursting, eyes bright, and ears full of His music. 

Kudos to you if you read through all of that. It became a lot longer than I had planned. ;) 

And kudos to you if you've followed this blog for all three of these years. You are amazing. 

    I've finally come to accept the fact that I'm not going to be able to blog as regularly as I did before. My schedule is becoming fuller with lots of good things, but that means I'm not able to just sit down and write like I have before. *cries* 

    I've grown up, and so has my blog. I think it's only fitting though. My posts aren't as fangirly as they were before, or as regular, and that's ok. I've always wanted this blog to be a place that I can just write about whatever I feel like I need to write about, and I have new and different things to write about now. (Which honestly makes me so happy.) So I'll still pop in here as much as I can, and write about life and how wonderfully crazy it can be, and faith cause it's more important to me than ever before, and books, (no explanation needed) and ya. 

Thanks for sticking around for so long. I hope you'll keep sticking around. 

   Also, if any of you lovely people are on any form of social media, let me know!!! I'd totally love to get in touch with you guys there too!!! 

Here's to another three years, and many more.