Happy Saturday. It’s been a crazy few days and I better tell you about it. It began Sunday Night. I was sitting on the balcony when suddenly I got a phone call from my Mom saying my Dad had been a car wreck on the way home from work. I was at the beach a long way from home. I wanted to come home immediately but there was so way at the current moment.

I was super worried and gave the entire thing up to God in prayer. I could not stop crying. Thank goodness for my dearest Liz. She comforted me in my weeping.

Wendsay night I was finally able to get a ride home with my good friend Will. I’d like to thank him for putting up with my nervous tears. We got there hours later and I immediately ran to the floor my Dad was on. He was in the CCU and the nurse told me I could not see him because on non-visiting hours no one was allowed but one vistor and my mom was in there. Mom came out a bit later and told me Dad was about to go into surgrey.

I was mad I couldn’t see my Dad, and shaken with worry about his surgrey, but God gave me an amazing peace through the entire siuation. Will and I took a walk outside in the courtyard. It was dark and I could just cry out to the Lord the entire time.

Jemermy and Meg showed up a little later and I hung out with them in the hospital room that smelled like floor cleaner and paper gloves, which makes me sick. Finally Dad’s surgrey was over and the Doctors said he was doing a whole lot better. Two hours later (This was three in the monring) I got to see him. It was hard to see my dad, always strong, so weak in a hostipal bed like someone on a movie. I just held his hand for a long time and said nothing. I couldn’t say anything.

He’s doing better everyday and I might come home in the next week, prause God! I have felt so strong with many prayers from my dear friends. God has shown the goodness of his faithfulness and has taught me to praise him even in times of sorrow and pain.

There has been so much pain in my life and I hate it. I can’t hide the scars it’s left me. Yet the Christian life isn’t always blessing after blessing like it might seem. It’s the narrow path and every moment of suffering just reminds of what I am fighting for…A God worthy of all the praise of every tongue on the earth. One day in heaven it will be worth it. How I long for that glorious day!

My Blog party starts Monday, a week late and also I have a wonderful bunch of posts I am writing to continue the week after that. I hope you guys have a wonderful time during my blog party. Hazel Ann(theradicalmeasure.blogspot.com), my good friend in reality has promised to be a co-hostess of the blog party so I can still spend much time with my family during this time.

Yours Truly, Maya

Lately

sorry for the whole March Blog challenge thing. I mean blogging is not about goals, is it? Well here I am again. I'll write a longer post to fill you in later on everything but for now i just wanted to say three things

1)thank you for undertsanding. Thank you for prayers. It's been hard and more later.

2) Hazel is crazy and I apologize for her little post a few days ago with the pictures and all. haha.

3) Longer Post tomorrow or staurday :)

Please

Hey, this is Hazel Ann, Maya's friend. Due to personal family reasons Maya have decided to delay the blog party until next week. She just doesn't have the time to write up a million link-ups and deal with a hundred give-away entries all week long. The give-away will be postponed until next week as an April give-away along with all the link-ups. . I hope everyone understands why she can't complete the march challenge. Please pray for her family, she'll write more about it soon.

Until then enjoy this amazingness I am posting on her blog without her knowing. haha

^berries :D

Hazel Ann

 But, as it is written,
 “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
  nor the heart of man imagined,
 what God has prepared for those who love him”—
(1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV)

God Loves me. I don't know why but tears cover my face as I write that. It's hard for me to truly grasp. He loves me more than anyone else. Sometimes I get so caught up in "Teenage Love" that I lose sight of the Love of Christ Jesus. He loves me past my mistakes, past my tears, aside from my shame, and the fact I am sinner who deserves Hell and nothing else. Yet he still loves me.

I overthink. I underthing. But in all I am loved by a great God and nothing else really matters. He has, He does, and He will love me always. God loves me.

SO why do I cry? so why do I hide my face?

He is my God and I will never be shaken.

In Which I celebrate

Next week is our last week of blogging everyday in March, faithful followers! You heard that right! Well I decided to spend this last week celebrating our success with my real first blog party! I am so thrilled. I'm sure you guys love give-aways, guest posts and challenges, right? Also this will help anyone in the challenge suffering with what to blog about! You can do the challenges.

Here is the layout for this five-day sha-bam!

Day One: Monday

guest post 1

Giveaway Opened

Day two: Tuesday:

Guest post 2

Caption Contest winner announced and new challenge

Day three: wendsay

guest post 3

link-up

Day four

Guest post four

Challenge # 2

Day five

giveaway winners

Challenge and Link-up Winners

My big announcement (stay tuned to see!)

Have Fun! Happy Day!

The Hunger Games Movie

Yesterday...or I guess early this morning....I got to see The Hunger Games at midnight. Midnight movies to me are the most enjoyable thing ever....You know how it is. Dressing up, hanging out, laughter, and then the epic movie! I have to honestly say I was dying the entire time! I give it a 5 of out 4 stars if thats possible. Which it is with a movie like this :)

The movie was just like what fans are looking for. It's the story of Katniss Everdeen, her sacrifcie, her sister, her crazy mother, her friend Gale, her lover Peeta, and these awful games--The Hunger Games. There is 24 tribute--two from each district that fight to the death. But there is a winner and that gives hope like no other.

The movie also brought a true sense of sacrifice. Katniss gives up everything to sacrifice for her sister. Peeta would give his life to save her. He once gave her food. Overall the verse that comes to mind from the bible is this: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Jennifer Lawrence. A perfect Katniss. She was serious, hardened yet such a likeable girl. I just wanted to be her friend. She was a bit sarcastic and it cracked me up. She wasan amzing Mockingjay and when she was on fire...so awesome! I also enjoed how they focused on her and Peeta's relationship. The smile she gave him in that one scene...total presh! And I loved the Kiss...oh my goodness. Well everything in the cave scence was beautiful and sentimental and total romantic. She was wonderful.

Favorite quote: "No, let me do it. You feed me once" <3

This kid is a dream boat. Blonde, dark eyes, OMG! Well anyhow I'm thinking we should get married sometime. His Cheesiness was a bit...chessy...and I really thought he was the Peeta I imagined. Cheesy, Blonde, Lovesick. Yet seriously amazing. I keep saying that. Well he was my favorite and I loved the scence where Katniss finds him covered in mud. And when he was crying in the car I was sad with him. His love for Katniss was beautiful and I cried during the "Berry Scence." Josh Hutcherson rocked the roll big time.

Gale. Haha. Liam Hensworth was the outdoorsy Gale that made me smile. He's always been my favorite character, even though I'm on team Peeta. I laughed aloud at his face during the kiss scence. He was gental, loving, and I adored him.

Cinna was awesome. He was the kind of person I imagined. I loved his costumes for Katniss! The girl on fire!

Haymitch perfect. Drunk always and I loved his notes to Katniss like, "You call that a kiss? -H"

Effie was Effie. Need I say anymore?

Cato was epic and I felt sorry for him in that mutt scence! He was very handsome...haha. Yet I know he had heart in him. Clove was mean!! I mean really nasty mean. Glimmer...oh my. Glimmer pushed the sexy thing a bit too much, especially with Cato. Marvel was ridulous and when he killed (SPIOLER ALERT) Rue I exploded. He was awful and I cried so hard.

The shadow. Rue was so sweet and darling. Precious girl! I loved the jabberjays, the leaves, the mockingjay. Everything about this Rue! WE salute you, Rue!! I loved the scnece after her death in district 11 for the rebellion.

So go see the movie soon if you have not! You won't be dispointed fans :)

The Hunger Games

I've seen the Hunger Games. I have made a few conclusions:
1)I want to Marry Peeta Mellark
2It's the best movie ever
3) I can cry like a baby at times.
haha! What did you think!
That was AWESOME!
LAter today I shall write a review...but I thought I would start and publish it just to say....IT WAS BEYOND EPIC! They left in everything I wanted them too and so much more. It was very intense, yet funny. And Peeta...Oh My GOODNESS! The pictures don;t even start to show how adorable he was. Josh Hutcherson is 19 so I say I have a good chance...if I could only meet him. haha. If you have not seen it, do as soon as you can! I dressed up as Katniss and it was awesome!
THE MOVIE WAS SO good! It was a perfect movie for the Hunger Games and clean except for some violence.

Well, review comes later today!

Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor :)

Photo Challenge at Shine Your Glory Down

{Linking up here}

The Hunger Games : Book Review

Tonight I go see the Hunger Games Premier. Until then Here is my review of the book I wrote while patiently waiting for this movie to come out. I hope you enjoy my thoughts about the book!!!! If you have not read it, Ihope this encourages you to make up your mind too read it or not. This contains little to no spoliers. I will inform you if I spoiler is nearby.

Overview: Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old, lives in District 12, one of the 12 districts of Pamen. Panem is the remains of North America in the future. She is a hunter with her friend Gale, in order to save her family from startvation. Every year for the past 73 years, two tributes from each district are called to compete in the Hunger Games--a fight to the death. The games have 24 tributes and only one comes home. The children are care ages 12-18 and called by lottery. When Primrose, Katniss's 12 year old sister is called for the 74 Hunger Games, Katniss takes her place as tribute. Her fellow tribute from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy who mysertiously saved her life five years ago.

My  Postistive thoughts: Well...AT first I steered away from what seemed like a bloodbath of teens. A friend crowned it as weak. I finally started reading the first book nearly a year ago and never finshed due to disaproval of the siuations in the book. Last fall I picked it up again and fell in love with Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and Prim. I could not put this book down! I think it does have some elements to good in it. At first I did not read it due to the fact it was children dying for entertainment. But it's much more. it's a story of sacrifice, of love, and of healing whats wrong into what is right. Peeta once saved Katniss's life and she knows she can't kill him in the games, but only one can come out. It's sweet. Mostly It's thrilling and you dread picking it up, wondering who will die next. If you love adventure, thrill, and romance, you'll love it. I mean I can gurantee you'll enjoy it.

My negative thoughts: The main thing tha stuck out to me while reading, not including the facts it's teens dying, is the fact the book is very, very, very weak. Don't take me wrong. It's wonderful, but weak. By weak I mean it lacks the character and plot development needed in a story. In books such as Lord of The Rings or Harry Potter, there is chacrter development and complex plots. I lovd this book, yet Literature wise it was super weak.

Conclusion: Read it, but prepare....you might be slightly disapointed Literature-wise :)

I also wish to add the fact that this is not a book for children under the age of 12-13ish. It's mature. The movie will be very mature too. I would not let any of my children read it unless they were at least in seventh grade....maybe depending on their maturity. It's not a kids books...it's a teens book where children die and blood is shed. There is also some complex themes younger children would not appericiate inless they were older. I would talk to an adult who has read the book for more info.

If your a teenager then the book is probably a-ok. I am 17 so it did not bother me at all. The movie is going to be super violent so again...It's not for kids.

I love the series. I love Peeta. But it's not a book of happily-ever-after

 

Happy Hunger Games, Fans! May the odds be Ever in your favor!

Dear Boys :) (and girls)

Dear Peter,

Uhh....

love, me???

Dear B.P,

Send me a postcard from spring break.

Wish I was with you

Love, your old friend

Dear Green eyes,

It's been a while.

Love, your secret lover

Dear GInger,

Your a crazy FB Poster.

Love, your FB Friend

Dear G,

ARGGGGGG!!!!

Love, Me

Dear Will,

Thanks for leaving me hanging.

Love, Love, Love, Me

Dear William,

Your quite the brunette. I *like* ya

Love, Maya

Dear Willie,

Your haunting.

Love, Me-haha

Dear Will,

This is your forth letter. Face it, I miss ya.

Love, Maya

Dear D,

I really like you some days

Love, Me

Dear Future Husband,

I can't wait to meet ya,

Love, ME!!!!!

Dear Peeta,

I'd eat that burnt bread.

Tomorrow, dearest.

Love, Me

Dear Gale,

You should have died in Catching fire when you get beat up.

Love, someone

Dear Dearest,

I think you never replied to that email

Love, someone who waits :)

Dear Rocky,

I will use this

Love, Maya

Dear Turd,

The thought of you and me makes me want to be single forever

Love, someone you know

Dear Old-Crush,

Wait...what happened to forever again?

Yours, Never.

 Dear Liz,Sunday, dear. Then we flyLove, Your bird Dear Hazel,I think your amazing. And your eyes aren't hazel.Love, Maya Dear Emily,I need you to make me foodLove, your long-lost-sis Dear Racheal,I think he's handsome, too.Love, Maya Dear Niece,Hurry up, dearest. I want to cuddle you.Love,Your almost aunt  Dear Meg,He's like that....Love, Maya Dear Arianne,I need to write you an email soon or you meLove, your friend  Dear Ana,Your an alien!!Love, the astronut :) Dear Sophie,I NEED TO see you nowLove, someone who misses you Dearest Piper,Really?Love, me Dear Elise,Thanks for creating Dear Boys. I Love it.Love, Maya

Hunger Games Tag

I was tagged by Sierra from Keep Growing Beautiful :) And I get to see the movie tomorrow night! I also have a surprise post tomorrow and also I have a surprise for my you guys next week...

Here goes the tag :D

All pictures via Here

1. Your sister's/brother's/best friend's name gets called at the reaping. What is your immediate reaction?

Depends on who gets called. No harsh feelings but...If it was my brother I would know he is stronger than me and could survive longer. If it was my little sister I would dash to volunteer as soon as possible, because I know I am stronger than her. But I would be very

upset and crying a lot instead of hardened like Katniss.

2. In the training center, there are several different stations to practice your skills, some of them being how to camouflage yourself, archery, sword training, climbing, spear throwing, hand-to-hand combat (wrestling), and agility. Which one would you head for?

Achery would be my first station. I would also try to train myslef in climbing. Camoflage would also be a big spot for me because I would try to hide myself for a lot of the games :)

3. You're in the arena and the countdown has just started. When the cannon goes off, what's your strategy?

Run, hide in a tree with those climbing skills. Pray I would survive or that I would not have to kill. Yes, I know. All of my friends will probably comment and say that I would seriously kill them all. Well maybe.... the plan of acting weak would work for me. If only I could be Katniss and attempt the lover strategy :)

4. You are feeling like you're being watched. You glance over your shoulder and sure enough, the youngest tribute in the Games is watching you. What do you do?

I would seriously run to her, let her kill me if she/he wants and if not form an ally. I just would feel extremely sorry for her.

5. There are only four tributes left in the arena, including you. What do you do?

I would lead the other three into a fight and then escape. When only one was left I would not really know what to do. Confess my love or kill him...depending if it was Peeta or Cato :)

6. Which supporting character are you most like and why?

Hmmmmm.... Maybe Clove. I'm fierce more than I should.

7. Which supporting character is your favorite?

I have to amit Gale probably. I'm a super big girly fan of Peeta but I just like Gale in general. I think the books might have been better if they excluded his feelings towards Katniss in Catching Fire and Mockingjay but In the first one...something about the hunter, wood-secented, outdoorsy Gale I just loved.

I

 Tag

anyone who has not done it yet. I don't not know who all has been tagged or done this so feel free to ag yourself and link up here.

Music and Myself

There is nothing like a song you hear that you just think "Wow, that is so me!" The feeling when the soft sound of music reaches your ears and want to fly. We all have our life songs we love to death. The ones that make us feel young again. The ones that make our hearts ache. The ones that bring tears to our eyes. The ones that remind us of things we love and things we hate. Songs that make us happy, songs that make us sad. Sometimes that make us feel perfect or lost or confused and they all end up on a playlist called the story of your life somewhere. It's a mixture of Taylor Swift and Matthew West and Tenth Avenue North and each one of them has a meaning unique to only you. I recently made a playlist on Spotify of all my songs and when I listen I cry, I smile, and and laugh. Memories. Failures. You first love. Your hobbies. Everything that explains...you. Those are your life songs. Your best friends. Your smiles.
Much Love,

Petrichor

The smell of earth after rain. The soft rain falls slowly. The aroma of fresh rain. The feel and the beauty of wet soil. The feeling of running your toes through it. The laughter that follows. The peace in your soul. The smiles that cover your faces. The moment when you grab your camera, not caring about the falling rain, or the wetness. You only care about this moment. The moment when the rain is ceasing. The smell of earth after rain.
I have been trying to really savour life lately. Savor today, this moment, right here. Not try to think of the future or vintageness but of right now. Stare at myself in the mirror and realize I am almost 18. I am becoming the woman I will be forever. Savoring Life by realizing blessings, happiness, and everyday moments. We have but one life to treasure. One to hold. One to love.
Savor the sunshine, then the rain, then the petrichor. The smell of earth after rain.
Hugs kisses and smiles

Maya Moore

Blogging Tips

After nearly a year of the blogging commuinty I would like to give everyone some tips on the subject. Here are some blog tips. I'm not suggesting you have t follow them but these, for me, make blogging more enjoyable. I don't want to sound like a strict teacher. These are just my thoughts :)

1) Use readable fonts.

Pretty, lacy, girly fonts are nice but it's good to stick with some basic ones (Georgia, Arial, Sans Serif, Tahoma, Veranda, New Times Roman, etc.)

Easy to read fonts are the bomb.

2) Music is not-so-good-of-an-idea,

I can't tell you the many times I've been blasted out with music while browsering on a blog. It's ok to have a music player on the side where followers can play f they wish, but music annoys me personally. I listen to my own music while reading blogs anyway. It's a distraction. Automatic music is not my personal favorite.

3) One sidebar, folks.

Two sidebar blogs are crazy to me!!! It just hurts the eyes to look at :( One sidebar is much better. And the less on the side-bar as possible. A nice clean sidebar is fresh as a summer day to me.

4) Pictures!

Use them. All the same size though. People love photography. People love life :)

5) Don't worry

Don't cry if you lose a follower,get a mean comment, or get removed from someone's favorite blog list. It's not all about the followers, trust me. I have been super upset my mean comments, lost followers, etc. and it's not worth it.

6) Simple

I have mentioned no music, simple fonts, and one sidebar whicha ll boils down to one fact :Have a simple design. White backgrounds are my personal favorite, while if you do have a background do it with simple, soft colors :) Busy backgrounds, lots of colors, big fancy colorful fonts tend to make me back off from following a blog.

7) commenting

I am such a terrible follower. I nearly never comment. Now here is the deal: If I follow your blog I read every single post you write. No joke. I just never seem to comment. it's my bad. Comments are the best thing and I am simply terriable at them!!!!

8)check

make sure your images are not subject to copywrite before adding them to a post :)

9) Texting talk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't use it at all!!!!!! instead of u r my fav, write you are my favorite.

10) The follower talk.

Don't constatenly ask for followers or beg people to follow you. It gets annoying. Really. Followers will come in time and blogging is not about them. Blogging is telling your story....to the peoplr who will listen.

11) Commets belong at the bottom of your post. Yep.

12) Don't be a copycat. Be you. Tell your story. Let your blog belong to you!!!

the truth

thirteen

//1: Follow KayleeBeth.

//2: I want these



//3: his voice. his eyes. his awesome self. I want him in a weird way. Don't mess up thaat cave scence or else. and he even made me break my vow not to watch any movie clips for this movie with this:





//4: winners of caption contest tomorrow. I already picked the winners. And you guys get buttons too, if you won!!!

5//: This is offically mine: SAY CHEESE! I have been saving up for this to buy on ebay for forever and a day.



6//: My serious post I wrote for today is moved to posted monday.

7//: I want this kinda badly:

8//: Oh Gale

9//:so true

  

10//: I want to be that chipmunk                                                                                                                                                        



11//:This is cute

12//:the story of my life. haha

13//:me and my lessons

and after the caption contest is announced I have a new and even greater challenge coming up. YEA!

Update

 

{Via me}

Is it worth it? Life? Is all these struggles worth it? Are the tears worth it? Sometimes the pain is so great it's hard to breathe.

 

Yesterday I reached an old journal and started to read, reminded of a girl. A girl who seen so much death, so much sadness, a girl who has never settled long enough to call a place home, a girl of heartbreaks. A girl who only heard the gospel at the age of 13 for the first time. yeah that's me.

 

me.

 

I feel like in my blog I have  hidden a part of myself I hate. My past. I have done, wasted, and heard so much. God dramaticly saved me and here I am today. But I hate to look back at the violence I experienced long ago while involved with my parents in missions. When I was seven, a child died in my arms. That is just some of the cruelness we had to see there. Sometimes i want to move on, begging God to let me forget. But it's not that easy and it never willl be.

 

My next post is going to be about something else I really want to tell you guys about my past, but you'll have to wait and see

 

 

My life has alwyas been pain. I know it and I will know it. But the pain is worth every tear.

 

And my pain will make tomorrow sunnier :)

 

I owe ya'll an update. Big time. I guess I have been so busy with life....Friends and other things/ But I mean I don't really feel pressured to say everything that ever goes on to my followers. It's the truth.

 

 Well in week I am heading out with my friend Liz to get some sunshine on the shores of South Carolina. Beach happiness. before that we're dressing up to go see the Hunger Games premire (midnight at least). I am so pumped.

 

I am not hosting a giveaway for my blog anniversary as promised. I am so sick of give-aways, you see. And I am super busy studying for my ACT and just can't anyway.

 

The main reason for this update is I really feel like I owe you an update on my dear friend Lauren that passed away from illness last November. Lauren was probably my best friend ever. She was always sick with a certain diease and it just beat her unexpectedly. Someone left a commnet on my blog about it and realized i should talk a little about it. I have to say its gets harder every day because it's longer since she died, thus I realize the longer it gets she really is not there anymore. I miss her blondness, her bubblyness and a lot more about her. She was a true christian. She loved God and I am so happy she is with him now. It's hard to let go though.

 

Sophie and I were talking the other night and Lauren came up and I just broke down a little. It's hard to let go of things. But the Lord has a reason so great I can't compreahend.

 

 

If your having a photo challenge please tell me and I will follow your blog and enter it :)

 

Maya 

Beauty in Design Challenge entry

 

you guys know the drill. I'm linking it up at the commuinty.