We're in Wisconsin right now! So much fun....it's so awesome coming down here, cus it's like, a whole different lifestyle than down in NC! It's kind of hard to explain, but you know how there are "atmospheres" in different homes? Well we go from our house, which is one type, to Poppa Shev's, which is different, cus all the aunts and uncles and cousins are all randomly coming over and we actually ORDER food from restaraunts. haha... And then there're the SLVE's!!  which are the same as our family in some ways, but then also completely different. But we were over there the other night and we went like, sledding and played pool, and mini golf, oh wait...did i actually play pool? or did i just throw the balls around...idk. But nnneways!  So we had a blast.

I think I'm gunna make this an SLVE post. lol.

Starting with Sara!! She has an amazing guy she's courting, its sooo soo sweet! I'm so happy for her, and she really is doing an awesome job at setting an example for us to follow when we're ready to start looking for our future........spouse. *AHH i hate that word!!*

Sammy!! OOOh my goodness he's changed! So sweet (well not that he's always been that way..lol) and he's such an amazing writer! It's so cool how his writing is already touching people he doesn't even know. Sam's adorable... i think i'm startign to look into hooking him up with one of my friends, cus i know he'll be an AMAZING husband!! :o)

Stevey mah boy: ;o) steven......hasn't changed!!! woohoo!! lol. he's pretty much the same playful, teasing, buddy as he's always been. ONLY he's becoming more protective and gentlemanly with us girls. ;o) lol. annnnd his muscles are huuuuge!! haha

And to all the other little SLVE's, ohhh goodness cutest little kids ever. the only one who's really changed is Sophie, cus like, ;ast year i dont think she really liked me very much, but now she tlaks to me a lot!! and i love her to death. :o) mkay, well i gotta go. gosh idk why i do this! i always write huge posts and i know no ones gunna finish em...lol...ohh welll...its my monthly post.  :o)

This week was awesome! Thursday was the Pig Fest. The five topics were..... Veggie Tales, is it sacreligious for immitating the Bible and changing the stories of the Bible. 2)Did God break his promise when he said "If you eat from this tree you will surely die?"

3) Does the fact that we have modern day apes disprove the evolutionary claim that apes transitioned into human beings?

4) Should christians no longer participate and join in on political parties, and, because of that, create their own party?

and 5, the best one of all. It was the first proposition of its kind in Pig Fest history. A propostition without any words being said. Jacob D. drew an absolutely amazing picture that i can't really even describe .... On the top it said "Let brotherly Love Continue" and at the bottom it said "Some have entertained angels unawares." with a picture of a scruffy looking African American man, with penetrating eyes....powerful right there.it started a debate on giving to the poor, like the homeless people on the street.

Like someitmes we don't know what those people on street corners are going to do with it and stuff, like what if they go spend it on booz or alchohol or something? I know lots of people who don't give to the homeless because they don't want to give money so the person can get drunk that night or something. and God wants us to be Good stewards of our talents, money.  But at the same time he wants us to give with an overflowing generosity! Someone brought up a speech Piper gave and he said something a long the lines of........ that he doesn't want to, at Judgement Day, stand before the Lord and when asked if he fed the hungry and clothed the needy to say "oh Lord i didn't let them get to me!! i was tooo smart for them God. they tried to fool me but nooo, i'm too smart for them!"  but instead to say "God i gave to the hungry, i clothed the needy, i gave shelter for the homeless, and cared for the sick and prayed for the lost. Sometimes i might not have known what my money was being used for, but after the money slips from my hands and into God's, its not my money anymore. It never was."  idk, something a long those lines. Ok, and i know thats veryyyy paraphrased,but thats ok! Ya'll get the gist of it. ;o) haha...

anyways, so today i almost threw up in basketball practice... :-/  after that we went straight to a play, then to the mall, i got my double ear pierced, then we came home i went to mollys!! and saw her and ashlynne!!! it was awesome. i missed them a LOT!!! :o(     hmm...what else...

tomarrow Mom's having a party for her classical conversation kids and moms, then jimmy has a bball game.

i'm learning spanish now!! well i mean i have for the past..... :-/ .....semester? oops....but now i'm reallllly learning it, annnd i have a really good tutor  to teach me everything i miss in class! :o)  spanish in exchange for piano..... although i have no idea how to teach piano guys. its really sad. i felt stupid. but thats ok! beginning of january though, hopefully philip, robbie, ben, jacob and i are doing the canon in D for oferatory in church! so that'll be fun...but ne ways, i'll stop writing my second novel in a row * :-/* lol....

So these past few days have been pretty tough....pretty very extremely tough. Yeah, and take a wild guess why....idk, all of  a sudden it seems Life changes! Like, one minute Thursday night i get back from laughing and messing around with Jim and Cort, i come home to take a shower, i get out of the shower and see 5 missed calls at 11:45 at night, check messages and find out about Cletester. Mom and Dad were in Charlotte for a couple days, and so we had to hold down the fort while eveyrthing was crashing around us. Thank the Lord for amazingly supportive friends.....like Molly, who came and slept with me thursday night so we could be with eachother and cry with eachother and comfort eachother.... and Jessie who came over friday to just hug me and talk to me....and Coach and all the girls on the basketball team who enouraged me and hugged me and just understood. And Allison, Vince, Patrick, Emily, Ashlyn, everyone from church, thanks a bunch!! Ya'll really are amazing friends, and i'm so thankful your in my life. :o)

So Cletester was pretty much the most amazing guy ever. I wish i coulda married him. lol. And ya know what's sad? I had to realize that only after he was gone... i was always like "aw NO mom and dad!!! what in the world. i am NOT going to marry Clete Childs." He was just like a brother to me...i knew i could always go to him if i needed someone to talk to, he'd always listen and knew just when he needed to say something, or just be quiet and let me talk. and he always knew if something was wrong. even if it wasn't that big and noticable. And the different thing about Clete was, he'd ask you about it, and woulnt quit asking until he got the story and could give you a hug and tell you he hoped it got better. In the most sincere way ever...

He noticed things about people, that most people couldn't see! *LIZ :-/**He wrote me a letter this past summer encouraging me to stay strong and live a life for the Lord, and saying all these different things about me, things that he saw in me, and i was like WHOA! only Cletester could look past all the dirt and grime and see those kinds of things... 

But i've learned so so much from his death! However hard it is,  i'm just trying to gather every thing i can from this whole situation....here are a few  of the things i've learned...

**always let the people you love know that you love them. never miss out on one opportunity. and mean it when you say it. and never hold back on loving someone. cus to live, you gotta love, and to love you have to risk. and when you risk, there's pain involved. but a life's not worth living if you don't love.**

**find the beauty in every person. even the people who sometimes bug you...cus every person's beaitiful in their own way.**

**LIVE EVERY DAY LIKE IT WAS YOUR LAST**

**wait for the right, perfect guy. a guy who will cherish you and care about you in a way no other could...a guy who will always be there for you no matter what, and will love you through the ups and downs... it's weird cus that's a big thing i learned from Clete's death! idk cus like...while i had an amazing guy over here, i'm sitting over there wasting my time on guys who arent worth a dime! obviously i'm not gunna marry Cletester, but there's always going to be a piece of him in my heart, and he (along with my dad and jim :o) ) are the standards for my future husband...Lord help me be strong and stay focused on You, and building my relationship with You, so i'll be the type of girl a guy like Clete would be looking for....**

ooohh goodness guys, remeber how Clete would always be my biggest protector in the world??? like when we were in the ghetto in DC and those like,  guys were....saying things?  an stuff, and he got so mad, he came up, **nicely** moved them away, put his arm around me, and walked me away and made sure i stayed with him the rest of the day. lol...but even the nice guys like...Adam or Josh or something, he'd always get in the way....hahaha...and i remember i was so annoyed at the time...i wa slike CLETESTER. i can like who i want to like, and you don't have to know if i like them, and you don't have to be all up in my business! lol.... aw man. who's gunna be my protector when Jimmy's not around now....

Gosh i could go on and on about all these little stories.... but i guess i'm just gunna end by saying i'm happy for Clete.... he deserves to be up there. i really don't think we, including myself, appreciated him as much as we should have. i remember him telling me that apathay was worse than hate. and he said he owuld know, cus people didnt hate him, they just were apathetic towards him or whatever. gosh idk...he knows now that that is so not the case. but still, he was too good for down here. i cant' wait to see him again, and it could be any day! in just a heart beat we'll all be together.... that's gunna be so awesome. :o)

k, so most of ya'll probly didn't read this whole thing... oh well though. i havent written my feelings out at all since it happened...and this isnt' even half oh them. lol...but keep praying for everyone guys! they're so comforting....like really. i don't wanna be selfish cus i know my sadness is nothing compared to his family's.. :-/ so don't pray for me, just for the Childs. :o)

ya'll are awesome! i love you guys...
<3bekah

"DEDICATED TO PHIL" (hahaha )

so what's been going on with me since i last posted. which is like, forever ago. lol... school's been pretty good, i guess. i had a presentation last week which was good all for except i forgot my board and hand outs which was bad. and my outlines for my speech. !! soo i pretty much did a free lance speech and hoped i'd get my art grant! lol.

but yeah...so anyways! gosh i'm trying to watch what i say on here and it's really hard cus i feel like i can hardly say anything without giving out too much information. lol. but.... so i feel like i haven't talked to some people in a really long time. and i don't know what's wrong, but it feels like we're kinda loosing touch with eachother. i mean, life changes, new relationships come up, friends might start thinking they don't have so much in common anymore, but....i don't know. maybe we're not on the same maturity level anymore... idk...sorry... i'm thinking to myself

and also, i feel like i've kinda been...drifting. from God again. i used to have such a strong desiure to get my relationship with Him back on track and stuff, and now...with all the distractions and craziness of life, i feel like i've lost the desire in a way.... swept up in different things that life throws at me and i've sorta pushed God to the back burner. and just yesterday i had a really bad day. and when i have a bad day i just get moody and pricky with everyone especially my parents. it made me cry for the first time in a long time. and i hate crying...so idk. i guess i just need a lil prayer that i'll sort out what i need to  do with certain things and...get my prioities straight again. 

so yeah. that's my updated entry for ya! lol. oh and GUYS. last night me and my dad and everyone and some of the cousins all came up and we had a big wonkin game of football!! it was so much fun. and sooo if anyone's interested in like, coming over to my house in the next couple a weeks for a big football game, then tell me!!! :o)  

LOL!!! i stole this from mol's xanga cus i thought it was just wayyy too FUNNY!!! only things is...i'm pretty much pink all year round......hahahaha...wait...i just dissed myself 8O....ah welll. :o)

so spanish was fun today....it was kinda hard at first so like, me ben n jacob were totally lost. well for me and ben theres no excuse but jacob couldnt study at all cus he was working...but yeah. so ne ways! the teacher asks a question and naomi's like "its hablan estan espanol!" and we're like, "????" --jacob: "well OBVIOUSLY." hahaahah!!! it was fabulousl..... ok and no ones laughing i dont think....lol...maybe its kind of a ya hafta be there to get it type thing. iiiiiidk...lol...wellllllllers i'll post something more deeper  and longeras soon as i get time. :oD

When I born, I black,
> when I grow up, I black,
> when I go in sun, I black,
> when I cold, I black,
> when I scared, I black,
> when I sick, I black,
> and when I die, I still black.
>
> You white folks....
> when you born, you pink,
> when you grow up, you white,
> when you go in sun, you red,
> when you cold, you blue,
> when you scared, you yellow,
> when you sick, you green,
> when you bruised, you purple,
> and when you die, you gray.