Megan Dennis

Going Vegan for A Week

April 27, 2018

Spring DIY: Flower Wall Hanging

April 19, 2018

Spring DIY: Flower Wall Hanging

Good evening (or afternoon, morning; whatever time it is for you)! I asked you guys on my social media what kind of posts you want to see in the near future, and I’m here to deliver your first choice, which was a Spring DIY. While I was looking for inspiration, I had a hard time finding something that wasn’t too difficult or Easter themed. I came across these flower wall hangings, and I thought these would be the perfect thing to make because one, they’re super easy, and two, you can even leave them up through the summer!

This project only takes about 30-45 minutes in only 5 easy steps! The supplies cost under $10. The items you will need are:

A stick from the yard that is fairly thin, but not too thin that it will break off (I painted mine black but that’s optional)

String or ribbon (the thinner the better)

Fake flowers (I purchased mine from the dollar store. Make sure you pick matching colors that will look good together)

Scissors

Wire cutters

Step #1

Cut 4 strands of ribbon, each about 4 feet long.

Step #2

Start cutting the stems off the flowers with your wire cutters. Make sure to leave about an inch left to have something to tie the ribbon on with later.

Step #3

Lay the ribbons out on a flat surface and start to organize your flowers to where you want them to hang on the ribbon. Make sure to scatter them so you won’t have just rows. You want them to be organized, but yet not look organized if that makes sense

Step #4

Starting at the bottom, begin to tie the flowers onto the ribbon. Make sure you tie them tight. I double knotted mine just to be safe. Also make sure you leave room at the bottom.

Step #5

Tie your finished ribbon onto the stick, about 2 or 3 inches apart. Then, hang your new decoration up!

And that’s it! Super easy and simple. This will make a perfect decoration for a party or photo booth. The bright colors re perfect for spring and even summer, and the best part is, they won’t die on you!

Happy crafting!

dance

My 2018 Prom Experience: dress, date, dancing, + more!

March 30, 2018

My 2018 Prom Experience: dress, date, dancing, + more!

I’m currently running on four hours of sleep so I’m only half awake right now but I wanted to write this now before I lost all my thoughts about last night.

Prom is truly an amazing experience. Just the fact that I’m able to go as a homeschooler is pretty cool because it’s something I never expected to be able to do. I get a lot of questions about things like prom, homecoming, and other formal school events and if I’m allowed to go. Don’t quote me on this, but I am almost positive that where I live I could possibly attend a public school event if I was invited by someone who goes to the school.

But what really is the fun of that? What if your school didn’t have a prom and you had to go to another school’s prom just to be able to go. It’s not the same. That’s why I’m extremely lucky to be able to go to this event. As you might already know, I went last year for the first time and absolutely loved it. So ever since this time last year I’ve been counting down the days until I could go again. And that day was yesterday.

Dress

Okay so one of the biggest parts of prom (for a girl) is the dress you wear. You want it to be something that suits you, fits you, meets the dress code, and something you can dance in. Do you know how hard it is to find all those things in one dress? Not to mention one that’s in your price range. This year I had a much more difficult time picking out a dress and it was actually my mom who found the dress I ended up wearing (thanks mom). I was not impressed with it when I first saw it, but it grew on me as time went on (literally and figuratively).

The style is a little more different, which is why it took me some time to get used to it, but by the time prom rolled around I was in love with it. It was exactly the color I wanted and it with a few alterations, fit me perfectly. I got it on sale for only $75 online (which is very inexpensive for a formal dress) and a huge thank you to my grandma for buying it for me!

Here’s the link to the dress:

https://www.jcpenney.com/p/city-triangle-prom-sleeveless-ball-gown-juniors/ppr5007434985?

Hair and Makeup

If I’ve never told you about my hair, you’re about to hear about it now. But seriously, I have the most awful hair. I’ve never liked it. It’s always oily and greasy no matter how many times I wash it or don’t wash it, it’s very thin so it’s very hard to style (that’s why in all my pictures it’s just down and straightened which is pretty much the only thing I can do with it). So if you have any suggestions on hair care, please let me know.

As I was looking for inspiration for a prom hairstyle, I was sad because all the girls that were wearing the hairstyles had really good and thick hair, unlike mine. But in the end it all worked out and my best friend’s sister was able to work some magic with this mane of mine.

For makeup I wanted something simple but elegant at the same time, and I think it came out very well. For my eyes I wanted the colors to match my dress so I had gold and then a bit of a plum color in the corner. There wasn’t a lot of time for makeup so I wasn’t able to have a full face, but for what we did have time for it turned out perfect.

Date

This year, my lovely best friend agreed to be my date to prom. Or I shouldn’t say she agreed, rather I “dragged her along”. This year was definitely better in terms of who I spent the evening with. As I like to think of it, it’s better to have one real friend than a lot of fake ones. Over the past year I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to meet new people and have some incredible new people in my life, but also cut the line on some not-so-good ones.

Some people have asked me recently when I’ll date again, and the truthful answer is that whenever God brings me the right person at the right time. As I’ve said in a few posts before, the waiting game is one that is hard and tiring sometimes, but I know it will be completely worth it one day. Even if that day is not soon. Until then, I’m surrounded with the most amazing friends, girls and boys that I am incredibly thankful for.

I’m getting sidetracked already. Back to prom.

Dinner

Unlike most proms, this prom serves a three-course meal before the dancing. I think this is one of the things that make this prom unique, because from what I’ve heard, most school proms don’t serve food. This year’s meal consisted of: a salad, stuffed chicken, sauteed peppers, broccoli, bread, and a brownie for dessert. It was delicious!

There is only one complaint I had about the dinner and it may be partially my fault. There was no initiative on when we should eat the dessert (that has already been set out on the tables when we arrived). We knew it wasn’t meant to be eaten until after dinner, but we weren’t sure when. After we did a few dances, we came back to our table and it had already been taken away, along with our water glasses. So we never got to eat dessert! But other than that, the meal was fantastic.

Dancing

The dancing. Perhaps the best and most anticipated part of prom. Another unique thing about this prom is that they don’t just play music from the past decade. We did dances that originated back in the Revolutionary War period, such as The Grand March and The Virginia Reel. That makes it unique and interesting for everyone and provides a general structure for the dances, which is nice.

There is also a DJ that plays songs that are a bit more recent. Before prom you can send in requests of songs you’d like to be played and the DJ might play it at prom. One thing I noticed is that they played a lot of the same songs as last year, but I suppose that’s because there are only so many they can play that are clean and acceptable. Not a complaint, just something I thought would be worth mentioning. Overall, the dancing is a lot of fun, especially with the mix of old and new style dances.

The Second Time Around

Prom is five hours long, but not nearly long enough. This time when I left I was sad, knowing I only have one more time to go back. I do have to say that my second prom experience was a lot more different than the first one. Last year I had mixed feelings about going and ended up being pleasantly surprised. This year, I knew more of what to expect but I didn’t really get the “pleasantly surprised” vibes as last year.

To sum things up, junior prom was a fantastic. These kinds of memories are memories I’ll keep with me for a long, long time. There’s only so much time to be young, and as I always say “you only live once” (seriously, I don’t get why people don’t say that more often). Prom is truly a wonderful experience I’ll forever be grateful for.

age

Sixteen

March 09, 2018

sixteen.

To me, an age does not define a year in my life. Just like numbers do not define success. We all grow and develop at different ages, so it wouldn’t be fair to say that we all go through certain things at one age. How old were you when you first learned to walk? I’m sure your answer would be different than mine, because we grow at different times in our life. Just like it isn’t fair to say every baby starts to talk in the same month.

I believe as humans, we are constantly developing, learning new things, and growing, no matter how old we are. If you thought you were done changing after puberty, you were wrong. Our bodies and minds never stop changing. I think this is one of the most beautiful things about life because I always hear about how it’s impossible for someone to change their ways. It is true that some parts of you will always remain the same, but I believe it is always possible for someone to better themselves with a lot of work.

So it was my sixteenth year of life. I sat down here to write this with no plan in mind for this and no idea of what I wanted to talk about. Then I remembered something I read on someone else’s blog about how for every year older they get, they choose a word that defined that past year. I’m going to did something similar to that, but I had more than just one word that came to mind when I thought about this last year: change, lessons, and growth.

A year of change.

This was when I really began to feel like an adult. I got a job, I lost jobs, I learned how to operate a vehicle, I went to prom, I began to think seriously about my future. All of those things were things that a few years ago seemed very far away, but now they feel so very close and are approaching so quickly.

I’ve talked about my job before, but for those reading this that don’t know me, I work at a local coffee shop and I’m not biased or anything but I think it’s the best job in the world. When I was younger I always dreaded the day when I would have to step behind the counter at McDonalds and serve a half-cooked hamburger to some strange looking person. But I was blessed enough to receive this opportunity almost a year ago for a place I never thought I would be able to work at. I never thought I would “enjoy” going to work, but here I am counting down the days until my next shift.

In two weeks I’ll get to go to prom for the second time. Last year it was so amazing and I’m more than thrilled to be attending again this year. I really want to a more “in depth” prom post than last year so let me know if that’s something you would want to see. I’m also considering doing a “vlog” (video blog) of the day so maybe I can get that out there for you guys too. Besides all that, the excitement this year is almost double the excitement of last year and I can’t wait to have this wonderful experience again.

But all of these things are signs that yes, my childhood is ending and it’s almost time to be an….an….adult. I thought it got bad when I couldn’t eat off the kids menu anymore but now I know there are bigger changes I must face. In all seriousness, however, it has been a bittersweet thing for me. Even though the thought of being on my own in the future is extremely terrifying sometimes, I’m ready for it.

Lessons to Learn.

It’s in my nature to do things the hard way. Not that I choose to though, it was just an unfortunate characteristic I was born with and never got rid of. Despite the unfortunateness, it has helped me tremendously in some cases over the past year. The other day I happened to be reading a book and one chapter was about suffering and why suffering exists. This was something that caught my attention because it’s something I myself have spent years wondering about. If we are in the presence of an all-powerful God who is capable of performing miracles, why must we suffer?

The answer is quite simple if we think about it. If there was no suffering and life went smoothly, there would be no opportunities to show strength, bravery, and courage in times of trial. It’s like how if there were no rainy days, the plants and flowers would all die because they need the rain and darkness to make them stronger and beautiful during the sunny days. That’s why suffering exists in our lives. This is just yet another reason to prove that God really is in control of our lives and knows what He’s doing when He allows us to suffer.

That’s one of the many hard lessons I learned while I was sixteen. Through times of trial, we gain wisdom and strength we didn’t have before. That’s what happened to me at least. I would not be the person I am today if I hadn’t gone through the things I did. Now looking back on those experiences, I’m thankful for the knowledge I was able to gain from them.

A Year of Growth.

When I say growth I don’t mean physically. As much as I wish that happened, I’m still probably the same height I was last year and probably even the year before. No, the kind of growing that occurred this year was a growth spurt that took place on the inside. I’m going to try to wrap this up without being too cheesy, but let me just explain.

When I look back at myself from this time last year, I see someone who was in the wrong place. Now please understand it could have been a lot worse, but to me it was far from where I wanted to be. I was immature, caught up and feelings, and made poor choices. Again like I said it could have been a lot worse, but I was still veering off the path. Some of those things are things that come naturally with this age I guess, but I wasn’t proud.

The thing that changed all that was developing a closer relationship with God. One thing I was doing back then was I kept trying to fill in this empty space in my heart with people, searching for something that I was unable to find. Over the summer was when I really got connected with God again. I started praying and reading my Bible regularly, going to church whenever I could. Ever since then I’ve felt like a completely different person.

I was also bitter for a long time. It seemed like the suffering never ended, and I didn’t understand why things happened to me. I still don’t completely understand, but my mindset has changed. Instead of being angry and bitter towards the world, I opened my mind to choosing to forgive and love, despite the things I had been through. Loving people who have done you wrong isn’t easy, and I’m still learning. There’s this quote that says “building a new relationship is good. But restoring a broken one is better”. That’s something I’ve been trying to work on, and just trying to keep my relationships strong and healthy.

What’s Ahead.

Every day is new and exciting. It’s always changing along with us ourselves. Being sixteen was fun, but I’m ready to see what kinds of things this new year and new age have in store. So with that being said, I’m going to go prepare for the big day tomorrow. I’ll see you in my next post!

faith

Love Part 4: The Best Love

February 25, 2018

Love Part 4: The Best Love

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6

Here we are. The final week of the series. I can’t believe how fast this month has gone by. It feels like yesterday when I sat down and wrote the first part, and now here we are at the very end. If you haven’t been keeping up, here are the first three parts:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

I decided that I didn’t want to spend a whole post talking about everything going on in the world right now. I even wrote a whole post about it that was separate from the series but decided not to post it because I want this blog to be a place that’s not full of sadness and negativity. I think it is important that we do recognize all the tragic events that happen, but we cannot let those things control our everyday lives.

If we really want to fight this evil that has taken over the world, we must show no signs of fear or sadness. The scariest thing to Satan is love. He HATES seeing kindness and positivity. So therefore, that is our greatest weapon. And that’s what I’m going to continue doing here. I’ve recently been hit with a case of depression this week because every time I look at my phone I see bad news everywhere. And I don’t know about you, but it really puts me down. I get that it’s important to know what’s going on, but sometimes I think we let the media control our lives and let it take our focus away from the good and positive things.

So that’s why I’m here today. I’m here to tell you about a love far greater than anything else we’ve talked about in this series. It’s a kind of love no one else can give you, because it does not come from another human. No, this is God’s love and it’s a way no other person can love. Because we (humans) are imperfect. We anger, we hurt, and we have feelings. Sometimes our pride can get in the way of our ability to love and help others.

See, God doesn’t have those problems. He is fully committed to loving us no matter what our faults are or how many times we’ve sinned. God loves you even when you sin. Since He is our father, he is disappointed when we do wrong things, but God always forgives. In Romans 5:8 it says “But God demonstrates his own love for us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

I’m going to tell you a short story about my life if you don’t mind. I always love hearing these powerful conviction stories about how people come to know Jesus. Mine is probably nothing special to anyone else, but it is to me because it’s part of my story. So I’ve been a Christian pretty much all my life, when I was growing up I was surrounded by believers and positive influences of that sort. I attended youth group on and off for a long time, and I always thought I was the ideal “good-girl Christian child”.

When you consider yourself a pretty good kid, you never think you might do something to change that. When I was younger I used to laugh and say “never!” when asked about doing things other kids my age were doing. Then I discovered the internet. I didn’t realize exactly how far off I really had gotten until about a year ago when it was too late and damage had already been done. Damage to that good kid I always thought I was. The thing is, when you think so highly of yourself, you don’t really plan for situations where you might be faced with a dilemma and end up compromising your morals.

When I went through what was probably the hardest time in my life so far last summer, I was hurting and I was also really lonely. It didn’t feel like the people around me cared, and I was too ashamed to talk to anyone about it, so I just kept to myself. And then one night I just started praying, letting out everything I was feeling and talking to God like He was my best friend. I asked for forgiveness, I asked Him to make me strong again, to help me through what I was going through. And He did. That’s how I became so connected with my faith again and ever since then my life has changed. A good change.

See, people will always come in and out of your life. People will hurt you, be angry at you, and let you down. But no matter what the situation is, you can always depend on God. He is there for you, He cares about you, and He will forgive you. If you don’t have Jesus in your life right now, let me just ask, what are you doing? What are you waiting for? If you’re roaming the earth looking for this kind of love that I just told you about, I’m just going to help you out and tell you that you won’t find it until you know Jesus. Because God made humans to be imperfect. We fail, we make mistakes, even Christians. A Christian isn’t just like a favored student, a Christian is someone who knows what they have when they have God. And if you don’t have God, you won’t ever know what the perfect kind of love looks like because this is not a kind of relationship you can have with another human, it’s something that’s only possible when you have God.

“For God so loved the world that he gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

love

Love Part 3: Relationships

February 18, 2018

Love Part 3: Relationships

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

By the time this post goes up, it will be passed Valentine’s day, so I hope you had a wonderful holiday (is Valentine’s Day considered a holiday?) but even though Valentine’s Day is over, we still have two more posts left in the love series and today we’ll be continuing on with part three. If you haven’t caught up with parts one and two, you can catch up by clicking on the links below:

Part one

Part two

So today is all about relationships. Whether or not you are or aren’t in one currently, this post applies to you so don’t skip it just because you’re sitting there thinking “well I’m single so I don’t need to read this”. I hear you, but please stick around and hear me out.

See, relationships are tricky. I had a hard time trying to figure out what to write about for this post, because no matter what I say or no matter what you read on the internet, it really comes down to you. I can’t tell you how to obtain a perfect relationship because every relationship is different, and there really is no secret recipe to having one. Sure, there are things that can help keep a relationship healthy and good, but you shouldn’t shape your relationship or a future relationship around what you read on the internet or hear from other people.

Why? Because I used to do that. All the time, whether I had one or not, I was obsessed with reading those posts on social media that say things like “how to know if you have a good boyfriend/girlfriend” and “10 signs you have an unhealthy relationship”. I would use those things to shape my idea of what a relationship was supposed to be, and not based on my beliefs or what the Bible says.

If you really want to know exactly what a perfect relationship looks like, the answers are in the Bible. A good example is in Ephesians 4:2-3 which says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. All of those things are qualities you want to have in your relationship. Love does not exist without patience or gentleness.

As for what to look for in a significant other, the only person that can tell you that is yourself. I strongly disagree with people who think they know exactly who they’re going to be with forever when they meet them. I mean, sure it may be possible for some people, but really you don’t know someone you just met. They may have a good first impression, but that impression doesn’t always last. That’s why dating is a thing. If everyone just married the person after seeing them one time, can you imagine how high the divorce rates would be then?

The thing is that it takes time to REALLY know someone, and to really know if you want to be with them for a long time. I don’t think it’s possible to know that after a few days. You have to love everything about them, even their flaws, which isn’t always easy. We tend to not like flaws and try to change someone, instead of just embracing them for who they are. I think that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned over the years, because no one is ever perfect and part of loving someone is accepting their flaws.

The hardest part is probably the waiting. This is something every person will have struggle with. It’s that period of your life when you’re looking at the relationships around you and wondering when it will ever happen to you. Everyone’s been there at one point or another. The reason for that is because during that time, God is preparing the perfect person for you. If you’re an artist, you know it takes a long time to create something amazing. That’s a lot like how it works during the “waiting period”.

I realized something a few months ago that changed my view on relationships. When you’re young, relationships can be fun and all, but after a while, you’ll get tired of it and want something “real”. One day I sat down and said to myself “why would I just keep putting myself through the same situation over and over when I could just save myself the trouble and wait until I have that real one”. That’s what I’ve stuck to ever since. I don’t want to be in a relationship just to put it as my Facebook status and snap a few pics. It’s not worth it to me when I can spend that time growing as a person and enjoying life while I wait for that special person to come into my life.

Honestly it’s one of the best places to be in. I can’t lie and say it’s not hard sometimes. There are definitely times when I feel down and lonely, but that’s just part of the process. I’m a dreamer and I loveeee to fantasize about what my future will be like. It’s one of my favorite things to do. For a long time I used to put certain people in those dreams, but now whenever I daydream it’s like just an outline of someone I have yet to meet, and that’s the best part about the dream is thinking and dreaming about the day when that figure won’t be an outline anymore.

The most important thing is to be content. Be content with where God has you now, and know that He has the best plan already sketched out for your life. You’ll spend a lot less time stressing and worrying about your life if you let Him guide your path and trust in His plan. Just as it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”.

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Going Vegan for A Week

Spring DIY: Flower Wall Hanging

My 2018 Prom Experience: dress, date, dancing, + more!

My 2018 Prom Experience: dress, date, dancing, + more!

Sixteen

Love Part 4: The Best Love

Love Part 3: Relationships

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