I've drifted away

I'm upset with myself for putting this blog on hold for awhile.  I'm going to make it a priority to continue writing these blogs, in hope that I will be able to improve my writing skills for my senior year and college in the upcoming future.  I always seem to have something to say, so this is a nice way to vent about the high points and low points in my life.  Here is my promise to type my inner thoughts!

Since I never posted Day 29.. Here's Day 29!: Ant Carnival

Every year the fifth grade teachers organize a picnic type day for their students called the Ant Carnival.  There are games to play, prizes to win, food to eat, and friendly competition is group games like the tug of war.  My sister had been waiting for this day for days, weeks, even months.  This year, they didn't have as many parent volunteers as usual, so they extended the invitation to high school students that are either in FTA (Future Teachers of America) or NHS (National Honors Society)

So not only did I help out, but my dad and mom as well.  Clearly, it was practically a Montgomery family reunion!

I enjoyed myself.  Many kids walked up to me whispering to their friends, 'Hey, I think that's Alivia's sister!'  It was a special event, and I'm glad I could help out the little sis ;)

Day 28: A late night call

Betrayal.  Hurts, doesn't it? 

Another one of my dear friends was betrayed but someone he thought was his best friend.  It blew my mind, because we have been so distant over the course of the year, that he called me to get help with what he was going through.  It was about 10:30 on a school night, and we talked for a half an hour to help relieve the sadness.  I was so happy we could talk like we used to.  It was not only a gift for him, but for me as well :)

Day 27: A little faith

Whenever one of my close friends was little, she used to be very religious.  They went to church every sunday, and she even went to a Catholic school up through 7th(ish) grade.  Recently, she's lost a lot of touch with her faith and she's, in a way, given it up.  This topic was something I could really relate to her on, since that is very similar to what I had gone through.  She's very confused, and doesn't really know how to approach such a serious topic.  We had a brief talk the other night, because I am still quite confused on my beliefs as well (though I have accepted the challenge to follow God and what he has planned for me).  My gift was to reach my hand out to her.  I'm not one of those overly pushy Christians who forces people to listen to what I have to offer - instead, I just stated that if she ever needed any help or she wanted to become more involved, that I was always here to talk about that sort of thing.  It was a very refreshing conversation, I must admit!

Day 26: My lovable cousin

It's safe to say my cousin is one of my best friends.  The other day, she texted me right before my band concert Thursday telling me she's been having issues with a lot of her friends at school.  So, for all the time I had, I listened to her vent about all her problems and gave her advice on how to go about solving the situation.  Eventually, most of the problem was resolved and she's much more comfortable around her friends now :)



Day 25: Relationship struggles

For some reason, my peers depend on me for support when they have relationship issues.  Why?  I have no clue.  It's not like I have a huge love life or anything.  But I spend the day trying to help one of my close friends through a relationship crisis.  Just a little encouragement, you know.

Day 24: Some extra help

Yesterday was my band concert.  After all band concerts, the musicians are told they have to help clean up.  The ever-so-chatty person I am, I usually just socialize instead.  "Our band has 60+ people, they don't need me!" type of deal.

Although I did socialize, I ended up staying way later than expected to help clean up. 







Day 23: Ice cream and long lost friends

My friends Mark, Robert, and I went to get ice cream at Brusters.  It was an awesome day outside - perfect temperature as the sun started to set.  We had asked my friend Kelly (this is a different Kelly from previous blogs) to come as well.

Kelly and her brother Matt were my first friends.  We lived across the street from each other, and their grandma was my babysitter.  We spent every waking moment together for the first 12 years of our lives.  They changed schools and Matt now has a girlfriend - so I really don't see either of them as much as I really wish I did.

Because Kelly didn't have a ride to ice cream, we decided to go to her house to visit her.  We hung out for a good 2 hours and just reminisced through funny memories.  At some point that evening Matt came home as well, which topped off my night as well. :D

Kelly and Rio

Day 22: Sharing happy moments

My best friend Kristen and I have themed get-togethers.  If we are really upset about something, we go out and buy swedish (canadian schwedish) fish to munch on as we discuss our problems.  However, yesterday was different.  Yesterday we were in GREAT moods!  As an alternative the swedish fish, we decided to celebrate our good spirits with gummy bears and sour patch kids!

I bought the goodies as my act-of-kindness for the day.

Day 21: The 'good' babysitter

I've been babysitting 2 little adorable girls for a few years now.  One is 9, the other 11 - making them perfectly capable of entertaining themselves.  Whenever I spend my evenings babysitting, I usually sit in the kitchen with a stack of homework and leave them to entertain themselves.  I felt quite generous last night while babysitting, so I decided to become a little more interactive.  We made mini pizzas together, watched a movie, and had a fun and detailed discussion about friends and birthday parties!

As opposed to homework, this left me in a much better mood when I returned home that night.

Day 20: Some neighborly love

I've lived in the same place all my life.  I've seen people come and go from our little neighborhood (or not so much, I live on a pretty busy road).  The people that live right next to us are the same way - they have lived there just about as long as my dad has lived in our house.  When my mom lived with us, she was best friends with both husband and wife - which meant I was over there all the time as well.

They didn't have children, leading them to consider me as their unofficial child.  They invited me to their bonfires (along with my family, of course).  They let me help out with yard sales.  They took me fishing.  They sat with me and let me vent to them a few days after my mom spoke of her leaving the house.  They even through me a special 'Survivor' themed 7th birthday party - with a full fledged scavenger hunt and plenty of dressing up in tank tops and tribal bandanas.  If you didn't notice, these people were a huge part of my life.

About a year ago, my neighbors mom died.  She had lived all alone, so when she died the house went to her daughter.  Since her moms house was closer to where she worked, they both decided they would try to sell the beloved house next to me and move.

Though they've yet to have a buyer, they've already begun moving into the other house.  I've barely seen them at all within the past year.  As a lovely reminder of how much appreciation I have for them, I slipped a note under their welcome mat as a friendly hello and an 'i miss you!'.

Day 19: Gah!

Okay, so this blog is just in place temporarily.  My internet has been down for 3 days and it just came back up last night.  You thinked i'd be organized enough to write down my gifts... but nope.  I cannot remember to save my life what gift I gave on Thursday (I DID give a gift!)  So i'll edit this as soon as I remember. :P

Day 18: Promises

I made a promise with a friend.  A promise that would have potentially got her into trouble if leaked out.  I was put in a situation today where the promise being leaked would have benefitted someone else.  But I didn't cave in.  Sometimes it's just better to not open a whole new can of worms.

Day 17: Rebonding friendships

Be ready... I'm about to tell another story.




Me, Kelly, and Kristen

 

These two can easily be defined as my best friends.

You know those groups of people that can constantly finish each others sentences, make each other laugh until they cry, cry until they laugh, and are inseparable?  Yeah, that would be us.

Lately, we've all gone through many misunderstandings.  One of them has been going through a really rough time trying to figure things out for herself (and the other 2 don't necessarily agree with her process of doing so).  Through this time we felt replaced and neglected.  As if we had lost a friend, more importantly a part of ourselves.

Today was a rough day.  I came home and balled.  What else was there to do?  The friendship was slowly breaking apart.

The troubled friend had noticed I had been upset the whole day.  We got into a happy/sad argument, trying to really narrow down the reasons for why we were so distant.  After our long conversation, she got ahold of the other girl and fixed the problem with her as well.  Both sides expressed true caringness for one another as we all realized that though we had spread apart, the strong emotional bond had never left our side.

For that we were ever so thankful.

Once the car was available, I picked up my friend Kristen and we surprised Kelly at her house.  We gave her a huge hug in appreciation for all she has done for us.  How she has truly made an impact on our lives forever - for our friendship is something to cherish greatly in the years to come.

---

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart"



Day 16: a virtual hug

One of my guy friends has been dating this girl for almost a year.  You could tell the relationship was never really sparkling - they seemed to be mad at each other more than they were satisfied.  This girl is a freshmen (you know, the ones that can easily be pushed around just because they don't really know who they are yet?  Yeah, I remember that stage all too well.)

He broke up with her on Monday.  Although I had never been close with her in school, I had felt bad.  There's two sides to every story; it wasn't all her fault things didn't work out.

I saw she was on facebook that night and decided to just shoot her a msg.  I expressed that if she ever needed someone to talk to, or even just a random hug, she could come to me.

:)

Day 15: A pick-me-up

It was one of my good friends birthday parties.  As always, there was plenty of food, good laughs, and happy memories.  This all took a sudden turn when her dad ran outside screaming (and cursing) because my friend wasn't watching her autistic brother for 2 seconds as he got hit by a tire swing.  He basically screamed in front of the entire group of people how horrible of a child she was and that everything was her fault (when it was his own fault for not watching his son when he agreed to).

My friend has gone through a really rough childhood.  Constantly degraded, never appreciated.  Meanwhile, this girl holds a solid 4.0+ overall in her academics and participates in numerous school ensembles and is a member of nhs and spanish club. 

After an incident as heart-wrenching (and embarrassing) as that, everyone just needs some appreciation.  We all, to say it with enthusiasm, just told her how awesome she is.  She really deserves to be complimented for all she has achieved.

Day 14: Sticky situations

Post prom we all decide to spend the afternoon at Dave and Busters!  We got a group of about 6 to go... 2 of those kids being ones who had already graduated.  One of them I found out right before we left was one of my friend's exboyfriends.  Around the time when they broke up I really wasn't found of him (mainly because of how he treated my friend), but we're slowly getting better.

My gift was just a simple act of kindness, I suppose.

Day 13: I don't mind rain... unless it becomes terrential downpour on prom night

Note to self: NEVER schedule a hair appointment 5 hours before an event.


I got my hair down for from at 12:45, leaving me plenty of time to 'dilly-dally'.  I realized I never had purchased a clutch to hold my valuables in, so I decided to go to the mall to look for one.  In the mall, I saw my friend Jasmine, who had also been looking like a fool flaunting a gorgeous updo while still wearing a tshirt and shorts. 

What's the worst thing that could happen?  It starts to rain.

Luckily, I had brought an umbrella, so I really wasn't worried.   Jasmine didn't so much remember.  Therefore, I let her and her grandma use my umbrella to get Jasmine into the car without getting her hair wet :)

Amanda is on the left, Jasmine on the right

Day 12: A Free Ticket

Holy poop has blogspot been weird lately!  So, I couldn't log in on Thursday - and prom weekend has been busy and I haven't had much time to blog.  I apologize!

Anyways, every other Thursday I get particularly excited for 1 reason: SUPPER CLUB!  What is this might you ask?  Supper Club is First Presbyterian Church's youth group gathering for grades 5-12.  The name speaks for itself.  We cook!  We eat delicious food and talk about God - neat, right?

This particular night I had to leave early for my little sister's production of 'High School Musical' put on by her middle school.  My youth group leader Jen (who is AWESOME) said she had never seen the movie, so she was considering coming. 

I bought her ticket!

Of course, I had to explain the plotline before hand (and we got the occasion grin from how funny little kids are on stage).  All in all, it was a good performance!

Day 11: Casting my vote!

So, it's about 10:42.  I got home about 20 minutes ago, and stopped dead in my thought, thinking 'OH NO, I DIDN'T GIVE A GIFT TODAY'.  As I logged onto facebook, I got a message from a girl who graduated from the same school my stepsister attends.  She was asking around for a favor.

PERFECT OPPORTUNITY

She's a musician.  She participated in many choirs/musicals/etc. during her high school career (hence why I saw her so much), and I know quite well of her talent.  She's competing for a spot to perform her original pieces at the ALIVE'11 Christian Concert in Ohio.  So what did I do?

Vote!

Day 10: Homework helper

So today, my dad took my sister, our neighbors, and myself to mcdonald's 'mcteacher day' (apparently the elementary school teachers worked for 2 hours and part of the proceeds came back to the school - which totally goes against the schools ever so encouraging words to eat healthy).  Afterwards, he let our neighbors come over for a little while - the younger one to play with my sister and the older one to of course, do homework with me.

Little miss Avery is 13 years old.  I have known her her entire lifetime, for we spent practically every day together from their on out.  Back in December, she was at a sleepover birthday party with my sister when she fainted that morning and had a seizure.  (Without a doubt one of the scariest moments of my life was when I received a text from Alivia one sunday morning telling me what had happened).  With plenty of testing, they found a tumor in her brain.  I still thank the Lord to this day that the surgery was successful and she was able to return home. 

(I started noticing that I give very long, detailed intro's before explaining my gift. I do apologize!)

Anyhow, because of this catastrophe, she had missed weeks and weeks of school.  It is now May 10, and she is STILL making up work.  My gift today was to help her with her homework. 

What are her views on it?
"Wow, when they operated on my brain they messed with the wrong part.  I need my reading and math knowledge, couldn't they have made me lack something else??"

Truly an inspiration.

Day 9: Appreciation

My church life was almost nonexistent through a lot of previous years in my life.  I felt uncomfortable being around people I didn't know or didn't talk to - which is upsetting since that isn't the purpose of going to church.  There were a few specific periods in my life that I came to church more often. 

When I was little, I grew a special bond with one of our old pastors.  She was really child-oriented, so I would see her a lot whenever I was with the kids in the church.  Another possible connection to why I enjoyed her company so much was because she was the minister for my grandfathers funeral.  In case you didn't know him, my papa and I were best friends.  We shared more laughs and giggles than you could ever imagine - we made memories, we taught eachother life lessons, and he made an everlasting impact on my view on life.  When I was 12, he was diagnosed with cancer and died 2 weeks later - a shock to the entire family.  How does this connect, you might ask?  Our pastor had lost her grandma when she was young, so she knew how I felt.  This probably made the service even more meaningful, knowing that I should never feel alone.

When I was 12, I was shy, immature, and faced rough situations differently than I do now.  I didn't appreciate the little things that would make me smile.  Thinking back on it, I appreciated what our pastor had done for our family, and indirectly, to me. 

Since you know, I've recently decided to add all of my church members on facebook (the creeper that I am), I decided to add her.  I sent her a message telling her how much I appreciated everything she had done for me and my family.  Later on this evening, we got to talk and catch up on each other's lives.  The gift I gave let me receive one too!

Day 8: Mother's Day!

So as we all (should) know, today is Mother's Day.  In the spirit of the holiday, Happy Mother's Day!  Such a phrase I don't just say to my mother, grandmother(s), and female family members.  This phrase applies to such a larger span of people in my eyes. 

This also may apply to women who:
inspire me
give me advice
are sympathetic to my feelings
laugh with me

So clearly, these aren't just guidelines for my blood mothers/grandmothers.  This applies to my friends mothers, my youth group leader (who treats us all as her own children), and other church influences.  Seriously, you are all mothers to me.  I thank you so much for all you have done, whether you realize it or not.  It really is amazing having such a big 'family' to care about you.  Happy Mother's Day to you all!



But anyways, I do have a simple gift to share.  The entire day i've been thinking 'what is my gift going to be?' and 'gee wiz, why haven't i figured out a gift?'.  Clearly, I am blind, for I have been giving my gift all day.  Today, my mom told us where she wanted to eat and where she wanted to go.  Being the super cool i-can-drive-now-teenager, I drove her to all of those places and hung out with her all day.  Now for many parents, that wouldn't be a gift (more of a heart-attack, I suppose).  However, my mom is confident in my driving, and found this an opportunity to sit back and enjoy a day dedicated to all her hard work.  I love you mommy!

Day 7: Biting my tongue

I've rewritten this a million times.  For reasons that I don't want this to get back to the person, I have officially decided to write as little as possible.  So, if you want details, i'm sure you'll just ask.  It probably makes no sense to those who don't know the story - but this has consumed my life for a multitude of months this year.

Anyways, my friend has a habit of leading on guys (again, there is a backround story to why this occurs).  But basically the plot was that she was supposed to help one of these guys with a school project.  They got into a huge argument the day before.  So, to avoid the situation of talking to him (which in reality made it worse), she brought ANOTHER guy she led on to talk to during that project, so she would not have to confront the other one.
We have had our differences lately.  Our biggest problem is we both can't handle seeing eachother hurt.  We're like sisters to each other, and when one is hurt, so is the other.  I don't necessarily think the choices she is making are helping her overcome her weaknesses.  In these situations, all I want to do is sit down and have long conversations, telling her what I think is right for her.  I realized that not many people can learn by advice,  but by learning from ones' own mistakes.  Recently, everytime I try to help, I get myself into trouble.  Even though I am screaming inside with sadness, hurtfulness, anger, and disappointment by how she's taking her situation, I've noticed there is absolutely nothing I can do but open my arms for when she needs a hug.

I've bit my tongue.  I just can't help anymore.

Day 6: DQ!

Yay for my final final being over!  I could finalllly relax.  But anyhow, my youth group leader brought me a dq giftcard thursday evening as a 'reward' for all my hard work :)  That class almost killed me, but I felt so accomplished for surviving it the entire year.

I basically spent all that evening laying around, talking to one of my good friends for like 3 hours.  After actually getting my butt out of my room, i realized one of my friends had invited me to dq.  Knowing I had my giftcard, I went at like 830 to meet up with her.  Using my giftcard, I bought her ice cream as well :) Everything is more yummy when it's free!

Day 5: A simple donation

Bahhh! I apologize greatly for being 2 days behind.  I've been doing mad AP U.S. History studying.  Regardless, I had done my good deed and simply didn't have the time to post them.  Welp, here it goes.

One kid I met through some of my friends hosts a radio show up at W&J (I practically live right next to the campus, so i've met people through church and band activites).  Although I don't see him often, the occasion 'hi how are you?' gesture is always nice when we see each other around town.  He is a senior and one of his last radio shows was this past week.  People were calling in randomly that night making donations to help fund for the next year.   Though I didn't actually call in, I had been talking with him earlier and gave $10.  Every little bit counts!

Day 4: An old friend

So, todays gift was pretty simple.  I have this friend that i've known since I was about 363 days old (precisely).  She grew up with me, her and her brother.  We spent every single day together until about the ages of 12; when we no longer needed babysat.  We now attend different schools, hang out with different groups of people.  She's always had a semi-rough home life, and she's typically very down on herself.  I know from personal experiences that sometimes it makes you feel better when someone spontaneously tells you how much they love you and they care about you.  So since I know she's been going through a lot lately, I randomly told her that if she ever needed anyone she could always call me, and that I cherish our friendship like no other.  :)

Day 3: A Mother in Need

Okay, so this is actually a pretty impressive story.  I went to dinner with my mother after getting my hair cut.  The waitress we had was so nice, she really tried to make a connection with the people was meeting and greeting.  Later she had told us that she lives in Washington and that her son's birthday party was coming up.  He's 2 (and COMPLETELY ADORABLE).  She had mentioned that the dad was no longer in the picture and it was just her mom and her taking care of the little boy.  So in response, I offered my number if she ever needed a babysitter.  I love kids, so it's the least I could do! :)

I know this could be considered a little selfish, considering I will probably end up being paid for my services, but she said she didn't know anyone else that would ever be able to babysit.  Even if she never calls me, it was still a kind gesture.

Day 2: Pancakes galore!

Woohoo! I can officially say I lived through my AP Chem test!  Now onto U.S. History... but that's a whole other story.  Anyways, after taking a 3 and 1/2 hour test, the school allowed us to leave once we were done.  What better way to celebrate an entire years worth of hard work than by making pancakes!  My friends Jasmine, Nash, and myself all got together to make the best pancakes I have ever eaten in my life.  My gift for today was buying all the necessary toppings for them, which included strawberry syrup, regular aunt jemima pancake syrup, chocolate chips (soooo many chocolate chips), whipped cream, and birthday cake ice cream.  Sound good?  Because it was.  Neither of them had money with them, so I was thankful to be able to help out. 

As we sat on the front porch eating our delicious pancakes, we saw a few kids walking home from school (the ones that had to stay all day), so we invited them over to have pancakes too!  Even though it's not much, being offered pancakes and ice cream on a nice day is surely enough to brighten anyones day!

Day 1: Study Party

Okay, so I know it's not much, but this is how I started my 29 days.  Tomorrow is our AP Chemistry exam, which is a college level test that offers college credits if you pass.  Since I basically had to devote my day (more so weekend) to this class, I figured I'd share the wealth.  I organized a study session between a few of my geeky, chemistry nerd friends (they actually aren't that geeky, but it makes sense when you are referring to a difficult science class).  We all have been fretting (sp?) the whole weekend over whether we understand everything or not, but I feel like all of us joining together gave us a slight sense of security (perhaps that we are not alone in our worries).  This isn't much, but some days will be better than others i'm sure

Because we had to convince ourselves this weekend why we took the class in the first place...

Woo my first post!

Hello!  So this is my first time ever using this site, so I am determined to figure it out!  Why might I have signed up for this?  I am on a mission, of course.  Members of my church are participating in the 29 Gifts experience.  My goal as an individual is to be generous ATLEAST once a day to help someone else, because I never seem to realize how the little things can really make a difference.  I'm also hoping that through this experiment, everyone will get a chance to see who I really am.  Through helping other people, I am indirectly helping myself.  I shall be posting more later!  God Bless!