Know what's amazing? ...God...He's amazing!

So I'd just like to revel in the fact that I serve the most amazing Being ever. Ever there was, ever there is, ever there will be...ever.

God is too good to me, and I find myself overwhelmed with His blessing and faithfulness in my life. It seems that I find some reason daily that I feel like He should throw in the towel on me, but He never does...He just chips away at those imperfections and flaws...He reminds me that I am His and that I have value. He reminds me that others have value too and that I need to appreciate it more. Oh to see the world as He does...to see each individual as God Almighty sees them, to see their innate value, to see their humanity, to realize their suffering and to be able to love them as He does. I pray to grow more in this area...I long to, I need to, I have to. God, teach me...mold me. Make me more like Christ.

So thankful to be His child!

How about you? Are you thankful? Do you know how much value you have? Do you know how much value God sees in you? Can you say you're thankful to be His child...?

He is there waiting...all you must do is ask...believe on Him and allow Him to start chipping away at you...it's so worth it.

To my MOST beloved Sister!!! I love you bunches!

Celebrating 200 posts together!!!

So I just realized that this is my 200th post on this blog! Wow. I had that much to say? Somehow I'm sure most of it wasn't really all that important to life as we know it, but I really appreciate having had somewhere to express myself. There have been times in years gone by that I leaned heavily on this blog as a form of self expression. I suppose it's not been as much for others as for myself, but I think that's OK. For those of you that cared enough to follow me, or for that matter to leave your comments and feed back...thanks! It's been fun.

Now, for the future! I'm newly graduated, still single, formulating plans for what's ahead of me and seeking God with renewed fervence. All in all, I think I'm at an important point in life...in fact I was told by one of my professors that I'm prob at the best point in my life ever, that I've been learning so much about who I am and what's what in college, that now I'm at the point to see how I'm going to let it all affect me.
I'm out on my own and ready to see how I will proceed from here on out. Life's in front of me and the choices are mine. Whoa. Overwhelming in some ways. Crazy exciting in so many others. Thankfully though, God is in charge of my life, so I find myself a little less scared and a lot more excited with the anticipation of it all.

So go...live...be an impact and be impacted...but always remember where you've come from and Who you're following...

New inspiration

Just wanted to post a quick link to my new devo blog. It's called He Still Amazes Me!  I'd appreciate any feed back you'd like to give. Thanks for checking it out. God bless!

Yeah...that's right...I did it!

My debut...

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Tiffany is...

- sitting in class looking like she's taking notes (sorta)

- tired of homework...but should probably do some

- stoked about graduation but not actually ready for it!

- thinking about running a lap around the room quaking like a duck just to see what happens...

- amused at the reaction to large hair...specifically mine...today...

- actually dreading IHC...and excited about it...maybe

- against cruelty to animals...unless they bite me

- friends with a Guatemalan

- picking her no....! *chuckle*

- going to run away to Greece (don't come looking for me!)

- finding a new love in Urban Outfitters

- afraid of life without her sis...

- single and currently rather happy about it

- sore from the gym *whine whine complain*

- going to be a billionaire and travel the world

- secretly taking over the world...*SUSH! Don't tell*

- longing to cuddle with a puppy...all her own

- craving sushi

- the owner of a Ford Contor

- a size 2...*hehehe*

- actually not single...dating a vampire means secrets...oh wait!

- drinking Dunkin Doughnuts home brew

- gonna quit while she's...

Forever Alone, Unmovable Stone...

Forever alone, unmovable stone.
These letters-a picture they paint,
but whom sees the picture
and how can they know,
The meaning that it should impress?
Thus-I shall tell you,
lest your image be untrue.

First see the person alone and so lost.
No one will comfort or care.
But if you look closely-
so closely inside,
you will find something not there.
Inside is her heartache, a feeling so true,
yet much different from mine and from yours.

Unmovable stone, something strong
and for sure, everlasting to the end.
These her feelings, but what do they mean?
Here lies the answer to all of these things.

When a heart learns to hurt,
and never moves on,
then decides this always must be,
this is the stone that never shall move
and her heart is as this-
All alone.

Run screaming through a crowd...

As I'm sitting here listening to the rain against the window and the occasional clap of thunder, all I can think about is curling up in bed with my most comfy pj's and a good book. What is it about these kind of days that just bring on that desire? Actually I'd pretty much rather do anything than continue sitting in this class...well or than go to work. Homework even sounds more appealing at the moment. *sigh*

I love thunderstorms. I woke to a great one last night. Well technically it was about three o'clock this morning I guess. It woke me up in time to close windows, and then lulled me back into the most amazing sleep. Then of course I end up with an obnoxious alarm bringing me back to reality, but I too must join the land of the living.

Hopefully if the rain hasn't washed away all the grass seed Nichole put out this past week we'll see some fruit from her labor. I'm a bit skeptic though thanks to the let down last summer. We worked crazy hard in that back yard, and the result ended up being that the summer was crazy dry and the grass didn't make it. Let's hope this summer is better.

So I started a new job last week. I think I'm going to like it, but I'm still in limbo. The lady seems great, the kids are nice enough, but she's already changed my schedule several times and that's going to get old I think. I'm blessed to have the extra income though.

OK, so I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've been trying to find out what God's planning for my future. A lot of what I've always thought I'd be doing, or perhaps even hoped I'd be doing, has changed. I feel like I'm starting to have some direction and it's exciting, but also rather scary as well. So if you care to, feel free to remember me in your prayers as I'm trying to find God's will and continue in the steps He leads.

Anyway, guess it's back to class...sort of. Maybe I'll escape and go play in the rain...

Tiffany presents: * Vampires On Ice

So I realize that there's been a growing trend in the last several years, a trend of which I haven't been a part...vampire fiction. It's not exactly a new idea, I mean Dracula wasn't just written or anything, but it's been a "revisited" idea I suppose. I also realize I'm sort of coming in at the end of this noble enterprise, but I still think I have something that no one else has to offer.
After having a lull in entertainment recently, and desiring something completely mindless (as opposed to my school work, which I try to use my mind for...usually) to read, I decided to try the Twilight series everyone was sooo into my Sophomore year. To be honest, at first I was assuming I wouldn't make it through the first book, but then to my chagrin I was pulled into the awkward, ever so dramatic world of the Cullen's. Now by this point I wanted to finish the book, but did NOT want anyone to really know I was enjoying it...mostly. I found it rather juvenile, but exactly the type of "mindless" entertainment I was looking for. I did/do find Bella to be utterly obnoxious, but alas, she is part of the story! Actually my personal favorite charter was/is Alice Cullen. I finished the first book, moved on to the second (Wow Bella...really?!?), and am currently on the third. I've lost momentum at this point and have not picked up the third book in over a month actually, but I'm about halfway through it, or possibly a little more. Anyway, so this is where my vamp interest began...

I moved from reading those books to wanting to re-watch the movies. Unfortunately for my search I was a cheapskate and had no intention of renting them if I could help it, so I started with the internet and Netflix. Oddly, Netflix doesn't have them for instant play, so I gave up on that idea, although through my other internet searches I came across several vampire inspired movies and shows, most of which I was not in the least bit interested and were horror anyway. One of these showed was called Vampire Diaries. I'd heard of this book series from my cousin, but did not realize they'd made a show out of it. Curious about it, I decided to check it out. I'd heard it argued that VD was the original vamp drama and that Twilight had been a knock off of it. I didn't necessarily buy this idea, but I wanted to find out.
After watching just one episode of VD I was intrigued. I liked their take on a few things, such as the ability to walk in the sun, the way one becomes a vamp, etc. So I kept watching. I have to admit, I have become a bit of a junkie. I love the show. It's crazy dramatic, yes...but I guess there are days I'd rather watch other drama than deal with my own. It's a nice distraction I suppose.
Anyway, I eventually ended up with a free rental coupon and got Twilight, and I have to say...it's MUCH cheesier than I remembered the movie being. It made me laugh at it multiple times...I'll still probably finish the series out eventually though.

All of this has gotten me to thinking though...there's still a market out there for "fresh" ideas about vamps, and ways to sell vamp fiction. Well I have one! I want to put together a show...I'm thinking either a musical or an ice skating theatrical performance...or perhaps combine the two! It's gonna be big...I just know it! So if any of you have ideas for pulling this together, experience with musicals, ice skating, or vampires PLEASE let me know...I could really use your help. I'm not sure how many vampires can ice skate, or for that matter sing, but I'm sure with a little patience on everyone's part we really can teach them and pull this off.
I'm also going to need help finding an ice rink that doesn't mind cleaning up a little blood now and again, people with access to either a blood bank or something of the sort, and possibly a little Verbane. Oh! And anyone that has extra wooden crosses, or can whittle steaks would be greatly appreciated as well.

I know we can make this happen, so thanks in advance for all your help and support! I'm super excited to see where all this takes us, and what our futures together holds. Who knows, maybe this show will become one of the classics, and just think, you'll be able to say you were a part of all of it! Thanks again...

Much love!

-Tiffany
*copyright for this ice production belongs to Tiffany Barr

Damon, Elena, and Stefan from Vampire Diaries

Five twee-zay!

Last night I had so much fun! I went to Winter Jam with two friends and had a blast. I really love how they can mix complete entertainment and fun, with deep reverence and worship and come out with the right balance.

Tony Nolan did such a great job with the message portion of the evening, the performers were all really great (Newsboys were stinkin' FANTASTIC), KJ-52 was an awesome hype man, and the speakers were deafening. I love loud music, but I always leave concerts feeling like I'm yelling and everything I'm listening to is under water.
I rather enjoyed Kutless's version of It Is Well, also liked the new people I'd never heard before, and feel in LOVE with Jason Castro...or was it just his dreads? Hmm...well either way he was great.

Which brings me to my next point...I'm thinking about doing dreads this summer. Before you start into how dirty they are or how gross your hair has to be to do them...PLEASE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. That's simply inaccurate. Anyway, I was hoping for a little feed back about thoughts on this. Also and feed back from people that either have them or have had them and can share pros/cons would be great!

So back to Winter Jam...I met KJ-52 after the concert and bought a CD/tee combo, so I had him sign the CD. I got a pic too, but it wasn't on my camera, so I'll have to add it once I get a copy. It was great though. I wish he'd have been one of the main acts, but alas...twas not so. Anyhow, it all made for an enjoyable evening.

What have YOU done lately?

Blue in the face...

Sometimes I just sit back and ask myself why? Why do I bother? Why do I care? Why do I try? Why should it matter? Why did I think it'd be different? Why does this always happen? Why do I get involved? Why me? ...the list of "why"s is seemingly endless.

Tonight I've pondered most of the above, yet I'm still sitting here with no answers. The fact of the matter is, I may never have answers to those questions. That's not important though.
Yeah, right now I want them. Right now it's important. But in the end it's not usually the why that matters, it's the who...or rather Who matters. If I weren't dwelling on me, my problems, my family's problems, my friend's problems...if I were concentrating on the right Person, then most of this would seem so small. I'd be able to gain the right perspective on things, to leave my worries in more capable hands.

This is so hard for me to do...I all too often forget that it's not really about me and my concerns, that there's a much broader picture and I need to ask for the eyes to see it.

God,
      I ask for you to ease my troubled mind, and to help me lean completely on you and not on my own understanding. My finite mind gets so easily hurt and confuse, worried and upset...but you care about me deeply and I ask for you to give me the ability to look beyond my own life and to see Your greater goals and purposes. Teach me through life's experiences I pray. I want to be more like You. I love You.
Amen.

Put on a little moisturizer...

This morning my sister and I hosted another one of our Saturday breakfast/devotional gatherings. Nichole had decided to try something new for breakfast, so of course I staggered out of my bedroom to begin my morning in a mild haze of smoke...she'd already burnt something. See Nichole has this theory, if you're in a hurry when cooking...put it on high. *sigh* Thankfully it was just a trial run she'd been doing on some stove top hash-browns with sketchy directions, so nothing was lost and it all actually turned out to be quite delicious. The end result was actually breakfast pizza, but all the various ingredients had to have a little prep work done before the final oven baking ensued. (I'm excited! There's leftovers!)

Amanda was the first to show up, followed shortly by Sonia, then finally RaeLynn and Christianna joined us. Once the gang was all there we enjoyed a little chit-chat with our breakfast, then began with praises and prayer requests. If you should happen to need things to pray about, apparently most of us are focused on finishing out the semester without failing anything, simply getting through it, and hopefully caring a little more about what we've got to do than we did today. Oh the prayers for passion about something that you're just burnt out on! Sometimes it's just sooo hard to care. Thankfully God understands this.

Anyway, once we finished with this part of our morning it was time for the devotional. I had asked Amanda to share with us this morning and she had graciously complied with my request. Being the teacherly-minded person she is, she came prepared with a lesson plan complete with a visual to represent each point. The whole thing was super cute and she just did a fantastic job putting it together. The lesson was entitled Beautiful Woman In Christ (by Julia Bettencourt). I won't try to give you the whole thing, but the idea behind it was a comparison of beauty products for the physical body and the same idea behind those products for the spiritual body.
For example: Amanda had foundation with a label that read, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psa 119:11) Then the application she put on it was, we need to start with a good foundation and what is better than the Word of God? If we have the Word of God in our hearts the rest of our spiritual make-up can be easily applied.

I really thought the whole thing came together quite nicely and I loved the idea behind it. It was a great reminder that sometimes we get so caught up in the physical appearance, but there are just as many ways we need to take care of our spiritual selves and these are far more important to God. I hope these will serve as a reminder to myself and the girls that have heard it, and that we can share the ideas behind it with other ladies in our lives. We all impact someone, let's work to use this impact to share God's beauty and desire for our own spiritual beauty!

I didn't know if anyone that read this would want to see the whole lesson, but here's the link to the website: Beautiful Woman In Christ (by Julia Bettencourt)

Jus somethin' ta think about...

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

The winds of change...

or rather "The breezes of revision" maybe? Needless to say, I feel a draft. Today it's rather chilly, but I'm hoping for warmer climes as the month progresses.

There are only so many weeks of this semester left...and it's starting to really sink in that this (if managed correctly), is my last semester of college. Now granted there's always possibilities of grad school, etc etc...but at this point in life I have no plans for such things, so this is it...the whole enchilada, the big finale, the kit and caboodle, or the final farewell perhaps...eh, that last one seems a little "deathy" for this. Anyway, the point is, my world is fixing to change and need to have some adjustments. I'm not entirely positive what all that will entail just yet, but at the moment I'm finding it both exciting and terrifying. I've known this day would come for quite a while now, but it's just that it's here...only weeks away. Now what? I feel like my subliminal self often stands in the corner just scratching her head at my lack of plans at this point.
 It's an odd sensation for me to not know what I want to do or where I want to be...I've had all that figured out since I was nine years old, but lately it just feels like it's all abandoned me and left me waiting. I keep hoping for a painting to start moving, my twin to die, or one of my visits to the train museum to bring to light the location of that blasted Platform 9¾! *sigh* But sadly none of this has transpired as of yet...besides if I did happen to stumble into the right wardrobe I'd be so frustrated when I stumbled back out only to be faced with the same questions I left waiting...

Death of a hobby

So I've been thinking. I don't like that blogging seems to have gone by the wayside. Well at least in my life it has...so I'm hoping for a comeback. Mostly for my own narcissistic reasons, but I'm ok with that. *shrug*

Life these days is mundane to say the least. Albeit my mind has had several rampant, repetitious trains of thought lately. These usually pertain to the questions of my future and what lies beyond this murky haze of a present. Sadly there has been no direct response to the questions I've asked the universe, but I'm still hoping for my illusive 42. I do know however that whatever answers the universe may conjure up will be of little value to me in the end, and I also know where I ought to be directing said questions in the first place. So do not fret, dear reader...I am in the progress of addressing this misdirection in my life. Feel free to invest in this endeavor however you so choose...

To any whom so desire, I'd love for you to comment about whatever may (or may not) be happening in your life.

-TKB

Tidbits...

I finally got most of Cheryl and Chris's engagement pics edited and a good bit of the edits are on FB, so the link is for those that are interested.

I also posted pics of a day with some new friends. It was freezing out, but we still had fun.

To top all this off, I've created a YouTube account and posted a few videos. I need to update it, but haven't recently. You can look me up under Livingthislifeyo.

Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to some of my favs on YouTube! Check out Rhett and Link, Julian Smith, Charlie is so cool like, and last but not least  Nigahiga.

Hope you're all recovering from the holidays. I find that while I look forward to them, they're not always as relaxing as I'd imagined. I rather enjoyed mine, even though I put in over 32 hrs of drive time during break. Guess it's back to the world of classes and work now. Take care all!