'ello lovlies! i'll be out of town for a spot...

My dear I'm No Plain-Faced Girls,

I will be unable to blog for a week due to the fact that I will be a counselor at Masterpiece Ministries--a creative arts camp that I attended all through high school and absolutely adored. It's the place that made me realize that there are people out there with the same passions as me, and opened me up in a whole new way. It really did change my life.
If you have any desire whatsoever to know a bit more about it, feel free to visit http://www.masterpieceministries.org/ and check it out.
Use your cursor to go to the left and the right to see the different areas. If you go to the left just a bit, and you see a guy holding a camera in a blueish-white shirt...that would be my boyfriend. (He wasn't at the time, he was 19 there, is 22 now...) but that's a long love story for another time.

So for the week, I leave you with something to ponder-

Why is gossip so entirely unattractive? Why do we let ourselves as women be so petty (definition- showing or caused by meanness of spirit) at times?

This week, please remember, petty ain't pretty.

Make a decision this week not to talk badly about anyone. I have a feeling you will not only feel better, you'll look better too.

Magical, isn't it, how much the internal has to do with the external? ;)

I love you all, and will return to you in a weeks time. Please come back when I do. I want to see your shining, gossip free faces again here soon.

I'm off to be Creative Claire. Love you girls. <3

So I'm not a slacker in the blog posting arena, I promise.  I appreciate all of you that filled out the "getting to know you" questionnaire.  I really did enjoy reading every single one and can't wait to get to know more about you guys in the future. Until then, I have a question for today.  Think about it. Comment on it.

What are you shaped by? (take that any way you will, no response is wrong.)

<3>

getting to know you...getting to know all about you...getting to like you...getting to hope you like me....

I know it's long. stick with me.

I want to know more about you lovely ladies of "I'm No Plain-Faced Girl!"
So here's the deal. I'm going to answer these questions myself, and then I would be oh so delighted if you would post a comment (delete my answers, obviously) and fill them in for yourself! Let's all get to know each other, shall we?

*Note- some of these questions are ridiculous. Some of them are fun. Some of them are the usual. Some of them ask you things that you may think you were never going to share with anyone. You were obviously wrong there. (Ok, just kidding, you don't have to answer all of them if you don't want....)

And also, I have heard some concerns from a few of you that you would like to leave a comment but you don't know how! THIS IS A SHAME! I have been wondering if you are just shy, or afraid to comment, and I hope it's just that you don't know where the button is to leave one...otherwise...I'm sad. I would love to hear from you girls, and you leaving comments lets me know that you're here and reading.

So please, if only to leave a smile on my face (it'll be a big one, I promise...) PARTICIPATE! Leave a comment by finding the blue font that says "comments" at the very bottom right hand part of the post.

Questions!!!!!!!!

Name (first or full, whatever you're comfortable with): Claire

Age: 19
Birthday: October 8
Name of your First Pet: Sparkles. A snail. I don't want to brag, though.... ;)
Favorite Movie: Elizabethtown
You would automatically reach for what color marker? A light blue, although I am currently wanting to purchase everything I see that's coral....
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Seasonal, but Thin Mint Cookie
Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Essays? Non-Fiction & Essays, also poetry. Did I just cheat at my own question.....?
Nicknames friends have given you: taulbs, ctaulbs, ceebs, claire bear (i know, creative....)
Favorite Number: 8
Most admired quality in a friend: Positive outlook
When you look in the mirror, this makes you smile: My shoulders and my arms always look strong to me.... real and beautiful :) Also, I like my butt. I can say that here, I asked the question... :) (that's what this group is all about, don't be shy, be honest. love your body..love it love it)
You often laugh about: every day occurrences. life is a joy.
Phrase you use ALL THE TIME: "You know?"
Favorite coffee shop/cafe: FUSION BREW!
You show up Early, On-Time, or Late? Always early. On-Time makes me nervous.
Make up a sentece that your mother might say about you: "Claire is our ray of sunshine. She's always making people laugh...." (ok, so I've HEARD her say that...oh moms, they have to brag about us, right?...(blush)
What you might name your first daughter: Chloe. It's pretty much already been decided in my mind.
Best food can be found: I'm on a Thai kick. So, Thai restaurants.
Super crazy color you would dye your hair for one day: Bright purple
Favorite *NSync or BSB Member (that's right, take it back now, y'all...one boy band this time! turn it out!): Original love was JC of *Nsync. I cannot lie.
The type of flower you can't get enough of: Gerber daisies!!!
Favorite thing about your dad: He has never hesitated to tell me that I'm beautiful or that he loves me. I can't remember a day where I haven't heard that from him.
Type of hug you find the most awkward: The hug that lasts too long...you know exactly the ones I mean-- you're about as over it as can be about point 2 seconds in, but No Holds-Barred Friend (literally) just won't release.
Would love to visit: Australia
Favorite website (other than this one, of course ;) : etsy.com...you'll thank me.
You can't imagine your life without: Jesus. The people who love me. Laughter.

Now answer them, beautiful girls! I've gotta know more about you, because remember, there is much more to being a No-Plain Faced girl than meets the eye. Literally.

the view from tippy toes

Last night at Barnes and Noble, after consuming a chocolate chip cookie, a little boy approached the table where his parents and older brother were sitting and said the following, in a VERY loud, VERY excited voice, raising higher and higher on his tippy toes with every word, lifting his arms to the sky, higher and higher:

"I.....LOVE.....CHOCOLATE!!!!"

I started laughing, of course, along with quite a few people in the cafe, and the little boy says to his dad:

"WHAT ARE THEY LAUGHING AT?"

To which his dad replied, laughing also,

"Well buddy, it seems they also share your affection....for chocolate."

So we did. The woman next to me in her twenties just kept shaking her head, smiling, and saying, "That is so great. That is so great..."

How do you explain how such a simple moment can change you?

I so connected with that moment, with the fact that nothing in the world could have stopped that little boy from saying exactly how he felt. I love that his Dad didn't hinder him, or reprimand him, or tell him to quiet down. The boy needed to say something, wanted to say it, wanted to scream it at the top of his lungs, raise his hands high for it, AND DID. I love that.

There was a certain "everydayness" to it, the Starbucks cups with green straws, books and magazines strewn on the tables of readers throughout the cafe, tan legs in summer shorts, and a little boy with his family...nothing out of the ordinary, really.The contrast of ordinary and extraordinary is a gift--and it's the contrast that reminds you, even sometimes shocks you, into really, really seeing. How beautiful God is to help us see with wider eyes, if only for a moment! For a time, perhaps a day, a week, or just a second- the curtain is pulled down a little bit, and the common, everyday things we consider to be boring, or old, or mediocre, are seen to be truly uncommon (what they really are, for we are so often blind, and forgetful that every single day is a blessing, and a gift)- every second alive and breathing should be celebrated. Tip tops of your toes, hands to the heavens, loudest lungs, CELEBRATED.

It's not just about chocolate. It's about life, and joy, and glimpses of the way the world is, if we could just open our eyes a little bit wider with wonder.


I wish you had been there.

snap, crackle, cris(pop!)ia?

I'm in a goofy mood today.

I want you to take your favorite word (or one of them if you're like me and you have approx. 25,) in the English language and your least favorite word in the English language, and make them into one word.

A neutral word, if you will-what with the positives and negatives balancing out and all of that.

My turn, I suppose?

(A) Favorite Word-crisp
Least Favorite Word- cornucopia

Neutral Word = crispopia

Now it may not be magical, but it's a word that doesn't let crisp get up on it's high horse and makes cornucopia just a bit more bearable. It's my way of keeping words humble.

This is what I do on Saturdays.
No need for you to tell me how cool I am, beautiful girl. :) TeeHee....

So please don't leave me here all alone with my strange word. Join me! Find out your word and post it!!!

-Claire

p.s. don't ask why I don't like the word cornucopia. and no, i don't hate thanksgiving. and yes, you can make fun of me.

don't forget.

the firework that cries.

I have the urge to tell you all what my favorite firework is.

You know those ones that explode and then trickle down like a weeping willow?
All sparkles and raindrops and magic?

Yep, those fireworks have got it GOIN' ON.

If you have a favorite, share it. I'm probably the only dorky lady that has thought about it.

On the other hand, being a dork can be pretty fun...... :)

Join me. If you're really embarrassed, leave it anonymously---no one has to know...
but I want to know which firework is your favorite! I care about you too of course, No Plain-Faced Girl. I just know sometimes it's more fun to post strange things like this under a different name. Or perhaps an alter ego?

So I sign off, awaiting your response...

Sparks McGee (Dweeby Me)

pssst. it's just Claire.