Fashion and Style

I, for whatever reason, am starting to be more interested in fashion. If you really think about it, there is quite a bit of modest fashion out there! *happy dance* I'm not really talking about trends, like Toms or Converse, but real fashion, you know, from Paris and stuff! Problem just arose. I'm broke. How is this going to work? Well, my game plan looks like this:

Step 01. Find interesting fashion concept online or in magazines.
Step 02. Ascertain that this is not totally out of your range of style.
Step 03. Duplicate said concept with cheaper brands.
Step 04. Begin to shop Savers and Goodwill. There is every now and then a gem to be found!
Step 04.5. Vintage is wonderful and will save the world some day, so don't pass up any opportunities for great old pieces! My parents occasionally have really cool stuff they let me have!
(Remind me to take a picture of myself in my dad's old knit necktie that he gave me! Love it!)
Step 5. Make sure you don't buy random, but fashionable pieces that won't go with your wardrobe. If you're trying to add more interest to your next outfit on a budget, like me, you can't buy a lot of new outfits, just a blouse here and a belt there. Take your time and make sure the item can be worn with a lot of things!

Disclaimer: this is not tried-and-true. I haven't really started yet, but this is my game plan! If you have any success, let me know!

~bbj: now fashionista

SCATTER

Well, I just got back from my youth group's amazing mission's trip! We did Backyard Bible Clubs, volunteered at a downtown after school oganization, and at the Boys and Girls's Club! I learned so much and had a ton of fun, I can't even describe!

Jeff teaching at our Bible Club.

Crafts at our Bible Club.

My sunburned self and Jazzyboo:

My sunburned self and Olivia:

Agent 38 and Anna:

Worshiping at the Dream Center:

A really cool illistration showing orange as our world and blue as Heaven. The only way to get there is through the cross!

The guys doing contruction at the Dream Center:

Em and Mrs. Hefner:

Me and Dre at the Boys and Girl's Club:

I have no idea what was going on here!:

Big Mac lovin' on a baby!:

I had an amazing time and was so convicted!

Guess whay I found online? An official Owl City t-shirt that's... epic:

I will definitely be getting one, and when I have a bazillion followers on here, everyone will want one! Haha! But seriously, it is pretty cool, and I'm listening to Plant Life right now, the song this came from.

I'm going to take my mom to see Cars 2 today for her birthday, which is today! shh! On Friday I'm seeing Cowboys and Aliens at a birthday party and I'm so excited! I've never seen Harrison Ford in anything besides Star Wars and Indi Jones... yet! I'm also dogsitting this weekend and school starts on Monday. O.O But... my friend KeKeJ is visiting soon, so I'm happy! That was a long and extremely weird post. Oh well! Sorry it was late.

~bbj: cowboy with a funny lookin' face!

Mission's and Reading

Now the reason why I'm posting early is that I'm leaving on a Mission's Trip on Monday and obviously won't have access to my lovely computer! I say leaving, and that probably gives you images of helping to share the Gospel in Africa or some other glamorous place, but in reality, which is where we live, it's a local outreach. My church is having a evangelism conference with opportunities to live out what we've just learned in the city. Anyway, I will be helping with Backyard Bible Clubs, a "downtown" ministry, and the Boys and Girl's Club. I am also super extremely excited!! Don't we Christians get so hung up with the specific "ministries" of our own personal Church and forget all about actually telling people the Good News of how a holy God came to a fallen world to save his creations and give them eternal Life? Yes, we do. How could we not be horribly pained to see so many dead people around us? That's how we should think of it. We walk around and interact with spiritual zombies all the time. God, help us to see humans the way you do! To tell the truth, which is not to say that all that was a lie, but, to tell the truth like I was just now, today it my Spiritual Birthday! Nine years ago today God brought me to my knees with the realization that I'm a sinner. Thank you LORD!

On a much lighter note: I like to read. A lot! Have you read this?

It's so wonderful! Especially if you like dystopian! Anyway, I don't read like most teenage girls, as you can tell, who only read romantic fiction, *coughcoughTwilightcough* and that not very often! Don't you just feel sad for those people? No, I practically devour books, and read way too many at once! (I correctly distinguished between "to" and "too"! I most always do, but most ordinary *say it with a sneer* people don't.) Anyway, I even read from all genres. I've read more classics than most kids my age and older. The only thing is, I can't get enough! I want to read more and more! More classics, more modern books, more mysteries, etc. My reasoning is that I want more than anything, well, more that most anything, to be a well-rounded person. One with all sorts of ideas and opinions on all subjects! Someone you can talk to about anything. Maybe it's going backwards to post this and maybe this makes me sound like a stuck-up, nerdy, perfectionist, who only likes to study. Well, I'll have you know that is not the case at all! Nerdy, yes! Someone who likes to study, yes, but definitely a "people person"! I don't know any strangers! I like to hope I'm not too (look, I did it again!) "BLAH-in-your-face-I-don't-know-you-so-I'll-introduce-myself!!!" The more I think about it, the more I realize how true that is! Oh well, feel free to disagree!

Oh, and I've just realized that for some reason, actually, for no reason, my blog isn't showing when I hit the "enter" button. As in, all this will run together and be really difficult to read! Oh well. I sure hope it doesn't!

Also, most successful bloggers say to have a theme for your blog. Not, of course, that I only care about getting followers! Believe me, I blog for myself, but would like to have my opinions heard! Anywho, I don't have a subject short of “here's a subject and here's what I think about it!” So tell me what you think about different things I try and what you'd like to hear more on! I'd sure love that. Also, I hope this Waltz isn't too girly. I mean, I would like guys to read it too! Guys, feel free to read and follow, I won't only talk about girly things!

Is this not the most conclusive chart for all people who watch movies ever? I'm definitely the attentive one. And it's right, don't watch Inception (best movie ever) with Easily Confused People!

One last thing to think on, actually, to look at! So cute and vintage!

There, that wasn't too girly of a post was it?

~b!llybobjoe

Why "Waltz"?

Why did I choose "Waltz through The Forest" as my blog's name? Well, my favorite band is Owl City, so it only makes sense that I would use lyrics from one of his songs for my title. In the song Plant Life, from the new album, the chorus says "I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest" and I really think that's a good motto! Of course my number one reason to do everything I do is to glorify my God, but I also want to have fun and not be bored in this life! Who agrees?

Not only do I love Owl City, but also Star Wars! I know you know that, but here are some ways I incorporate it into my "hum-drum" life! (quote: Singin' in the Rain)

my padawan braid: (yes, I have a LOT of hair!)

and my Storm Trooper nails:

Hold on! I couldn't forget my two newest obsessions! All these obsessions are bad for me I bet, but does that stop me? No!

Best movie ever! (Except Inception) I love Christian Bale's acting and I had only seen his two "heartthrob" movies before this, aka Little Women and Newsies! OK, I'm done fangirling!

How can anyone, girls included, not want this car? Dude, this car is... wow!

Oh, and mustaches! This is me sportin' my 'stache! (Yep, the one made of foam)

I probably should add something important to this post... do I have any important thoughts? Maybe somewhere back in my brain. I've read several good books lately. If you haven't already, go read Holes by Sanchar and Prada and Prejudice by Hubbard!

School starts for me in 22 days. I'm a conspiracy theorist and I believe that the government is trying to cut back on our summer! Noooo!

Actually, to be perfectly honest, and if you don't tell the government, I'm excited about school! I like studying and learning new things!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if you want me to post on anything specific, just let me know! Because I can only post once a week, I feel like I shouldn't ramble and stuff, but have essays and important things... you know what? I'm just going to post on whatever I jolly well please! Hope you enjoy anyway!

~b!llyBobjoe

My nickname and a random fact

If any of you are wondering why my nickname is billyBobjoe, wonder no longer. Do you want the long version or the short version of what happened? Never mind, you have no say! I'll tell you the concise long account which is slightly shorter than the long short account. Understand? Good. Anyway, my best friend's brother's friend didn't know my name and guessed it to be Billy Bob Joe. It stuck for some random strange reason! Anywho, I guessed his name to be Fred. I was right! That is, now it's Fred. Shout out to KeKeJ and Fred and Zombie and MD!! I hope y'all read this!

You know what's a weird quirk of mine? Well, I'll tell you. I love anything having to do with the 20th century. Retro is one of my favorite styles and I like old black and white movies. Particularly ones with Gene Kelly!

*Gets up and starts dancing and pretending that it's raining* OK, I'm better now!

Random fact: Did you know that "okay" isn't actually the word "OK" is derived from? Originally, during a war, when the dudes would report to the other dudes who were in charge of them, they would say "0K" if zero were killed in battle. So when people say that OK is incorrect and okay is... well, now you know they're wrong!

So, I am only going to post once a week for the time being because if I didn't set rules, I'd spend all my time on here! Check back every Monday and I'll have a new post! Maybe I'll post more often after I get used to my new school schedule (which will be insanely hectic) or during breaks and summer!

If you're wondering what to expect from this blog, wonder no longer. I keep saying that don't I? Anywho, as I said before, this is not my diary and I won't bore you with accounts of things that happen in my life that don't matter to you about people you don't know! But you can expect anything funny, posts telling you about me, book reviews, movie reviews, and random essays. By random essays I mean short essays on interesting subjects! Like, for instance, "Why Guys Should Wear Vests and Ties: complete with pictures!" and other important topics! No joking, that subject has been laying heavy on my heart! I'm sorry the blog doesn't look as good as I want it to, but I don't know much about internet design. Hopefully I'll get someone who does to design Waltz Through The Forest, or teach me some html coding! The point of this blog is to kind of be like my own room. A place to release my creative juices and have fun. I want you as the reader to come to and follow Waltz because It'll provide funny and interesting reading and the occasional spiritual encouragement. If you aren't spiritual and want to know more about my God, leave me a comment and I'll email you/post about it!

Happy Independence Day! As much as I love England, I'm glad we have our own country and freedom!

For our personal family celebration, which we don't do most years, Daddy grilled burgers and corn!

I made potato salad, (thank you, thank you very much!) Stanley made deviled eggs, and someone made tea and lemonade! *stomach growls*

That would be fresh mint in the sweet tea. Are you jealous?

My Madre's family came over and we had a good time. Pictures coming soon of my adorable twin cousins! Then, we watched fireworks at a city park! They were beautiful and I got a few good photos! My sister was appalled when she found out I nicknamed her "Ro Joe". She is insisting that I change it to something way more interesting, such as Agent 38 or The Watermelon Rider. At least people would puzzle that one out for a little while! Actually, the last three sentences were written by Ro Joe, excuse me, Agent 38 herself! Oh wow.

If you have a request for a specific topic you want me to post on, leave me a comment telling me! I'll be glad to oblige!

~bbj