HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!!!

Happy New Year! 

I can't believe its already 2015! Hope you all have a wonderful day and an amazing new year!!!

Merry Christmas!

Mmmmmmmerrrrrrrry Christmas! And happy birthday Baby Jesus!!!!!!

Hope your Christmas is amazing and full of countless blessings!

Christmas Spirit

This is so true! I LOVE this quote!!! :)

Yay! Christmas is coming!!!! And it's almost here!!!!

I'm getting in the Christmas spirit!!! What about you?!?! I already put up the mini tree in my room, and we decorated our house! I just made my 2014 Christmas playlist, and I'm sitting here by the fire blogging and jamming to Christmas tunes! 

Hope you're all having a wonderful Advent season as we prepare for the coming of Christ:)

Happy Advent:)

Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving! and Happy Turkey-day....as my friend Tommy says:)

I know you're all busy doing family things, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm extremely thankful for all of you!!!!! 

Have a blessed day:)

Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween!

This year, I decided to go as a hobo!

haha lol!

Hope your Halloween is spook-tacular! :)

Homecoming 2014: The Dance!

The homecoming dance was AMAZING!!!!! I had the BEST TIME EVER!!!

After I got my hair and makeup done...

Haha I made a goal to give up soda until homecoming! It was a long, hard three weeks, but it just made my slurpee taste ten-billion times better when I finally got to drink one today!

Silly selfie!

I truly felt like a princess... thanks mom, for giving me the amazing blessing of me getting my hair and make up done! :)

another silly selfie...hehe

I was sooooooooo nervous! I was taking selfies to distract myself while I waited for my date, Matt, to pick me up:)

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At dinner...

Me and Matt at the restaurant

Me and my friend Tess:)

Everyone at the restaurant! 

Me and Matt

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Time for the DANCE!!!!!

My friend Lauren and I....isn't her dress sooooo sparkly?

Josie, Claire, and me!

Me and Claire-Bear:)

oh yeah!

Lauren and Cara

Another usie!

and another....cuz you can NEVER have too many:)

Me and my friends, Jimmy, Josie, Heather, and Hannah

Me, Hannah, Kate, Heather, and Jimmy:)

Me and Sarah

:)

Me, Luke, Roch, and Sarah

Me heather and Josie... Heather is doing the "Freshman gang symbol" that my class made up:)

McKennan, Tommy, and me!

Heather, Josie, Jimmy, Matt, and me:)

Me, Sarah, and Lauren

Sarah, Lauren, Claire, Anthony, Carolina, Leslie, Lydia, and me!

Leslie, Tess, Lauren, Anthony, and me:)

We had such a great time together!!!! Miss ya'll already and can't wait for Hoco 2015!

Hoco Dress Shopping!

Today, my mom and I went homecoming dress shopping! I think we finally found "the dress!" I'm sooooooo excited! Its taking everything in me not to just post a pic of it! But don't worry, you'll get to see it in my hoco pics! :)

Tubing with Claire-Bear!

Me and Claire went tubing today! It was soooooooooooooo much fun!!!!! Claire is awesome at tubing, and this is only her first time! She's so talented:)

Getting ready to get on the boat!

Thanks for such a fun day today, friend! I had soooooooooooo much fun with ya!!! Luv ya:)

xoxo,

madi

The Pines Camp 2014

This year, I went to the Pines again! This is my third year, and I LOVE THE PINES!!!! It is a truly amazing camp, and I strongly encourage you to go sometime!!!!

Anyways, It was a blast! I had wonderful counselors, awesome cabin mates, grew closer to Christ, and had a great time! I went with my friends Olivia and Claire! Here is me with my cabin mates!

Hannah, Juliana, Emily, Aubrey, Fer (Fernanda), Olivia, Me, and Katie (My friend Claire was there too, but left before we could take this picture ☹)

#lisieuxforlife

(our cabin was named "St. Therese of Lisieux"....all of the cabins have saint names, so we made up this hashtag for our cabin☺)

Love ya girlies!!!! Miss you all a ton!

Lindsey Stirling Concert

One of my most bestest friends Claire got Lindsey Stirling Concert tickets for her birthday and asked me to go with her! We both LOVE Lindsey Stirling, and we had a GREAT time! 

Here are some pics! (they didn't turn out very well at all….lol thats what you get for using a phone camera☺)

The concert was at Gilly's Southside Ballroom in Dallas!

Waiting, and waiting, and more waiting! It's hard when you're so excited!!! Oh and did I mention that we got to be in the FRONT?!?! SOOOO)) AWESOME!

Me and Claire…..Besties Forever!!!!!!!

We met up with our friend Maggie! We had SOOOOOOOOO much fun!

There she is!!!!!! Yay!!!!

Lindsey is SOOOOOO amazing!

So cool☺

Heres the best pic I could get….lol:)

Sorry the pics are so bad! I'm embarrassed! lol lol lol! Oh well!

Anywho, thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much Claire! You're the BEST!!! Luv ya girlie;)

#claireeliseyouaresoooooooawesomethanksfortakingmetotheconcertwithyouyouareamazingandiloveyou!!!

Confirmation

On Friday, I was confirmed! Yay! It was totally awesome! I'm so happy to finally be filled with the Holy Spirit in such a special way! It was a wonderful day!

Me and Claire (One of my bestestestest friends ever!) at the Confirmation reception after we got Confirmed! Claire's Confirmation name is Claire Gabriel (after the archangel Gabriel)!!! ☺

My Confirmation name is Madison Clare! My Confirmation Saints are St. Clare and Bl. Chiara Luce Badano. I was able to get a "double package" because "Chiara" means "Clare" in Italian, so I kinda got to have two in one! ☺I will post their biographies below!

Ever since my Confirmation, I really feel like the Holy Spirit is helping me through my daily life. There are times when I would usually be upset about something (for instance, she Nick tries to annoy me), but somehow, I feel peaceful…which is not like me at all! lol! ☺

I also was blessed to have such an awesome sponsor! My old challenge team leader, Allie, was my sponsor! She is so holy, beautiful, funny, and altogether amazing! If you get a chance, please check out her blog! It's really cool! (Allie's Blog)

Ayways, here are my Confirmation Saint's biographies!

Bl. Chiara Luce Badano:

Feast Day: October 29

Beatified: September 25, 2010

Venerated: July 3, 2008

In 1971, after praying and hoping for a baby for more than 10 years, Ruggero and Teresa Badano family of Sassello, Italy, welcomed a little girl whom they named Chiara.

Even at the age of four, Chiara seemed aware of the needs of others. She would sort through her toys to give some to poor children, and would never give away just the old or broken ones, because that would be horrible for children who had no toys! She invited less fortunate people into the family’s home for holidays and visited the elderly at a retirement center. When other children were sick and confined to bed, Chiara visited them. She loved the stories of the gospel and loved to attend Mass.

When she was 9, Chiara became involved with the Focolare movement and its branch for young people. Focolare emphasizes brotherhood and unity among all people.

Chiara was very popular. She had a lot of friends, she played sports, and she loved to sing and dance. But when asked, she said she did not try to bring Jesus to her friends with words. She tried to bring Jesus to them with her example and how she lived her life.

When she was 17, Chiara learned she had a very serious form of bone cancer. Treatments were painful and unsuccessful. She became paralyzed. One day someone asked her if she hoped to walk again and her answer was no. When she suffered, she felt closer to Jesus. She even refused to take pain medication that would make her too sleepy to continue to live her life.

Despite her illness and being confined to bed, Chiara wrote letters and sent messages to other. She attended Focolare youth meetings. She inspired everyone who she encountered with her faith and love for others. She gave all her savings to a friends who was becoming a missionary in Africa. When her life was nearly at an end, she said, “I have nothing left, but I still have my heart, and with that I can always love.”

Chiara died in 1990. Within nine years, the bishop of her diocese began the work on her cause for canonization. Pope Benedict XVI declared her “Blessed” in 2010. “Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness,” and that’s what Chiara showed her family, her friends and her fellow members of the Focolare movement, the pope said.

She was a normal, everyday girl, and possibly a normal, everyday saint. Chiara’s brief life showed us how much one person can accomplish in God’s name

St. Clare of Assisi:

Clare was a beautiful Italian noblewoman who became the Foundress of an order of nuns now called "Poor Clares." When she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach, her heart burned with a great desire to imitate Francis and to live a poor humble life for Jesus. So one evening, she ran away from home, and in a little chapel outside Assisi, gave herself to God. St. Francis cut off her hair and gave her a rough brownhabit to wear, tied with a plain cord around her waist. Her parents tried in every way to make her return home, but Clare would not.

Soon her sister, St. Agnes joined her, as well as other young women who wanted to be brides of Jesus, and live without any money. St. Clare and her sisters wore no shoes, ate no meat, lived in a poor house, and kept silent most of the time. Yet they were very happy, because Our Lord was close to them all the time. Once, He saved them from a great danger in answer to St. Clare's prayer. An army of rough soldiers came to attack Assisi and they planned to raid the convent first. Although very sick, St. Clare had herself carried to the wall and right there, where the enemies could see it, she had the Blessed Sacrament placed. Then on her knees, she begged God to save the Sisters.

"O Lord, protect these Sisters whom I cannot protect now," she prayed. A voice seemed to answer: "I willkeep them always in My care." At the same time a sudden fright struck the attackers and they fled asfast as they could. St. Clare was sick and suffered great pains for many years, but she said that no pain could trouble her. So great was her joy in serving the Lord that she once exclaimed: "They say that we are too poor, but can a heart which possesses the infinite God be truly called poor?" We should remember this miracle of the Blessed Sacrament when in Church. Then we will pray with great Faith toJesus in the Holy Eucharist: "Save me, O Lord, from every evil - of soul and body." Her feast day is August 11.

Anyways, Confirmation was awesome! Thank you Lord for such a huge blessing!

(The biography of Bl. Chiara Luce Badano is from Saints Recource)

(The biography of St. Clare of Assisi is from Catholic Online)