Aloha

   Aloha, y'all! I just got back from a wonderful vacation from the beautiful islands of Hawaii. The sun, the weather, the beach, the ocean, the family...Amazing. I praise God for such a wonderful time. My family and I did quite a few things: snorkel, went to a luau, ate great food, spent time with family, hiked, sight-saw, played games, and one of my favorites...relaxed.

Got to spend some time with family! :)

   I'll post more pictures and stuff later on.................Oh, and did I mention that a mustache was shaved? ;)

Animals

C'mon people. It's Timon (AKA the Meerkat).
Everybody loves Timon.

   ANIMALS. One of my favorite things on the planet, animals captivated my imagination when I was younger. I would draw them, act like they were my pets, and I would constantly ask to everyone I met, "What IS your FAVORITE animal?" You could say I was obsessed. The Animal Planet channel was MY channel. If you wanted to know something about an animal, I was your go-to-guy (Elephants were my specialty). While at the zoo, my parents didn't even think about asking if I wanted to head on home...they knew the answer--"NO."

   I seriously love animals (which sometimes stinks, because I'm allergic to most of them). As long as they don't try to kill me, I'll give them a big bear hug (Get it? "Bear"? Animals? Okay, sorry. Moving on). And just to think, God created them. He thought and knew of all the types, kingdoms, and species of animals. How they all would look. How and where each would live in (Woods, oceans, plains, etc.). And He did all of this...In a day. Okay, okay. Yes, He did split up the ocean animals and birds apart from the land animals, BUT STILL. That's a LOT of animals. Such amazing creativity in such a short amount of time. 

   Anyways, enough of me talking. Time for pictures.

My second favorite animal: the Cheetah.

If you don't know what animal this is...oh boy. Peacock.

Some type of lizard, whose name I am forgetting.

   Now, am I going to be completely cliché and ask, "What is your favorite type of animal?" *head desk* I can't resist. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF ANIMAL?
   And yes, I do realize that this post is quite EXTREMELY random. But oh well. That's how I roll.

The Sun

"The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth

 from the rising of the sun to its setting." Psalm 50:1 (ESV). 

   Yesterday (July 3rd) was an odd day. There seemed to be an immense cloud engulfing Las Vegas. It was hard to overlook the town, due to this cloud. This cloud, however, brought about an amazing sunset. The sky turned orange. I jokingly said to my parents, "Hey! Maybe today is rapture day?" The reason I said this was because the sky was just so incredibly weird. It was phenomenal. My mom called it a "phenomena." Truly the best word for it. This got me thinking of how incredible and magnificent our God is and His "phenomenal" creation. Starting with the sun. 

Picture of the sun yesterday.

   In the very beginning of time, God created the wonderful sun. Genesis 1:16 tells, "And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars" (ESV). 
   The sun and other parts of God's creation can be taken for granted. We always know that the sun is going to rise the next morning. It's always there. We, on earth, revolve around it. Woop-de-doo. But think about it. God placed us humans at a perfect position in the heart of a galaxy--at just the perfect position from the sun. This sun provides multiple things: light, heat, energy...and often taken for granted--beauty. How great is our God to give us such a wonderful thing.

Sunset in Atlantic City, NJ. And yes, the sky did turn red.

   Now, please let me say before I end this blog, I am not trying to praise the sun. All the praise goes to God. He did make the sun. 

Philadelphia, PA.

   Now! I want to hear from you! If you have any pictures of the sun that you took, and you really like, feel free to send me a picture! Or you can post a link at the bottom of this thingy. 
   Oh! And Happy Independence Day, y'all :)

IT'S BEEN FOUR MONTHS?

   Yeah. It has been four months, since I last blogged. And many things have happened since then. Spring Break (in Mexico). San Francisco. Exam week. Philadelphia. Atlantic City. And the End of the Year Gathering in PA. 
   First of all, back in April, my mom and I got to spend an amazing week with the phenominal Pliego family. We had a wonderful time staying in their home, and they showed us the "city of contrast"--Mexico City. It was an absolute blast!

We went to the Cathedral!

We also went to the Pyramids!

Nikko, Isabel, Myself, Santiago, and Annie!

    I had so much fun with them, and I can't wait to see them again, soon. I'm so thankful to God to know such a wonderful family. :)  

   After Spring break, my cousin got married! So my family and I went to his wedding. Where was he? San Francisco. Who also lives in San Francisco? Dr. Amanda and Jonah (Jacob ;))? YESSSSS.

Whip our hair in public? Us? Noooooo. ;)

   After San Francisco, one of the big things that happened was...Exam week. But I don't have any pictures during that time. Just imagine a freaking-out-teenager in front of a laptop, and you'll be thinking of me. :)

   Once exam week was over, my family and I prepared for the End of the Year Gathering! Before we went to Lancaster, however, we took a couple stops along the way. Philadelphia. Onward!

Photo Credits: Mom.

   Thanks, Momma. She was able to take a picture of the Liberty Bell...

with no people in the background! Which is quite remarkable, because the place was PACKED.

Philadelphia had amazing sidewalks. Always had to watch your step, and the scenery was epic. 

   After Philadelphia, we went to Atlantic City to see some family friends. The casinos weren't anything like Vegas. BUT! They did have amaaazing beaches. 

   Finally, last week, I went to see my friends at the End of the Year Gathering. It was extremely fun! Seeing everyone was a blast. And since this blog post is reeeeally long, I'm not sure which picture to use as an explanatory photo of the gathering. But I think the following one does. Families, students, and teachers gathered together. Everyone smiling--having a good time. And joyfullness--personified by Josie. :) 

   So that's it for now! I'll post more pictures from the following places later on this summer. Hasta la pasta! ;)

God's Imagination

Life. Human lives. Society. Culture. Nature. Colors. Brilliance. All of these topics (along with MANY others) come into my mind when I think of God's creation. His workmanship. His power. His strength. His imagination is incomprehensible. As I was coming home from dinner tonight, my family and I saw something rather unique. It was a cloud--but not just any ordinary cloud. This cloud was shaped like a U.F.O. I had seen many other clouds like it before, but this one struck me. I had never really really looked at a cloud like this before. Of course, I had learned in classes and TV shows that there were different clouds out there. Cumulus...Nimbus...Cumulonimbus! And I had even seen other clouds similar to this one. But this one struck me. It was unique. In fact, it was rather odd, but beautiful. It was oddly beautiful. This got me thinking of how God has such a diverse and creative imagination. Thankfully, my dad had my camera in his car. So! I get to show you.

Maybe it's just me, but I think that that's amazing. How did it form like that? Where did it form like that? Why did it form like that? A meteorologist would probably give a remarkable scientific reason. Hydrogen atoms probably do some dramatic interchange with water molecules to form a symphony of shapes--thereby forming this U.F.O. Of course, it's probably a lot more difficult and complex than that, but that just makes God's imagination all the more amazing! He is able to mix something oddly beautiful, with a reasonable and scientific explanation. That's just cool. And He doesn't just limit it to clouds! No no no! There's more! Animals, plants, mountains, stars! All of these are beautifully scientific! They were made with protons/neutrons/electrons, and turn out to be color wonders of the sky, ground, water! How magnificent is God's imagination.

Ping Pong!

Ping Pong! Yes! Miniture Tennis! Is fun. AND! What better way to celebrate ping pong? photos? YESSSS. So yeah. Thank you, Dad, for helping :)

Dad is beast at posing. Yes? yes. 

These were fun photos to take :)

But yes...There's only two good ones. The others look the same :D

SO! I shall post completely random photos...Okay? Okay.

Dat is my keyboard.

Yes, that issss a snowflake.

Hahaha, okay, so this was just random :P But oh well. Haha.

Photos

Good gravy! I haven't posted on here in eons. SO! I shall post with random pictures of random things from random places. All ze photos have been taken by meeeee...so yes. Have fun.

This was taken in a little antique shop in Boulder City.

Viva Las Vegas!

Fire.

MARDI GRAS MASK! If you would like a Mardi Gras Mask at the Veritas Press EOTYG 2011, please email or send me a message. 

Andddd that is it! All of ze photos, again, were taken by me :)

Old and New

   "Old and New." Why is the title that? Well, the past couple of days have demonstrated to me how life can present things that are "Old and New." Some of my favorite things, belongings, people have gone away. But today, I found a couple of things that are "new."

   Today, I heard my mom shout out to me, "MYLES! IT'S SNOWING!!!" My Grandpa had a catchy saying about snow. He called it "white stuff." He apparently didn't like it (but I think he secretly did). Snow was something new today, and I'm extremely thankful to God for it.

   Something else new today was school! The semester has started back up again! And what class begun the year? One of my favorite classes! SPANISH! I'm immensely grateful to be in that class. Start of a new for the school year. :)

And now, here are some photos that I took of the snow in viva Las Vegas!

Something old.

Something new.

Something old.

Something new.

Something new.

Something new.

And before I go, I have to mention that I recently saw one of the coolest people in the world--Emilyann the Pool. Our families got to meet up for lunch (which was a complete blast).

haha :D

Emilyann the Pool=awesomeness personified

And that's it for now! Thank you! :)