The Crazy Quest for a 2DS

Hi all!  I'm going to try to be making a blogpost at least once a week...I've tried that before, and it has failed.  I'm going to try again.
As most of you know, I'm a bit of a nerd, and a bit of a geek...more nerd than geek.  My boyfriend has slowly been "corrupting" me and turning me into more of a geek, which isn't a bad thing, I don't think.  I've been wanting a DS for awhile now, so that I could play the new Pokemon game (Pokemon Sun/Moon), that came out on my birthday, so I asked my stepdad if I could have a 2DS when our tax returns came in.
Unfortunately, life interfered with getting a DS for tax returns, in the form of bills...but then a wonderful thing happened last Wednesday.
I got a...check?  Yup, a check!  Apparently, and this was news to me, if you're going to college and don't use up all of your pell grant, you get a refund on it!  So, first came the responsible things...new front tires for Demacia (my Jeep, named after a city state in the game League of Legends), and new sneakers (oh my old ones were falling to pieces).  Next, came the fun, or not so needed things.  New sandals for my last prom (it's this Saturday, actually!  I'm going with Jacob), a DS, and Pokemon Sun.
Just one little problem.
Walmart didn't have a DS!!!  And there's no sense in getting a game I'm not going to be able to play, right?  Okay, so, checking the Walmart website and another Walmart says they have it.  Well, I have some money, so let's go to that Walmart and go out to eat!  I like treating my family.  But wait, no, we'd better call to be sure.  Nope.  No DS, 2 or 3 to be found.  Sorrows.
Okay, so call another Walmart.  Nope.  A Walmart several towns away.  Nope.  BestBuy?  Well, I wouldn't know, we never got to talk to a human.  Finally, another Walmart.  Nope, but try GameStop.
Alright, alright!  So, we called GameStop.  YUS!  A preowned 2DS!  Well, it's about an hour and a half away....
You know what, we're going anyway!  Besides, they said they'd hold it for me.  So, I quickly ran upstairs, grabbed two books and got in the vehicle, ready to go.

Great books, also check out Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by the same author (Jessica Day George)

It's a great trip, but by the time we get to the mall where the GameStop is located, I've really gotta go to the bathroom!  So, Mom and I scramble around in the mall, wondering why they've decided to put their restrooms in the most obscure place possible.  Finally we find the bathroom, and finally we're on the last leg of our journey.

Mom, Doug and I walk into the GameStop, and honestly, part of me is terrified they've forgotten to hold it for me and sold it, but nope!  We tell them why we're there, and he gets it out.

My 2DS, which does not have a name yet.

Oh, I'm so happy.  Then, he asks if I'm wanting any games.  Definitely!  I definitely want Pokemon Sun.  It came out on my birthday!!!  Plus it has Litten, and I love Litten.

I present Litten, the Fire Kitten

Well, the very nice guy asks if I'd like to take a look at some other games, because there's a deal on them...looking back, it wasn't a super good deal, but I had money, and I thought it would be nice to have games to play other than just my Pokemon game.  So, I picked out The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf.  Apparently the Zelda game was just a case...I was sad.  But there was another Zelda game for the same price, so I got The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes.

I'm sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate the picture

Well, my Animal Crossing game was the only one that would play!  Apparently I needed an SD card.  So, on the way home we stopped at Walmart to get an SD card.

This is where my SD card goes.  As you can see, my DS is blue!!!

I pick out my SD card, and since they have it, I also grab The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

So, my total of games looks like this:

My games.

Oh, by the way...guess what else that Walmart had?  ...a 2DS.

~Katie

When I "Grow Up"

When I grow up, I hope I remember what it felt like to be the child who wanted to play Clue, whose family didn't...who didn't get to play Clue.
When I grow up, I hope I remember what it felt like to feel like the odd child at church that no one really wanted to play with.
When I grow up, I hope I remember how I felt when the "big kid" took an interest in me, and played with me, and mentored me.
When I grow up, I hope I remember that I didn't go to college either, and how I felt when almost everyone acted like it was a terrible decision.
When I grow up, I hope I remember how I felt about people making fun of my driving, just because I was a young driver...sure, it's just teasing...but I still hated it.
When I grow up, I hope I remember not to dismiss someone's thoughts about something, just because they're a child.
When I grow up, I hope I'm the type of adult who takes time to truly listen to each child.
When I grow up, I hope I have the kind of home that the neighborhood kids feel comfortable coming to and hanging out.
When I grow up, I hope I remember what it was like to be a child.
~Katie

Beauty and the Beast

Alright, so Beauty and the Beast has become a pretty hot topic lately.  LeFou (which means The Fool) is gay and "One day wants to be Gaston, and the other day wants to be with Gaston."
I have several topics to address.
To begin with: Neither Gaston, nor LeFou were in the original book...and personally, I prefer the book to start with.  First off, The Beast was not a selfish child like it shows in the movie, he was a young prince, whose mother enlisted the aid of a fairy/witch to win a war, promising her son in marriage...once the war was one, the mother pulled a Judah (from the Bible, somewhere in Genesis) and refused to allow her son to marry the fairy/witch, so her son was cursed.  Beauty had two mean sisters and her father was a merchant.  He became poor on a journey, after his ships crashed, and he was only able to bring the thing one of his daughters requested...Beauty's rose.  He was imprisoned by the Beast, told he could go home and tell his daughters goodbye or trade with one.  Beauty insisted on going in the place of her father and the Beast treated her very well.
Back on the movie...even in the original animated movie, LeFou is, if not gay, definitely very effeminate.  He practically worships Gaston...which, for those who are so outraged about him being gay...isn't idolatry also a sin?
I know what the Bible says about homosexual sex.  I also know that it only mentions sex.  I'd also like to say that if someone is straight, even if they don't actively seek out relationships, or sexual relations, they are still straight.  Therefore, applying that logic...if someone is gay/lesbian/bi, and they do not actively seek out relations of any type...they are still gay/lesbian/bi.  I'm just going to say that.
Like one of my Facebook friends pointed out in a status...Gaston and LeFou are bad guys...and again...LeFou means "The Fool".  Is this complimentary in any way toward the LGBT community? I personally wouldn't find it complimentary, to be honest.
Another thing...to those who are concerned about your children being influenced by this...I'd like to point out that there are gay people in the world.  Your child will very likely encounter more than one gay person in their lifetime.  Do you want them to be influenced first where you can influence them, or when they're out from under your protection?  And I'm sorry, but overprotecting your child will not help them in the "real world".  You will be setting your child up for mocking, ignorance, and possibly even danger, because you've never allowed them out, while still under your protection, to learn.
I didn't have huge plans to go see this movie...I was planning to see it eventually, like with the Cinderella movie, but most movies don't make me feel like watching them in theaters.  My plans haven't changed.
I feel like sometimes people, especially people in the Christian community, forget that these people are people too.  Is it any wonder that people don't come to the Christian community, when what they see is people calling them disgusting, and an abomination?  They are not an abomination and they are not disgusting.  They are not their sin/temptation/whateveryouwannacallit.  They are a human.  A human with feelings.  A human with their own struggles and temptations.  A human with a soul.
If you're reading this...you have your own struggles and temptations.  Are you tempted to overeat and be a glutton?  Gluttony is a sin...and you can get away with it, because it's an "okay" sin.  Do you act upon it?  Or are you just tempted?  Are you a disgusting abomination?  You are not.
Jesus spoke to the woman at the well.  A Samaritan...probably a prostitute...and he didn't call her disgusting.  He didn't say she was an abomination.  Amazing.
Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself.  And Paul said that without love, a person is just a clanging of brass.  Out of faith, hope and love...love is the greatest.  I am not the best person in the world.  I don't make the best choices sometimes.  However, I've made a choice:
I will, to the best of my ability, love and show love to everyone I meet.  It shouldn't matter who or what they are.  It shouldn't matter what they have done.  I will love them.  And as our friendship goes on, maybe I can lead them to Christ...and then he can worry about the convicting.
Also, last I checked, the names Christians were calling members of the LGBT community were not loving at all....
I know this was kind of long, and I know it was kind of rambly.  If you got this far, thank you.
~Katie