Interview with Maddy

Sorry there was no Thoughtful post today but I was having trouble writing one. I think editing has temporarily taking the writing powers from me. ;P 

Anyway, I've got an interview with Maddy from Maddy's Digital Diary! 

Enjoy!

Hello Maddy, Welcome to The Bubblegum Ballerina!

Thank you so much! I'm glad to be here!

Could you tell us a bit about yourself? 

Sure! My name is Maddy and I'm a homeschooled 13 year old who loves to dance, bake, read, and of course... Take pictures. :) I'm the second

oldest of seven and I dance at Steps of Faith in Catersville GA.

How long have you been Blogging?

Two months. I'm new to the blogging world!

Why did you begin Blogging?

Well, my sister had a  blog ( Which I thought was cool) Also, I love taking pictures so I decided to start a photography blog :)

How did you choose your blog title?

Well, I really didn't know of any good name so I looked up names for a photography blog and second I saw Digital Diary, I knew that was the name I wanted.

Whats your favorite blog?

That's so hard to answers! A few that I really like are Precious Moments, Writing For His Glory, Trusting in the Lord, So Sophia, Uniquely You, Country Christian Girls,

Tombot in a Tiered skirt, The Short End of Things, Loving Our Creator, and Lilies of Grace, Sorry! That was more then a few...

What are some of your hobbies?

Dancing, photography, make crafts, and I'm trying to learn how to crochet.

What five words describe you best?

Fun, Crazy, Shy, Unique, Loving.

Whats your favorite book?

Any missionary stories!

Whats your favorite movie?

The Sound of Music!

Whats your favorite TV series?

I Love Lucy!!

What is your favorite color?

Green and light blue.

Whats your favorite animal?

Turtles and Rabbits.

Whats your favorite word?

Either Awesome or Fantistic.

Which do you prefer, email or phones?

Email! Definitely email!

Do you have a Pintrest account

No...

If you could meet one person who would you meet?

Either a friend of mine named Ashley or my two penpals :)

Who is your favorite fictional character?

I don't know!? I like them all!

Thanks for giving up your time so we could get to know you!

It was my pleasure! Thanks for asking me!

-Mikayla-

Tag

I was tagged by Hannah at Tomboy In a Tiered Skirt ,Sarah at Trusting In The Lord Day by Day and Jamie from A Year Of Nature Studies for the "You are amazing and so is your blog" award. =D So here it goes!

1. Copy and paste these rules on to your award post.

2. Come up with at least 5 fun questions for your nominees to answer.

3. Nominate at least 5 people who you think are amazing and have an amazing blog.

4. List at least one reason why you appreciate the people you nominated.

5. Put this award on your sidebar or award/tag page if you were nominated.

6. Leave a comment on your nominees' blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

Hannah's questions: 

1. If you had to choose one of the places to live, which would you choose?

A humid rainforest treehouse, An abandoned castle, or an underwater cavern? ( where you have to swim underwater to enter but inside theres air)

An abandoned castle, that would just be to cool! =D I love castles...

2. Do you like drawing? :D

Yes! I love drawing! For some reason I stopped doing it for about six months last year but I've picked it back up again and am loving it more then every

3. Favorite drink?

Sweet Iced tea. =D With a straw hopefully! ;D 

4. Have you watched The Lego Movie? If so, who was your favorite character? :)

  ^-----^

| O _O  | <- that was supposed to look like Unikitty....

I have watched the Lego Movie and my favorite character was Benny. SPACESHIP! ;D

5. You wake up to find a baby dragon in your bed! What do you do?

Kill it. 

6. Describe your dream bedroom! :D

Ohh, you've hit my sweet spot. ;D I would have an white daybed with shelfs behind it, a walk in closet, about three bookshelf's, the walls painted pink and purple and a big bay window with a window seat in it. =D

Sarah's Questions

Do you ever run out to get the mail?
Every day. Mail is one of the best things in my life. I have two girls who send me letters almost every week and I always love seeing if there's anything for me and if there's not I sort all the mail for my family. =D

Do you like cold or warm?
WARM!!! 100% warm. Colds yucky, especially for a Texan girl who barely even notices when its 110 in the Summer cold weater is just awful!

Do you like playing around doing different do's with you hair, or are you the kind of person to keep it the same?
I keep my hair pretty much the same, down with a hairband in it. Sometimes I'll put it in a pony tail for when we go out but I'm not good with hair so anytime I want something in it I have to ask Rebekkah to do it for me. =/ Oh! But I do love putting it in two braids. =D

Have you ever wondered how many times you have said the same word in your life?
Um, not really. I know I re-use words cause that's just how langue works.

Do you write?
Do I breath? Yes. ;D I write a lot. I try to do it every day but sometimes I end up editing instead of writing. =) 

What is your favorite thing to cook?
Spaghetti. Though I don't cook much so...

If you were snow bound all winter, what would you do for activities/keeping warm?
Write? I don't know, the most snow I've ever seen was one inch deep and that melted away by evening so I would have no idea what it would be like to be snowed in all winter.

Are you a changing person, or a person who likes things to stay the same?
Well things are constantly changing no matter what I like so I usually don't mind things changing unless it interfears with something I really wanted to do or something, then I might get annoyed. =/

Do you like drawing your own drawings, or would you rather use a coloring page? 
I like them both. I love doing free-hand drawing cause there so fun but sometimes I like doing coloring pages for fun! =D

Jamie's Questions: 

1: Do you like cookies?
Yes, mainly chocolate chip. =)

2: Have you ever watched Frozen?
Yes. but not for at least four months. 

3: Are you a calm person or a little more OUT GOING? 
Um, I'm not sure exactly what calm and out going have to do with each other but I guess out going. 

4: Can you touch your toes?
Can't everybody?

5: Do you like Christmas or Easter best? 
Easter.

6: Do you have any pen pals? 
I have two pen pals and a about five e-pals.

7: Do you own a business? 
Yes, on esty HERE.

8: If so (#7) what do you sell? 
Well, the shop itself is done by me and my four sisters and we each sell something different. My part of it though is little paper dresses in frames. 

9: Are you flexible? 
I'm not a board if that's what your asking. ;D I am farely flexible but I would never make it in gymnastics even the lower part.

10: Do you like dancing or singing better? 
Dancing! I'm a horrible singer and I always have more fun dancing to music from someone who has a good voice then trying to crock one out myself. ;D 

I nominate: 

Micaiah 

Katie

Sarah

Danielle

Maiya

My Questions:

1. Who is your favorite book character ? (can be your own or someone elses)
2. Who is your favorite artist?
3. Have you ever played laser tag before? If so what did you think of it?
4. Do you prefer writing or reading?
5. What is your favorite subject in school?

Thanks for reading!
-Mikayla-

My Life (In as many posts as it takes) #34

In which my family went to the zoo and I spent way to much time taking photos of plants and Markeets.

Do you remember two weeks ago on my Monday post where I said it was really early? Well, I was up early because we were taking my sister to another job and then we went to the zoo, so here are the photos from that. =D 

Oh, and I'm really sorry if I've been posting to much lately. =/ 

The Sunrise.

Random bush. ;D

Texas ranger. Sorry its not a better picture, but he was going pretty fast. 

Told you there were a lot of plants... ;D

Aren't they adorable? I forgot there name. ;D

THE MARKEETS!!!! These little guys are SO adorable, and extremely photogenic. They pose for photos, no lie. =D

Isn't he cute?!

Grace took this photo of me being a flamingo with the flamingos. ;D

Isn't this cool?

Me, Sarah, Grace and Rebekkah in the aquarium. =) 

Grace and the sloth. =) 

He was so sleepy it was adorable. =D

Not a great photo, but it was the chains fault. ;P 

I hope you enjoyed that!  

 -Mikayla-

Food For Thought #5

You can pull yourself out of this. 

(By the way, thank you to all for your prayers/comments about my wrist it is much better now! Thank you! =D)

After four weeks of posting on friends I decided to write a post about conquering problems.  

I realized that over the past about six months that I had gotten to the point that being mildly upset (You know that ‘I’m gonna sit in my corner and not talk’ kind) over anything was becoming a habit. Now, most of the time, I had been pretty perky so I couldn't figure out why I was doing this. I think its because its easier to just sit a sulk  at annoyances then to turn and smile, so I had stopped trying. But over the last month I've really been trying to just shake it off and be happy. 

So, its been a little hard because I've gotten into a sort of rut of this but I came up with a few tips so if your easily annoyed maybe we can shake it off together. 

1. Do something else. Don’t think about it, don’t dwell on what annoyed you just go do something else were you have to concentrate. Which brings us to number 2:

2. Find your happy spot. I did a blog post about my happy spot awhile back and everyone should have one of these. This is a thing or a spot that makes you happy. Mine (at the moment) is probably the book I’m currently writing called “Just Your Ordinary Girl” and the main character has been one of my most compelling ones to write and it makes me forget myself to write about her. 

3. Listen to an upbeat song. Sometimes I don’t feel like listening to upbeat music when I’m upset, I want to listen to sad songs but I need to get out of myself and listen to something upbeat and usually it helps me a lot. 

4. Do something for someone else. Get on and write you best friend an email, or better yet, maybe someone who wasn't expecting to hear from you. Call a friend, comment on you friends blog just because. Do some dishes for your mom. Anything really, little or small I've come to see is one of the best ways to be happier! 

5. Pray. Ask God to help you have a better attitude. I cannot tell you how many times I've said this prayer for different things but its almost scary. ;P I have a bad attitude about a lot of stupid stuff and I know that the only way I’m ever going to get over it is with God’s help. 

-Mikayla-

"May your hand be ready to help me." Psalms 119:73

Writing Wednesday #3

Writing Advice.

Yep, I'm here for a second time this month! Enjoy! =D

Hey friends, one of my lovely followers, Sarah, suggested that I do a post of writing advice! Its actually embarrassing to think how long ago she asked me to do this but I hope she will forgive me and that you will enjoy this anyway! 

1. Don’t believe everything you hear.

You will hear tons of advice in this huge world of blogs, forums, friends, authors and adversaries. You need to think about all the advice you get, make sure it’s actually something that applies to you and that you know is correct!

2. Take a deep breath

Weather you in the middle of a story or just beginning this will help. Even if your story’s not going perfectly its okay, your story’s going to be imperfect but it’s still going to be YOUR STORY no one else out there has that exact story so it that alone it’s going to be awesome!

3. Remember you’re amazing

I can’t tell you how many potential writers I've known that have given up writing because they “Never finish a project” or “Are terrible writers” in their own thoughts. Keep in mind, no matter how good you are, you’re the best you've ever been right now. The same will be true in five years. And you are amazing, let me tell you, you’re never going to write a story quite like you can right now, because you’re constantly changing and so is your style. Which is what makes your writing so amazing.

4. Put your hands to the keyboard.

When you’re sad, write. When you’re mad, write. When you’re happy, write. Even when you’re out of inspiration, write. It’ll be the best thing you've ever done. I know some of my best stuff I've ever written has come from when I was very sad and wrote to pour my feelings into one of my characters story.  And sometimes you’re going to have to write when you’re not feeling inspired, don’t worry about it. My advice would be to use one of three solutions 1. Log onto Pintrest and scroll. Some of my best ideas have come from looking at my friends boards. 2. Look through your old notebooks and files, sometimes you’ll find amazing ideas that you shoved aside. 3. Talk to a friend. Sometimes all you need is to talk to someone, maybe even write a story with them!

6. Stop writing for people

Okay this is a problem I really struggle with and it’s writing for people. Not writing a story for other people, but writing because someone said you should. Most of us are at a very free point of writing, unpublished. You should take advantage of your freedom and write some story’s you’re never going to share, just for fun. Ultimately you’re writing for one person anyway: God. Granted we get lots a pleasure out of it and having someone like our story’s just thrilling but if the story brings glory to God, then it’s an amazing story right there. God gave us the freedom to just write and write just for ourselves sometimes.

7. Criticism

Ouch, I even hate the word. Let me tell you right now, I’m very bad with criticism. I have cried many times over people saying they didn't like my stories, but you know what? It’s really helped me. But I’m not saying you just need to grin and bear it, it’s okay to cry a bit when people don’t like your story, but after your cry, take a deep breath. It’s gonna be okay, yeah, it hurt but your amazing non the less. You need to understand that there are people out there who aren't going to like your story. But there’s probably even more who are going to love it. So I would have a good cry then really think about the criticism you just got, the person probably had some good points that will make your story better!

Thanks for reading, ya'll are awesome!

-Mikayla-

My Life (in as many posts as it takes) #33

In which Mikayla share to many photos of herself, and shows off the fact that she found the manual focus on the camera in the form of random photos. ;D

I have more put together posts but I wanted to share this one and get it over with because as above said, it has photos of me in it. ;D

Update: Wow, I have some catching up to do in this department. 

1. I've finished editing one of my story's called "A Princess by Disguise, a Cinderella re-telling. I was really excited to finish this story because I had been wanting to do it for awhile and I've already had several people like it! So I have some hope that its halfway good. ;D 

Rose had a movie theamed party to welcome her home/see her off from film projects. So the next four photos are from our table, decorated for it. =D

She was a marketing person on Beyond the Mask.

2. Its spring in Texas. This isn't much a part of the update I just was excited about this fact so I wanted to share. =D We're still getting a few cold days but not a ton. =D 

Rebekkah took this....

And then we took a selfie. =)

I loved my outfit a bit to much... This is a sideways photo of my skirt pocket.

3. I'm in two skits in the co-op I'm a part of. I'm so excited, I love acting and I got paired with some great kids to do these skits. I'll tell you how it goes when we preform. ;D

Selfie. I actually kinda liked this one,

'Nother one...

4. I have been a bit busy lately with school, homework and writing. This is unusual for me, because I ushally have tons of free time but since we joined the co-op for this semester I've had more stuff to do. I'm still not going at a neck-breaking speed but I am busy! =) 

5. I could use some prayer because I sprained my right wrist some and so I'm having to wear a brace temporarily. Thankfully I don't have to wear it all the time! But it is getting in my way of typing some and some other projects so I'm praying that clears up pretty soon.

Was that random or what? I hope you enjoyed it anyway! =D

-Mikayla-

Food For Thought #4

When a friends going through a hard time.

This is a bit of a hard topic for me to write on because I have dealt with friends going through hard times and have one now so this post is very personally driven. 

I'm pretty sure we've all been in that place where one of your friends is going through a hard time and its hard to decided just what to do. Do you flood them with encouraging emails? Do you offer to come and see them? Do you let them have space to deal with the problem? Do you just pray for them and ignore the problem? I know all these questions have run through my head at some point or another. 

The problem is there really is no defiant answer, it depends a lot on the friend and what their going through. So here are a few things you can do no matter what. 

1. Pray. 

It doesn't matter what the situation is prayer is always going to help. Sometimes I find it hard because some of my friends have hard things in there life's that I am probably never going to see the end of and so it feels pretty pointless to pray for it but I know that God is listening to me, and he's going to protect his children so I keep praying. 

2. Stick with them. 

If your friend is going through a hard time simply sticking with them may be the most comforting thing for them. Let them know your there for them and be willing to be a shoulder to lean on if they need a cry. 

3. Be there for them. 

I know some people probably think this is the same as number two but it isn't.

When your friend is going through a hard time, probably more then once they've just wanted to call someone up and talk about it but maybe didn't know someone who was available. By making time for them you may be helping them more then you know.

4. Communicate. 

Taking the time out of your day just to send them a message telling them your praying for them/you care for them is a support all to itself. It lets them know you care enough to take time out of your stuff just to message them. 

Okay, that's all the advice I have, I hope it was helpful to someone. 

 The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. Isaiah 25:8

I know this is random but I wrote a poem awhile back about a friend of mine when she was going through a hard time so here it is: 

She sits by herself, but not in a corner

She may be alone but she is by no means a loner

People think she’s quiet, but they don’t know her

Because if they did, of her loudness they’d be sure

She smiles for everyone and everyone smiles back

But no one knows she cry’s herself to sleep when life is not even black

She cry’s over what she has lost

And the great pain it cost

No one sees her stifling her tears

So that no one hears

Oh, if she would speak of the deepest part of her heart

Perfectly composed people would fall apart

For no one could guess the battles in her soul

And that now it really is not whole

But help will come soon enough

To keep her from getting very gruff

And she will find such great love

That she had never known of

So stay strong dear one

Your fight will yet be won

-Mikayla-

Tutorial

Hey everyone! I cannot tell you how many times I've been asked "How did you make your blog button?" So I've made a simple to use tutorial for ya'll! =D

No coding on your part. The whole process probably take 10-15 minutes.

Note: All sites linked in this post are 100% free.

1.     Head over to www.Picmonkey.com hold your mouse over the “Edit” button

Chose your photo your photo to use.

And the below screen is what you should have. =D 

Once you have your photo click on the top icon, the weird square. =) Then click on the crop button. Then click the little drop down box and click "Square" this is going to be so your button will fit nicely on the sidebar. Once you've got it how you want it, click apply.

Then go down to "Re-size" and change the number to 200 in the left box and the other box will automatically fill in with the other side.

Then, you should add your blog name, address and anything else you want on the button. You can add texts in the "Tt" section. =) 

I like adding a border so it pops a little more but if you do that you'll need to go back and re-size it to 200 by 200. 

You can change the color of the border to match your picture. =)

Once you've got it perfect, Click the button above the photo is labeled "Save" then "Save to my computer.

Your button should look like this. =D

Then, go over to photobucket.com and sign up (Its free). 

Click, "upload."

Chose from your computer, 

Get your photo. =) 

Then, in a new tab, open up  http://www.mycoolrealm.com/sandbox/gbgen/ 

It should be really strait forward what information to type in.

When it asks you for your image url go over to Photobucket, click the photo and then "Grab direct link" on the right hand side and put it in where the other site directed.

Finish putting in all the other information.

Then click "Preview".

It will close the preview and take you down to this box, where you should copy the code.

Now its time to install the button on the blog! =D

The following part of the tutorial is for people with blogs run by blogger only.

You can close PhotoBucket now, and open blogger. Click the drop down box to the right of the "View Blog" button and click on the "Layout" button.

Click "Add a gadget"

Scroll down until you get to "Html/Java Script" and click the plus button. 

Past the code into this box and click "Save."

Volla! Its done! =D 

I hope that made sense and you we're able to make a good blog button out of that! =D 

If you have any questions, or if you have any trouble just drop me a comment and I will try to help as best I can! 

 -Mikayla-