Juliana Elizabeth Travis

        Wow. I meant to put this up a long time ago, but I've been so so busy that I haven't had much time to write. As most of you know, I gave up makeup for Lent. Over 40 days without makeup!!! To me, Lent is about losing bad habits and begining good ones. You're probably thinking how is makeup a bad habit? Well here's my story.         Makeup is something used to make you look prettier. Which can be a good thing, if thought of in a good way. Many girls in today's society use makeup as a "cover up". Girls feel they are not pretty enough, hate the way they look, or don't like a certain flaw they have. Makeup is used as a way to cover your flaws for the world to see until you get home and uncover reality. Society has stuck this idea of beauty in our heads. Tall, Skinny, Pretty Face, Pretty Hair, Pretty Clothes. Females practically kill themselves daily trying to reach this idea of "perfection".          What I want to k...

     If you follow me on Twitter (@ninjagymnast18), then you know that I am doing the 100 Happy Days challenge.  100happydays.com  The point of this challenge is to appreciate the things in life that make you happy and realize that even on your worst days, there is always something good.       And, for me, that's exactly what this challenge has done. I am currently on Day 33 and I am honestly loving the outlook it has given me. No matter how bad my day seems, there is ALWAYS something to be happy about.       I think it's good for people to realize the good in their life because a lot of it is things we take for granted, such as a roof over our head, an education, and simple things such as food, clothing, and clean water. We are very lucky to live the way we do.       There are two things that keep us from being happy: living in the past and observing others.  Living  in the past can drag y...

     I'm sure all of you have seen #TheDress, "Is it white and gold or blue and black?!",  and call me crazy, but that's actually my example for this blog. Just a few minutes ago I was doing my daily scroll through Pinterest and came across a quote.           Some people see the dress as blue and black, while others see it as white and gold. This is a lot like how people see other people. One person might see you as a sweet, kind, loving person, but another might see you as hateful, rude, and deceiving. Think about the way you feel about your best friend versus the way you think of your enemy. Big difference, right? Someone who doesn't care much about you is definitely going to have different ides toward you than someone who cares about you and loves you. DON'T LET THE NEGATIVE FEELINGS AND IDEAS DEFINE YOU!!!          We live in a world where we are constantly being judged. Every minute of every day there...

     One of my favorite times of the year has arrived. Lent season. Don't ask me why its one of my favorites, it just is. There's something truly amazing about struggling to do more of something or to not doing something and spend more time with God.      Last year I gave up all drinks except water. I will admit at first I really hated drinking water, but now it has become part of my daily life and I really don't drink much of anything else.      This year I want to take it further. I want to give up more and do more. I want these things to become habit and carry out with me even after Lent is over. I want them to be part of my daily life.      One goal I made for 2015 is to learn to love myself more for who I am and to be what I want, not what others want or what others think of me. One thing on my list of Giving Up For Lent is makeup. No matter how bad a pimple I have or how bad my dark circles look (because anyone who kno...

Take a glass plate.  Drop it on the ground.  It shatters.  Beat it with a hammer.  Hundreds of pieces.  Pick up the pieces.  Now put it back together.  You can't, can you?      Trust. By dictionary definition, trust is the belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc . Building trust with someone for the first time isn't really all that hard... but once it breaks, it's one of the hardest things ever to get back. Today, trust is practically nonexistent. You think someone will keep a secret, but then they go around showing people your messages and telling everything you've said. People you thought were your bestfriends are suddenly going behind your back spreading things you didn't necessarily want people to know about. You lose friends, you lose relationships. Everything changes. TRUST BREAKS.       The plate represents the trust between two people. It's reall...

     **By request** My first year as a Charmer has been a great experience! I was asked what the daily life of a Charmer is like, so let's start from the beginning.       Football season consisted of 3 hour after school practices in the hot sun. Sounds horrible right? It honestly wasn't that bad though, as long as you had a big jug of ice water! We got some very pretty tan lines from our workout clothes and boots. Haha.       The practices were not dreadful. I will admit there were some days that were so hot you thought you were going to die, but no matter how bad it got, it all payed off on Friday nights.       Being under those  Friday night  lights is a feeling I can't even put into words. Cheering and dancing in the stands is SO fun. But NOTHING can compare to being on the field at halftime. You just have to experience it to understand how great it is. I can't even explain.    ...

Good morning from the clouds! I am currently flying to New York City with my drill team! So exciting! Here's a picture of my current view:      Let's take it back to the beginning. The VERY beginning. You know like, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."      It's hard to believe that the earth used to be a dark, empty place. The beautiful place we see now, once did not exist. God said "Let there be light, let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water, let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear, let the land produce vegetation, let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night and to give light to the earth, let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, let the land produce living creatures, an...