Barely Rational

Week Two of the 30 Day Drawing Challenge

2012-01-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

Day Eight - Favorite Cartoon Character...I don't normally watch cartoons, but I do occasionally watch "Phineas and Ferb" with my brother. I decided Perry was pretty cool, so I did a sketch of him.

Day Nine - Favorite Television Show...I enjoy watching several old shows, and "Hogan's Heroes" was the only one I could think of that I could think of something to draw for.

Day Ten - Favorite Candy...Twix bars! I must admit that I ate my 'model' before I was really finished.

Day Eleven - Turning Point in My Life...the day I was saved. I'm not sure what day that was or what haircut I had...so I took a bit of a guess.

Day Twelve - Recent Accomplishment...High School graduation! That was a while ago, but I couldn't think of anything to draw from my first semester of college that would make any sense.

Day Thirteen - Comic Strip...it's snizzling! This will only make sense to people who have actually heard me use this term in describing weather. It really isn't that funny, but I couldn't think of anything else for a comic strip.

Day Fourteen - Favorite Fairy Tale...Beauty and the Beast is what I drew from. However, I don't know if I really have a favorite. I'd much prefer something along the lines of "The Princess Bride," but I don't think that quite counts.

As you can see, I was a lot lazier this week. Most drawings are really really sketchy. Sorry about that. I believe that is just because I've been getting back into school and had to do several drawings on the same day. Of course, all this is more just for my own amusement. I post the drawings on here just so I make sure I actually get them done.

In other news, tomorrow afternoon I'm going to get to see "Les Miserables" the musical in Knoxville! As most of you may know (especially if you looked at my last post) that my favorite book is "Les Miserables." I have always wanted to be able to see a production of it, and now I'm finally going to get to go. Perhaps, if I'm not terribly busy rearranging my room on Monday, I'll write a post on my experience at the show. For now, I should be getting off so that I can meet my mom and get some Krispy Kreme donuts.

Week One of the Drawing Challenge

2012-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I have managed to succeed in completing the first week of drawings. I have really enjoyed sketching these even though they aren't that great. Here they are:

Day One - Self Portrait

Day Two - Favorite Animal (I hope you can tell it's a lion)

Day Three - Favorite Food (Chicken Pot Pie)

Day Four - Favorite Place (Home)

Day Five - Best Friend (Tess, though I really should have drawn several people other people as well...)

Day Six - Favorite Book (Les Miserables...and I'm going to get to go see the show in about a week!!)

Day Seven - Favorite Movie (I have several favorites...this is from Pride and Prejudice and it's really bad, but I couldn't get what I originally wanted, so I gave up.)

That's all for now.

30 Day Drawing Challenge

2012-01-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Okay, so I needed something that would make me get back into a habit of blogging regularly, so I found this 30 day drawing challenge. Every day I will have something to draw/doodle. Most of the time I will probably just do cartoon-like drawings, but there may be days I will try to do something a little better. The challenge gives a different subject I have to draw every day such as my favorite food and book or my best friends. It should definitely be interesting.

Of course, I don't intend to post every day because I don't feel I would have enough to say about the doodles to make it interesting. I will be trying to post every weekend with photos of my sketches and explanations of what they are supposed to be (just in case you can't tell). Maybe I'll even talk about what I've been doing the rest of the week, if it's at all interesting.

Once I get back into school I have a feeling I will only end up posting the drawings. Let's face it, no one wants to hear my woes about trying to get all my work done every single week. I will do my first post with drawings in it either Saturday or Sunday (depending on what else is going on). I would post my first drawing today, except that I never actually drew it yesterday...so I'm already behind. Who would have thought that I would behind on a month-long drawing challenge when I have done NaNoWriMo two years in a row?

Well, for now I'm going to finish this post and get to drawing. I hope everyone is already having a good 2012! :)

Playing Catch-up

2011-12-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

Considering my last post was made back in September, I am clearly very behind in blogging. I knew that I wouldn't be able to post often during my first semester, but I had no idea that I would neglect it for so long. So, you're now going to get a very condensed version of my first semester at college.

During the end of September my brother, Noah, and my Papa both had birthdays and we went to Knoxville to celebrate. My dad's whole side of the family got together to have a birthday party. We took the opportunity to get a family picture, as well as a few others:

In October I was involved with "The Secret Garden" at Milligan and had a great time working with costumes as well as goofing off backstage. Here are some photos from the production:

My brother, Caleb, and my friend, Tess, also had birthdays in October (on the same day actually). Caleb is now 14 years old and Tess is 19. Then, I got to go to a formal dance with some of my friends. That was a lot of fun. Two of my friends had an idea for a photo they thought would be funny, so here it is:

On to November! It was filled with crazy amounts of schoolwork and about the worst Humanities Exam I've taken thus far. Although I can't remember exactly and don't have my planner here to be certain, I believe I also took my midterms in early-ish November. If I am correct, then those weren't much fun either.

So, I finally got a longish break for Thanksgiving. I made it a few days longer by skipping two days of school (a Monday and Tuesday) so I could leave for Arkansas the Friday before. That's one perk to attending school all the other days - when you really want to get out to be with family, you can, and it won't affect your grade. While I was in Arkansas, I got to take some photos of my mom's younger sister's family:

I also was able to take photos of my cousin, Lisa, in her wedding dress. Of course, I couldn't post those then because we didn't want her fiancé, Steve, to see the dress yet. However, since they are now happily married, I'll post a few here:

Now for December...a month of finals, freak outs, and festivities. Most people already know about the first two, so I'll just cover them briefly - they stunk. The last one makes the other two a little worse, but somehow help everyone live through them just the same. I had a Christmas party (of the ugly sweater variety) at my house with several friends. However, I neglected to take many pictures, so I will only post one here:

Another exciting event after my Christmas break finally arrived was my cousin (the aforementioned Lisa) getting married! I got to take all sorts of wedding pictures, which was a lot of fun. I'll just include a few favorites:

Since everyone was already in town, we got a photo of all of my mom's side of the family (as well as a photo of just my family):

Yet another fun thing about this December is that I finally got to meet my cousin's kids (Katie's son Benjamin, and James's son, Jesse). They both almost a year old and absolutely hilarious to watch play together. Here are some pictures of the two of them (Ben is the one with the crazy hair):

One thing I didn't get pictures of was my first games of paintball (which was a ton of fun by the way). I think my mom has those photos somewhere. At any rate, we came back from Arkansas and had a rather crazy ride to Knoxville. That drive normally takes only 11 hours, but what with a wrong turn and a flat tire, we stretched it to a little over 13. We finally got home two days before Christmas (the 23rd). We had a wonderful Christmas day with my dad's parents here. I think I might have eaten more ham than was really healthy, but I don't really care. It was nice.

Now, for the next little bit of my break (before going to Knoxville for New Years/Christmas) I'm catching up on blogging, doing crafts, reading, and writing. I'm also trying to get reorganized for the next semester. I have probably forgotten to mention several things, but that's alright. I'll try to be better about keeping up with my blog (yay for a New Year's resolution), but I'm making no promises.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year. :)

Flashmob

2011-09-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

If you don't know what a flashmob is, you may be confused why this merits its own blog post. Basically, it is a group of people who either improv a scene or freeze or...well, you get the idea. A group of Milligan students had a flashmob just this past Friday morning. As soon as the clock struck, they froze where they were in front of Derthick and stayed in position as other students walked around them, wondering what was going on. The freeze lasted only a minute and a half, but was still quite entertaining. Here are some photos (though they don't do it justice considering a photo freezes everyone). All of the kids in black where the official members of the flashmob group.

My Epic Life (an essay written for fun...don't judge)

2011-09-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

An epic is characterized in many ways, and often these ways are debated. However, there are three widely accepted ways in which to determine whether or not a work of literature is an epic. The first of these is that it must be a long narrative poem which contains stock epithets and is written in an elevated style. The second is that it must contain a variety of places and people. The third is that there must be a hero – one who is larger than life and often goes through a predictable series of events and trials. My own life is often very similar to these three specific traits of an epic and I believe that my life ought to be considered epic by these criteria.

One way in which my life is epic is how it often follows the same structure as a long narrative poem. I’m only eighteen years old, but my life has been filled with all sorts of emotions and the events that caused them. I’ve filled five large journals with only what has happened to me since I was twelve, and that is long by anyone’s account. Long narrative poems also included stock epithets, which are when a phrase is repeated several times in order for the story-teller to remember something or to hammer a point about someone’s character. In my life, I also have stock epithets. I have particular phrases that I repeat often, for the predominant reason that I’m trying to remember what I was wanting to say.

A second way my life follows the rules of an epic is by the variety of places I have traveled and the different people I have met. I have certainly never met a Cyclops (as in Homer’s “The Odyssey”), but I have been out of the country many times. I was only six when I visited Canada, and twelve when I went to Mexico. By the time I was fifteen, I’d lived in China for an entire month helping to start an English school, visited again during the Beijing Olympics, and spent time touring Japan. Due to visiting such a variety of places I have had the opportunity to also meet a wonderful assortment of people. Because of my extensive traveling I believe that my life also fulfills this requirement to being considered epic.

The final way I live an epic life is by the fact that my hero is larger than life. I’m not the hero of this story by any means, Jesus is. He went through practically everything that the hero of an epic is supposed to go through, and He did it in my place. Where a hero in an epic is supposed to be sent by a god on a journey, Jesus was sent by God, His father, on a journey to the Earth to save all mankind. Heroes are also supposed to have a major antagonist, which is certainly Satan in the story of my life. The hero is always supposed to have a choice to abandon his mission and Jesus unquestionably had one and was tempted many times to sin. The hero is even supposed to go through a supernatural place that ordinary people would not be able to visit. Jesus died and came back to life on the third day. There is no argument that stands against Jesus being the ultimate hero. Jesus takes my place in this and proves once again that my life is an epic.

In conclusion, my life is undeniably an epic. It is a long narrative, which is shown by the fact that I’ve used up so many journals telling the story of my own life. I have also visited a large array of places and gotten to know so many different people, which gives me the same setting as is required in an epic. Then, the hero of my story is as unquestionably a hero as ever walked on the earth – Jesus. There are many other ways in which an epic is defined, but these three stick out as the most important, and therefore prove that I have an epic life – and it isn’t even over yet.

Homesickness

2011-09-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I figure this is as good a time as any to post about how I'm dealing with living on campus and seeing my family once a week (if I'm lucky). Considering this was a big deal leading up to the semester, it only stands to reason that it gets an entire blog post dedicated to it (and a rather lengthy post at that - sorry).

For those who aren't aware, I have always been home schooled prior to beginning college. Ever since my dad convinced my mother to try home schooling when I started kindergarten, and in first grade when she decided she actually liked teaching me (for some crazy reason), I have been taught at home. Sure, there were exceptions to the rule where I took classes at other places (co-op, Providence Academy, Northeast State Community College), but I've never been in classes every day and certainly haven't lived away from my family for school. It's a huge change.

The longest amount of time I have ever not lived at home was a month when I was thirteen. I went to China (Shenyang) with my friend, Melissa, and her family to help them adjust to living there. It was a great experience, but I was very homesick during the trip and I am now a week short of being at school for a month. Of course, it isn't quite the same because I do get to see my family on the weekends, but it is still a marker that I'm a little nervous about.

At any rate, on to the subject: am I homesick? And the answer? YES! That isn't to say that I'm having a horrible time at school and all that, but I am definitely homesick. Some times are worse than others, but I feel that the song "Home" by Michael Buble pretty well sums it up:
_________________

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky, I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
'Cause this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home

_________________

I know that I am only twenty minutes from my family and so many other students live hundreds of miles from home (I know of one student who is from England!), but that doesn't keep me from feeling the way I do. My roommate is from Indiana, which is definitely much farther than Boones Creek. Maybe I'll get over being away from home, but I am doubting it at this point. I'll just have to adjust to being homesick most of the time and not getting to hear my brothers fighting throughout the house (just kidding...kind of).

I believe that I have always had a great appreciation for the family God has blessed me with (definitely don't deserve it), but I tend to remember it even better since I don't see them often. However, it isn't time for me to post about how awesome my family is...that would take way too long. So, I'll just say that I genuinely miss being home and cherish the weekends when I get to pretend that I'm not a college student.

And thankfully, the weekend is nearly here!

Lots of Firsts

2011-09-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well...believe it or not, I have actually been writing up blog posts in order to catch everyone up with my life here at Milligan College. Why have you not seen those posts? The answer is that my internet flaked out and I somehow lost all of the posts I was preparing. Therefore, I am writing this condensed version of the posts I lost. In some ways, you ought to appreciate this because it means you only have to read one post when you would normally have had to read several.

So, to start off my list of firsts:

I now have my very first cell phone! Yes, I do realize that my not having a phone up to this point is very odd (considering most 13-year-olds have them now), but I never really felt the need for one. I have now had a phone for about two weeks, and have to admit that I still don't see much of a point in having one. It has been nice on a few occasions, but I could certainly still get along without it. Hopefully I'll be able to keep that mindset, because I'd hate being tied down to my phone.

The second first that I'm mentioning (if that makes any sense at all) is the ballroom dancing lesson thing that I set up here at Milligan College. Now, I've liked ballroom dancing for a few years even though I'm not any good at it, and I go to a dance about once a month at Crossroads Christian Church. The problem is, there are often not many people my age who go. Of course, over the years I've gotten to know the few people who are always there, but it is still always fun when more people attend. So, I got this wonderful idea that I should start a ballroom dancing thing at college. What better way to get people from out of the area (or even from right around where I live) interesting in dancing? So, I reserved a room in the Wellness Center and about 17 people showed up for the first Saturday. We went over east coast swing and salsa. I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time, and I know that I did. Here is my flyer that was taped up everywhere:

Another thing that was an exciting first was developing film in a darkroom. As many of you know, I'm taking Basic Photography, which is a course on taking black and white film photographs. I'm using a canon rebel that belongs to my mom to take my photos, and developed my first roll of film nearly a week ago and I'll be printing my first photos tomorrow. It was a little nerve-wracking to develop the film because you have to load it in complete darkness (not even the safe-light is safe). So many things can go wrong. Thankfully, my negatives turned out fairly well:

Now, for yet another first...HUMANITIES EXAM!!! Now, I should probably explain why that is such a big deal considering there are all sorts of tests and exams at college. Milligan has a special way of teaching humanities where you take one class that teaches history, art, philosophy, and some geography all from one time period, starting with the Paleolithic time period. On the test you have to write one essay, two short essays (long paragraphs), six short answers, name four art slides (and what civilization produced them), put certain places on a map, and complete a multiple-choice section. This first exam covered from Paleolithic to early Greek times. Needless to say, it was quite overwhelming. However, I did manage to get through the exam without stressing out too badly (thanks to some pep talks from Tess, Josh, Jesse and others). I haven't gotten my grade back yet, but I feel fairly good about how I performed.

Here's a photo of what my peer mentors left outside my door the morning of the exam:

So nice of them, and it had candy inside! What isn't cool about that? Of course, that candy is now gone, which makes me sad, but that is alright. I probably shouldn't eat anymore sugar anytime soon just for the sake of staying semi-sane.

I also attended my first Milligan College soccer game, which was only just yesterday evening. Due to the poor lighting, I didn't take many pictures, and the ones I took were beyond lame. However, here are the two that did sort of look half-way decent:

It was a "black-out" game, which is why all the students attending wore black. I only stayed for the first half because I was going to watch a movie with a friend, but when I left, we were winning. I believe I would have heard if we had lost, so I'm just going to go ahead and say: "great job soccer team!"

At any rate, I'm almost positive I'm leaving things out of this post. However, it has been way too long since I last posted, so I am not going to wait until I remember whatever it is I have forgotten. Besides, I've got books to read, papers to start, and other blog posts to plan. So, I'm signing off for now!

School Starts

2011-09-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, school is officially back in session and I have lived through over a week of it. So far I have experienced an earthquake, come to love the basement of the library, and figured out how not to fall off the top of a bunk-bed. I've been pretty busy with getting homework done and haven't taken a whole lot of photos, but here are some of our evening at Wetlands:

It was very cold, so it ended early. However, we did have fun and I'm glad I got to go. It had been a long time since I had last been to a water park. Near the end of the evening, they had a synchronized swimming contest that was hilarious. There were three teams of guys who ended up competing and they had to swim to "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus. It was very entertaining.

Later on in the first week, Tess and I discovered the basement of the library, wherein there lie mysteries rolling bookshelves the like of which I'd never seen before. We had a marvelous time moving them to find different books as well as pretending to squish each other between them. Here are some photos down an aisle of bookshelves:

Later that same evening, Tess and I took some photos that were a little more fun. She was supposed to have a photo of her doing something she loved (this was for a class assignment). All we could think of was acting, but the Gregory building was closed. So, we went and took pictures inside Seeger Chapel instead. Here are two of the photos:

Well, I must head back to the land of reality where I have many unpleasant pages of homework awaiting me. I will try to post again later this week.

My Halfy Birthday!

2011-08-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

This morning, while writing a journal entry, I realized that it was my 'halfy' birthday. So, now I'm actually nearer to 19 than I am to 18, which is a scary thought. Time is just flying by. I can't say that I appreciate the speed considering it makes it so difficult to keep up with what is actually happening. Hopefully, by blogging about it I'll actually be able to remember some of these crazy days of starting college.

My friend, Tess (whom I've known since 5th grade), was organizing her desk with a small bit of help from me and realized that she had an extra 3-hole punch and sketchbook, so she gave them to me as my 'halfy birthday' presents. It definitely had me cracked up. Here is a photo of my gifts:

Now, I know that it seems silly...it is. However, I want to remember the silly things. Sometimes it really is the thought that counts. In all honesty, I will make good use of my 3-hole punch and sketch-book. Those are two useful items. But I don't think I'll look back and remember that I'm glad she gave me her extra school supplies. I think I'll look back and remember having a fun time visiting and laughing while organizing a dorm room.

This evening we had a banquet to go to (freshmen anyway). Everyone sat with their teams (students who have the same mentor) at big round tables. I got to talk to some students that I hadn't before and had a wonderful time joking about random things. At one point I was laughing so hard I was nearly crying - and I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I love laughing that hard. Sure, I look like an idiot, but I'm not going to let that keep me from laughing.

When we finished eating, several students ended up making noises with their wet fingers on the rims of their glasses. Not to be outdone, Tess and Whitney proceeded to make quite a bit of noise with their own glasses. It was quite entertaining and I actually got a few poorly lit photos from it:

One thing that had everyone at our table cracked up for a bit was a conversation had about bacon. I'm not even sure how it came up, but we were discussing how wonderful bacon tastes. Whitney finally described it in a way that I'd never heard before: "Bacon is an edible slice of God's love." Needless to say, we all thought that was great. Maybe no one else thinks it's cool, but whenever I think of bacon, I will now think about that conversation. Maybe I'll laugh so hard that I'll cry. And, you know what, I'm good with that.

Planking by Jordan, Tyler, and Tess

2011-08-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

So, I thought that this deserved its own post. After all, I don't have anywhere to be until 6 this evening. Evidently there is this 'cool' new thing going around called planking. As far as I can tell, the whole point is to lay face down with your arms at your sides and balance on something random. The crazier, the better. Personally, I have never done any planking, but some friends that Tess and I met while at Doe River Gorge thought it was fun, so I took photos of them doing it. Tess finally 'planked' at the end, which was quite entertaining. Here are the results:

And that is planking. I'm sure there will be more photos to follow.

Annual Migration

2011-08-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Alright, don't get used to this blogging every day business. Right now I'm doing it because classes haven't started. After Wednesday, I'll be lucky to get one post a week. So, today we spent most of the afternoon at Doe River Gorge. We rode there on school buses, which was neat considering I've never been on an actual school bus before.

Now, for everyone who doesn't know, the freshman trip to Doe River Gorge is called "The Annual Migration of the Buffalo Nation." I personally thought it was kind of weird when I first heard it, but after seeing everyone getting out of the vans and going toward the tent, I could understand them calling it a migration. It looked like one:

The lake there is small, but a lot is going on. I got to play volleyball (well, I stood there and watched the rest of my team play anyway), I climbed up the 'floating mountain' as I call it, played in the sand, took pictures, and went down the zip-line. There was definitely plenty to do. Here's a shot of the lake:

I took some shots of my friends, Tess, Darcie, and Jessica going down the zip-line. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves on it. Darcie and Jessica even went up to do it a second time. Here are the few photos that I got:

Here's a shot of my team playing volleyball. As you can tell, I didn't help them much. Thank goodness no one minded that I was horrible.

Here's a photo of my friend, Oscar, jumping onto the 'blob.' This was one thing I did not get around to doing. I have rather unpleasant childhood memories of jumping on and not liking it. I decided I'd stick with other activities.

As I said, I also played in the sand with Tess. I felt like a little kid again, but that was completely alright with me. The product of our playing was a sad version of the Milligan 'M':

After that busy afternoon, we had dinner and then we went to Vespers. Although I didn't know any of the songs that were sung, I did enjoy myself. I suppose I'll just have to learn the songs soon. Here are shots of Milligan students during worship:

Once vespers were over, everyone loaded back onto the buses. Sadly, instead of having four buses, like we had on the way there, we only had three. So, it was a very crowded half-hour ride. Thankfully, someone on our bus started singing. Before too long, everyone was singing snippets of Disney music, silly songs, and the like. It was very nice, even if we were in a very confined space.

After we got back to Milligan, we had an impromptu worship session over at Webb (a guys' dorm). At first, there were only a few people, but we had a pretty large group for a while. I'll leave you with some photos from our guitar/ukelele lead music session:

Moving into Milligan (and an explanation of the new blog title)

2011-08-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

I am now officially a freshman at Milligan College. I moved into the dorm yesterday morning. It's a nice dorm with the exception that we have no air conditioning. We are trying to keep it cool by using a few fans, but in the afternoon it gets pretty stuffy.

Moving in was pretty easy as I didn't have to bring nearly everything I own because I can always go home and get it when the season is right for it. My dad did end up taking the vehicle that I had packed half of my things in to breakfast with a friend, so I had to pack the other half in another car and wait until my dad finished breakfast and arrived at Milligan to actually set all my things in order. I didn't really mind though, because while everyone else was running around doing things, I got to visit with my roommate and her family as well as my long-time friend, Tess. That was a lot of fun.

Once I got all my stuff up to the dorm, it was pretty easy to get things put away. Then I visited the bookstore and bought the three books I hadn't been able to purchase via Amazon.

So far, I think it is actually alright compared to what I've heard/seen of other dorms. I have my own desk, chair, and closet. My roommate (you'll probably hear a lot about her...another post soon) kindly brought a microwave and a fridge, so we've already got our stashes of yummy favorites in our room. We share our small bathroom with the two girls (Veronica and Caitlyn) in the dorm next to us, but compared to the bathrooms we were using out camping in Michigan, this is pretty nice.

In the evening, after moving into my dorm room and visiting with a bunch of friends and making new ones, we went through what is called "Matriculation." It sounds bad, but I promise it isn't. The whole program is basically all the freshmen officially signing into Milligan by putting their signatures on these pieces of paper with all the faculty, staff, and family members watching. I was a little worried that I would get up and forget how my name was spelled or something. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

So, now my explanation of the new blog title: Barely Rational. If you know me very well, you know that I'm...weird. I like math (most of the time) and often tell math related puns. When I found out that I would be living in room number 313 I was very disappointed. I had really wanted 314 so that it would be like pi: 3.14..... Then my mom pointed out that pi wasn't rational, whereas 313 would definitely be rational. In light of all that, my blog is now titled Barely Rational. Hopefully you now understand what my reasoning is.

Now I'll end my post with some photos of my room and other such random stuff:

Michigan Trip

2011-08-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I said I was going to finish posting about our trip...but time has gotten away from me and I just don't have time to do that. Besides, there are other things that I'd like to post. I just moved into my college dorms today and I feel like, if I wait until I post about the end of the Michigan trip in full, I may not blog for a very long time.

I'll go ahead and sum up the last day in Michigan and our traveling home.

The last day of our trip we went to see the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced soo saint Marie). They were enormous and the water filled them up very quickly. After watching the locks for a while, we bought fudge, which was delicious. I love fudge. I really do. At any rate, we started back towards our campsite from the Locks and decided to stop by a lighthouse on the way. It was a rather strange looking lighthouse, but we heard a brass quintet that was very nice. We also tried a beef pasty. The boys didn't like it much, but I thought it tasted fine. After we were done at the lighthouse, we finally went back to the camp and spent a good deal of the evening alternating playing cards with packing.

The trip to Knoxville (we took two days getting all the way back to our house) was supposed to be at least 14 hours long. We managed to do it in 13.5. The plan was to leave at 6, but ended up not leaving until about twenty after. Evidently, it didn't make much of a difference. We had a little rain, but no traffic to speak of. Since it was a Sunday, we didn't have to worry about rush hour. We arrived at my grandparents' house in Knoxville at 8:15 and ate dinner there.

The next morning, my dad and brothers worked on the house we own in Knoxville while my mom, grandmother, and I went shopping for dorm stuff. Then we left Knoxville, homeward bound, at about 3 and got home at 4:50.

So that was the last three days in a nutshell. I'll catch you up on the dorm/college info. at a later time.

8/12 - Another Day, Another Dune (among other things)

2011-08-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Day twelve, and our last campsite move. It was a very full day, despite spending a few hours in the car. Here's what we did:

Our first stop on our way to the last campsite was a log slide (a big sand dune). This one was probably three quarters of the size of Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was also on Lake Superior, instead of Lake Michigan. It was very pretty. The water was so clear, but the photos don't do it justice. After playing on the log slide for a bit, it was discovered that there was a ton of poison ivy growing all over it. My dad and I are very allergic, but no one else in the family ever gets it. Thankfully, I hadn't really been climbing in it very much, considering the sand is more fun. We have grass in Tennessee, after all. Here is a photo I took from the top of the log slide:

Here is some Queen Anne's Lace. This was from the short time I was around the poison ivy.

Once we got to the car, we used some Clorox wipes to clean off, in an attempt to NOT get poison ivy rashes. Not sure that was a great idea, but it didn't bother my skin, so I guess we're alright. However, I don't recommend it as a way to prevent poison ivy.

Our final campsite was nice and large. The best part was the fact that they had bathrooms! Yes, we were all pretty happy about that. So after taking the below picture of the camper before it was set up, I escaped the work by exploring the bathrooms and showers. Yeah, I'm a little weird, but I was happy.

After set-up was finished and everyone had cleaned up, we visited the upper and lower Tahquamenon Falls. I wasn't incredibly impressed by the lower falls, so I haven't posted any photos of them. But here is the upper falls:

After dinner, we went to see the sunset at a lighthouse. We'd seen a photo of it on the back of a guide book and my mom had found directions to it. In the directions, it mentioned that it wasn't a good idea to stay after dark because the dirt roads were so confusing after dark. We disregarded those instructions and stayed until well after dark. And we had no problem getting back to our campsite. Here's a photo of my brothers and I at the lighthouse:

Overall, it was a very good day and I liked getting shots of the lighthouse. The boys had a great time climbing up and down the lighthouse. Once we got back to the campsite, we were all very ready to go to bed.

8/11 - Lazy Days at Lake Superior

2011-08-13T10:07:00.001-07:00

As I said, I'm posting within a very short amount of time (during lunch at Burger King), so I'm keeping it short. Here is what we did on day 11:

We were tired from the previous day of hiking (at least, my parents, Nathan, and I were). So we didn't actually do a whole lot. Here are some photos from Miner's Castle overlook:

After a day of canoeing and being lazy on the beach, we finally got back to the campsite. Mom gathered a lot of wood for a fire, and then Noah and I did the same. Dad got a bit carried away and built a big bonfire that nearly caught the tree above it on fire. It was very warm, to say the least. It also made us a bit nervous, so dad went down to Beaver Lake and got a bucket of water just in case. Here is a photo of the fire, but it doesn't quite do it justice:

Yeah, day 11 was a tad boring, but the day before had made up for it. Well, that's it for my blogging at Burger King. I'll post the final bits tomorrow night and Monday evening.

8/10 -

2011-08-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

On day ten of our trip we went on a ten mile hike. Yeah, it sounded like no big deal at first...but by the end we were exhausted. Here's what we did:

Before the hike began, we were actually all (except Caleb) in a good mood. Nathan sports this lovely flower in his hair to prove that we were having a good time (yes, I told him I was posting it):

A little after the point in the picture below, the younger two boys headed back to the car, so their hike was only about 5.5 miles round trip. The rock formation was really cool though. The tree on top of it seemed to grow right out of the rock:

Here's a photo that proves I actually went on the hike:

Pretty view of an arch in the rocks. On my slideshow after the trip I will definitely be including more photos.

Here's a last picture of my parents on a cliff. It actually made my dad very nervous (as well as me considering my fear of heights).

When we finished our hike, we all agreed that the lengths mentioned in the map did not seem correct. We're sure we did at least 10 miles, if not quite a bit more. Needless to say, our feet were very tired.

Well, that's it for now!

8/9 - Just Keep Driving

2011-08-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

I only have internet for a few minutes right now, so this post is very short. I may come back and edit this later. But for now here's what we did on day nine:

When Nathan was left alone at the campsite, he let the chairs get rained on. Here is a photo of my dad's idea to get them dried out faster:

I believe the main reason Nathan forgot to move the chairs out of the rain was because of writing on "his" laptop. He's been working on writing a story during most of the summer and liked getting to work on it during the trip. The main problem is that the computer kept having issues:

I hope to get one more day posted before I lose internet.

8/8 - Tour de Mackinac

2011-08-08T19:11:00.001-07:00

Today was one of the more tiring days of the trip (for me anyway). We biked an average of 24 miles each (the boys went around the island one more time than my parents and I). That may not seem like a ton, but most of us were riding on bad bikes that either had no gears to change, or wouldn't change gears dependably. That made the hills quite difficult, especially for my mom and Noah. Before I say any more about the day, here is what we did:

As you can see from what we did, my family decided to build a huge rock stack. We'd seen a lot of small ones on our way around the island and we thought it would be a fun way to make a memory without spending money. Here are a few images from our building the stack and the finished product:

Sadly, I let my dad convince me that I should only bring one lens for my camera, so I only took my fish-eye lens. That meant that, since I'm not very good at using it yet, I didn't get the best pictures. Here was my lame attempt at a photo of the Arch Rock:

When we biked up to Sugar Loaf, my pictures turned out a lot better. Nathan made us a little nervous by climbing up to the very top. If you click on the images, you can see them larger, so look for Nathan at the very top of the rock. It was a pretty crazy climb:

Now, we rented a tandem bike for my mom and Noah to use, which forced me into riding Noah's bike (my old bike), which was really bad and the seat was adjusted to be way too short for me. So, after riding on it most of the time, I took his place on the tandem bike. It was a whole lot of fun. I even got a few photos of the experience using my mom's camera:

When we visited the fort, we just barely missed a canon firing demonstration. However, we did get to hear some music and singing, which was alright. Then we walked around some buildings that were pretty much identical to buildings at other old forts we've been to. So I won't bore you with the photos from them. Instead, here is a photo of my brother, Noah, and I dressed up as union soldiers (sorry, they didn't have rebel costumes):

While the boys took another ride around the island, my parents and I took the opportunity to visit the Grand Hotel. The grounds were really pretty and the building was very impressive. We weren't actually supposed to be able to walk around the grounds or inside, but we found a way in through the garden. It wasn't roped off or anything, so we took a few pictures and went inside to see the fancy interior. Most of the people were really dressed up, but no one caught on to the fact that we weren't supposed to be there. Here's a photo of my parents in front of the Grand Hotel:

We were very tired and footsore when we finally got back to our campsite in Mackinaw City. Our original plan had been to take the 9 o'clock ferry back in order to catch the sunset behind the bridge, but we were way too tired to stay that long. So, you can thank our tired feet for being able to read this blog post. If we'd gotten back that late, I wouldn't have had the energy to write a post. At any rate, it was a good day, and tomorrow we'll be packing up early to leave for another campsite.

I likely won't be able to blog again until I'm back home, so until then, pray that we don't kill each other or have any problems in traveling.

8/7 - Living History, Making History

2011-08-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

Day seven! Almost half of the way through our vacation. Here's what we did (the short version):

And here are things I learned:

While mom did the laundry, the rest of us went to Fort Michilimackinac. Here are some photos of our time there:

Then, in the late afternoon, we went to Mill Creek Discovery Park. As part of their "Adventure Tour," we went on a rope bridge and down a small zip-line. Then, afterward, they all went up a climbing wall. I finally went up the wall just to prove I could.

I will hopefully post about day eight this evening, but I may not get to it. In that case, I may not be blogging any more until I get home.

8/6 - Sunflowers and a Shower

2011-08-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today was a long afternoon in the car preceded by a lovely ride down part of the Platte River. The sky was overcast, but it was still a nice little piece of river. My dad, who had ridden down the same part with my mother, told me that I shouldn't take my camera since we'd probably tip. I was exceedingly upset when we didn't ever even come near to tipping, which meant I should have taken my camera. So, due to my dad's cautiousness, I do not have any photos of our canoe trip. Here is what we did today:

Clearly, I was a lazy photographer today. Of course, one can only take so many pictures of the dirty inside of a van. However, when we stopped near a sunflower field, my mother and I got out and took photos in the field. That was fun, and here are the photos from that:

We finally got to a camp with showers, internet, and no mosquitoes, so I'm happy. I'm finally clean after two/three days, and that's a pretty big deal. I'm also caught up on blogging, so that makes it even better. Hopefully I'll be able to blog for the next few days, but after that I may not blog again until a few days before I return home. For now, I'm signing off!

8/5 - On the Top of the World

2011-08-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

I could say so much about day five, really I could. But first, the schedule:

Now to start writing about the day.

My mother and I got up early to go take photos at the same dune that my brothers and I were grudgingly taken to the previous evening. Yes, I liked it so much I wanted to go back. My mother and I were worried that the scenic drive might be closed, and our fears were realized when we read on a sign outside the drive that it didn't open until 9 am. However, we drove a little further to try to find a spot to turn around, only to discover that all of the gates were open. So, we went up to the dunes when no one else was there. It was so silent and peaceful. I really enjoyed myself. I ran up and down the sand dunes and watched hummingbirds and listened to the waves 450 feet down. I really really enjoyed it. If you ever have a chance to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes, try to go in the early morning. You won't regret it. Here are some photos from my trip with mom to the dunes:

That evening, we went back to Sleeping Bear Dunes again, in an attempt to see the sunset over Lake Michigan. My parents and Noah went all the way down to the lake and walked almost two miles to another beach where I met them after sunset to pick them up. Nathan and Caleb also went down the dune, but they made the grueling hike back up. Caleb enjoyed the torture so much, that he did it a second time. Here are some photos from the event (although not very good due to the distance and the lighting):

We didn't see a spectacular sunset due to the clouds, but I still had a good time watching my brothers run down and crawl back up. :)

8/4 - The Lazy [Platte] River

2011-08-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Somehow I started day four in a horrible mood. I think it probably had to do with the state of the campsite, which had no showers, and only pit toilets (not that you really wanted to know). I only realize how much I like being clean when I cannot be clean. My bad mood was not helped along by the fact that my camera had decided to act up for the second time. It wasn't the same as the first, but just as puzzling. I tried everything I could think of to fix it, and nothing worked. My mother and I finally prayed over it, and it started working again. Once again, God fixed my camera. That pretty much did my bad mood in.

Here is the schedule of what we did:

We (my mother and I) had seen a stack of rocks on the beach and thought it was kind of interesting. Instead of taking a picture of that pile, which would be cheating, I made my own little stack. Here is the photo of my work:

In the afternoon, we went to a big sand dune. It was hard to climb, but so much fun to run down. The guys went up higher than my mother and I. We would have gone up with them, but they reported that the view wasn't any better, so we sat down in the sand and I drew a sketch of my mom while we sat there. Here is a photo of my brothers (I believe) climbing up the huge hill of sand:

After playing on that dune for a while, we (kids) thought we were going to get to go back to the campsite. We were quite upset when we found out that, instead, we were going on a scenic drive. We were hot, sandy, and tired. We did NOT want to drive around in the car anymore. We did NOT want to see any more sand. Most of all, we did NOT want to be nice about it.

Thankfully, my parents made us go, no matter how much we protested. So, despite ourselves, we got to see this beautiful view off of Sleeping Bear Dunes:

The dune was about 450 feet up and the view was breathtaking. That's actually saying a lot because I'm afraid of heights. With all the sand and the inability for me to fall off of anything, I could fully enjoy the beauty of the sight.

8/3 - Considering Cannibalism...among other things

2011-08-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

Day three was, in some ways, uneventful. However, I still feel that a lot can be said about it. Clearly, by the title, the day was interesting. I suppose that just goes to show what happens when you spend a long time in the car with your immediate family. Here is what we did:

The day started out with a good deal of promise. The boys (Dad, Nathan, Caleb, and Noah) and I composed lyrics to go in rounds (to the tune of One Bottle of Pop) which were really quite humorous. My brother was determined that it would all have to do with WWII, so it is a little on the odd side. I suppose I should add that not everyone will find it funny, but my family thought it was hilarious. We'll be recording the audio of them singing it later on. Here are the lyrics if you happen to know the song and like to sing in rounds:

As I said, the day started out with promise. When I got up earl y in the morning, I found this pretty bird out on the water:

After packing up, it was revealed to us (kids) that we weren't going to be stopping for breakfast. Now, it may come as a surprise to you, but my brothers and I happen to hate starving. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I'd rather miss either of the other meals rather than that one. So, as you can imagine, everyone had very short tempers and there were many arguments. All of that due to not eating breakfast. We drove by a McDonalds, but dad decided that we couldn't eat there because they were no longer serving breakfast. When we were piling dejectedly back into the car, Caleb hit his head hard against the car T.V. and broke it. My brothers had to patch it up with some gaffers tape and Vols duct tape:

In the meantime, we got to Ann Arbor and went on a search for "fairy doors," which were little doors people had built into their stores that you could look inside. It was really cool (except I was starving):

After the fairy hunt was over, we kept on driving. My dad finally caved in and took us to a McDonalds to have breakfast, which he insisted was lunch. Thus, our contemplation of cannibalism. "We're going to turn to cannibalism and eat the biggest one [dad]." - Me. Yes, I value getting my meals. Call me crazy, but I was pretty tired of eating junk food in the car. At any rate, I did get semi-filled at McDonalds, and did not eat my father. :)

After we got the camp set up (at the second campsite we went to because the other had no empty spots), we drove down to a beach on Lake Michigan. Hardly anyone was there, it was windy, cool, and very pretty.

While walking onto the beach, my camera strap broke. Thankfully, I caught my camera and my dad attached the broken end to the good end and it was *almost* as good as new. I took several more pictures of my brothers playing in the cold water, along with some photos of my parents and of myself (just to prove I actually went on the trip). Then, all of a sudden, my camera started flaking out. The top three quarters of the photograph would turn out almost white, with the bottom quarter nearly normal. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. All my settings were the same, it did it with all the lenses, and it just didn't make sense. It was extremely upsetting, considering I was really looking forward to taking photos of the trip. Thankfully, when I got back to the car, it started working again. I firmly believe that God answered my silent prayers on that beach, and I certainly appreciate it.

8/2 - There's No Business like Ford's Business!

2011-08-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

The second day of our trip, which is really first because we were actually doing something aside from driving, was a long and fun (in my opinion) day. Here is the image schedule I made of what we did:

Here is a photo of the rest of the family walking down the road in Greenfield Village. We spent a lot of time walking, but I thought it was a lot of fun (minus the complaints of my brothers).

My favorite part of the entire day was getting to watch a Broadway tribute show. There were only four actors, but they covered a lot of ground in the app. 30 minutes that the show lasted. Here is a list of the shows they sang songs from (in order):

Oklahoma
Pal Joey
Pins and Needles
Show Boat
On the Town
Anything Goes
Carousel
Annie Get Your Gun

I thought they did a really good job. All of them had great voices and were very entertaining. Here is a shot from one of the songs they did:

This is a more random shot, but below is a photo of Caleb with an old bike. He loves riding his bike, and he thought that learning to ride this would be fun.

At the end of the afternoon, I finally got my courage up and had a picture taken with the people in costume. Of course, I look a little out of place, but that's alright. I still liked it. Here is the resulting photo that my mom took:

Here are five things that I learned today:

And that's it for day two! Yay for internet service!

8/1 - First Day

2011-08-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a rather late start, and we had a few fights along the way, but we're finally in Michigan! Here is what happened today (click on the image to see a larger version):

While in Knoxville, my mother was sent to get gas in the big van. The gas station was crowded and mom got herself stuck. Caleb had to run about a half mile to get dad to drive the van, which he got unstuck with no problem at all. As we have noted many times, he's the world's best backwards driver (like Mater in "Cars"). Here's a photo of how close the van was to getting scraped:

Towards the end of the afternoon, I noticed that the sky was particularly awesome-looking. Now, a quote from "Cars:" 'Don't travel to MAKE good time, but to HAVE a good time.' So (since I love taking photos), despite the horribly dirty window, I took a bunch of photos. One of my favorites is this one:

Our first campsite was the Greenfield RV Center, site number 349. We supposedly had a reservation, but they didn't have it on record. Luckily, they had a spot for us. Then, after sunset, I took a few photos down at the lake:

Well, that's it for day one! Like I said, I'll try to keep posting as often as possible, but that is probably not going to be often.

Michigan or Bust!

2011-07-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you probably know, my family is going on a two week long camping trip to Michigan. We have taken long camping trips to many places in the past. Most of them we (Nathan, Caleb, Noah, and I) refer to as two (or three) week long field trips. My mother loves to have us visit any battle sites, museums, and historical homes she can think of or hears about. In the past few years we have not taken those long trips, and so it may be a bit of a shock to be camping that much again.

For the occasion, I created the first image, which is now the cover of my notebook as well as the design on my water bottle. Yes, I may just be a little weird. However, since I will have to create my blog posts without internet, the easiest way I could think of was to use images. When I do have internet, I will be posting updates on how the trip has gone along with the best and/or funniest photos from our activities. I will be keeping a notebook with me as well as a sketchbook and camera to document our trip. The same picture above will be at the beginning of all my posts about our Michigan trip. One of the other images I made is of our itinerary, which you will see below (you may have to click on the image to read it well):

We are leaving early tomorrow morning (hopefully 7 am) and will have a long car ride until we reach Michigan. We will be stopping in Knoxville for a while in the morning, but I'm not sure how long. So, for the first day or two I'll be able to post. After that, I'm not sure. I hope you'll enjoy keeping up with our adventure to Michigan.

Fierce Beauty by Kim Meeder

2011-07-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

I just recently finished reading a very good book. Recently means that I just finished it a few hours ago. The book is titled "Fierce Beauty: Choosing to stand for what matters most." As I already said, it was a very good book. Not only is it a book with a very strong message, it gives the message in a very compelling way. The author, Kim Meeder, uses stories from her life and the lives of others to prove her point as well as giving the audience (me in this case) a real desire to lay down my princess crown and take up my sword.

Fierce Beauty is all about how women struggle with the seemingly conflicting ideas of being princesses (daughters of the King) and being warriors (spiritual battle). Although I am an adopted daughter of the King of Kings, I am "not created to be a princess of entitlement but a warrior, fighting to bring love and hope to the world." So many times we are trapped in the belief that we should get our heavenly crown now and not have to bother going into battle. Although when it is stated so bluntly it seems obvious what we all should be doing, it is so easy to fall back into the same wrong way of thinking.

One of my favorite illustrations from the book is taken from a dream that Kim Meeder once had. It was about this absolutely beautiful bald eagle in a golden bejeweled cage. The bird had been there for a long time and the cage was clearly too small, despite it's gorgeous appearance. All of a sudden, the cage was broken by a blinding light and the bird was free to fly. It saw that it was free and looked up into the sky, clearly thinking hard. However, it was so attached to its pretty jail that it pieced it back together and stayed inside it.

Beauty of the spirit is so important, and yet we sometimes feel that we need to be outwardly beautiful for our inward beauty to count for anything. This lie will sometimes 'force' us back into our pretty prisons. I loved the illustration that Kim Meeder used, and she has many more in her book. Fierce Beauty brings home the importance of being soldiers for our Savior over worrying about appearances (of all kinds) and I would recommend it to all of my friends.

Cousin Camp - Day 5

2011-07-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today began by eating breakfast and playing a few games before the party guests had to leave. After everyone outside of the family was gone, we finally got around to making our Cousin Camp t-shirts. Sadly, I do not have any really good pictures of that process because I was trying to keep everyone from burning themselves or using the iron-on designs incorrectly. There were a few mistakes made nonetheless, but we now all have t-shirts (with the exception of Nathan, who didn't want one for some reason). Here are the lame photos I got of that project:

This afternoon was spent goofing around as well as perfecting the shirts. I took Nathan to soccer practice this evening and when I got back Caleb took the kids to the pool. I spent that time cleaning the rather messy house so that mom would come home to something a little better than a disaster area. After dinner, we made about two gallons of root beer. I don't remember the recipe, but it involved dry ice, so the photos from that are much more interesting:

To finish off the day, we went to the pool in the dark. This is one thing that we really wanted to do before the triplets leave, so I'm very glad we got to fit it in. We all had a lot of fun playing in the pool lights as well as getting the pool to ourselves, instead of having to share it with our neighbors. These are a few of the photos that turned out from us playing in the lights:

Cousin Camp - Day 4

2011-07-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today the morning was spent (for Allie, Jennie, and I) in the kitchen making a cake for Noah's party this afternoon. I had to bake two more cakes (along with a gluten-free one for Ben) and make approximately three recipes of buttercream frosting. Then I took out the cakes once they were frozen and cut them into the shape of Perry the Platypus. One thing that bothered me is that I didn't make quite enough blue icing for the body. However, I put it on thin and made it work. Luckily, my brother doesn't mind some crumbs showing up in the frosting. It wasn't a very impressive cake, but my brother was happy with it, and that was the point. At any rate, here are some photos of the cake in process and finished:

This afternoon was Noah's party. His birthday isn't until September 21st, but he has always wanted to have a summer party. His friends started arriving at noon and once the party started they played games, visited the neighborhood slide, and wore themselves out with a game of kickball in the front yard. We're ending the day by watching Mega-mind. Here are some photos I took throughout the afternoon (including the demise of the cake I spent all morning making):

Hopefully we'll all get to bed before midnight tonight. :)

Cousin Camp - Day 3

2011-07-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

The day started out with my brothers going to clean up brush with my dad. So that left me and the triplets at the house. We spent the time going to a local barn and doing a short photo shoot. This time I took photos of all three of the triplets so it doesn't seem like I am just taking pictures of a pair of twins. Here are my favorite photos from the shoot that I've edited so far (sans watermark):

Then this afternoon I missed out on Cousin Camp fun and instead went water skiing with a friend and her foreign exchange student, Jone. We had a great time, after I went and got gas for the boat, drove back to the dock to realize I needed a funnel, drove back to the house and got it, went back to the dock, then went back home to get the SD card I forgot and then getting back to the dock to finally get out on the lake that is. Jone learned how to water ski, so that was cool.

So, after I got back from the lake and we ate dinner, all of us kids went down to play on the neighbor's slide and then went to the pool. I've posted photos of my brothers on the slide before, so it may look familiar. That is also why I'm not posting many photos of my brothers. You've seen them before. Here are some photos from our sliding fun:

Now I get to rush off the computer to bake a few cakes for Noah's party tomorrow afternoon. He wants me to make a Perry the Platypus cake, which will involve about three cakes, a big batch of icing, and lots of cutting. I'll post photos of that ordeal tomorrow when I hope to finish it. For now, just know you are lucky that I'm even posting this evening. :)

Cousin Camp (day one and two)

2011-07-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

Cousin Camp officially started yesterday. For those of you wondering what cousin camp is, here is a short definition:

All of our cousins (father's side) have a week together during the summer wherein we play games, make shirts, and act goofy.

This year we only have three cousins at cousin camp - the triplets Allie, Jennie, and Ben. They arrived late the day before yesterday, which makes yesterday the first official day of cousin camp this year. Sadly, the triplets will only be here until Wednesday or Thursday afternoon, but we're having fun while we can.

So, I'll start with photos and comments on day one.

Today my mom showed Allie how pianos work. We took our piano 'apart' to see all the strings and pedals and everything. It was a lot of fun. I didn't get very many good photos because of lighting, but here are a few (along with some my mom took of us):

We also fried marbles in the afternoon, which everyone got into (with Nathan as the exception). Now, I know fried marbles sounds like a weird idea, but it is actually pretty neat. What you do is heat the marbles up in a skillet (or in the oven) for about ten minutes, and then you cool them in ice water so that they shatter inside while keeping their circular form on the outside. It is very easy, and once you finish you can make really neat looking jewelry out of them. Here are some of my photos:

Then, to end the day well, we made s'mores by the fire on the back patio. It was a lot of fun. Again, didn't get great pictures, but that's not always the point. Here are the best:

I also did a short photo shoot with Allie and Jennie. To see those, visit my photography blog: seamanphotography.blogspot.com

Day Two:

Today (Sunday) we went on a hike to Laurel Falls after church. We had a good time, but it was a much longer hike than we had bargained for. The water near the falls was very cold, and the kids only waded in it. Here are my favorite photos from the hike:

Then, after the hike, we went to the Blue Hole to swim for a bit. The water there was really cold, but some of the kids finally got in to swim. It was getting dark when we got to the Blue Hole, so most of those photos I won't post, but here are the ones that semi-turned out:

Stay tuned for more of our Cousin Camp adventures! :)

Fireworks Photos

2011-07-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

These are some shots I got of fireworks. They were too late on Sunday for me to get them in on my weekly post during the week they were shot, so I'm taking the time to post them now. :)

Sissy-tography - Week Five

2011-07-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Monday: Finally got a butterfly shot that I liked...just not as colorful a butterfly as I'd imagined. However, I do think that this one is still pretty...and the brown is so much more practical. :)

Tuesday: Found this mushroom growing near one of the few trees in our yard. I wish I'd taken some better pictures of my new laptop that I got on Tuesday to post...but once you've seen one picture of a laptop, you've seen them all for the most part.

Wednesday: It was our first day out on the lake of the summer. That's pretty weird for us, and all of us (despite some complaining when getting ready and some arguments) were happy to get out on the water.

Thursday: Another photo shoot. This one was for the Dudgeon family. If you want to see more pictures from the shoot, visit my photography blog: seamanphotography.blogspot.com

Friday: We had a big event happen on Friday as my dad accidentally put his finger into his radial-arm saw...it was a pretty nasty cut as it went almost all the way through the tip of his finger nearly to the nail bed. I did take photos to document that, but I didn't figure anyone would appreciate photos of that nature. So, that being said, I did take some more photos of my roses on the same day. :)

Saturday: We did went to a 4th of July party in the evening and I took this photo while I was there.

Sunday: After church, since we were already dressed up in red, white, and blue, we took the opportunity to set up some family photos. Once my brothers were tired of being in photos, I made some of my wonderful parents (making sure to keep dad's wounded finger out of the frame).

Sissy-tography - Week Four

2011-06-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

Monday - There are Mourning Doves nesting outside my bedroom window. My dad was painting the side of the house, so I climbed his ladder and took this photo while the mom was away. That is actually a pretty big deal because I'm terrified of heights and I live on the second floor.

Tuesday - My brother, Nathan, turned 15! I did a short photo shoot of him and this was one of my favorites.

Wednesday - Our neighbors have a big slide down into the lake, and we have only taken advantage of that this summer. My brothers (minus Noah) and Nathan's friend, ironically named Noah, and I went to the slide for part of the afternoon before it began to rain.

Thursday - My macro lens arrived in the mail! That was cool because I have been telling my mom for a while that I really wanted it to get here soon. I was so excited and began taking pictures of all sorts of random things. This was one of my favorites of the afternoon.

Friday - I tried taking pictures of water drops again. My macro lens made that a lot easier. I really liked how this purple background looked. You'll probably see a lot of photos taken with my macro lens for a while.

Saturday - I go to dances about once a month (ballroom-style), and outside the building is this fountain. For some reason, I had never taken a picture of it before. So I finally brought my camera along with me and got this shot. Although it's not the best, I still like it.

Sunday - Again, taking photos with my macro lens! Sure, it's a weed, but it's pretty up close. I wanted to get a photo of a dandelion, but we don't have any. My dad thinks that is a good thing. :)

Sissy-tography - Week Three

2011-06-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Monday - I painted my brothers' room (not a fun process).

Tuesday - Went out and took some photos in the early morning. Caught this tiny spider web right before I nearly stepped on it.

Wednesday - Some of our friends came over to play at the pool. However, the weather wasn't very cooperative and we ended up playing games inside most of the afternoon.

Thursday - My dad started painting the back of the house. I thought the light looked neat coming through under the ladder.

Friday - My brothers and I went down to the pool and had a good time. This was one of the last photos I took at the pool that day because I decided it was about time to get in myself. :)

Saturday - My dad and brother (Nathan) spent a lot of the day painting until it started to rain. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of my rose bush with rain drops on it. A frustration during the day was that, when touch-up painting in the foyer, I used the wrong paint, and had to re-paint. Then, to make matters worse, I didn't quite cover all the spots of the wrong color and we're very low on that paint. Not sure exactly what we're going to do about that.

Sunday - Father's Day! (Read my previous post on that) Today has been very rainy, so my parents decided to take a nap after lunch. I decided to take a few shots of the piano (though I didn't play it so as not to wake them up).

Daddy's Daughter

2011-06-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

It's Father's Day, so, Happy Father's Day everyone! Now for a blog post about my daddy, Terry. I'll keep it short because he doesn't love reading like my mom does. :)

I always enjoy telling people about my dad. He's just cool. Why not tell stories about him? Ask almost anyone I've ever talked to and I've probably told them a story or two about him. Now, I don't talk about him a lot because he's perfect. He's not. That should come as no surprise to anyone. In fact, a lot of the stories I tell have to do with him proving that he isn't quite perfect.

Once, he caught his head on fire while lighting a grill. Yep, he's cool. Then another time he nearly lost two fingers and strangled the dog in the same not-so-bright move. One time his boot came off his water-ski while his foot was still in it and he couldn't get it off because his ankle was swollen. We spent a long time in trying to yank it off. Another time he dropped a light fixture on my head while trying to change a light-bulb.

However, there are also plenty of stories about how good he is at fixing things and of his patience with me as I broke his garage door with a pogo stick. Stories of really good memories that I won't ever forget.

When I was little, my dad would get up on water skis with me between his arms. One time, my parents took a dance class. Dad tried to teach me how to dance in the middle of the kitchen. Even though he never liked reading fiction, he took the time to read me The Chronicles of Narnia. Whenever I hear him read out loud, I think back on those times. My dad takes me on a date every birthday (even though that meant watching "The Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"). My dad has been my escort to more than one dance. When I was five years old, he baptized me in a river. I still remember the cold water and being nervous about going under. He's just cool!

Yes, I really do like bragging on my dad. Not many kids can brag on their dads like I can about mine. So many families are split up and many children never even meet their dads. In my earthly father, I have a good example of how I should live for my Heavenly Father. I can see, by my dad's love for me, a small glimpse of what God's love for me was, is, and always will be. I take all of that for granted so often. My dad is a blessing that is here every day, so I don't tend to think about all the things I love about him. Why my Heavenly Father chose to bless me with the earthly father I have, I may not ever fully understand. However, today is Father's Day and I thought I should take advantage of the opportunity to tell how thankful I am that my dad is MY DAD. He's just cool like that and I wish him a very happy and joy-filled Father's Day.

Sissy-tography - Week Two

2011-06-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Weekly Photos -

Sarah's photo shoot was on Monday. We had a great time!

This photo isn't the best, but I couldn't not post it. My brothers decided to stack up like this after a few chicken fights.

The next two photos are from Bethany's sweet sixteen photo shoot. The weather was hot, but we managed to get a ton of good pictures.

I had my college orientation this weekend. This was from a skit the current college students did for us.

Me with the school mascot. I didn't actually take this photo, but not many schools have buffalo statues...

Blackberries in the backyard.

Assignments -

Sun:

Railroad:

Laughter:

Fireworks:

The 'fireworks' photo may not quite qualify, but I saw those at the store and decided I'd take a picture anyway.

Sissy-tography - Week One

2011-06-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

The people at our neighborhood pool make sure we are aware of this sign...

My friend, Bethany, at her sweet sixteen birthday party!

My brother getting hit in the face by the sprinkler.

Noah playing in the pool at night.

Noah's reflection in the pool (you can tell the other boys were gone at camp).

The snake we found in our drive-way.

I carved this little person out of a piece of crayon. I hope to do some more of it, as it is easy and fun.

Scavenger Hunt - Mommytography

2011-06-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my slideshow for the scavenger hunt! They got a little out of order in the slide-show.

American Flag - My brother out front.
Fresh Cut Grass - Me reading in the back yard.
Watermelon - Stopped at a farmer's stand, got told that, to take a photo it would cost $12, to buy a watermelon, only $7.
Blossom - My rose bush.
Sharpened Pencil - This one has been sharpened many times.
Gas Prices - We were on the way to the dump, and were comparing prices.
Hot Dog and Hamburger - They don't get any bigger than that!
Ice - These are ice-pops from the freezer at the pool, yum!
Favorite Movie - Pride and Prejudice!
Bird House - This one is pretty self-explanitory.
Sky Reflection - My brother's sun-glasses. He loves them to death.
Wheel - Scooter ride down to the pool.
Clock - It struck midnight!
Summer Shoes - I may have broken the rules with this one, but we pretty much go barefoot all summer long.
Milk - I may have broken the rules for this one as well. We were making homemade ice cream, and the main ingredient is milk.
Dust - This strange little lantern-man has gathered dust for as long as I can remember.
Name of my State - Tennessee on the water tower.
Name spelled out with food - I love cheese and crackers! Only seemed right.
Favorite Store - It had to be Barnes and Noble, hands down.
Upside Down - I hung upside down on the monkey bars out back to take this one.

Working at Coker - Day Three (and we go home)

2011-05-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here we are at day three - just a little worse than day two because everyone was tired of working. Noah in particular was quite a handful at times. Thankfully, we’ll be taking a break from this work for a while. We need to recuperate before we tackle any more work…at least, I know I do!

We got out of the house around 8:30 this morning. We started out with another trip to the dump, but I didn’t find anything interesting there to take a photo of today. A lot went on today (I took nearly 500 photos), but I’ll try to skip the

Once we got to the house it was a little after 9 in the morning. Despite the slow start, I’m pretty impressed with what we were able to complete (especially considering the very limited amount of work we normally get done on the house we live in).

Here is the list of what we did today:

- We took up the quarter-round in the master bedroom, the hall, and a few closets.
- We sprayed the yard for fleas and ticks.
- We sprayed the entire yard for weeds.
- We took down the chimney that went through the kitchen (very messy process).
- We cleared out the crawl space under the house.
- We put plastic down in a lot of the crawl space.
- We took the paneling in the upstairs bedroom off the walls.
- We took the ‘crown molding’ out of the upstairs bedroom.
- We cut into the living room fire place (it had been bricked closed).
- We cleaned and took pictures of the appliances and hope to sell them soon.
- We temporarily fixed the water leak on the front deck.
- We cut room for a closet in the front bedroom.
- We took tape off of a few of the windows that had been painted before we bought the house.
- Dad talked to a lot of people (and did some of the above work). One realtor he talked to thinks he should list the house for a lot more than he was planning to.

Caleb was given the undesirable job of cutting the chimney down…and it was made even more difficult by having to work with Noah, who insisted on taking a thirty minute break nearly every five minutes of work he did. Granted, they got extremely dirty, and the work was hot, loud, and they had to wear masks and goggles (which Noah did not like). However, I think Caleb made the most of it by covering nearly his entire body in soot. He looked like our long lost African American relative:

I think the most fun that Noah had during the past three days was when he had to clean himself off with the hose. Just don’t ask him if he had fun, because he’ll tell you he didn’t. I have the photos to prove otherwise:

Nathan had the job of clearing out the crawl space…which is pretty nasty. You would think that he would hate having to do that, but it just so happens that he likes crawl spaces. He made this discovery on a trip to Nashville to help with Samaritan’s Purse. He had to go into several crawl spaces, so this was nothing. He’s superman at dealing with icky, dirty, smelly, dark places.

We had lunch around noon, and ate at Burger King (known in our family as King Burger, due to one of the boys saying it that way when they were little). Nearly all of us ate some form of a cheeseburger, which was a little confusing for the lady ringing up our order. She happened to get Noah’s wrong…and gave him pickles and mustard on it. He wasn’t too happy about that. Thankfully, mine was just the way I like it.

After lunch, I was taking down tape from the windows, and decided it was just too boring to do it the easy way. So what did I do? I made tape people!

One of the last things that got done was cutting the hole in the wall for the beginning of a closet in the front bedroom. Dad got that done while the rest of us were busy cleaning things off, organizing tools, and packing up the van and trailer. When dad cut through the wall for the closet, he found a magazine (Daughters of America, published 1956) that had been put there along with a very old toy train, which is pictured here with Noah.

Now, we’re finally back home and happy to get to clean up and rest. I’ll leave you with a couple more of my favorite pictures once again.

Working at Coker - Day Two

2011-05-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

I believe the second day was harder than the first...probably because I was already sore, tired, and the dust from the previous day had made my sinuses hate me (evidence of this is the fact that I woke up to my nose bleeding).

We started working very late this morning because my dad was waiting for a phone call from my mom. Although that was nice, we had to work late this evening to make up for it (not nice). I believe the highlight of my day came early on when we were taking all the junk we had acquired the previous day to the dump (see last post to get a picture of how much junk we had).

So, what exactly made my day? Well, this is what was being dumped at the same time as we were hauling the carpet and such off our trailer:

Not much of it worked anymore, but I played a few little songs, and the guys who were dumping it got a big kick out of it. Of course, I'm sad that the piano was ruined, but it made my day to see it there.

There was this sign there too:

It made me laugh. If you don't know why, figure it out! I made dad drive around the parking lot again so I could get a picture of it.

We finally got to work on the house at around 10. Here is a list of what we got done today:

- We removed all the ugly kitchen cabinets.

- We removed the linoleum in the mudroom and closet.

- We pulled out the baseboards in the mudroom and closet.

- We took out the quarter-round in the living room, dining room, and the entire second floor.

- We mowed the yard.

- We swept all the floors (at least, as far as I know).

- We took up the flashing at a few of the doorways (big deal, just ask Caleb).

Notice that I did NOT get around to spraying the weeds. No, it is not because I'm lazy, but because it rained too often for me to do it. Dad found a leak in the front porch roof, so some time was spent figuring out how to fix it and then how to 'fix' it for a short while until it can actually be repaired.

Some injuries occurred today, but they were very minor. Caleb cut his finger:

Don't worry, it wasn't too bad. Fingers just tend to bleed a lot. Other than that, nothing else is even worth mentioning.

Even with the short morning of work, Noah was very excited when we finally left for lunch around 1:

We all ate a lot...and goofed around a bit.

Then we had to get back to work. I suppose I ought to mention the interesting things we've been finding as we've been pulling things out. So far we've found a bouncy ball, a few pennies, two dead birds (one that dad originally mistook for a dead frog), and a dead mouse. I won't include photos from those discoveries because they'd be a little...gross.

Our work day finally ended at 7, with all of us completely exhausted. Thankfully, we came back to my grandparents' house to a meal of lasagna, which was eaten up very quickly. I suppose I will, once again, post some of my favorite pictures from throughout the day:

Working at Coker - Day One

2011-05-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

So, my dad has bought a house in Knoxville to flip (on Coker St. for those wondering why I'm calling it 'Coker'). Today was the first day of working on that house, and I think we actually got a lot done. We left our house at 7 this morning and started work around 10.

Here is a photo of the boys in the van on the way down.

They had hooked up the Wii and Caleb plugged in his amp for his bass. It was funny to watch Caleb playing with his earphones, no one could hear what he was doing.

We took a break around 12:30 to eat lunch. Then we worked some more until 5. Here is a list of what we (me, my brothers, and dad) completed:

- We tore out the nasty carpet in five rooms, a small hallway, and three closets.
- We threw away all the carpet padding in the rooms (some of which was fairly difficult because it was a really strange type).
- We pulled all of the tack-strips up in those rooms.
- We pulled all of the staples out of the floor in those rooms.
- We bleached the crawl-space under the house.

All in all, I think we did pretty well. Sadly, I am not getting paid for work. However, I did find two dimes...and I'm getting to eat pretty well while I'm here. Hopefully I don't gain any weight from the few days I'll be here.

Surprisingly enough, no serious injuries have occurred yet. We poked ourselves a few times with staples. That isn't considered a problem though. We're all up-to-date on our shots, so it's no big deal. Dad climbed on the steep roof without a rope, which wasn't too smart, but he managed not to fall off.

I've been told that tomorrow it will be my job to spray all the weeds in the yard...so that'll be fun. At least I don't have to push-mow it like Caleb will have to. We will also (hopefully) be moving out the ugly kitchen cabinets and tearing down the shed out in the back yard.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

I suppose I'll try to post again tomorrow.

Praying for Your Future Husband

2011-05-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

I recently read a very good book called, "Praying for your Future Husband," by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer. It is an easy read (I read it in only two days), but definitely worth reading over again. I thought it was well-written and interesting enough to keep the audience (young, unmarried women) turning the pages. The co-authors have contrasting backgrounds, but they use them to show what can really happen when someone seriously prays for the person that she will marry. And what happens? Quite a lot actually.

The title explains the basic lesson of the book, but it is a lot more than just two hundred pages telling you that you should pray for your future spouse. The book brings up a very big, but often ignored, point - prayer is powerful. Who more should I (and other single women) pray for than the person I will hopefully be spending the rest of my life with? For anyone reading this I would like to encourage you to pray for your future spouse, even if you're already married (hopefully, if you're married, your current husband will be your future husband as well). If you don't have any idea where to start, consider reading "Praying for Your Future Husband." Not only does it have true stories about women who prayed for their husbands, but it also has sample prayers at the end of every chapter for your future husband along with prayers for yourself.

I had already begun a habit of praying for my future husband when I was a lot younger, but this book has given me a good reminder of why I'm praying, and what I should pray about. There have been times when I doubted that it has done any good and have gotten discouraged. Through reading "Praying for Your Future Husband" I have decided that, regardless of whether or not it makes an enormous impact on my future spouse, it is something I need to do. As I have a feeling I will be praying for some time, I know this book will come in handy for many more years.

__________________________________________

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Graduation

2011-05-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

It's happening! I'm finally graduating high school. Now, I'm not one for speech-making, and tonight when I have my cap and gown on, I will definitely be glad I'm not in the spotlight. However, I couldn't let graduation pass me up without me writing about it. Especially since, as a home schooled student, this is a much different experience than what a public schooler will be going through in their graduation.

Where to start? The beginning sounds like a good place.

My mom started teaching me at home in kindergarten at the suggestion of my dad. She wasn't sure she would like it, but for some reason she decided to keep going through the years. At some points it was like pulling teeth (which was a huge deal for me), and at other times I would be begging my mom to keep reading books to me. Like any education, it has had its ups and downs. Tonight will be the culmination of all my parents' diligent and often tearful work. So, I definitely have to thank them for all they did.

I'd like to take a page out of my soccer coach's book (Dr. Russell). At the NETHEA graduation, he pointed out that home schooling, for the parents, is a huge commitment. They pretty much laid what they wanted to do aside and poured their time and energy into me and my brothers. As a student, I know that I only had a small work load compared to them. I only had my own work to do, but my parents had to teach four different kids, of varying ages, and all with horrendously bad attitudes on many more occasions than we'd like to admit. My mother especially spent a ton of time teaching me how to read, showing me how to write, working through math with me, teaching me how to play the piano, and showing me how to cook and clean. And I know that she'll continue to teach me even after I graduate. She's put a lot more effort into teaching me than I'll ever know. Maybe if I home school my own children some day I'll be able to better appreciate it. Until then, this will have to do: Thanks a lot mom for all you've done! Keep on working with my brothers, they'll get here before you know it.

As a student, I haven't only been taught by my mother and father, but also by my younger brothers, my friends, and my friends' mothers, brothers, and sisters. My brothers (Nathan, Caleb, and Noah) have suffered through many...interesting...field trips with me and, whether or not we meant to, we learned a lot from each other as well as from all those battle-fields that look exactly the same. We have a collection of memories from a wide variety of camping trips that range from Texas all the way to New York. Despite the fact that I don't really like traveling that much, those memories will always have a place in my heart. I'm glad that I have three pretty awesome brothers that I got to share those times with.

There are also trips I went on with friends, and a ton of good conversations I've had with people who aren't technically related to me, but are my family anyway. They know who they are. I've literally traveled half-way around the world with friends. Not many people can say that, and all of it has had a huge impact on my life. God has blessed me through the relationships that I've had with so many people, and I'm very grateful for it. So, a big thank you has to go out to all my friends and family for dealing with me. You all have put up with a lot when you didn't have to.

At this big turning point in my life, and the lives of many of my friends, I'd also like to reinforce what we'll likely hear from many people today. Our parents have instilled within us good values and morals; now we're ready to continue on to the next big part of our lives (or, at least, most of us think we are). However, we should never forget to stay true to what we've been taught, and who we believe in for our salvation. The one thing that will help us most through college and the rest of our lives is not math or science, reading or writing, playing a musical instrument or our skills in painting, although those won't hurt. The one thing that will help us most is our faith. Remember that.

College isn't going to be easy. Just as we found subjects difficult during high school, we'll find the same is true in college. According to most adults I've talked to, life doesn't get easier after college graduation either. Nope, it simply gets harder. But we can make it through the challenges ahead as long as we depend on the Lord. Our strength will most assuredly fail us (and at all the worst possible times), but His will not. We may depend on Him without worrying, no matter what life throws at us. We all need to keep that knowledge well guarded in our hearts so that nothing we meet can take it away from us.

And that is as much of a speech as you are going to get out of me on this occasion.

My Mom

2011-05-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of things I could say about my mom. I could go over the extensive amount of things she does for myself, my dad, and my brothers on a daily basis, such as laundry, dishes, cooking, driving to or from an assortment of events, and educating us. My mom, especially recently, has had a very long list of to-dos. She checks them off regularly enough to be considered impressive, but not fast enough in her own opinion. I think that may be the case with most mothers, but I'm not writing to make her sound like a work-a-holic.

As much as I appreciate all of the effort she puts into the large amount of stuff that she has to deal with as a mother, none of those things are what makes her special to me. I do not, by any means, wish to belittle all that, but a mom is way more than the sum of chores she completes in a day (no thanks to us kids). The thing about my mother that means, by far, the most to me is that she spends time with me. I don't mean that we go out to eat and watch movies together, although we have done that.

I mean the times we spend together when I know it means getting behind in her busy day - in the early morning when my brothers are still asleep or at least groggy.

I mean the times when we go to Walmart and take a little longer than we mean to just because we forget to get something due to being lost in conversation.

I mean the walks we take around the neighborhood just to get out of the house for a bit on a pretty day so that we don't die from having to be inside too much.

I mean conversations we have while doing dishes and laundry and cooking.

I mean times when we go out clothes shopping, even though she doesn't like to shop with me because I'm such a cheap-skate.

I mean all the times when she is just there to talk to, regardless of time, place, or topic.

We don't always get along perfectly. We don't always see eye-to-eye. We don't always have deep conversations. We don't always like the same movies. We don't always love the same books. We don't always communicate well about schoolwork. We don't share the same opinion on traveling.

However, we both love to read. We both laugh at random things. We both have a tendency to get bruises from clumsiness instead of an athletic event. We both have difficulties in giving up an argument. We are both early birds. We both have a tendency to forget about things either in the oven or on the stove. We both love to be creative. We both throw like girls. We both love music and playing the piano. We both love to figure out the answers to problems.

And I'm pretty sure it is safe to say that we both love that she's my mom.

It is a great blessing to be able to say that. Many mother-daughter relationships are hardly what you could call peaceable, much less loving. I think the biggest reason for the fact that my mother and I are so close is simply that she has, and still does, devote time towards talking with me. I know it certainly isn't because she makes really good food. I know it isn't because she keeps my brothers in semi-clean clothing. I know it isn't because she taught me my multiplication tables. I know it isn't because she's always taking my shoes from the kitchen to my room.

It's because, in spite of doing all that and more, she still somehow manages to create room in her schedule to just simply talk to me.

Even at age eighteen, she still takes time to be my mom.

It means a lot to me.

And on Mother's Day, I just thought she should know.

Easter: Way better than Valentine's Day

2011-04-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is what I said. Easter is way better than Valentine's Day. I think that, to most of you, this should make sense. However, I feel like writing out my reasons for this, so I will. Hopefully it will help you realize what you are celebrating this coming weekend.

While Valentine's Day is an interesting celebration of some special someone by way of chocolate, it could never possibly compare to Easter, which is a wonderful celebration of love - the greatest love there ever was, is, and ever will be. No person on earth could love us as God does. He showed that on the first Easter.

You should all be familiar with this story, but no matter how many times you hear it, it never gets old. Or if it does, you're thinking of the wrong story.

God, the magnificent creator of everything you know of and have never heard of, made humans in His image. He said we were "very good" and gave us dominion over the earth and everything in it. Then He gave us one rule to follow, which we promptly broke - the first sin. God, in His perfection, could not commune with us any longer. We were fallen, and could not help ourselves. Being cut off from God was the worst thing that has ever happened to us, and not only would we not be able to walk with God, we would die and experience Hell for all of eternity. And we DESERVE that. Yes, I said it. Each and every one of us deserves every bit of eternity in Hell. You may say ,"but I've never done anything that bad!" But you have sinned.

Imagine a white shirt. Well, one day, you got a tiny ketchup stain on the shirt (I know I've done that!) It isn't completely white anymore, is it? Unless you can bleach it, it is no longer a white shirt. But guess what, you don't have bleach! You don't even have another shirt! So, no matter what you do, you can't make that shirt white again. Yes, it only has a little stain, but it is no longer white.

You can't get into Heaven without that white shirt. What are you going to do? You can't argue at Heaven's gate that you've only got a little stain. Your shirt has to be completely white. And you know that you've sinned more than once, be honest with yourself. My shirt doesn't have a bit of white on it anymore. It is covered in stains. I'm completely hopeless. Everyone is.

Back to the story.

So, we are cut off from God for ETERNITY. That means forever. And there is no way for us to take back all the wrong we have done. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It is written in black and white. It is clear. It is our fall from perfection.

That's the bad news. Ready for the good part that always sends tingles down my spine? Good.

It didn't end there. God loved us. Despite every single evil deed we have done. Despite every time I've talked behind someone's back. Despite every time I've been a discouraging influence on my brothers. Despite the times I disobeyed my parents. Despite all the lies I've told. Despite every single thing that I've done in hate and anger. Despite EVERYTHING. He loved us. And He wanted us back.

The only way this could happen is if someone perfect sacrificed their life in the place of ours. By perfect I don't mean, they went to church every Sunday and got their schoolwork done on time. The person had to be as perfect as God Himself. Not one of us could fit that bill. We can't save ourselves, much less every other human on earth. Perfection is something that is unattainable for us. It is that white shirt that we stained.

So who fit the bill? God's son. Jesus. He is God, and He came for us. It wasn't easy either. He wasn't just God, He was also a human. He didn't come in with pomp and glory though, no. He was born in a filthy stable. It didn't get better from there either. Just like us He had temptations. He had to deal with sin at every turn. Satan himself tempted Jesus. But Jesus did not succumb. He lead a perfect life. However, that was NOT enough. He had to die for us.

Not just of old age or some disease. He had to die as a sacrifice for us. He was mocked by some of the very people who had cheered at His triumphant entrance. He was flogged. People gambled over His clothing. He was crucified on a Roman cross. That isn't like having your head chopped off. It isn't a lethal injection. It took Him approximately 8 hours to die. He was hanging from nails through His hands and feet. He suffocated to death from both pain and the weight of ALL of the sins in the world. He DIED for me. For you. For EVERYONE. On the third day He rose from the dead. He was ALIVE. The tomb was empty. And every single person who believes in Him will NOT perish, but have ETERNAL LIFE with Him.

It is unfathomable.

And He didn't have to do it. Nothing made Him stay on that cross except His love for us. He could have decided He didn't want to die such a miserable death.

Now that, my friends, is love.

It is more than any chocolate. It is more than paper hearts. It is more than cute poems. It is more than a string of X's and O's. It is more than pink and red store fronts. It is more than a dozen roses. It is more than fluffy stuffed animals bought on sale. It is more than all the crowded restaurants you eat dinner at. It is more than the romantic movies on in the theater. It is more than all of that.

Easter is my celebration of TRUE LOVE.

Love that saves an entire planet of despicable creatures who deserved Hell. Love that doesn't know any limits. Love that rejoices in goodness and despises evil. Love that forgives the unforgivable. Love that fights when there seems to be no hope. Love that brings a peace that passes any chance of understanding. Love that is courageous and fearless. Love that shows mercy to helpless sinners. Love that is not vengeful. Love that never fails. Love that is not proud of anything though it could boast in everything. Love that does not change, no matter how much we've done to force it away. Love that gives life to all. Love that sacrifices itself for us because that is what Love does. Love is Jesus.

HE IS LOVE IN ITS VERY ESSENCE.

And He loves you.

We can't understand fully why God loves us with so much intensity as to sacrifice Himself for us, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't remember all He has done for us. I once read a quote that went something like this: "Just because we can't taste all of God's goodness doesn't mean we shouldn't try anyway." We are the ones who will miss out if we forget God's love for us. Not Him.

Please never forget Easter and all that it means, because there is nothing else that matters if you don't remember the Easter story. So, have a great Easter! God loves us...and that means more than we will ever know.

Cold Feet...I've got 'em...do you?

2011-01-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

I should probably explain why I'm writing about this and how it came into my head to make a post about it. I literally had cold feet this morning when I walked out into the snow barefoot (which is a great way to look like an idiot). Then I got to wondering how the phrase 'so-and-so got cold feet,' was created and where it came from. After doing a little research (read: googling) I found that there really is no story about when it was first used or what it actually means. Now, I know what the phrase means, but it strikes me as odd that we don't know where it came from. The theory that I thought was most interesting was that (possibly) the term was originated when soldiers' feet were frostbitten and they couldn't go into battle. So, whether or not that is true, I'm going to go with it.

I am a soldier. You may ask, "What do you mean? You're too young to be a soldier." My reply: I am too young to be a soldier in the physical world, but that's not what I'm talking about. I definitely couldn't really be a soldier. I'm 5'3" and not athletic in the least. I'm talking about in the spiritual realm. There, my physical stature doesn't matter and my age doesn't come into play at all. I am a soldier. God is the Commander in Chief and my job as a soldier is to obey His commands, whatever they may be. I probably won't understand them, I most likely won't find the job easy, and I definitely won't see the bigger picture that my commander sees.

My tasks as a soldier are difficult, and sometimes I get cold feet and don't want to go into battle. I am a soldier, but I am not perfect. There are times when I actually don't go into battle at all. In any real army, I would be immediately labelled as a deserter, but in this one, I am continually given new chances to go into battle. That is because my commander is full of mercy toward me. I don't deserve it. In and of myself, I end up always having cold feet. Most of the time I want to have the courage to go out and fight, but without any intervention from God I would just stay in the campsite and watch the rest of the soldiers suit up and go out to fight. I willingly confess that and I feel that everyone is the same way.

The bottom line is that, we all have cold feet from time to time and they won't get warm by themselves. God is our help in that area. I know my feet are as cold as anyone's could get and that bothers me. I hope that soon I'll be able to get my frostbitten feet on the move and get to the battle God wants me to fight. Maybe walking out in the snow barefoot was one of the things God has used to get me thinking about it. Maybe now you don't have to go do something stupid like that to get the point. Maybe you should get to the battle.

High Noon

2011-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, before I actually start writing about this, you need to go listen to this song or at least read through the lyrics. The link below is to the music, but the video has nothing to do with what I'm writing about really, so you can ignore that. :)

High Noon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxlh02WZ8I8

High noon in the valley of the shadow

When the deep of the valley was bright
When the mouth of the tomb
Shouted, "Glory, the Groom is alive"

So long, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed
You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle
At high noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

Now the demons, they danced in the darkness
When that last ragged breath left his lungs
And they reveled and howled
At the war that they thought they had won
But then, in the dark of the grave
The stone rolled away
In the still of the dawn on the greatest of days

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When Jesus took in that breath
And shattered all Death with his life

So long, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed
You've lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle
High noon in the valley of the shadow
Let the people rejoice
Let the heavens resound
Let the name of Jesus, who sought us
And freed us forever ring out

All praise to the fighter of the night
Who rides on the light
Whose gun is the grace of the God of the sky
High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When the mouth of the tomb
Shouted, "Glory, the Groom is alive"

So long, you wages of sin
I said go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed
All praise to the king
The victor of the battle

High noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow
_____________________

Now I'm ready to begin. First off, I really, really, really like that song. Besides that, I feel like it is a very cool picture of salvation. Think about it. We live in a spritually dark world, made dark by our own fallen and sinful selves. By our own choice, we live in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but we cannot, by our own choice, leave it. We are simply powerless to do so. We had to be rescued by someone perfect, someone filled with light instead of darkness.

I could try to describe the horrible death that perfect someone (Jesus, if you hadn't figured it out...for some really odd reason) had to go through, but I would not do it justice. It is enough to say that it was terrible and extremely painful and he was buried, in the darkness. I imagine, at this point, as in the song, the demons really might have thought that they had won. After all, Jesus was dead, and he was supposed to be the light of the world. They had sucessfully extinguished it. Of course, as Christians, we know that they hadn't really done anything other than what God meant to happen.

Then something happened in our Valley that we hadn't imagined. Jesus, our light, rose from the dead and conquered the darkness. It was high noon in the Valley of the Shadow. Just picture it. At high noon, there could be no shadows, it was impossible. Even in that dark Valley, there were no shadows. Not at high noon. Those of us (meaning everyone on planet earth) who lived (or live) in the Valley had no way of getting out on our own, but Jesus has the ability to take away those shadows and make it high noon.

When I first started writing this blog post I thought it would be a lot longer than this, but now I can't think of anything more to add to this. I just really like the song and I think it is an interesting picture. Maybe no one else really thinks it is that interesting, but I do. The main point I want to get across in this post is that God is my light because, by myself, I can't be anything besides sinful and dark. That is true of everyone. We can't create our own light or salvation. If Jesus hadn't come to die for us, I would still live in the Valley of the Shadow today. In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Good news though... He did come for us. He dealt with all the immeasureable darkness in the Valley of the Shadow of Death because we couldn't. Isn't that cool?

Heading Home

2010-12-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

So, I've been staying here in Arkansas since the 20th (I think it was the 20th) and now it is time for me to return home. I have had a very good visit with family, as always, and tomorrow we will be getting up bright and early for the 13 hour car ride. Three brothers, a 40 lb. dog, myself, tons of luggage (including a sword) all stuffed into a van for 13 hours make for an interesting day.

This Christmas was very enjoyable. One of my favorite parts of this visit was when the whole family was around the piano singing hymns in harmony on Christmas Eve. My mother had been teaching my brothers and me to sing in harmony, so it was a great chance for us to sing in a larger group. Naturally, we got off of our parts a few times, but it was a lot of fun. Another fun time was when my cousins, Matthew and James, and my Uncle, David, were playing music and my little cousin, Hannah, and I were jumping and dancing around the living room. It was a good workout to say the least.

One thing that is going on semi-right now is that my cousin, Lisa, was supposed to be leaving to a mission trip in Africa yesterday, but due to some issues at the airport she won't be leaving until tomorrow. Her group will hopefully still be able to reach the people they were originally planning to meet, but because of the delay it isn't quite sure how the trip will turn out. It isn't completely certain what they will be able to actually do since their trip is cut short by two days. Prayers for her and her group would definitely be appreciated.

To end my note I would just like to say that this really still isn't the end of the holidays for my family. When we get back home we will be unpacking and cleaning to prepare for my dad's side of the family coming to celebrate Christmas over this next weekend. So really, despite the fact that I'm heading back home tomorrow, we're not quite done with Christmas yet.

Merry Swishcart

2010-12-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, Swishcart...if you switch around the letters in Christmas, and turn one up-side-down, you get Swishcart. My family is celebrating Christmas in Arkansas this year with my mother's side of the family, and that is one thing we do here is switch the letters around in Christmas. My aunt has blocks with the letters on it, and they are continually being put in the wrong place to spell different words. For some people, this would be annoying, but everyone here doesn't mind a bit, and it is almost as much a tradition in my mind as a Christmas tree is (especially here in Arkansas).

I am very blessed to have such a good-humored family that I enjoy being around. I know so many people who dread the holidays because they have to deal with family members that they don't get along with. They talk about getting through the Christmas break as if it was a task rather than a celebration. When I was younger, I didn't appreciate how close-knit my parents were with their families or how much fun I had with my cousins. Sure, there were occasions when people were annoyed that someone forgot to put out napkins, but that is nothing in comparison with what I know a lot of people go through. I used to take it for granted that my friends were having the same amount of fun at their grandparents' house as I always did at mine. It didn't seem like a possibility for anyone not to get along during Christmas. Now that I am older, I see that I truly am blessed.

Especially during this time of year I come to see that I do not deserve the blessings I have in my family and friends. What have I done that makes me worthy of the things that I possess or the people I am close to? The answer to that question is blatantly obvious: I have done nothing. In fact, I've done worse than nothing. I've done many things NOT to deserve them. That's just the thing about blessings though, the people who receive them don't deserve them.

A definition for the word 'blessing' is: A special favor, mercy, or benefit.

Mercy. What a fitting word for this time of year. Yes, I am blessed...and it is not because of my own 'right' to be blessed. God was merciful and is merciful continually. Christmas is the proof of that. He blessed me in giving His one and only son to die for me and for everyone else. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of that blessing: Jesus' birth. Jesus was born in a dirty stable, led a hard yet totally sinless life, died on a cross, and rose again on the third day. It was the best Christmas present ever given and no one could tell me any differently. That was the ultimate blessing, and God did that for me.

Aside from that already incomprehensible blessing and mercy, God has given me the gift of a wonderful family and amazing friends. I am able to celebrate Christ's birth with my family. We have some funny quirks, but we're family, and that's the fun of it. I plan to enjoy these numerous blessings I have received. I don't want to take any of them for granted, but I don't want to forget what Christmas really is about: God's son. He really is the reason for the season and my family celebrates that together.

I certainly don't deserve it, but I do believe I am going to have a very merry Swishcart. I hope you do to.

Finished!!!

2010-11-28T17:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it! I finished my novel, and in less than 30 days. I am really pleased with how it turned out compared to how quickly I did it. Of course, that does not mean that it was actually any good, but it turned out better than I thought it would. I'm now working on an official title for it, which really ought to be the easy part, but it isn't. I want a really cool sounding title, but I can't think of a single thing that I really like.

My mom says that this next month needs to be NaFiIlMo (National Finish Illustrating Month) so that I get my illustrations done for the book. She may just be right. I've got a lot to finish this next month before I can take Christmas break. I should have been doing a lot of it this past month, but as you know (if you've been reading my blog, which I doubt you have been doing) I've been writing a novel for the past month and doing very little else.

Anyway, now for two days of editing before my mom makes me put it down and work on my other novels. :)

NaNo Update

2010-11-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

So, I've been at this NaNoWriMo thing for twenty-two days now. When I started this project, I really doubted that I would have come this far. Some time last week I realized that I had already passed the half-way mark and was very excited. Now I'm over two-thirds finished and I'm on the home stretch. Of course, since I'm doing all of my writing with no editing whatsoever, the book is certainly not the greatest. However, it is reminding me that editing is for after you finish the book, not during. I'm getting to write it as it comes to me and it is way more fun than trying to put everything together meticulously and perfect the first time, which won't happen anyway.

At this point I have nearly seventy pages and 37,000 words. My story is going fairly well, which is another surprise, and I'm having a great time doing this. Here is a little sample from my story:
_________

Barb was 20 years old and according to eye-witnesses she had long platinum blond hair that was always up in a bun, twinkling eyes, and was of average height and very skinny. This girl had a clever brain in her head and she was very friendly despite her little bit of shyness around new people. Now, if she had been the daughter of a Baron or a Lord then everyone would have said she was the picture of perfection, but she was not the daughter of either a Baron or a Lord. If she had been, this story would never have been written down because it would not have been interesting at all. She would have lived a normal life and gotten married to some Lord she had been betrothed to since birth and then had two children, a boy and a girl (Robert and Rachel) and died when she was seventy or so. However, you will be very glad to know that Barb was not the daughter of any such important person.

_________

Like I said, I haven't gone over it at all and I'm thoroughly enjoying the writing process. Who knows, maybe I'll even do it next year?

NaNoWriMo

2010-11-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

This month I am participating in NaNoWriMo. For those of you who do not know what that means, it stands for National Novel Writing Month - which happens to be November. The goal of the month is to write a novel that is at least 50,000 words in length. That means that I need to average 1667 words per day. So far, I'm ahead. It is only day 2 and I have written over 3,600 words. However, this is only the beginning, and it's the easy part. I have never tried this before and it is quite likely that I will be unable to finish it in time, but I plan to have fun with it all the same.

My story title right now is "Fairy Godmother School," but I don't really like the title. That isn't very important right now though so if I think of something better later, great, if I don't, no big deal.

So, although I was planning to blog more often this month, that probably won't happen because I'll be busy writing 1667 words a day.

Mirrors

2010-09-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

I looked at my reflection in the mirror as I washed my hands. I was glad to be done with yet another day of school and you could see it written plainly on my face. Everything was written plainly on my face. It wasn't ever beautifully written or elegantly written. Just plainly - and that was what my face was - plain. I sighed and finished washing my hands.

The air was warm outside the school and I was feeling almost cheerful when I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. I turned around, thinking it must be one of my friends, but was shocked to find that it was no one that I recognized. It was a large man with a thick neck and dark eyes. I would have screamed, but I seemed to have lost the ability.

"I am the General," the man told me. "These are some friends of mine," he said, motioning to two men who were instantly right beside him. They were almost as tall as the General was and they nodded when he introduced them. I thought about running, but my feet were glued to the spot. "Well, let's not be wasting time," he continued. "Let's go."

When he sad this, I realized that we were no longer outside the school. We were in a strange building that seemed to be composed mainly of cinderblocks painted white. I had no idea how we had gotten there and it frightened me almost more than the fact that I didn't know where I was. The next moment, the General's two cohorts grabbed me by the shoulders.

For a brief second I thought about struggling, but I knew it was a stupid idea. There was no way I could get away from people so much bigger than I am. I wasn't really even able to walk on my own. All my strength had left me and the two towering men beside me were supporting me while they pulled me along.

I don't remember anything from that until when they opened a door and thrust me into a room. I sat down unthinking in a chair and one of them said they would come back the next morning. I suppose they left after that, but I sat in a dumb state for a long time. I was in complete shock as to what had happened and how I would get home.

I spent the night pacing the room and the next morning one of the same guards unlocked my door and in stepped the General. He had a handful of black cards with him and a white pencil.

"You see these?" he asked. I nodded, still confused about what had happened and was still happening. He handed the cards to me along with pencil. I noticed that the cards had writing on them and I read the top one. It said: "I would change ____________."

"Do you want to go home?" was his next question. I was confused at this, but nodded vigorously. "I thought so. We will let you go home, but before we let you go, you have to write on one of these cards what you would like to be different about yourself. Then we will change that for you and then you can go home."

"What??" I asked. I was even more confused than ever. Were they really saying they would make me prettier and then they would let me go? I was sure I hadn't heard him correctly.

"Fill out just one card, and we will let you go back to your home. I'll leave these with you and let you think about it a bit," he said, exiting the room. The guard followed him and locked the door. I was left, staring at the door, completely puzzled.

When I did come out of the stupor I noticed that on one wall of the room was a large mirror. I saw myself in it, scared, dark circles under my eyes, and hair that showed how little I'd paid attention to it that day. I glanced at the black cards in my hands and put them down on the desk. Those small pieces of paper invited me; they were so tempting. My heart beat faster, different thoughts racing through my head in a jumbled mess.

There were so many things that came to my mind to write down in those blanks. My nose had always bothered me, and my hair never looked nice. I could change those things. For free too. It would be great. On top of it all, they would let me go back home. My parents were probably worried to death.

I scooped up the pencil and sat down at the desk, laying out all the dark cards. I picked one up and looked at the blank, still trying to make up my mind what I would fill it with. I glanced back at the perfect reflection of my extreme plainness. I gripped the white pencil firmly and put the tip of it on the paper.

All of a sudden, I had a new thought. God said that I was fearfull and wonderfully made. He loved me the way I was, right? My family and friends did too. Then again, was it wrong to change myself to get myself out of this place? What harm could it do?

I argued back and forth with myself. Again I glanced at the mirror and back at the slip of black paper. I sat down on the floor facing the mirror, watching my confused face as I debated with myself furiously. Then I finally did something that I should have done at the beginning. I closed my eyes tightly, bowed my head and folded my hands together. I prayed. Harder than I ever had before and my whole soul was poured into it. "Lord, Father! I don't know what to do! Help me to do the right thing. I'm exhausted, scared, lost, and confused. Show me what I should do!" I listened, straining my ears to hear His answer. The utter silence surrounded me and depressed me. Maybe He wouldn't help me. No, I couldn't think that. Then I knew what I had to do.

I moved quickly so that I wouldn't have a chance to change my mind. I grabbed the pencil and glared at the paper. 'I would change ______________.' It said.

I bore down hard with the pencil, making sure every letter was clear. Now the blank was filled. Now, it clearly said, 'I would change nothing.' I put it down in disgust and quickly crossed to the mirror, turning it to face the white wall.

All at once an immense feeling of relief came over me. I could feel it like a tangible thing being poured over me. Cool, but cleansing. I was still scared, but now I was determined. I had to think of something to do, but I wasn't sure what yet. "God, you've protected my so far, what do I do now?" Only moments later, I walked over to the door. I gave it a few swift knocks and I could hear them echoing down the hallway. Then I heard steps coming toward the door.

"What do you need?" A gruff voice asked from the other side of the thick door.

"I filled out the paper," I replied. It was the truth. I had filled it out. There was a grunt from the guard and I heard a lock being messed with. I stepped back and the door opened. It was one of the guards who had brought me there.

He walked in and picked the piece of paper up. He squinted at it, as if he couldn't quite make out what I had written. A moment later he had pulled some glasses out of a pocket and cleaned them a bit. Then he perched them on his wide nose and once again looked at the small black piece of paper. I could tell at once that he had read it because he quickly looked at me in confusion. Evidently what I'd filled the blank with was not expected.

He stuffed the paper in his back pocket and grabbed me by the shoulder of my shirt, guiding me out of my prison. In a minute we were in a small office-type room. It was complete with a desk and swivel chair and filing cabinets. The main difference between it and most offices was that everywhere there were black cards, filled with writing. I didn't look at them long enough to read them. I didn't want to read them. They were awful. In the chair sat the General, who hadn't noticed us enter. He was hunched over the papers with a crazed expression on his face.

"Oh, why are you here?" He asked when he finally saw us.

"Look at this," my guard dug into his pocket and pulled out the offending paper, handing it to his leader.

"You filled it in? Good, I knew you would." General took a moment to read it; then his face turned red. "This is not acceptable. You know there must be something you aren't happy with about yourself. You aren't perfect. That is easy to see." I swallowed, trying not to pay attention to the turbulent confusion in my mind and the rapid fluttering of my heart. "This is all easy enough," he told me. "Just write down what you want changed. Everyone wants something different. What will you change?" It seemed that the General was speaking to me through gritted teeth, as if he was about to blow up if I gave the wrong answer.

"Nothing," I replied quietly.

My captor turned an even darker shade of red. "Why? How can you feel that way? Everyone isn't happy with at least one, if not more things about themselves!" His voice was a strange mixture of confusion, surprise, and extreme annoyance.

"God made me the way I am. That is good enough for me, and ought to be enough for anyone." I was still nearly whispering, but my resolve was gaining strength.

"You're stuck here until you write something satisfactory on this black card! No one knows where you are and no one will find you. To get out of here is simple; your silly beliefs are keeping you here." General spoke with disdain and then was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Take her to the Mirror Room."

I looked up from the floor, which I'd been staring at for some time. The General's eyes flashed triumphantly, as if he thought he already held a signed piece of paper written in my own hand. I was jerked quickly back by my shirt and I left the room with the guard.

Several flights of steps later I was thrust through a white door into a very confusing room. Everything was made of reflective material. The walls were large mirrors and I saw myself everywhere I looked. I turned back to the door and, before I could do anything, I felt a roll of black cards being pushed into my hands along with another white pencil. The door was slammed in my face and I stood there, staring at my reflection in the back of the door.

My expression was one of shock, but this was quickly replaced by a frown. I scowled at myself, utterly frusterated with this place. They had no right to keep me there.

I sat down. There was nothing for me to do and I absent-mindedly flipped the cards over and over in my hands. All of them were blank and seemed to be eagerly awaiting being written on. I scanned the room, and then I saw one object, the only one in the room. It was a roll of clear tape.

An idea popped into my mind and I snatched the tape up, beginning to tear the cards off the roll. I taped them up one at a time, covering over my reflection in the mirror-wall. Soon I had a large box of black taped up. It almost covered all of my reflection on that wall, and I had run out of cards. I took the pencil and began to write in big letters across the black: I am perfect in God's eyes.

Satisfied with my work, I sat back down and just stared at those words. I knew they were true. God's opinion was all that mattered, and I was doing the right thing. He would get me out of this mess. I knew He would.

The time passed. How it did so, I can't really explain. In fact, I couldn't really say how long it was. It might have been merely a few minutes. It easily could have been hours. At last, someone opened the door. I had my eyes closed until I heard the door and when I opened them I saw something I least expected.

It was a young man, not like the guards or the General. He was of normal height and of average size. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary about him, but I recognized him. Or, at least, I thought I did. He was totally familiar, but I couldn't quite place where I knew him from. He saw the cards taped up and seemed thoughtful.

"Follow me," was all he said. So I did. I followed him up stairs and through hallways that were completely silent. Every once in a while he looked back to make sure I was following him, but he didn't say anything. I was still trying to figure out where I knew him from, but I didn't want to ask.

A minute went by and I heard voices coming from down the hallway. I recognized them at once. They were my friends. I walked to the door and looked in; nearly everyone was seated on the floor among mounds of black cards. They were talking, mainly to themselves. Not one of them saw me, so I ran in.

"Hey! Guys! We can get out of here! I've got someone who knows how to get out. Come with us!" I would have continued, but still, no one seemed to notice me. I turned to one of them and tapped her on the head, but she obviously couldn't see me or feel me. I went around to a few others and tried yelling at them or shaking them, but to no avail.

I stood there, puzzled and annoyed. Why couldn't they see me, hear me, or feel me? I wanted to help them run away from this place, but I couldn't. I felt a slight touch on my shoulder and slowly turned. It was the young man. I allowed him to guide me out of the room. When we were back in the hall I began asking questions.

"Why couldn't they see me or anything? I was yelling my head off and not one even heard a peep! What's going on??"

"They are blinded by their own minds," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"They will be able to leave when they realize what you have already realized," he answered sadly.

"But I can't just leave me here! Can't you help them get out?" Somehow I thought he probably could.

"They aren't ready to let me rescue them," he shook his head. "Once you are completely out of this place you may be able to help them. But you have no chance while you are still only half-way out of yourself. Come." He spoke simply, but I really didn't understand what he meant. That reminded me even more of someone I knew, but I still couldn't place him exactly.

The next thing I was aware of was being driven in a silver car out of large iron gates. We never spoke during the whole ride and it took several hours. The whole time I kept looking over at him. I really couldn't take my eyes off of him. I just knew I recognized him, but I couldn't not remember any name to go with his face. It frustrated me and I still didn't have the nerve to ask him what his name was.

At long last we finally drove up my driveway. The young man quickly got out of the car and came over to open my door for me. I thanked him and got out, running towards the front door, anxious to see my family. Then, when I reached my door, I realized that the young man wasn't coming with me.

"You have to come inside! My family will want to thank you for helping me escape," I was panting, he walked to me and soon stood in front of me.

"I saved you for your sake. Not to be thanked by other people. It was just for you," was his puzzling reply.

"Well, at least let me shake your hand and thank you then," I told him. I hadn't ever been one to simply shake hands before, but this time it seemed like the best thing to do. I held my hand out to him. He took it and gave it a firm shake, but didn't let go of my hand and I looked up into his face.

"What you wrote is true," he said softly. I didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then I remembered the Mirror Room and the black cards. "You are perfect in my eyes." In that instant, I suddenly understood. He had come to save me. Smiling, He left go of my hand and was somehow back at the car the next instant. With a wave, He was gone, only He really wasn't.

South Holston Campout

2010-08-29T14:25:00.001-07:00

For the past week, my family has been camping out on South Holston Lake. We camp there almost every summer and always have a great time. Every day we go out on the boat to swim, ski, wakeboard and tube. Almost every night we played cards, either Spades, Hearts, or Canasta, which we just learned this trip. Before going to bed at night, we clear up all our food and put the chairs next to or on top of the table so that the dew doesn't get them wet (we have a kind of canopy over the table). Then in the morning we pull everything out again and start cooking breakfast. Normally that wouldn't be any big deal, but one morning, this is what I found on my chair when I pulled it out:

This was on my chair. I carried it over to the fire before I opened it up, and when I did, that thing was only about two inches away from my arm. No kidding. I'm not usually freaked out when I see spiders, but that thing is HUGE! I should say WAS, because it is very much dead right now. After a brief amount of time was spent with the rest of us wondering what to do with it, my dad picked up the chair and threw the spider into the fire. That spider didn't want to go down without a fight, so my dad had to grab a stick and keep poking it and driving it back toward the fire. Eventually it died, though whether or not that was by being stabbed by a stick or drowning in the ashes or being burned to death is questionable.

After this, my mom kept mentioning how brutal we were in killing it. Let me stop there for a moment. My mother HATES spiders. By hate I mean she completely fears and despises them. So, her saying we were being brutal was just a little on the odd side. I finally gave her some reasons that the spider deserved that death:

1. It was extremely creepy.
2. That white thing it has with it was an egg sack...meaning that there would be MORE of those creepy spiders.
3. It might have gotten inside the camper with us.
4. If it got in the camper, it might have come home with us and had all its spider children at our HOUSE!
5. Considering it has an egg sack with it, it is most likely female and most female spiders EAT their husbands.

She then agreed that the killing was well deserved. The death of the enormous spider would seem like the end of the whole thing, but for the rest of the day I kept getting the feeling like I was either sitting back on top of the spider (remember, that was MY chair it was on), or it was crawling on me. Neither of those feelings are good in the least. Thankfully, we didn't see anymore spiders that size. All of the others were nice (comparatively), small, ordinary spiders.

Narnia House

2010-08-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

A few days ago one of my friends came over to water ski with my family. It ended up raining most of the afternoon and we didn't get to ski until later in the evening. In the time it was raining we decided to design a "Narnia House." The idea was that the house, which turned out to be more of a mansion, has a blend of several differnent kinds of architecture from different houses and/or castles in the Chronicles of Narnia. We also thought up different themes for different rooms out of the series. Originally we were drawing it out on paper, but you can't really get the full effect of the idea that way, so I've been working in Google Sketch-Up to design it. I'm still not finished with it, but this is what I've got so far:

It is really pretty strange looking, but I'm having fun learning how to use the program. Hopefully after this I can have fun designing smaller things because this is taking up a lot of time.

Farewell

2010-08-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "Farewell to Manzanar" this week. It was an interesting book. Before reading it I had never realized how against Asian immigrants the Americans of WWII were. The people who were of Oriental decent were put in camps during the war. Although they were not at all like the POW camps, the idea that people who should have been American citizens were put in camps because they weren't Caucasian is ridiculous. It wasn't like German immigrants or Italians were put in camps - only Asians. Laws were passed so that Orientals couldn't become citizens, even if they were born in America.

This is a true story written by a girl who was in the camp from age 7 to age 10 along with her parents and siblings. It is well-written and fairly informative. She included, along with the story of growing up in the camp (named Manzanar), the laws that were in affect during that time. Normally I prefer to read fiction, but this was a good book. I learned a lot about how the Japanese immigrants were treated during WWII and also enjoyed reading the story about the little girl in Manzanar.

Front Cover Design #1

2010-08-12T04:55:00.001-07:00

I know I'm not done writing the book yet, but I am getting nearer. Yesterday I got a little tired of writing so I took a break and made up a cover design:

It will probably end up way cooler than that, but for now, that's what I've got. I don't think it's half bad for working thirty minutes on it.

On another note, I have now started a third book! My brother, Nathan, and I are doing OYAN (for those of you that don't know what that means, it is the One Year Adventure Novel) for school this year. It's been good so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing whether or not I can actually complete a novel in a school year. I certainly hope I can!

This Present Darkness

2010-07-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

So, I just finished reading the book, "This Present Darkness," by Frank Peretti. It was really good. Better than I had expected, and I had expected quite a bit. The Bible verse on the back of the book (which is also quoted by an old lady in the book) is:

"For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness..." - Ephesians 6:12, RSV

The plot of the book, in really, really short form, is that angels and demons are fighting each other over a town by the name of Ashton. The people in the story can't see them, but are effected by them a lot. The main character, the minister, faces many people in the town who want him to leave. He is depressed by those who aren't spiritually strong enough to fight what is going on in the town, he is threatened by people who are demon possessed, etc. There are certainly times when he is not sure he is doing the right thing, but God guides him and because of his faith, he is able to accomplish more than anyone else ever could. Two of my favorite quotes from him are:

"Let's pray," because it is so simple, but so true.

"Maybe I'll win, maybe I won't come out alive. But God didn't tell me I'd come out alive; He just told me to stay and fight."

Basically, every single book I've read by Frank Peretti has been really good, and this one isn't an exception.

Suzanne

2010-06-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't worked on my book "Topica" in a while now. At least not seriously. I've been writing a lot on the book I started about a month ago. I drew a picture of what Suzanne kind of looks like. She looks younger in my drawing than she really is. When I attempted making an older version she ended up seeming creepy. I threw that drawing away. Here is the good(ish) drawing though:

I have 50 pages already. I really need to get back to work on my other book. I need at least another 100 pages before I'm finished with it.

Movie Script

2010-05-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

This has kind of been coming up for a while, but I don't believe I've written about it yet. My friends and I are going to make a movie this summer. We aren't sure exactly what we are doing yet, but we know it will be in the regency era, which will be fun to make costumes for. Think "Pride and Prejudice" clothing. Yeah, a lot of fun.

At any rate, I got the job of writing the script. I've gotten together with the 'Director' and we talked over several different plot ideas. After quite a bit of planning we agreed on the basic idea. We are aiming for at least an hour-long movie, and as of now I only have two and a half pages written. I've got a lot of work to do!

Yay for summer!

New Book

2010-05-23T15:43:00.001-07:00

I just started another book yesterday (writing that is). The only reason I started it is because my friend and I have begun to tell stories back and forth over email just for fun. She's sick right now and yesterday I decided to try to cheer her up by writing a short story. Of course, if you know me, you know short isn't possible.

Well, about the story...it is written as a diary, which I haven't tried before. I'm finding that it is very easy to make a character seem real when using this form. The girl who is writing the diary is named Suzanne and the beginning of the journal is between her senior year at highschool and freshman year in college. My friend is enjoying the story so far...and I must say I'm enjoying writing it. I think this book (if that is what it turns into) could take a while to write, but I hope to put in good biblical lessons through her (Suzanne's) learning experiences.

Anyway, since I've only got 11 pages so far I can't say much about the plot yet. I'll have to write my character a little more before I decide where all I want to go with the story.

Drawings of Topica's Characters

2010-05-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

This is just a small sample of the stuff I have drawn for my book.

Writing

2010-05-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Recently (for the past school year really) I have been working on a book I am writing. At this point I have about 105 pages, single-spaced. I started this book at the end of the summer last year and wrote most of it last fall. Now that I'm on summer break again I hope to at least get close to finishing the story. My book is fictional and it is a story based on a world my cousin and I created when we were little. In the beginning I started out with a much different story idea, but didn't get very far with it. Now that I have written over 100 pages though, I feel like I really ought to finish it, even if it isn't very good. Hopefully I will be loading some drawings I have done of my characters and scenes very soon. I've got an entire binder full of sketches and paintings, most of which aren't any good. Now for a brief explanation of my story (at least so far).

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My main character, Lirrette, lives in Topica (yes, I realize there is a place in Kansas by the name of Topeka...didn't mean for that to happen) in a small village. She lives alone with her grandmother and generally gets along well with everyone she meets, even if she doesn't like them very much. Topica has been under the rule of an enchanter for approximately 200 years since he took it over from the original Elven rulers.

When a troupe of gypsies comes into Lirrette's village for a forced celebration of the 200 years of the enchanter's reign, Lirrette discovers her own heritage. She is the daughter of the king and queen who were brutally murdered by the enchanter and is, truth be known, over 200 years old. A young man who has been traveling to find her informs them that a man named Scripio has been captured. He knows almost everything about the rebels and their hideouts and he must be broken out of prison before the enchanter has time to torture him.

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That's all I can say about the plot right now because I'm afraid I'll give the ending away too much. I'll post again when I can get the drawings scanned.

Uncle Tom...

2010-02-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

For school I'm reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and I've gotten about half-way through it so far. Believe it or not, I'm actually enjoying reading it and although I know it has a sad ending, I think I would recommend people to read it. One character in the story is Eva St. Clare. She is a little girl who convinces her father to buy Tom for her. Today in the chapter I was reading Eva is upset by the death of a slave, and her comment is that, "it sinks into my heart." I realized in reading it that I often try not to let things 'sink into' my heart. I avoid allowing truly heart-wrenching stories to affect me because I feel like I can't do anything about it and it is often too painful to want to worry about. With the recent earthquake in Haiti I've noticed that I've ignored the reports of it for the most part. While my brain knows that people are suffering I keep the nasty facts from sinking in. The television seems to make it easier and harder to connect with the Haitians at the same time. On one hand I am able to see what it is like (albeit from a biased viewpoint) and on the other I don't normally connect things I see on screen with reality. I guess I need to be more like Eva in "Uncle Tom's Cabin." I ought to allow things to completely sink in instead of just being numb to the pain around me.

Up to Speed

2010-02-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

Wow! Almost a year has gone by since my last post and it feels like the year has just blown by. Yesterday was my seventeenth birthday and I can't believe how much has changed since the last time I was on here. I've been driving nearly every day to classes or dance lessons (yes, I dance now) or church activities. This school year I've been taking two classes at the local community college (Chemistry and Honors U.S. History) as well as my work at home and from co-op. A year ago I had no idea what I'd be doing now. Both Nathan and Caleb are taller than I am leaving Noah as the only one in the family smaller than me. I've been in a play and helped with another and I'm currently in the homeschool drama group. For my role as "Ernestine" in Cheaper by the Dozen last summer I won an acting award. Since the last time I wrote I have also been more interested in ballroom dancing and now my parents and I are taking lessons in preparation for the spring formal. At our youth retreat in March I'll be leading worship, which I'm a bit nervous about. I'm also excited, but I have never lead worship of any kind before, so I hope I don't mess up.

Hopefully I will be posting more regularly now, but life may speed up even more. Most of my extra time has been spent in writing a book which I hope to finish within the next four months or so. I may post short stories on here again if I find time to write them.

Snow in April

2009-04-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is April and we had snow just a few days ago! On Sunday it was really hot and I was asking when the pool would open, then on Tuesday I woke up to a white yard! Some of my flowers have already bloomed and the snow looked funny on them:

I'm just hoping that this cold spell doesn't kill them. Anyway, it was really strange and I'm hoping that we will have warm weather from here on out. I'm tired of winter!

Sweet Sixteen

2009-02-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

I should have written this back last weekend, but I suppose now is better than later! Anyway, I turned 16 last Sunday and had a family party in Knoxville the day before. To start the morning off (Saturday) my mom took me out to breakfast. I had an enormous waffle with strawberries on top, and, right as I was finished eating, my aunt Ann (Seaman) showed up and took me to have a pedicure. I've never had that done before and it was a lot of fun! Then my grandmother met us after we were done and took me shopping! We went to the mall and when we were finished we went to my grandparents' house so that I could open presents. The first thing I got I had to walk down to the garage for....no, I didn't get a car....I got a Hope Chest. My granddad made it for me out of cherry wood and it looks really pretty. It isn't quite finished yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product! When we went back inside the house and I opened my other presents. I received some blankets and silver from various great-grandparents, I got Sharpies from my brothers, I got car keys from my parents, bookends, a cook-book from both my aunt Anns and then a nice blue shirt. After I had opened my presents we ate my cake...it was a pity because it was a very pretty cake!

My first photo book

2008-12-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Flowers

By Rebecca Seaman

Book Preview

It's been a while!

2008-11-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

We have been back in the states for a long time now! I had a great time in Japan. It was a lot like New York City, just with everything in a different language! My dad had heard of a place where Nathan and I could get dressed up as a samuri and geisha. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time making faces into the mirror. I didn't look anything like myself!

Now I have gotten back to school. I have gotten into a play along with my brothers Caleb and Noah and my mom. It is called "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and I don't even have lines. I am in the "angel choir." I think I will get some experience in singing in front of people so that is good. I haven't had to do that before.

This semester I'm taking a dance class. It has been a lot of fun and I have learned several different dances. We will be having a barn dance at the end of the week that should be very fun. In preparation for the barn dance we have learned some line dances that are very fun and easy compared to the swing dancing we were doing.

Anyway, now that I'm back to school I haven't had much to post on here...which is why I haven't posted since I was in China in August. I will probably be posting at longer intervals now that I'm into the school year and not as much is happening.

The Temple of Heaven

2008-08-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

In the morning we went to the Temple of Heaven and it was very pretty. During the time of old Beijing it was the highest point of the city and the view from the top was really neat. The thing that impressed me the most about the temple was that they didn't use any nails. It was like a gigantic set of lincoln logs! The building was circular and the roof was painted blue to symbolize heaven.

I also took some cute pictures of children we saw. Since it was a Sunday there were more children out and about with their parents instead of in school. The funny thing about the toddlers is that the poorer Chinese children have the bottom cut out of the pants to save on the cost of diapers. I'm not going to post pictures of that though!

We even saw a family with two children where the older sister was beating up on her little brother. While that was slightly humorous, he did end up crying and being led away by a grandparent. Sibling rivalry still survives in communist China in spite of the one child policy.

Halfy Birthday and the Great Wall

2008-08-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

The 22nd was my halfy birthday!! We all went shopping at a super store and went crazy from all the bargaining that was going on! The fun thing about it was you could get a really good price if you knew how to bargain correctly, but you could really get ripped-off if you had no idea what you were doing!

Then yesterday was the 23rd which was wonderful because 1. we got to sleep in! 2. we got to see the great wall and 3. I got to go to bed at a semi-normal time! Yep, yesterday was really good! Anyway, we also went to a Cloisonne factory where they make all sorts of decorative vases, plates, cups, chopsticks and jewelry. I took several pictures that I thought explained what it looked like a little better:

Then we went to the Great Wall, and I was excited to know that we were going to a different part than last time. It was not crowded like I thought it would be and it wasn't a hard climb either. The weather was great and Nathan had a great time running ahead so he got out of some pictures...but not all of them:

Tonight we are going to be seeing the closing ceremonies! We are very excited about that and I am going to take a lot of pictures!

August 21....China Time!

2008-08-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a long day and so much fun! First we went to the "Water Cube" to watch women's 10m platform diving and it was really impressive. We had really great seats and I took some great pictures of Laura Wilkinson, but she didn't do the best today and didn't even make it to the finals.

After our group had lunch we toured the broadcast center here, which was built in only a matter of months. That was very hard to believe because the building was so big. There were so many cables everywhere and our guide told us that there was around 800 km of cable and wire! That was very mind-boggling.

When we finished the tour our group went shopping! There was an enourmous line to get in, but we were able to get in a back door with permission from the staff. I seriously felt like a VIP. Inside the super store there were so many people and it was very very noisy. The Chinese do not understand the idea of taking turns and they pushed a lot. I think I will need therapy after all that! My mom and dad bought a bunch of stuff for friends and family, though I won't say what for fear that it wouldn't be a surprise anymore.....I'm so terrible!

Near the end of the day we got to watch the women's softball finals where the USA and Japan battled it out for the gold. That was a pretty impressive game. We did get rained on quite a bit, but the people at the venue handed out ponchos to everyone so we made it through without getting soaked. Anyway, we were very excited to see it because one of the pitchers was from our home state of Tennessee and played at UT. Her name is Monika Abbot and she played a very good game.

Tomorrow we will be going to watch men's basketball and I'm really excited about that. I enjoy watching basketball a lot even though I'm terrible at playing it! Hopefully I will get some good pics of the players in action!

Going To China!

2008-08-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

Well, we are here now and we had a very nice trip. Nathan really enjoyed flying and took the window seat most of the time. The first flight was in a smaller plane and it was really cool being able to look out of the window down at the land and buildings below. I really like flying despite my huge fear of heights!

We watched a few movies and I read a book during the flights over. The thing that messes me up is that we lost a day. We first left Knoxville on Monday and got in last night on a Tuesday. As if our bodies aren't messed up enough there is a twelve hour difference between here and the U.S. of A.

When we got in last night at the airport we were met by someone from Panasonic. We even got a whole bus to ourselves on the way to the hotel! That was pretty cool. Anyway, this morning we have a meeting at 7:30 so I will be posting this evening!

Getting Ready!!

2008-08-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll be leaving for China on Monday!!! Isn't that crazy? I have been cleaning and packing a lot this week. I also read a book ("The Spanish Brothers") that was really good. I will be taking some reading material for the flights, which are 14 hours both ways. This evening I will be going to soccer camp. My family has been watching most of the olympics so far and we are getting pretty excited about going. We are just a little worried about the jet-lag because we won't have any time to get over the time change of 12 hours. About the only thing we can do to try and change to the time zone is try to sleep during the first part of the flight. That will help if we can accomplish it. Anyway, I should be posting every day with pictures and blogging while I'm in China and Japan.

Back to School!

2008-08-07T11:33:00.001-07:00

Well, we started school on Monday. I'm almost done with the first week! We have been studying the Olympics to get ready for our 'trip of a life-time.' My mom had us do some memorization work and reading. We also had to do a report on an Olympic sport and a country. Nathan and I had a shared project of studying up on Japan for our trip there after China. My sport wasn't exactly just one sport.

I did a powerpoint presentation on the Paralympics, which is a sport competition that runs alongside the Olympics. It is for disabled people and consists of about 20 summer games and only 4 winter ones so far. There are about 5 different disability groups that compete in different things. There are amputees, blind people, people with CP and people who are dwarves. I think it is cool that the medals all have braille on them! How neat is that? After 2012 the country that hosts the Olympics will also be obliged to host the Paralympics.

Anyway, back to all the stuff we have done for school... It was actually a challenge from my mom to finish it as quickly as possible. When we finished we got a reward of an Olympic Wii game. Hopefully we will finish this afternoon and get the game out!

What is with the Panda?

2008-08-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, here goes. The picture of a panda in the corner is a link to a blog I created for the purpose of blogging about a stuffed panda named Piyan. He is going to be mailed to me in the next few days and I'm hoping that I can put a lot into the panda blog. I will be very busy with this one, but I'm pretty sure I will still have time to load pictures of Piyan most days of the trip to China and then Japan. The panda I will be blogging about belongs to a girl named Emmy-Anne. I've been told that even though Piyan is Chinese, he was born here in the states and doesn't speak a word of Chinese (much like myself). Anyway, I am sure that the Panda Page will be interesting once I get going and hopefully Emmy-Anne will have a good time keeping up with her panda online.

Wow, Its been a while!

2008-08-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I last wrote. I'm so far behind on what has been going on lately! Well, to start it off I went to Cousin Camp for a week in Knoxville and had a great time playing on the lake with my cousins. Right after that I went to Worldview Academy for a week. That was a lot of fun and I didn't know anyone to start out with, but came back having made several friends. I came back to the house only to get ready for Cousin Camp at here. That was pretty crazy! We had eight kids here and on the last night we had a talent show. The whole week was fun....and crazy for sure! My cousins are awesome!

Before this whole mess called summer, we entered another contest held by Panasonic for the original HD families. We wrote an essay and made a movie to send in. The winners would be sent on an all-expence-paid trip to the last week of the Olympics in Beijing, China. We figured that we should do our best on the entry and see what came of it. We prayed about it and thought that we had a fairly decent chance to win....but we didn't want to get our hopes too high. The day we were supposed to find out who won we heard nothing. We assumed that a different family won and my mom wrote an email to someone in the company asking which family won the trip. In the reply email the woman said that they hadn't decided yet! We didn't want to get our hopes up, but we decided to pray. After praying we needed to go to the store so we left Nathan home (because the other two boys were at a friend's house) with the cell-phone number in case we were called by Panasonic. Right when my mom and I were entering the store the phone rang...and my mom freaked out! She found the phone in her purse and answered. The look on her face told me everything. We were so excited! That was a shopping experience like no other and I probably could have put anything in the shopping cart and it would have been bought...

I know that it was a God thing. God must have been waiting for us to ask...that is all we had to do. We hadn't prayed about it that day because we thought the decision had already been made. We somehow got the idea into our heads that God couldn't do it after a certain date that was set by men. Anyhow, He proved us wrong (gladly so!) and we are very grateful for His blessings this year. He has given us so much this year and I praise Him for that constantly. Everything is a God thing!

Now we will be leaving for China on the 18th of this month. Caleb and Noah are going to be staying with my grandparents because the trip is only for four people. The decision was made before we even won that Nathan and I would go. Caleb and Noah said that they didn't even want to go and that they wanted to stay here. That made it easy for us! Everyone asks us if we are excited as if there was a possiblity that we might not be! For my part I'm very excited about the whole thing. When I returned from China two years ago I told my parents that I only wanted to go back if they went with me, never thinking that it was God's plan for that to happen.

Now, I feel very bad about enjoying it so much when the other families don't get to go. We evidentally just barely beat the family that told us about the entire contest in the first place. Their ten year old daughter has wanted to go to China for a long time and was really wanting to win this trip. We wanted to do something for them and asked if we could bring something back for her to make it more interesting and fun. Then they had an idea and I'm very glad that they asked. I will be in charge of a small stuffed panda. My job is to take pictures of it everywhere we go. We will be mailing all the pictures I take back to the family and I will be blogging about it every day on the trip if nothing stops me. I'm even planning to make the panda its own blog if possible. It would be a lot of fun!

Anyway, I will be starting school tomorrow and it is very late. I should probably get off now that I am semi-caught up!

Family Reunion and trip to Charleston

2008-06-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

Every year on the first weekend of June my dad's side of the family has a reunion. This year is almost the only one I remember where it rained. Thankfully it cleared off and we were able to eat outside and play before we had to go home. The evening before the reunion my dad's closer family members had a BBQ at the fire house. I got to see my youngest cousin Abby (Ken and Angie's only daughter). She is going to be a year old in August.

After the family reunion I was invited to spend a few days with Sara's family. On the first day we were letting down the sea-do and part of the crank was broken so it started spinning. When it started slowing down a little bit I grabbed it and my pinky was cut. It wasn't too bad, but it took the skin off the knuckle. One day we were out working in the yard and I got some blisters (so I put on a bandaid to keep it from getting too dirty) then I washed off in the lake with soap to keep from getting poison ivy. I didn't get any poison ivy on any part of my body except right where I had my bandaid.

Well, I was supposed to leave after Thursday, but they invited me to come to the beach with them. That meant I got to go shopping for more clothes to wear! Fun, fun, fun! I was very glad that I had my good camera with me to take pictures. The first day we spent on the beach all day. It was really hot outside, but we had a good time:

The next day we went to two different plantations. First we went to Boone Hall (no relation to Daniel Boone) where we got to ride around the fields, tour the house and walk through the slave's houses.

Then we went to Drayton Hall, which had no furniture and was mainly toured for the architecture. I actually liked that part because it is usually focused on what time it was built and what happened in the house rather than how the house was built.

Then we went to a wedding, which I have no pictures from....*tear*. I taught Ben how to dance and he actually got pretty good at it. We stayed at the reception for a while and got pretty sweaty from dancing so long, especially uncle Scott.

On Sunday we went on a Pirate walking tour. It was sooooo hot outside. It reached the upper 90s! Then we went to the dungeons (which I had seen with my family) and finally went back to the beach house. Sara and I discovered that I am a neat freak during this trip....compare these pictures:

The left side is mine and it is cleaned up.....the other is Sara's. Not so clean, but pretty funny!

Monday we went to Fort Sumpter where the first battle of the Civil war was fought (again, I had already seen it with my family). It was not too hot outside though and afterwards we went to visit the Murchisons who used to be my cousin's neighbors. We spent the whole afternoon and evening with them. It was okay, but I was getting sick of being sandy and wet. I didn't wait much longer to be home though because the next day we packed up and headed back to good ole' Tennessee. I had been away for about a week and a half and had only meant to stay for a few days. It was a lot of fun though and I had a great time visiting with my cousins.

Waterskiing Season is Here!

2008-05-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago we went out on the lake for the first time this year. It was a little chilly so I stayed in the boat to take pictures. All the boys (including dad) got in the water and ended up getting me wet several times when they jumped in the water. I got some pretty good photos when they did:

And then I got some good pictures of them being.....normal?

Actually, no, not normal...I changed my mind....insane!

And then I got some good shots of the guys waterskiing! Imagine that!

Anyway, I think they had a good time.

Choices

2008-05-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

I’ve known that this day was coming, my big performance in front of an audience of thousands. I was looking forward to it all my life and I had prepared my music for years. My dreams told me that the audience would request an encore and that I would be applauded by everyone. I was sure that I would be famous and that I would be paid to play all over the world. This was my big day and I felt ready for anything, except what happened.

In the morning I was called to come over to the concert hall where I would be playing. They wanted me to choose which piano was brought on stage for me to play. I figured it would be a difficult decision to make, but when I got there a man in an expensive-looking suit greeted me very warmly and took me into the building. He showed me a large black grand piano that was so shiny and dark that it almost took my breath away. It was the most beautiful piano I had ever seen, and the old man could tell that I was impressed. He let me sit on the bench, which had a large red velvet cushion that was so comfortable that I was afraid that I might fall asleep right then and there.

When I asked what my other choice was the man smiled and laughed. He told me that an old man had it in the back of the building and thought that I might want to use it. I asked him why he laughed - he told me that the blind-man’s piano was positively ugly and then asked if he should call in the moving crew to hoist the gorgeous piano onto the stage. He seemed a little annoyed when I told him that I thought I should look at this other piano, but left the room briskly to call in this other man.

The man in the suit left through a door in the back of the room and a few minutes later an old man with a cane entered through the same door. I could tell at once that he was blind. His eyes were clear blue and didn’t blink. At the same time I somehow knew that he could see right through me and I didn’t like the feeling at all. Right away he introduced himself and told me that I should follow him to the piano. I could only stare when he first said this for I could not understand why I should follow a blind man, but when he turned and went out of the room I followed anyway. He must have known the concert hall very well and didn't even seem like he was concentrating on the directions.

As we went along in silence I thought about my coming performance. I had practiced for years just in preparation for this one day. I hoped that I could soon go back to the beautiful piano that the other man had shown me. I longed to sit down and play that gorgeous piece of ebony and ivory. This man with his cool staring eyes and patched old suit made me nervous as we walked along the dark hallways to find the other piano. I followed slowly and was bothered by the delay in my day.

Suddenly, the blind man turned and went into a room full of darkness. I hung back and was afraid about what was inside - or what might be inside - , but knew that I shouldn't to be rude to this poor blind man. Then he suddenly pulled back the dark curtains and I saw that we had come to the very back of the building. The room was small and had large glass doors that opened into the back parking lot, but I did not actually notice much else about the room. The man pointed at what I had immediately noticed: the piano, if it could have been called that. It was in very rough condition and was made only of wood. It was simply the oldest and ugliest piano I had ever seen and I almost laughed at the thought that I had wasted time coming back to look at this old neglected piano. Who could even think of playing this piece of junk in front of so many people, but I didn’t, and indeed I couldn't, laugh. I could tell that the blind man was completely serious about the fact that this piano was worthy of my consideration.

I looked at it for a few moments and then asked the old man why I should play his old piano. He answered that it was the one that I needed to play if I wanted a real piano. I was very puzzled and looked at the piano again. It was in terrible need of a new stain and the legs of the piano were dented as if they had been kicked in frustration. I would be the laughing-stock of my audience if I played on such a deformed and dilapidated instrument. Then, to my surprise, the old man sat down on the creaky piano bench and played it. It was the most heart-wrenching music I had ever heard, but somehow more full of meaning then I had ever known possible in all my years of study. All the meaning of the world was being played right in front of me by someone who could not even see the difference of the black and white keys, but he certainly knew the difference in his mind. I do not know how long he played, but when he was finished I asked how he knew that I would want this piano. He smiled and quietly told me that he was blind and could not see the piano, but knew that this piano was the most beautiful on the inside. That is what matters most about a piano, not how glossy it was, but how flawless the sound was.

I asked him how the piano had gotten in such sad shape, but stopped short when I suddenly knew who had done it, me. It was my old piano that I had learned on when I was young. I remembered that I had thrown a fit and kicked the piano in anger. It was my fault that it was in such a sorry condition. I had done the damage, not anyone else. At once I felt so guilty of destroying this beautiful piano. Tears started streaming silently down my face. I turned away from the old man as if that would hide me from his glossy eyes. I suddenly felt that this man knew everything that I had ever done, but somehow even though he knew all this, he came and comforted me.

When I was suffeciently calm he went back to the piano and played a very simple tune, one that I recognized as being taught me by a teacher when I had this piano. It was somehow changed though, it was more complex, yet still simply a child's song. Even though it was relatively short I suddenly understood what it had meant the entire time. I had known this song for so long, but I rarely played it. Then, all at once, I recognized him, my childhood teacher. How he had changed! He tuned pianos and gave lessons to those who would listen.This man had put up with my many fits and to repay him for his kindness I had left him to learn by myself.

It didn’t matter what my audience thought about how it looked, but how it sounded. Then the old man, my old tutor, asked me if I wanted to play it, and I didn’t reply. I ran past him and sat down immediately to play the piano. This piano that was damaged and forgotten would be played again. It was so much more lovely in sound than I could have imagined even in my dreams. The music soared and the melody was powerful and triumphant. I knew which piano I was choosing. It was time to play.

Dandelions

2008-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Dandelions are weeds...at least that is what is believed strongly by all of the people I know. The main reason they are weeds is because they have the ability to grow anywhere! One definition of a weed is :any undesirable or troublesome plant, esp. one that grows profusely where it is not wanted. As often as we kill them, they come back to bother us again. Dandelions are just not easy plants to get rid of. They start out as seeds, just like any other plant. Then the actual plant starts to come up. Then their bright yellow flowers shoot up. Soon the flower head has turned into hundreds of seeds and they take off into the wind to make someone else's yard nice and yellow.

Consider this, why are brave Christians so rare? Many of us are just Sunday Christians who pay our tithe and let that be it. We are somewhat like a really rare plant, and so many people need us and would be blessed by our message, but somehow we did become rare. At one time even the non-Christians knew about the Bible and had read it. Those non-Christians knew a lot more about the Bible than many of us do now!

I'm asking why Christians couldn't be considered a weed (in a good way)? We can grow anywhere, but we don't for some reason. Maybe it is from fear of persecution for our faith. Maybe it is from fear of what we don't know (like a different language or culture). At any rate, God says that we can do all things through Christ, so we should. Dandelions have the right idea, we shouldn't be annoying or anything of that sort, but we should take our assignment seriously about spreading the good news all over the earth. There might come a time when we are pulled out by the roots or sprayed with chemicals, but we should keep popping back up like dandelions. My argument hasn't been that we should like dandelions...but to take from them the lesson that God gave us those abilities for a reason. We try to stay in our own yard as much as possible, while the non-Christian dandelions are growing everywhere like we can (but do not take the time to do). Our good news should not stay in our yard, but grow everywhere.

I'm a Rebelutionary!

2008-05-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have recently become a 'rebelutionary.' This is actually a very large group of young adults who are rebelling against low expectations. It is an international group now and there is a book out with the title: "Do Hard Things" which I have ordered and will read asap when it arrives. I would encourage you to look at www.therebelution.com for more details. I have already gotten a lot out of becoming a member of the Rebelution. There are young adults across the country who are helping each other through hard times and encouraging each other in their walk with Christ. The great thing about this is that it goes hand-in-hand with one of my ealier posts on 'being a teen.' Really, this helps prove my point that other people my age agree that we should not have this drawn-out childhood.

Formal Pictures

2008-05-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

I finally got the pictures from the formal! They turned out very well, and it took me a while to load them all onto my computer. Anyway, here is a picture of me at the formal:

And here is the picture of all of the people who came:

We had a much better turn-out this year needless to say. This is only the second year we have done this too.

Being a "Teen"

2008-04-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Being a teen is difficult, everyone agrees on that, but what some people may not agree with is the fact that there is no such thing. It is a thing as far as age goes, but when you are in your ‘teen’ years it isn’t much different from your adult years. Sure, you are older, have lived longer and maybe have more wisdom, but there aren’t many differences between what our culture calls “teens” and adults.

The problem with being a “teenager” is that it is not biblical! There are children in the bible and there are adults and older people, but never is the word “teen” mentioned. I, personally, am fifteen years old. I do believe that the number exists, but not in such a way as to make me inferior to an adult in any other area than age. Mary (mother of Jesus) was probably very young, maybe even younger than I am now! The idea that our culture has created an elongated childhood of slothfulness is disturbing. Especially considering that everyone buys into it!

One of the main reasons that being a young adult is so difficult is because the adults themselves expect us to do the wrong thing. They even tell us that we are going to go way wacky when we hit the “teen” years! When we start behaving with a bad attitude or acting as if our parents are oh-so-lame-and-stupid, they are surprised that there once well-behaved child has become rude and inconsiderate. If we are expected to act a certain way or do a certain thing then most of the time we will. It isn’t as if we weren’t listening to our parents, we are. The root problem is that so many parents teach us that we will do it. Why bother to keep away from something that is supposedly inevitable?

Another problem with our society is that, because we have people called “teens”, we also have lazy adults. For roughly 6 years we are trained that we can be lazy and rude and then when we are flung into the real world and college life we see no reason whatsoever to change! If, instead, our parents trained us to work hard and that hard work is good for you, then we would be better prepared to take on life. Of course, if we are continually treated as inferior then we will most likely act that way. Why not? It is easier to walk through school and play video games all evening.

Why do children dress up as adults? They do it because they want to be like them. When adults decide to ignore the fact that we are grown-up then we will deny the fact that they are true adults. Many people who are adults right now have no right to be considered as such, while many children are mature, but are ignored for the crime of being young. We do not have to be graying and stiff to be adults, the time to be grown up is now. I will not choose to be something that does not biblically exist. I have decided that I am an adult and though I lack wisdom and age, there is no point in waiting to work hard for God.