Made me smile

     On the whole, I'm feeling much better.  Not that I've felt inclined to do anything but lounge around the house, in my sweatpants, and read or watch a movie.  That's okay...  I want to heal so that I can be super productive when school starts, and it's beginning very soon. 
     I've been feeling a little guilty, though, because getting your wisdom teeth out is not a exactly  major surgery.  Maybe I'm taking it too easy, out of laziness?  Still, I haven't been feeling very motivated to do anything today except browse Pinterest and Instagram, and try to reach my Swagbucks goal.  In the interest of achieving that last aim, I searched "feeling uninspired."  I was expecting a blog post from someone I'd never heard of, talking about, well, feeling uninspired.  I was hoping that it would be someone who seemed relatively successful, so that I wouldn't feel too guilty about my current laziness.
      I hit upon this.
      (For the record, I have heard of this author before.  Actually, I would recommend his book:  You Are a Writer, if you're interested in that sort of thing.)
     That was more along that lines of what I needed to read than what I was expecting.
     And you know what?  God knew that, and I suspect He might have placed it at the top and made the author's name recognizable so that I'd read it.
      I could be crazy, or perhaps the Creator of the Universe cares about me that much.  Most probably, both.
     Anyway, the thought made me smile.
     I'm about to abandon the computer screen and go do something productive.  :)  Bye!

Tomorrow I'll Wear Sweatpants: A Poem

     I am currently recovering from having my wisdom teeth pulled.  I am offering you that information ahead of time, not only so that you can understand parts of the poem that I am about to share, but also so that those of you who are fully rested and not on pain medication know why I am in a frame of mind to share it.  So, without further ado, I present the poem that I wrote less than five minutes ago.  :)


Tomorrow I'll Wear Sweatpants

Tomorrow I'll wear sweatpants,
'Cause I don't really care
If people think I look lazy
Because of what I wear.

My plan to wear these sweatpants
Is really quite okay.
Even if I felt all right,
I'd wear them anyway.

Sweatpants are appropriate
To wear around my home.
So I will stay quite comfortable
While I'm choosing not to roam.

My soft and stretchy sweatpants
Will feel so very nice-
Kind of like my jaw feels
When I hold it up to ice.

Yes, tomorrow I'll wear sweatpants
While lounging in my house,
Because all of my uncomfortableness
Is reserved for my mouth

(Epilogue)
Last night I thought my sweatpants
Were the way to go.
Today I say, "Who needs to change?"
P.J.s are comfortable, you know.

Flashback Friday- More homeschooling pics. :)

 

 

 

 

I thought I'd squeeze in one more trip down memory lane, before next week hits and I'm face-to-face with the fact that I have to do college-level work now.  :)  It's not bad, but I still have a few more days where I can pretend I'm in high school, and I've been thinking a lot about how much I've enjoyed being homeschooled thus far.  It's been great!  I have lots of family time, cool field trips,  the ability to write a grammatically correct sentence*, and awesome friends.

 

That brings us to the topic of my post today.

 

 

Through the years, we've been part of a wonderful co-op.  Actually, we're still part of it, but it has changed in scope and shrunk in size as we've gotten older.  Don't worry about the shrinking part: no one died, there was no drama, it was merely that life gets busier and sometimes things have to go.  Anyway, I was looking through some old pictures I'd taken when my first digital camera was new, and I found a lot of cute ones.  I couldn't keep them all to myself.  So, like it or not, here are some pictures of my friends when they were smaller...  and very cute.  I mean, almost as cute as they are today.**

 

 

 

 

Looking at these photos makes me so happy...  I'm thankful for the people God has placed in my life, the ones He's given to me as friends, and some of the ones pictured here are especially dear to me.

 

Who are you thankful for?

 

 

 

*Sorry, public schoolers who also have that ability...  I do know that you exist.  Sometime Facebook makes me overly cynical about the human race and their grammar/spelling skills.

 

**  Nice save, think you not?***

 

***There goes the grammar again!  Thanks A Beka!  lol

Assembly line- October 2007

Wow, I seem to be only reminiscing lately on this blog...  All the flashback posts,  pictures of my pen pal that were taken last year, playing a game where you guess things from old posts.

I could apologize for that.  I won't.  Instead, I'm going to run with the theme, because I have some pictures from a field trip our co-op took in 2007 to share with you.

The entire line in action

 We were running an assembly line!  Well, not really.  We made miniature cars, but that's okay, because we were miniature people.

If memory serves me correctly, we did the activity two or three times, in order to let everyone run a station.  However, there are more of the first assembly line (I think it was the first, anyway) because I was participating in the second. Somehow, though, I have this picture of Max:

Thank you, random citizen who grabbed my camera in order that the second assembly line formation would not be forgotten.

Here's how the assembly line worked, using my much more complete collection of pictures from the first team to illustrate:

The person at station one grabs the body of the car, a piece of wood in a square shape.  I know you can't see the sign for it, but station one is the farthest to the left.  Also, you cannot see the face of the person manning it.  There are at least two possible theories for that.  Either 1) he is a secret agent, or 2) I was a bad photographer.  I am not at liberty to say which one is true.

At station two, the car was elongated.  Stations three and four added the front and back ends of the car, which looked identical.  They also have tabs that will hold the wheels in place, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Close-up of number four, because she's adorable.

On a side note, I find the looks of concentration on their faces amusing.  Although, now that I think about it, there might have been a timer going.  Maybe the teams were racing each other?  I can't remember.







Here we have my beautiful sister.  She's got wheels. Literally.  They're in her hands.

Okay, that was lame.  :)  Moving on.

At station six, we had Nick scurrying to put the last two tires on the car, before handing it off...

To station seven, where the window was placed atop the car, and then Molly took them off the line- they're done!

This picture reminds me that there was also, apparently, a station 8.5 where the person owning that white sleeve cranked the line, causing it to move much like your average grocery store check-out center.  I don't have a not-blurry picture of him.  I'm sorry, since I'm sure you were hoping for one more picture.

Here's exclusive action from an entirely different crew.  Silent film, anyone?

You also get to see how terrible the lighting was...  Exactly what I was trying to disguise with that nostalgic black and white filter.  :)





We have (finally) reached the end of our tour.  Hope you've enjoyed it!

Let's play a game...

I downloaded an app called "Artistry" to my new computer...  It's a little weird, but I thought it might be fun to change up some photos from the blog and see if you can recognize them.  :)  Let's warm up.

Where's this one from?  Who is it?

setting: impressionist

Yep!  It's from my post about Chelsea earlier this month...  I love this picture.  Good memories are associated with it.

Okay, let's move on...  And for these next ones I'm not going to give you any hints.  :)  Leave your guesses in the comments section.  :)

setting: colorist wash

 

 

 

setting: 'toon

Music festival

Allison and I had the opportunity to attend a music festival this past weekend.  We had a lot of a wonderful time...

...At the beach...

...  Listening to bands...



The violinists from Reilly, one of the groups I was excited to see.

...  And hanging out with friends...

 

Allison and I even found these flowers while we were walking around the festival grounds: black-eyed susans and yellow snapdragons. 

 

 

Mon Amie

     It's been almost a year since I saw this girl...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...And it's gonna be a bit longer before I see her again.

 

For those of you who don't know, the lovely girl in the picture above is my pen pal, Chelsea.

Right now, she's in Australia.

 

God has been doing some awesome things in her life over the past couple of years, and I've loved reading about them on her blog.  Now, she's also posting updates about her trip.  I recommend checking it out.  :) 

 

 

I miss this girl!  Even though we don't live in the same state.  :)



 



Flamingo love

 

As a fundraiser at our camp, you can "flamingo" other people's campsites.  As a target, you wake up in the morning to find a bunch of plastic flamingos outside your door.  If you don't like that idea, you can purchase insurance.  It's goofy.

 

My niece, who often stays with us, told Allison and I this year that she really hoped we were flamingoed.  While other people are buying insurance, she's wishing that it happens.  :)

 

Happily for her, her wish was granted, and happily for me, their appearance made her more than happy to pose for some photos.  :)

Flashback Friday- Another song

I'm going to spare you from having to listen to me singing this one for multiple reasons, most of which pertain to my own embarrassment.  :)
Enjoy the transcription, if you wish. 


I'd understand if you couldn't help me,
or if you said I was too far gone
If I'd made too many mistakes and messed
it all up.  I wouldn't blame you if you told
me I was too far down in this grave I dug myself.

But you didn't.



Instead, you said I was your child.  Instead
you said I was forgiven.  Instead you said I
was a new person.  And you set me free.

Somebody told me about this baby born in
a manger.  How he grew up to be a teacher and how
he died on the cross and he rose again
'cause he's God's son and he's the
only one to save you.  When you confess to God he
forgives you 'cause he loves you.  He'll never leave
you or forsake you.

Christian(?) Music

"Do you like Justin Beiber?" my niece asked.

     "No."

     "Why?!  He has a song called 'Pray.'"

     I had two options: try to reason with a nine year old who has a crush on a celebrity twice her age, or drop the subject as soon as possible.  Not surprisingly, I chose the latter.

     "Oh, he does?  Good for him."

     That conversation last weekend was followed by the release of Relient K's new album on Tuesday, which caused much discussion about the topic of Christian versus secular music between Allison, Molly, and myself.  (You can read Molly's blog post on the subject here.)

     I don't listen to much music outside of the contemporary Christian genre, based on the fact that I prefer the thoughts it spawns.  I'm aware that it's not a choice most people make, and that's fine.  Still, I have conversations with a lot of people who feel a need to justify their musical taste to me- and it dawned on me after my conversation with Leta the other day that their logic is very similar.

     "They say they're Christians.  I looked it up."

     "It's not bad music.  I mean, they don't swear or anything."

    Those are general statements.  This one is a direct quote when a friend and I were discussing my distaste and his love of Relient K:

     "I like them because they're Christian, but if one of my friends walks up while I'm listening to them, they won't know that it's Christian."

    

     While I don't necessarily think that we have to listen to Christian music all the time, I think a distinction needs to be made.  I am all for listening to music without bad words and supporting fellow Christians, but if the music doesn't cause you to lift your eyes and your mind to Jesus, then it's not Christian.

     So...  Favorite bands, anyone?  Christian or non-Christian?  :)

Flashback Friday- Thank You For Coming

Even as a child, I had an aptitude for songwriting.

Or not.

Flashback Friday 2- Interview With the Princess

May I have a word with you?

Before you read this interview?

Wow!  I rhymed.

That was off topic.

Moving on...

I want to take this opportunity to point out what we all already know.

My sister is an absolute sweetheart.

Why?

Well, let's put it this way: at the time of my life when this story was written, I considered Allison's only purpose in life to be keeping me entertained.  So I made things up that I thought we should do, and used every possible means of persuasion I possessed to get her to go along with my schemes.

In other words, I was obnoxiously bossy.

I still am, except that she's learned that two can play that game.

Yeah, the bossing thing doesn't always go so well for me these days.

Anyway, although I don't remember writing this, I can picture the circumstances that brought it about:  Me deciding that I wanted to play reporter, and roping Allison into being something interesting for me to interview.  I'm pretty sure I changed her name and probably fed her some answers, too.  Poor dear.  I'm glad we're still friends.

So, without further ado, I give you... 

Interview With the Princess

Sorry about the weird facial expression at the beginning...  Oh, well.  At least I didn't burst into giggles.  :) 

Some quotes...

~Abigail Adams

Flashback Friday- DIY Kid Masterpiece. :)

Flashback Friday!

http://youtu.be/tGnjuXP6Iok

No, I'm really not sure what a tree roo is, sorry.  :(  Since I wrote the story as a child, I'm pretty sure no one else does,either.  :)

P.S.  Today's post was inspired by the awesome Kid Masterpieces found on BoredShortsTV.  You can watch the real (And much, much better done) thing here.  Enjoy!  And don't be surprised if I quote them in your presence.  :)

She is me

     I have a little announcement to make.
     Actually, considering that there are approximately five of you who read my blog, I'd say that the vast majority of you already know.
     But, in case you didn't, I'm posting about it here.
     Are you ready?
     I started a new blog!
   If you're thinking, "Why?  She doesn't post on this one!"  let me reassure you that I know.  It is a little crazy, I agree.
     However, I decided to do it anyway, because I wanted someplace where I could put my art and stories.  I'll still be posting on this blog with the same frequency (or infrequency, as it may be), since I see it as more of a journal of what's going on in my life.  :)
     So I hope you'll check it out.  :)  You can find it here.  There should be another post up later today, too.  :)

     Love,
     Julianne  :)

A guest post by Allison and Julianne's past self

When Julianne was maybe eight or nine, and I was maybe six or seven, we invented the time machine.  We made it out of a huge cardbord box that had held the dryer our parents purchased when the old one broke.  The time machine had small windows with shutters, crayon artwork inside and out, little pieces of paper dangling from the ceiling via little pieces of yarn, and even a "television".  Each paper had the name of some place we could travel to written on it.  If we wanted to go someplace that wasn't already  on the ceiling, Julianne would write it out on a blank piece, tape it to a piece of yarn, tap that to the ceiling, give it a gentle yank, and off we would go.  It was high tech, I tell ya.  The "television" consisted of a rectangle drawn on the wall with some scribbles inside it. Julianne carefully recorded everything that happen on our adventures in her notebook. This is what she wrote on our very first adventure in time travel.  Original spacing, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization has been retained as much as possible. 

It all started the day before Easter.  I was tired, no, not the tired as in sleepy, no, I was tired of studying, tired of drywall dust, tired of just about everything that was at our home in Michigan.  So, My sister, Allison and I went into our box, that we call the time machine.  It's the day before Easter, so we are going to the first Easter. Right now, we are traveling though darkness complete dark ness ecept for a few multitudes of stars.  My sister, is watching movies, and entertaining herself with strings, & tying my hair into knots.  Oh, I'm sorry, she is reading over my shoulder and insisting that she was only braiding my hair.  Whatever, I think she is making excuses. 

We have three more hours left to go.  

I hope my sister gets over this coocooness she is goin through.

When we got off the time machine we got off at mary Magdelene's house.

She came out , and seeing us said, "My, you two are very young to be out this late".  My sister replied, well your out late too. [-Somtimes she is so rude!] Mary Madilene after looking at Allison turned to me an said,"thats a very cute little sister you've got there".  "Thank you" I said.  So, Mary Magdelene and Allison went went to the tomb together, and I lagged behind.  

When we got there Mary Magdeline exClaimed, "Someone has stolen Jesus' body!" My sister said, I will catch the thief!  And she marched in the tomb.  When she had just went in she came running out.  "There's a man in there" she said, before getting behind me.  Then, the angel [Who was what my sister thought was a man] came out, and said, "I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified, he his not here, he has risen, come and see tho place where he lay.  Thon go tell his diciples."  So, Mary Magdeline, Allison,& I ran back to town.

My sister ran up to a high priest and said, "hello, disciple, He has risen!" I whispered in her ear, "That's a high priest, not a disciple!" Oh, she said.

Right now, she can't wait for our next adventure, I remided her we have to color easter eggs, she still doesn't understand.

Well at least she doesn't call me mom anymore.

Contrary to what this story would have you believe,  I was, at that time, familiar enough with the Easter story to know that Jesus' body was not stolen, and therefore would not have volunteered my detective skills.  I would know the man in the tomb was the angel. I also probably was not bold enough to witness to a high priest.  Apparently, making me look bad in her story was her way of venting her irritation toward me. You see, when you are traveling back in time, it is essential that you remain in the time machine until you arrive safely at your destination, and you cannot arrive at you destination until Julianne has finished writing down everything that is going to happen when you get there.  Now this may not look like very much to write, but in the notebook it takes up three pages, and took quite a long time for Julianne to think of and then write down..  I was extremely bored while she did it (Did I mention that the television she says I was watching was drawn on the box with a crayon? It held my attention for maybe one tenth of a second.  Maybe.)  Anyway, it frustrated her that I kept interrupting her to insist that we were still in her room and it was therefore possible for me to go get _________ toy from my room.  She did get one thing right, however.  I don't call her mom anymore. 

This post has been read and approved be Julianne's current self. 

Art (sort of) and cupcakes (definitely)

     I think it's amazing how art can convey so much about a person.
     Think about, for instance, Leonardo da Vinci's complex background on the Mona Lisa, and then about his personal life and interests.  You can see why he made it that way, can't you?  He was a complex guy.
     What about how art makes the viewer feel?  Think about Monet and all his water lilies.  I love Monet, and I think it's because those beautiful flowers make me feel peaceful and dreamy.
     Art has the amazing power to touch people, and it's not limited to paintings.  It can happen in sculpture, architecture, music, cupcakes...
     Yes, cupcakes.
     The cupcakes below were made for me by some friends to celebrate my graduation.  They say a lot about what I like, and about our common interests.  :)  I planned on sharing pictures of all of them, but when I looked at my snapshots some of them were too blurry.  Oh, well. 
     Art is powerful. 
     It can also be tasty.

clockwise, starting with the largest one :)
Sherlock Holmes, Ikea, Kid Snippets, Veggietales, my bedroom wall, The Princess Bride.

Cupcakes made by Molly and Max and their mom.  :)

Shipshewana

A couple of days ago, we took a road trip with some dear people to Shipshewana.  Upon entering Yoder's Fabric Store, my eyes were were drawn to the wonderful figures above, perched nonchalantly on top of a display of children's clothes.  Because they sell clothes, too.  Not just fabric.  Also, really cool hats.  :)

It's no wonder I love this place.

I also saw this quilt, and took a picture because I'm pretty sure my sister could make something like it with her awesome kanzashi skills.  I like it a lot.  :)

They always have cute displays, and right now we are on the lookout for anything made of felt.  I need some sweater scraps out of my room.  :)  Hence the picture of this cute little container.

Oh...  And I'm always tempted by their spools of crochet cotton in bright colors.  This picture is to my eyes what ice cream is to my taste buds.  And by that, I mean that it's exhilarating.

 This poodle is part of an adorable scarf that, for some reason, is in the hardware section of Yoder's.  I guess they like to mix things up.

Of course, it wasn't long before I was hungry, and the drawings by local children in the hall between the hardware and fabric stores reminded me of our next stop...

  Oh, yeah.  They're awesome.  Thankfully, they have more than one pretzel, contrary to what the picture would have you believe.

 Of course, we also had to look in the store that sells buttons nearby...

 And go to this place!

Lolly's is also eye candy.  That's all it is for me, since I'm not really into sewing or quilting.  Still, I love walking around and gazing at the walls and walls of fabric, like this:

 And while exploring I found this beautiful quilt.  Very Amish-looking, don't you think?  lol

 It's called "Lady Madonna" from the Abbey Road collection.  How awesome is that?

I hope you have enjoyed this very brief and rather choppy record of our most recent trip to Shipshe!  :) 

I amuse myself too much sometimes...

My friend won our last Words With Friends game by playing a word that neither of us had heard before. It's not an unusual occurrence, and I've gotten in the habit of looking up words I don't know. Spending time playing a game feels a little more justifiable to me, that way. So I searched for his.

And it turns out it's a narcotic.

The bad sportsman in me decided to harass him about it a little bit. Hours later, I remembered something else...

I'm not completely innocent, either. Bummer. :)

Butterfly exhibit

Are you wondering why there's a random bridge at the beginning of this post?  Well, let me relieve your curiosity.  It goes like this:  Once upon a time, or the other day, this bridge made me think of my Aunt Kathy, so I put it here for her to see.  The End.

 We took a day trip with some friends to see a butterfly exhibit at a public garden.  I have come to the conclusion that I like photographing flowers much more than butterflies.  They're not as skittish.  :)  And there were lots of beauties.  Like this...

And this...

I did, however, manage to get a couple butterflies.  It was so exciting!  After chasing them around for several minutes, I can sort of tell why guys like to hunt, with the adrenaline rushes and all.  Except I still don't understand the part that involves blood.   Don't worry, that's as graphic as it's gonna get.  :)  Anyway, the fact that I don't understand is okay.  Dad can hunt, and I can eat. It works.

Come to think of it, that statement might get me in a lot of trouble in the future.  To avoid confusion, I will now proceed to put limits on it:

I can eat it as long as:

1. I do not have to touch the raw meat with my bare hands in order to prepare it.
2. It is not something disgusting.  And yes, Uncle Earl, squirrel is on the list of "Disgusting Somethings."  As are quite a few other things.
3. It is fully cooked.  I don't foresee this being an issue, but I included it for clarity's sake.
4. It was not found on the side of the road.  Technically, that's not hunting, but I don't want anyone to get crazy ideas.  :)

As you may or may not have guessed by the above list, I am not an outdoorsy type.  Nor do I eat wild game very often. 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.  Which was what, again?  Gun control?  Oh, no, it was butterflies.  Good!  Let's proceed...

Can you believe the vibrant blue color of that last picture?  It isn't even edited.  I like to try to imagine what God was thinking when He made certain things, like emeralds or oaks or ice cream (say what you want, I am convinced that nothing that delicious could come from anywhere else.) or that shade of blue on those butterfly wings.  I don't know, of course, but I think He must have been pretty happy.  That's how it makes me feel.