"A Ball? I long for a Ball!"

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend a magical evening with some dear friends at a Regency Christmas Ball.



We were all dressed to the nines and quite snobby about it ;P



Not everyone was overly excited to be there (or at least he claimed so with his "just shoot me now" pictures)



There were hours of lively dancing





In a beautiful hall



And some of my favorite people to chat with while nibbling on scrumptious food!




All in all we had a lovely evening of fun, beauty and elegance...



Well... mostly elegant.



We tried at least.

I'm One of Them :-)

This afternoon while innocently watching the Dilly Bar eating contest, I unintentionally overheard the conversation of the three people standing next to me:

Guy: "So the man that owns Dairy Queen has like 20 Kids."
Other Guy: "Really?"
Lady: "No, that's the family on TV."
Other Guy: "There has to be at least 15 of them then."

Me: "It's 9." all turn to stare at me "He has 9 kids."

Guy: "Oh yeeeaaah! I knew that."
Lady: stares at me for a moment "OMG, aren't you one of them??"

Me: smiles

awkward silence

they walk away

"That Looks Like Something Lydia's Family Would Do." "Umm... that IS Lydia's Family."

The quote in the title was said by two co-workers of mine who just happened to be passing by a local park on Labor Day afternoon and noticed a group of people oddly posing like famous paintings, eating, laughing, talking and in general, just having a ton of fun.



In other words:

BEST. LABOR DAY. EVER.

Enjoy!

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte Originally by Georges Seurat

Us:


"Opening of the Mouth Ceremony" from The Book of the Dead of Hunefer

(Sarah Beth is suppose to be Pharaoh Tom's head)

The Creation of Adam Originally by Michelangelo

(Sorry about Adam's clothing, or lack thereof,but I guess it's biblical!)

"The Hands"

Silly Adam, if he would stretch just a little it would work! Something I guess I could learn huh?

My Birthday Present to Myself

Yesterday my friend Lillie's mom took her and I to Madison for tea and shopping. While we were there I bought myself an outfit as a birthday present.

Church this morning:

A new jacket:

New skirt. I just know I will wear this ALL the time, it's VERY comfy and versatile.

A fun plaid shirt. Ruffles are in this year!! Or so I'm told...

Pictures of tea and shopping coming soon!!

2/20/07 - 2/26/10

Yep, it's my blogiversary!!

Actually Saturday was.

And it's been three years, not one.

And there's no cake.

But I'm still celebrating it by *gasp* POSTING on my blog!!! :-O :-O

YAY ME!!

*throws confetti and sings to self*

"Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole..."

Those of you who read my siblings blogs will know that our family watches It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve, this year was no exception.

Those of you who know me well also know that I am a Jimmy Stewart fan, he's my all time favorite actor, probably because I was routinely exposed to his movies at an early age. Never the less, Stewart isn't the only reason it's one of my favorites, neither is the fact that it's tradition. I love it because every time I watch this scene I tear up. "Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole..." Every time I watch it I want to hug my parents and thank them for bringing me into the world. The story is amazing and so true.

This year I laughed and cried at the same places as before, but this year, 2009, has been different than others. Somehow, the movie I've seen a millions times, and pretty much have memorized, seems different, like I'm looking at it in a different light.

All of us have been born with a handicap, we have only one pair of eyes, and no matter what technology does (camera, video) we will never see life through any other eyes but our own. George Bailey's reeling mind was intent on seeing only self-pity and depression, he had he wanted to build things, make his mark on the world and travel. Instead he was stuck in a small town struggling through the business of "nickels and dimes" he hadn't got what he wanted and he couldn't see all the good he had done. George Bailey saw himself as a failure he felt under appreciated, overwhelmed, and hopeless.

When we watch George stare at the rushing river desperately we want to pull him back and yell at him to stop, to tell him he has friends and purpose, people love him and need him. We wonder why he doesn't see this, and it ends up taking a Heavenly intervention to show George how other people viewed his life, how God viewed George Bailey. For a few moments his handicap was taken off, and it makes for an amazing experience and a wonderful movie.

There are two types of people in this world: A) people who LOVE It's A Wonderful Life and voted it the the #1 Inspirational Movie of all times B) those who think it's a sappy depressing movie and unrealistic, they hate it.
(For the record there is a third group C) Those who couldn't care less. For simplicity's sake we're leaving them out of the equation.)

I think most of the people in group B only remember the part of the movie I was just talking about, they remember George as the hopeless man, the man who we all at some point in our lives have all felt like. We wonder if we've ever done anything right, if our lives will ever improved, if God is really out there, if it was all really worth it, we wonder if maybe... it would have been better it we had never been born.

Now I know I'll never make the wish George did, but this year I surprised myself when I realized I was watching through eyes green with envy. I was envious of George's experience. I want to know how God sees me, I want to know if other people really care that much about me. I certainly am not and thousands of dollars deep in debt and about to be arrested for a crime I did not commit after being set up by the villain of peace and happiness in my town, but lately it's felt like my own little world and my own little life has been falling apart.

I guess I've not been feeling of much worth, I'm just one of Tom's many daughters, I'm just a girl walking a baby by the side of the road, I'm just the girl who shelved that book in your hands so you could find it easily, and when you bring it back, I'll just shelve it again. I am not the type of person who will discover a cure for cancer, or save millions of lives. I don't expect that, but I confess, I'd like to be needed, I'd like to think that if I didn't walk the baby nobody would, but I know someone will. I'd like to think that if I didn't put the book away nobody would be able to find it, but I know someone else will take care of it, it's not hard. And while George Bailey ran the family business because no one else could, I have a lot of family, if I don't do it, someone else will.

Those in group A) remember that at the end of It's a Wonderful Life George Bailey's friends and family come out in an amazing show of love and support, trying to give back to him some of their livelihood, just as he had spent his life helping them. It's a tear-jerker, miraculous and a lovely display of love.

This is where I'm jealous at this fictitious character played by m favorite actor. This is the end of my story so far, I don't have a "Auld Lang Syne" ending... not yet. I'm still stuck on the bridge wondering if my life is worth anything, wondering if I really make an impact on other people's lives. Like I said, I'm not stupid enough to wish I'd never been born, but it still leaves me wondering, how big of a hole would I make?

How big?

That Day that Comes But Once a Year...

I am currently in my own personal heaven on earth. Just stepping over the doorstep of the farm house makes me blissfully happy :-)

It's because this big farm house surrounded by never-ending fields is home to some of my favorite people.

And when we all get together once a year we're bound to have at least a little fun.

For these faces, and my friends and family


I am truly Thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Day I Almost Died

Wait, I am alive, right?

*checks pulse*

Okay, I'm good.

Anyway...

I almost died the day I had to face this.

Scary huh?

To borrow from Fanny Squeers's quotableness "My heart does SO Palpitate!" Only mine was more of the hammer-again-a-steel-wall-I-can't-hear-anything-over-the-noise type of palpitate rather that the pitter-patter of a love sick heart. Personally I would have preferred the latter...

It was a bad morning, (bad being the mildest term I could use here) Try attempting to control your emotions so you don't burst into tears in a so-silent-you-could-hear-a-pin-drop room of 30 kids who look madly smart and confident. During this time also try to imagine being aware that you're whiter than a sheet and struggling how to do simple things like spelling "concentration" (it's a c, right???) and figuring out what on earth what 6 divided by 2 is. (3?? 2?? 12???). Then you'll know how I felt, sort of.

Like I said, it's was bad morning. I left the test building accompanied by a tsunami size wave of despair a headache the size on Montana. I was angered by the injustice of it, just because I'm not a very apt tester (I do NOT work well under pressure) I was going to get the most embarrassing score of my life and I'd have to take the test again this fall. I was just thrilled. (The former sentence is just dripping with sarcasm.)

I got my test scores on Saturday.

I stared hard at the envelope that I was sure held my doom, I wasn't even sure I wanted to open it.

But I did, because among all my faults the greatest is a maddening inclination towards curiosity. It killed the cat, and I was sure it would kill me too.

*reads score*

*re-checks pulse*

*pinches self*

*re-reads the name at the top of the results*

*re-re-reads MY name at the top of the results*

*blinks eyes*

*screams*

*jumps up and down*



This proves that there is a God in Heaven.

This proves miracles to happen.

(FYI the ACT is scored 1-36, 21 is the national average.)

Tri-State Homeschool Group's Class of 2009

I'M DONE!!
(sort-of)
*SQUEALS*

Yes it was very windy.

More pictures to follow...

(I am aware that lately I've been an awful blogger, but I hate it when people lament their lack of blogging on their blogs, so I'll refrain :-) )

Banquet 2009