"I'm sure when I'm older, I'll understand." "I'm older and I don't think I *want* to understand... "

"That does put a damper on our relationship..."

EMMA '09!

I've already watched this online, and let me tell you: it is AMAZING! My new favorite Austen Adaption. I can't wait for it to show in the U.S. on TV!

Very True and Terribly Sad

Hey

How ya doin'?

I'm not bad... nothing to complain about.

A little news but not much:

I won 2nd place in a local writing contest.

I'm starting full time work this week.

As usual, no pictures, sorry!

But I thought I should post because it's been awhile.

So here I am, posting.

That's about it.

Bye.

Oh, just for fun:

The Distortion of Beauty

I've seen this video a couple of times, every time I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. These people are debasing God's greatest creation. Stripping it of it's gorgeous uniqueness and degrading to man's low standard of so called "beauty". Ugh.

*Squeal*

Here's a trailer/promo for the new BBC adaption of Jane Austen's Emma. One of my favorite actresses is playing Emma so I'm really looking forward to seeing it!

18 Year Olds Shouldn't be Excited about Cartoons Coming Out in over a Year.

... but I am :-)

"You will do nothing of the sort."

Just Because It's So Cool

I know other people in our blogosphere neighborhood have shared this, but I just have to too.

A Clarificatioin and Some Random Thoughts.

Clarification: Joe didn't not "hack" my blog. I accidentally left myself signed in.

What can I say? Brothers make life interesting.

Randomness 1: Mom, Luke Joe and I are leaving (ideally) at 9 to go to Ohio for a speech and debate competition. This is regionals and I'm really hoping to qualify for Nationals, but if we don't I'm sure we'll still have an amazingly awesome time.

Randomness 2:We got a video camera so you can go to Joe's Blog: http://southpawinthehouse.blogspot.com for video updates.

Randomness 3: Mom, Susie and I just answered all three of the phones at the same time.

Randomness 4: Speaking of Susie, it's her birthday today! Happy Birthday Dear!

Randomness 5: Another one of my classmates is engaged. That makes 5 (I think). I'm super happy for them, but it's weird. We're all growing up so fast.

Randomness 6: Cowgirl_E is in TX. We made a grand scheme for me to go down there with them.... it sounded lovely but it was not meant to be. *sniff*

Randomness 7: This is my new favorite song from a musical:

Randomness 8: I'll be home Sunday night in time to see the last episode of Little Dorrit (my new favorite mini-series) I love Dickens, but sometimes he drives me bonkers. I have NO IDEA what's going to happen. All I gotta say is Arthur and Amy better end up together or I will be MOST DISPLEASED!

Non-Randomness 1: I promise someday soon this blog will become less random.

So...

I haven't been blogging much in the last 3 weeks... not since I turned 18. Not that I think I'm too old for it now or anything, don't worry. Some of my non-blogging has been due to play practice and performance taking up most of my creative energies. Some because I haven't had much to blog about since the play ended. Mostly it's probably because I have a facebook now so when I want to spout about something I put it on my facebook. But I still miss blogging, I miss getting the brilliant post ideas, the hammering out of the words, the anxious wait for comments, I really just adore it. The writer in me loves the words and the and the freedom to express myself, and the sister in my loves the opportunity to express an entire thought without being interrupted. :-)

I have anything of terrible interest to tell you about but here's an update of my life:

What's happened this week:
After a long search (I've been keeping an eye open since fall)I finally bought a dress for Banquet yesterday. It was agonizing because I found a dress I LOVED but well... I'm too practical to spend $200 on a dress I'd wear once :-( I found another one that I liked a lot but there was one problem: I had vowed to not wear pink, it seemed too typical for me. Guess what color this dress was? Pink guess which dress I bought? You guessed it, the pink one. It's princessy and poufy and all around fun. I'll post pictures after banquet on May 8th.

What happened today (or more appropriate, what failed to happen):
Geometry. Why can I not understand axioms and postulates???? ARRRGHHH! *pulls hair out* I also looked at maybe taking some classes next year at a local tech school. School never ends does it??


What's up for me in the coming weeks:
Next week Joe and I will be in Cincinnati, Ohio for NCFCA Region 6 Regionals competition. If you didn't see our duo before here's the video of it (this was taken a couple of months ago, we're much better now.)

What I've been Reading:
Now that I've actually had time to read I've devoured 2 books for history and 4 for pleasure in the past 2 weeks. For School I read: Journey to Topaz, which was an interesting story about a Japaneses family during WWII it amazed me how honorably they stood up to such
injustice: being imprisoned when innocent of any wrong doing. I'm also reading about the Vietnam War which is very interesting and very sad. For fun I read the first book in the Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events I have a feeling I'm going to become as addicted to them as Becca is. I just finished The Highwayman's Footsteps which was an interesting spin of the poem The Highway Man by Alfred Noyes well written, good story, clean, my only problem was the author's addiction to ending chapters with cliff hangers and foreshadowing. It's wouldn't be so bad except that every single chapter ends that way and there are 60 chapters, usually about 2 pages long. Drove me nuts.


What I've been Learning:
I learned that sometimes God answers right away, even before you had know that you asked. Sometimes when you ask for something and are very specific and lay out your entire little plan for God he smiles and nods and then says politely "No, I know better than you do." Sometimes you wish for something and then you forget about. Of course low and behold months later you get it you wanted and complain to God because of course it's NOT what you thought it was. Then God reminds you in his own ironic way. *sighs* Be careful what you pray for...


What I've Been Thinking About:
How odd being 18 is. I was going to blog about it the other day and Joe said: "You're blogging about that AGAIN??" Have I been obsessing over it? I just thought that this is a pivotal point in my life and I thought my dear blog readers might like to share it with me. I have been 18 for over 3 weeks now. A jam packed 23 days of new experiences, new feelings, new knowledge and a better understanding of God. I guess I've just realized that I can't stop time. The play is over and as far as I know I will never act on the stage again, this is something I just have to hand to God. I do have to Graduate on May 16th and I do have to move on after that and agree with the noble (ha!!) lyrics of High School Musical 3 "High School won't last forever". I have a life waiting for me planed out by God. I need to move into it. I might put my heels down but I'll move slowly and surely.


Fact:
This post is too long.

"The Most Wonderful Time of the Year..."

No, I'm not talking about Christmas, or Easter, or even Summer time. I'm talking about...

Play Time!

Every spring the high school kids in our homeschool group put on a play. I'm graduating this spring, so this play will be my last.

The play this year is You Can't Take it With You. It's based on a 1938 Jimmy Stewart movie.


Joe won't let me tell you about his characters, so see his blog for details. (Hint: my friend Heather gets to spit in my brother's face, too fun!!)

I'm playing Mrs. Kirby (the "mother" from the video)I get to faint twice and scream, two things I've always wanted to do on stage :-O Mrs. Kirby is kind of the villain of the play, stuck and snobby.

Can't you all imagine me perfectly in that part??? :-) :-)

Just so you're warned, my life will be full of play stuff for the next two and a half months. So get used to it!!

Geri's Game

This is my favorite Pixar short.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy!!

I haven't done a "Me Lately" post in... forever.

I'm Excited About.... My new laptop. Okay, so it's new to me. It was Debi's and then somebody managed to break it. Debi got a (really nice) new one and David fixed the old one so it's now mine. A certain party that we won't mention by name thinks it's junkie, but it's mine, so I love it.

I've been Writing... Pure randomness. Since I have a wonderful laptop to write on I've had the writing bug. I started a story (if you can call a page and half a start) and we'll see where it goes. I've been wondering lately if I actually am I writer. Sometime "genius burns" as Jo March says it, but most of the time I only have a few embers. I have to write sometimes to get all the pictures in my head onto paper. I do admit last night I turned my light on at midnight to write a scene down, I couldn't sleep with it running through my head.

I've been Wearing... My totally awesome monkey sock/slippers. They're like slippers but feel like a really thick sock on your foot.Sorry, no picture, the batteries in the camera are dead.

I'm Reading... The sequel to Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians. I can't say anything for the sequel (I'm about 30 pages in) but the first book, I can honestly say, is the funniest book I have ever read (I would say Princess Bride being a close 2nd.) I think I like the Alcatraz books because they're very much my sense of humor. Completely random. I also can not honestly call it a "wholesome" or "Christian" book. It's fantasy so there is some stuff that might be considered "magical". (They explain it as advanced technology, so there's no real magic.) I picked it up at first because I'm a librarian and it looked amusing. If you want to read a book for pure amusement's sake read Alcatraz Vs. The Evil Librarians.

I'm Watching... The Andy Griffith Show. I always forget how much I love that show. Aunt Bee is so cute, so is Opie, Barney is hilarious, and Andy is Andy.

I've Been Thinking About... My Grandpa's birthday. He's turning 70 on Christmas Eve Day (I always thought that was weird... Christmas Eve Day, kind of an oxymoron.) I got him a really nice present that I think he'll like. Hopefully, because I'm not the best present-buyer.

My Plans for This Weekend Are... Babysit tonight, go to a sledding party tomorrow afternoon, write, sleep, read, maybe go to a move...

I'm Listening to... Days Of Elijah by Twila Paris.

What I want for Christmas... These Extremely Cute Shoes.

Randomness... I wore my checkered flannel PJs until after 10 today. I was wearing them under my overalls under my big DQ sweatshirt under my jacket. Can anyone say snow storm?

Quote of the Day... "A smile cost nothing but gives much. It takes but a moment, but the memory last forever."

I'm Wondering...How I'm supposed to post, listen to some music and sing along,write, chat with Erica and read a book and do some school at the same time. Also, why am I trying to do all that at the same time? (I admit, the school is getting the least attention.)

I'm Questioning... Whether people like to read my blog or just do it out of obligation, is it interesting and fun, or just a chore?

God is... Merciful.

Life is... Busy

Children are... Adorable.

I am... Me.

"When It's Dark and it's Cold..."

Now I'm going to be honest. I deal with being fearful, overly fearful. Since I'm human and female this is not an unusual thing, but it's something that, lately I've realized, has been taking up too much of my time. I'm constantly worried about this or that, breaking this losing that, messing up something important etc. The annoying thing is, when I'm worried about something I get stressed, and then I usually mess it up anyways.

Now if I worry this much about little things you don't even want to know what happens when there's actually something to worry about. Take for instance this Sunday afternoon: Debi Katie L. and I went to a play a friend of mine was in. It was in a town about 90 miles away. We had a pleasant drive up and the play was really well done. About halfway through the performance Mom texted Debi "Call and leave immediately after the show. Bad Weather."

Needless to say, I was more than a little worried.

We started home in a light rain.

It turned to ice.

Then hail.

Then it got dark.

Then we got lost in the hills of southern Wisconsin.

On icy roads.

In December.

In the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception.

I was slightly freaked out:-)

We finally stoped at a T in the road and Debi and Katie poured over the map.

"Where are we?"

Debi put in a CD and this song started to play:


Now I love this song, it's so simple and heartfelt I've heard it many times before but This verse had verse suddenly had new meaning to me:

When it's dark and it's cold
And I can't feel my soul
You are so good
When the world is gone gray
And the rain's here to stay
You are still good
So with every breath I take in
I'll tell You I am grateful again
And the storm my swell
Even then it's well and You are good.

As I listened to this I suddenly felt peace fill my soul. God is good. He'll take care of us and he didn't need me freaking out.

By some miracle we got through to Mom and eventually got home, we took the scenic rout but we got home safe and sound to our warm and dry home.

When the sun starts to rise
And I open my eyes
You are good, so good
In the heat of the day
With each stone that I lay
You are good, so good

With ever breath I take in
I'll tell you I'm grateful again
When the moon climbs high
Before each kiss goodnight
You are good

Just Because I'm Silly...

Prince Caspian Bloopers

Teenager Affluenza

"You can never say again you did not know."

I've been thinking rather deeply lately (by deep I mean deep thoughts.)I am aware that you might consider this a rarity for me, so hold on to your hats and prepare for a rant.

A couple of events have started the wheels in my head turning, just ask my family, I practicably gave a sermon at dinner last week.

I think first it was THIS you tube video. WARNING: This video contains graphic pictures of what the cruelty of abortion truly does.


I had to pause the video twice, overcome with emotion, before I could finish it, and when I did the tears were streaming down my face.Then I watched COME WHAT MAY. It appalled me how it is so causally legal for the horrors of abortion to be excused away.

Saturday night we watched "Amazing Grace". Watching that movie it is hard for us to comprehend that the M.P.s found slavery so right, they justified it, they believed it to be right. We can scoff at them, but we forget that in our present society untold thousand of babies are killed every year. A sin just as great as slavery. What do modern people do about abortion? They either justify it, or ignore it if it doesn't apply to them.

"Having heard all this, you may choose to look the other way
but you can never say again that you did not know."
~William Wilberforce

I watched the video posted above. I have a responsibility in God to do what I can.

I remember a Sue Thomas F.B. Eye where Jack was feeling guilty for having such a privileged life compared to the Russian peasants who they were working with. "I was born to a loving family, in Wisconsin!" he said. Sue told Jack he was doing the best he could for less fortunate people by being a F.B.I. super agent.

HELLO!!!GUILT TRIP ALERT!!!

Really, here I am in my nice comfy house surrounded by a loving family working my nice safe job. To boot I have something denied legally denied to thousands of babies:Life. I have a heart that beats, eyes to see, a mouth to speak. It is my moral duty to speak for those with no voice.

But what can one person do? A whole lot I think. Look at William Wilberforce, he was just one man. A man with God given talents and determination to fulfill a God given mission. One man changed millions of people's lives.

One might say that abortion has nothing to do with them. It doesn't affect me, why should I bother and stick my head in somebody else's business? Well abortion doesn't apply to me directly either, I believe it abstinence before marriage, and when I am married my husband and I will welcome children as a blessing. So I could say abortion doesn't have anything to do with me.

Oh, am I wrong, it does.

"THOU SHALT NOT MURDER."

It's a commandment. Abortion is murder, no matter how you look at it.It is my moral duty as a child of God, as a human, to stop the murder of these innocent children. These children have no voice, no defenders, just as the Africans had none. One man, who heard his call from God, a man unconnected to slavery spoke for the speechless, cried out for the oppressed, denounced the wicked to set the captives free.

He puts me to shame. I, who have been blessed with life have no choice but to turn and give life to as many as I can. I am determined to do my best in this dying world as I believe we are commanded by God. Not just to have good morals, not just to say great things, or pray great prayers, but to DO something. We are commanded to ACT, not enjoy our gifts and talents, we are to give them out to do good with them.

I am determined to do something.

Will you join me?

I Believe This Is Called British Humor...

For some reason this made me laugh. Hope it does the same for you!!