18 Pictures

1. A picture of a time in your life that is over, but you wish wasn’t.

Mom and I at last years NCFCA WI tournament

2. A picture of the good old days

I was a pretty adorable baby, if I do say so myself.

3. A picture of a time you were nothing but happy

Bowling with the Woodwarths!

4. A picture with someone you love

My kiddies and I.

5. A picture of how you’d like to spend every day

If I could go to a ball every night I would be happy :-)

6. A picture of a time when everything was changing

Graduation

7. A picture of a time that makes your heart smile

We are very Norman Rockwell-ish, aren't we?

8. A picture that makes you laugh

Umm.... yeah.

9. A picture when you are laughing

"Your true love has a BEAK???"

10. A picture that speaks for itself

No comment ;-)

11. A picture of a night that you’ll never forget

Wendy, Michael, John and... Katie???

12. A picture of a start to a new year

Attempting a decent self portrait at the beginning of January

13. A picture you couldn’t leave out

^This was WAAAAY too much fun.

14.A picture of you being yourself

Erica + Me + Camera = This picture

15. A picture of someone you miss

Heather and I

16. A picture of some of your favorite people

"We're so cool, ice cubes are jealous"

17. A picture with my best friend

Erica and I

18. A picture of the present

My new hair cut.

Life

HI PEOPLE!

*waves*

Let's talk about life... mine in particular.

It's been... interesting

and very, very boring

all at the same time.

It reminds me of a quote from Jane Austen "Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."

^ that pretty much sums up me these past few months. I work, I eat, I sleep, I read. There were moments of uncontrollable laughter, moments of just plain misery, and moments of what-on-earth-is-going-on-will-everything-please-pause-for-a-second-so-I can-figure-this-all-out????

(BTW, please may be the magic word, but it didn't work for me at that ^ time)

There are things to be thankful for of course, so I'm not doing that awful.

First: I am alive, breathing, I am clothed and fed (probably TOO well)

Second: I have two jobs, so I am making a pretty respectable living. One of the jobs is currently driving me nuts... but hey, it's a job!

Third: I am enjoying being graduated, no more school, but more importantly: no more algebra!!!

Forth: It's a new year, I am very hopeful that 2010 will be the best year ever!

Fifth: It might be freezing cold right now, but it will be warm eventually, spring can not come soon enough!


Thank you God for the promise of spring, the passing of each year, and your provisions. Help me to see the blessings in the boredom and please help me to never forget that an amazing thing happened when you died on the cross for my sins. Help me to be worthy of the priceless gift you have given me: eternity with you. Help me to keep my eyes on you and not on me. Amen

I Believe In Someday

I believe someday I might simply die of happiness...
today was not that day,
nor will tomorrow be...
but I have hope.
I believe in someday.

25 Random Facts About Yours Truey

1. This is the first time I've ever done a random fact thing about myself.... I don't quite get the appeal but here goes!
2. I am really not a pet person, Cats are too haughty, Dogs are too slobbery, and reptiles as pets are just plain... gross. Please don't call the ASPCA on me!
3. Up until 3rd grade I absolutely LOVED math, numbers, adding, subtraction, I ate it up. Then I hit long division, and my love quickly died, it has never re-blossomed.
4. I am not all allergic to anything and have perfect eye sight.
5. I love making footprints in untouched snow, it makes me feel all explorer-going-where-no-man-has-gone-before-at-least-since-it-snowed-last-ish
6. According to the Doctors and nurses at my birth I was a very beautiful baby. Oh the despair of beauty lost and gone forever!! :P
7. I have seen almost every movie made based off of a Jane Austen book, even the really awful ones made in the 70's. And I can pretty much quote them word for word.
8. I dearly love to laugh!
9. I took French for 3 years, and all I remember is is the word for apple, which is... ummm.... let me get back to on that one.
10. I love thunderstorms. I'm more creative and do my best thinking when it's raining.
11. I have a secret obsession with polka-a-dots, if I didn't excersize self-control my entire wardrobe would be dots, I kid you not.
12. My personnel motto is "If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing." ~Ben Franklin
13.I like to call myself a writer. I am not a writer, because writers usually finish stories, I have a grand total of two finished short stories, two unfinished novels and a million ideas floating around in my head.
14. I have not-so-secretly been in love with Jimmy Stewart my entire life.
15. I have been delirious with fever several times, it was not a nice experience.
16. I love to give advice. I admit... I'm not very good at taking advice from others... I'm working on it.
17. I cry at the weirdest things, movies that aren't sad, a random memory, if someone chokes-up, I get teary-eyed.
18. I used to eat chewable vitamin C like it was candy.
19. To quote Sam: "I do not like sparkly vampires, and am proud of it."
20. Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic strip, it's ADORABLE!
21. I really do love children, a lot, my job as a Nanny is way too much fun to be called "work".
22. Someday I am going to visit England. I am. Really. It's one of my life goals.
23. My dream job is to work for Sherwood Pictures. I don't actually believe it could happen, but I believe in dreaming :-)I
24. I am a hopeless romantic, I believe in love at first sight, "the one" and that true love's first kiss "is the greatest power in the world"... well not the last one.... not exactly.
25. I randomly narrate my life out loud when I'm alone, for instance I give myself long stern lectures about the many stupid things I do while shelving in the basement for hours on end.

"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?

"...Dreams are dangerous things - they look solid in your mind, but you just try to reach for them. It's like gathering clouds." ~Hattie Big Sky

I used to be a good blogger, correction, I used to be an amazing blogger.

At least compared to the blogger I am now, which is a lowly, idiotic, lazy, I'll-do-it-next-week-probably blogger.

I am sincerely sorry.

But really I'm not all to blame. The big culprit?

This dude:

I admit, it does steal my time some, but more than that, it uses up my creativity. I prefer my statuses to be a bit on the witty side, or at the very least somewhat amusing, and hopefully never boring. It my fb status is ever as dull as "I'm going to bed now." You have my permission to fine me for dullness. It seems these past few months when ever I would have a creative urge, I would sit down to write a post, (and since it had been so long since I'd updated it would have to be a good long one) I'd eventually run out of time, and rather than publishing a half-finished or fragmented post I'd post the gist of my idea on fb.

For instance, the name of this post is my current fb status, I thought about writing a review about the book I just finished Hattie Big Sky, but I didn't have time, so instead I published one of the my favorite quotes from it. (BTW, I highly recommend the book, it's a Newberry Award winner!)

Since Facebook is daily stealing from my blog I thought it was time for my blog to steal back (considering it's all in the family anyway). Here are some of my status in no order at all since... as far back as I decide to copy/paste before I get tired.

Enjoy!

Lydia Margaret hates getting her hopes up only to have them dashed... :-(

I'm the type of girl who will walk 4 blocks in the pouring rain to avoid parallel parking.

Luke has renamed the Big Pond, it is now the Athletic Ocean.

IMHO middle aged women should NOT have Hannah Montana ring tones.

Sometimes I forget that when I'm talking... people listen to me occasionally.

Our house is currently layered gray over yellow with orange dots with the occasion patches of white. Seriously.

Apparently Grace University thinks I should try out for a music scholarship. ME! The girl who plays piano by ear, and can't carry a tune in a bucket with a handle. *dies laughing*

Sometimes all I want is be ultimately special to someone....

My "oh-so-strong-oh-so-superior" little brother just asked me to open a jar for him. *savors this wonderful moment*

Soup: It's what's for lunch.

A warmed-up car, cute tights and stylish boots, a little coffee in my cream.... I'm ready to start my day! :-)

I pride myself on being a person who can laugh at her own mistakes (and believe me they many and often) but I'm afraid someday soon I'll do something incredibly stupid, something that won't ever be funny, something I can't laugh off. It scares me....

"Do you ever feel like the whole world is a tux and you're a pair of brown shoes?"

I had the whole gas station and the cafe next door laughing at my attempt to back my car to where I could pump gas.... *sigh*

"TEA." = The Jane Austen equivalent of "How about them Cubs?"


"I'm like a facebook flair, little, round, and occasionally goofy."


Seriously, I have the most selfless, strong, caring, loving, understanding, sweet Mother ever. She's the BEST!

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!