Life of Late

It's been quite a while since my last post and for that I'm very, very sorry. I don't have a lot of time to post but I'll try to squeeze in what's been going on in my life lately.
Since my last post I've been extremely busy with school and such stuff. Such stuff as in choir, house cleaning, and other anonymous things. Amidst the school, choir, house cleaning, and other anonymous activities my brother had dental surgery and my mom had knee surgery. So as you can imagine my family and I have been pretty busy. :-) (By the way, my brother is up and moving now.)
My mom on the other hand is still down. She had been doing really well after the surgery but unfortunately yesterday afternoon she started having major pain and is still having lots of pain in her knee. If you could keep my mom in your prayers we would really appreciate it.

Until next time...

No, I've Not Forgotten

What I mean is, I've not forgotten about my blog and all my wonderful followers who have been so patient with me, in the sense that I've not posted since July 27th. That being said I would like to post about what's been going on in my life these past two months.
A few weeks after my last post my family and I headed off to THSC. THSC is a home school conference where Moms and Dads can get curriculum for the upcoming school year, Moms and Dads (as well as teens) can also go to seminars on certain topics, and children can go to an awesome program call CMT (Children's Ministries of Texas), and that is precisely what I did. Well, I didn't attend CMT. Rather, I worked as a teacher for two days. For approximately half of the first day I had eleven kids. For the rest of that day and the following day I had around twenty kids. It was a very fun yet exhausting weekend but I'd do it again in a heart beat.
Here's the miracle about my going to THSC and actually working as a teacher in CMT. About a week before my family and I were going to embark on our THSC journey, I came down with strep throat. So, my Mom took me to the Doc and he gave me a prescription for a brand new strep medicine. Thus, my Mom and I walked out of the doctors office with the confidence that I would be my normal self in a few days. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I had been on the new medicine for about a week and was progressively getting worse and I then had a sinus infection.
So, my Mom and I once again darkened the doors of the doctors office with an excessively bad case of strep and a grim sinus infection. The Doc then gave me med's for strep and sinus infection's that he was sure would work. Fortunately, they did and I was on my feet in a day or two. The big question then was would I participate in CMT or would I drop out. Though I was on my feet again I was still very weak from a two week strep sickness. I seriously considered dropping out quite a few times but something kept nagging at my heart. So, I started praying and asking the Lord to show me what he wanted me to do. All the while I kept feeling a need to participate in CMT despite my still being weak and exhausted. I talked to my parents and they agreed to let me stay in CMT as long as I was feeling up to it. I had my worries but I knew that God, for some reason, wanted me to be there. Thus, a few day's after my strep sickness I was talking to one of the girls that was in my class. She had shared with me that she had never accepted Jesus into her heart and that she was ready to do just that. She then accepted Jesus into her heart for the first time. I am exceedingly glad I was there to pray with her and help lead her to Christ.
I didn't write this to glorify myself but to glorify the One True God. He healed me and gave me the strength to be in CMT and through CMT and myself, He lead that little girl to Him. To God be the glory!

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When we got back from THSC my brother and I started school. This year I'm a freshman, and my brother a senior, in high school. I'm around two weeks into school and am finding it to be very interesting and I must admit fun at some points. By far, my favorite subject is literature and my least favorite is science. I have also started choir and music lessons. I am taking piano and violin lessons. (I'm teaching myself to play the harp) Thus, school goes on. Never ending yet never really starting for is everyday life not full of learning.

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We, my family and I, went to Oklahoma a few weeks ago to visit my sister and brother-in-law. We had an extraordinary weekend. I will save all the details for an up-coming post. (Ah, the suspense of it all :-) )

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September 2nd, I must tell you, was my birthday. Indeed, it was and I am now officially fifteen years of age. On my birthday, my mom took me out to lunch at one of my favorite tea rooms and afterwards we went shopping together. I then went to at&t where I got my very first cell phone which is a blue Pantech Impact. My parents and I then went out to dinner at Cheddar's (which is one of my favorite restaurants). I also received the entire Kingdom Series books written by, what I believe to be, one of the greatest authors ever (Chuck Black). I had a wonderful birthday and I am very thankful to my parents for providing me with such a stupendous day.

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Well my friends that draws my post to a close. I hope to soon post some pictures of the events that have taken place in my life these past few months.

Until next time...

Skirt Week-Last Day

Hello my friends! Today is the last day of my skirt week series.
Today was Sunday so naturally I got up, got ready for church, went to church, came home, and spent pretty much the rest of the day with my family. (Sorry this is such a short post.)

Skirt Week-Day Six

Aloha!

Today I got up, got ready for the day, went out to eat with my Mom and Dad (my brother hung out with friends all day), and hung out with my family, etc.etc.

I hope you have a wonderful day! :-)

Skirt Week-Day Five

Well, yet another day has passed. Everything went well with my Mom's surgery. I don't have a lot of time so let's begin;

Let me see, today I got up, got ready for the day, cleaned, and helped my Mom. It seems that I didn't do much but I spent a lot of time on the things I did do. :-)

Until next time...

Skirt Week-Day Four

Hello! Today has been a long day. Tomorrow my Mom is kinda having surgery. She's been having a lot of neck pain so the Doc has prescribed shots. Tomorrow she will be getting shots in her neck. What does that have to do with today being a long day, well during the shots the Doc has you on a twilight (no, I don't mean the movie) sleep. When my mom comes home she may still feel a little drowsy and she's supposed to stay down for a few days. Long story short, we have been cleaning the house today so that she won't get up and clean when she's supposed to stay down and rest.
Let's get on to the picture shall we;


Today I got up, got ready for the day, did my devotions, played the harp, read, cleaned, read some more, cleaned some more, helped prepare dinner, worked for my dad (he owns his own business), read, and hung out with my family.

I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

Skirt Week-Day Three

Hi! I'm very sorry for not posting this yesterday. I was in the middle of posting it when I was called to do family worship. For lack of a better introduction...let's begin;

Well, I must say that today was a rather unproductive day. I got up, got ready for the day, did my devo's, read, played the harp, read, watched a movie (Mansfield Park), cleaned, helped with dinner, did family devo's, and watched a movie with my family (The Last of the Mohicans).

See ya later!

Skirt Week-Day Two

Hello again! Yes, another wonderful day has flown by, which means it's time for a picture or two and a run-down of my day. So let's begin;

Their is a story to the latter picture. No, I don't live where this pic was taken, rather I live near it. Anyway, my Mom and I had to go to the store. We both knew we needed to take a picture so we decided to do it while out and about. This pic is actually in a store parking lot. The first picture is right in front of an indoor rock-climbing place. :-) (good times...good times)
On to what I've done today. Well, I woke up, got ready for the day, did my devo's, played around on the piano and my harp, finished the Return of the King, went to the store, came home, went to another store, and spent my evening with my family, etc. etc. :-)
Have a blessed day and see ya tomorrow!

Skirt Week

Ah, it seems like centuries have past by since I posted last and for that I'm very sorry. Since I haven't posted in 'centuries' I will indulge you with a series were I will post every day for a week. Yes, you heard..well..er..I guess read right, every day for an entire week!
Now, onto the series. In the past I have done a skirt week were I wore a skirt every day for seven day's. During these seven day's I would take a picture of myself each day. At the end of the week I would post all the pics. Long story short, I'm going to do a skirt week but instead of waiting to post the pics I'm going to post them the day they are taken. In addition to posting pic(s) I will tell you what I did that day. So, shall we get started...

Day 1 of skirt week. Well let me think, I woke up (obviously), did my devotions, got ready for the day, read, cleaned, watched a movie, went to the store, prepared dinner, did family worship, and then hung out with my family. Yup, that pretty much sums up my day.
I hope y'all have a blessed day and I can't wait to talk to y'all tomorrow! :-)

Sewing Project

Yes, I've learned how to sew and have discovered that I absolutely love it. Here is one of my sewing projects.
My Mom and I were in Hobby Lobby looking for fabric to make a skirt for Easter Sunday. We found this and thought it would work. Then we found some other purple fabric that we both thought would be even prettier Easter skirts. In the end this fabric was pushed back to a spring skirt instead of an Easter skirt. :-)

The completed product! Of course, I am the person on the left and my Mom is on the right. :-)

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I have to give a big 'thank you' to my wonderful Mom who has spent her time teaching me how to sew. So, thank you so very absolutely much Mom! ;-)

The pattern was Simplicity 4138. If you haven't ever tried sewing, I recommend that you do. It is a lot of fun and you feel so good when you have completed a project.
Until next time...

Choir

Yes, this is our director in case you were wondering.

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The pictures above are of my homeschool choir group. These aren't pictures from our concert but of a ministry day that we do twice a year. On ministry day we go to a nursing home and a state school. I really enjoy ministry day for two reasons 1) We are proclaiming to all in the room that God is good 2) I love to see the smile on the people's faces when we walk up to them and talk to them! :-) In these pictures we are singing the following songs;

Proclaim the Goodness of the Lord
Know my Heart
Praise His Name
For All that Is

My Life This Past Week

I know I haven' posted much in the last few months. (Hopefully that will change soon!) In this post I'm going to let you see a little bit of my life at present. Maybe, just maybe it will explain why I haven't been posting much. I'm going to show you my schedule from Arpil 4-10. Let's begin.

Sunday April 4-
As you probably well know April 4 was Easter Sunday. My Mom and I had been working on some skirts that we had one week to sew. Thankfully they were both done by Sunday! :-) I woke up and pulled myself out of bed, did my morning responsibilities, got dressed for church, did some last minute refinements in my room, and left for church. After church we had a family over for fried shrimp. :-) (That's why I did a few refinements in my room!) We had lots of fun and the food was great.

Monday April 5-
Monday is always a hard day for us especially in the Spring. On Monday morning my brother and I go to piano class just a few minutes from our house. So, yet again I yanked myself out of bed, got ready for the day, did my morning responsibilities, and practiced my piano before class. Then my brother and I loaded into the car and drove to class. (My brother has his driver's license now. So cool!) After an hour of piano we came home, ate lunch, and did schoolwork. That's pretty much our average Monday.

Tuesday April 6-
Tuesday was a normal day. Wake up, get your school work done, do your chores, eat three meals when you find the time too :-), hang out with the family in the evening, and go to bed. As I said, it was a normal day.

Wednesday April 7-
Wednesday was a race against time. (Guess who won...if you guessed time you're correct!) I woke up and it seemed like it was going to be our normal Wednesday. The only thing different from most of our Wednesday's was the fact that we had a WoG (Woman Of Grace) meeting at our church that evening. About thirty minutes to an hour after I woke my Mom received an e-mail from a friend asking if I could baby-sit her 22 month old why she went to run some errands. After a ten minute discussion my Mom replied saying that I would love too. To make a long story short I baby-sat at somebody else's house, by myself for the first time! :-) Once I got home a did some school and got ready for our ladies meeting. It was an eventful Wednesday.

Thursday April 8-
Thursday was like Tuesday. If you want to read about what I did on Thursday re-read what I did on Tuesday! :-)

Friday April 9-
As I have mentioned in previous posts I am in a homeschool choir. This choir is held approx. an hour away from our house. My mom scheduled family pictures to be taken of us in the late morning and our choir meeting is in early afternoon. We went to the picture place, :-), and were done in time to gulp down some lunch and head for choir. It was a fun and exhausting day.

Saturday April 10-
Saturday's are our "work on the house day". When we woke up in the morning we were all exhausted from our hectic week. So, we took the day off! It was a much needed rest day. Ahhhhh!

I'm proud to report that I will be baby-sitting the same 22 month old every other week! :-) I'm so excited! If you couldn't already tell! :-) I will post the pictures of the skirts my mom and I wore Easter Sunday as soon as possible.

Books

I know I've been posting about books quite a lot lately. I promise I'll post about something else soon. :-)

In my last book post I was reading Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home by Emilie Barnes, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally, Sir Kendrick by Chuck Black, Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke, A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George, and Ida Scudder by Janet and Geoff Benge.

Since then I have read The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott. Now I'm reading;

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. I've read all but two of The Chronicles of Narnia books. I hope to finish the Chronicles soon. :-)

I finished Before You Meet Prince Charming and will be starting So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin. I've heard that So Much More is really good. I can't wait to start it!

I also finished Ida Scudder and have started Rowland Bingham by Janet and Geoff Benge. I really like biographies and this one sounds very promising! :-)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have been reading The Lord of the Rings for a curriculum called Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings. It's by far my favorite subject! I am almost done with The Fellowship of the Ring.

A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George. I read A Young Woman's Walk with God and enjoyed it very much so I could resist reading A Young Woman's Call to Prayer.

Sir Bentley by Chuck Black. My Mom and I finished Sir Kendrick and have started Sir Bentley. We have really enjoyed reading these books together!

Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald. My Mom and I have also been reading this book together. It is very good! :-)

Love Comes Softly

As the title and the picture to the left may hint this post is about the book Love Comes Softly written by Janette Oke. As I have mentioned in previous posts I was reading Love Comes Softly under close speculation. Reason being I didn't want to be reading romance novels that would awaken love in me before its time. I am pleased to announce that Love Comes Softly is a winner on my book list. I didn't really find it to be much of a romance story. Instead it was more like a biography.
My criteria for books:

~Understandable
~Interesting
~Glorify God
~Clean
~Good plot
~And of course, a happy ending! :-)

Understandable- Love Comes Softly was very understandable but I must say that the characters in the book could use a little refining of their speech. Here is an excerpt from the book.

On the way home Marty got up the nerve to voice a thought that had gradually been taking shape. She was a bit hesitant and hardly knew how to express it.
"Do ya s'pose-I mean, would ya mind iffen we had the Grahams come fer Christmas dinner?"
"All of 'em?" Clark's shock was evident.
" 'Course, all of 'em," Marty rejoined stoutly. "I know there be thirteen of 'em an' three of us; thet makes sixteen. The kitchen table, stretched out like, will hold eight. Thet's the four grown-ups an' the four youngest of the Grahams. Missie'll be in her chair. Thet leaves seven Graham young'uns. We'll fix 'em a place in the sittin' room an' Laura an' Sally Anne can look after 'em."
(Chapter 18, Christmas Preparations)

Like I said, they could use a few English lessons. :-) Janette Oke was a genius though, to write the characters speech the way she did. It really adds to the story.

Interesting- How could Love Comes Softly be interesting? It is excessively interesting! There are fires, deaths, close calls, etc. I really enjoy books that keep my attention, this one did!

Glorify God- Often in Love Comes Softly, Clark prays and relies on God to provide for their needs.

Clean- What do I mean by clean? What I mean is no bad language or inappropriate actions. Love Comes Softly meets this criteria as well. Except for the use of the word, at least I think it's a word, dad-blame.

Good Plot- Love Comes Softly has an outstanding plot. Here is a woman from the East that moves to the West with her husband. When they arrive in the West her husband tragically dies, which leaves her in the middle of nowhere on the verge of winter with out a penny to her name. Then a man who attended her husbands funeral proposes for only a few purposes. 1. So that she will have a roof over her head. 2. So that his little girl will have a 'mama' for a little while. 3. So that she can return to her family in the Spring. I won't go any further for I don't want to give the whole book away should you chose to read it.

A Happy Ending- I won't talk much of this criteria or I would have to give the ending of the book away. In fact, I won't talk about it at all. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending should you chose to read the book.

Unfortunately, the movie is significantly different from the book. All in all, it was a fantastic book. I am now reading Love's Enduring Promise which is book two of the Love Comes Softly Series. I will give a book review on Love's Enduring Promise when I complete it.
I pray you'll have a blessed day and happy reading!

Hello

Hello strangers! :-) I know I haven't posted in a long time. I don't have time to do an actual post right now but I will (hopefully) post one soon. One reason why I haven't posted in a while is because I've been busy and I've also been sick. Anyway, I will try to post in the next few days! :-)
Oh by the way, I did a poll and I would love it if y'all would vote! Thanks.

Awakening Love Before Its Time

What does it mean to awaken love before its time? How can I be awakening love? What can I do to stop it? What's so important about it? This post goes along the lines of purity except instead of liking someone you are awakening something. Don't get me wrong, awakening love can eventually lead to liking/loving somebody prematurely. But lets go back to the first question, what does it mean to awaken love before its time? It simply means that you are letting emotions take hold of your heart and life before you should. The world has told us that it's alright to like a guy when you're in kindergarten. Thus, it spirals into a premature love when in your teen years. Okay, on to the next two questions. How can I be awakening love? What can I do to stop it? Awakening love is an easy thing to do. You can awaken love by watching TV, reading a book, talking to friends, listening to music, and so on.
Watching TV can awaken love in the blink of an eye. If you are watching a romance movie or chick flick you can pretty much guarantee that a piece of love will awaken. Reading a book can also awaken love very quickly.
Reading romance novels is very dangerous!! They will build discontentment in your heart over time, and soon you will be asking yourself why you haven't experienced that kind of love, or what's so bad about a little kiss? Be careful! Don't fall into the enemies temptation. Resist discontentment. I am reading Love Comes Softly, but let me assure you that it is under a microscope. :) I have talked with friends and family about Janette Oke books. I have a very good friend that is a few years older than me who has read them. She liked them and said that they didn't bother her in awakening love before its time. BUT, let me warn you as she warned me. Every girl is different, just because they didn't awaken love in her doesn't mean they won't in me, so keep it under close speculation.
Talking to friends and listening to music can also be dangerous. There is a saying that says, choose your friends wisely. That is what you need to do. Don't hang around friends that are always talking about how cute he/she was, or spreading the boy friend/girl friend gossip of the neighborhood around. Music is another powerful tool that Satan can use against us. I really like music, but I need to guard what music I listen to. Love songs can awaken love before you know it. Avoid these types of music! Listen to music that glorifies our Maker! :) Prayer, reading God's word, and reading books that will help you grow spiritually will help you a lot in your fight against awakening love prematurely.
What's so important about it? What this question means is why do I have to keep this love asleep? Well, you are special and precious in God's eyes. He wants you to save yourself for who he has for you! Wouldn't it be awesome to look into your spouses eyes on that special day when you say "I Do" and be able to say with a clear conscious and a clean heart that you saved everything for him/her! :) What an amazing thought!

I Witnessed a Murder

At around 2:30 this afternoon, in a small southern town, a tragic event took place! As I walked out my door with my dog on her leash I looked to my left to see the tragic incident unfolding. A baby mouse who moments ago had been frolicking in the sun, unaware of the impending danger, was now the victim of a cat wanting to play with a possible afternoon snack! It was a cute innocent mouse minding its own business before my cat, Delilah, spotted it. Of course, I instinctively rushed my dog to the safety of the indoors and turned quickly to get back to the scene. At first, I wanted to help the poor innocent mouse but then I saw it biting at my cat. So, I decided to let nature take its course. The unfortunate mouse was tormented for half an hour before my cat decided to slowly devour it! The horror of it all!!!
I will spare you the horror of seeing the gruesome pictures of this tragedy, but I would like to show you a picture of the murderer so that you might know what the killer cat looks like.

Name: Delilah
Weight: Approx. 9 lb.
Color: Gray with black stripes.
Gender: Female
Eyes: Green
Location: Last seen on the front porch of a house.

Beware of this killer cat! Please keep all possible snacks in safe keeping. You never know were this merciless cat might be lurking!

Okay, this is my cat and this did happen. I might have dramatized it a bit to much but I couldn't resist the temptation! I hope I didn't scare you to much! I just thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! ;)

Books Yet Again

Yes, books again! It seems that I'm always talking about books. If I am posting about books to often, and you are getting sick of reading about this subject on my blog, please let me know and I will try to refrain myself from posting about them! Well, that being said, here are the books that I am currently reading:

Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home by Emilie Barnes. I have really enjoyed reading this book thus far. I'm reading this book for a program, RUTH, we are doing at our church. Emilie Barnes reveals all of the simple ways you can make your home, and spiritual walk with God, beautiful .

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Right now I am reading The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm reading this book for school through a curriculum called Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings. I am enjoying this book so much that words can't describe it!

Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally. I am reading this book as an assigned book from my Mom and myself. Sarah Mally writes about saving your heart for the one God is preparing for you! I have really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more of her encouraging words of wisdom.

Sir Kendrick by Chuck Black. I have been reading this book aloud to my Mom and we are both enjoying it immensely! We hope to finish it tonight. If we do we will be starting Sir Bentley.

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke. I am reading this book, since I have finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This book is on trial. Why is it on trial, you may ask? Well, my parents and I don't want to awaken love before its time in me. What I mean by that is that I don't want to read, watch, listen, etc. to things that will make me think about marriage, romance, etc., etc. Not that those things are bad, but they are not what I need to be thinking about at this time in my life. That being said, I will be reading this book and will be carefully observing how I react to it.

A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George. I am doing this as a devotional, since I finished A Young Woman's Walk with God, and I find it very helpful! I'm not that far into it so I can't give you very much information about it at this time, but I hope to give very good reports about it when I've completed it.

Ida Scudder by Janet and Geoff Benge. I am reading this book, and other biographies, as my Histroy for school. I just finished Loren Cunningham, which was really good! I can't say anything about Ida Scudder yet though, because I haven't started it, but I will be starting it tomorrow!

Those are all the books I'm currently reading. Happy Reading y'all!