Several hours later, I opened my Bible to Psalm 121. The words jumped from the pages as the truth of the Word was made real from the events of the day.
- The awesome significance of motherhood
- Complementing a man's life as his wife
Ministries to the handicapped
- hearing impaired
- blind
- lame
- nursing
- physician
- hospice care—cancer, AIDS, etc.
- community health
- emotionally impaired
- recovering alcoholics
- recovering drug users
- escaping prostitutes
- abused children, women
- runaways, problem children
- orphans
- women's prisons!
- families of prisoners
- rehabilitation to society
- teaching
- sponsoring
- open houses and recreation
- outings and trips
- counseling
- academic assistance
- neighborhood teams
- church teams
- independent
- church based
- institutional
- composition
- design
- production
- distribution
- free lance
- curriculum development
- fiction
- non-fiction
- editing
- institutional communications
- journalistic skills for publications
- Sunday school: children, youth, students, women
- grade school
- high school
- college
- composition
- training
- performance
- voice
- choir
- instrumentalist
- personal witnessing
- Inter Varsity
- Campus Crusade
- Navigators
- Home Bible Studies
- outreach to children
- Visitation teams
- Counseling at meetings
- Billy Graham phone bank
- technical assistance
- writing
- announcing
- producing
- acting
- directing
- writing
- scheduling
- literacy
- pro-life
- pro-decency
- housing
- safety
- beautification
- visitation
- newcomer welcoming and assistance
- hospitality
- food and clothing and transportation
- praying!!!
- mobilizing for major Concerts of Prayer
- helping with small groups of prayer
- coordinating prayer chains
- promoting prayer days and weeks and vigils
- all of the above across cultures
- countless jobs that undergird major ministries
Friday: I had some girls over for a Valentines Day sleepover. It was so much fun. Fondue - Charades - Apples to Apples - Breakfast at Tiffany's - Two bottles of sparkling cider - boxes of chocolates - Rebekah and Katie shrieking during hide and seek in the dark - Pancake Breakfast - Indiana Jones impersonations - Chocolate dipped everything - laughter - friendships. It was a delightful evening. I love all of you girls so much! Hopefully Angel will be posting pictures soon, but mom has my camera in SLC, so I wasn't able to take any.
Saturday: The girls were still at my house this morning. I made some coffee which seemed to attract all the girls into the kitchen. They all sat on the counters or stood around the kitchen keeping me company while I made the pancakes. Hannah R. turned on some rockin' music and we all chatted away. Hannah, Rebekah and Angel stayed after everyone had left and helped me clean up. Rebekah, with her servants heart, tackled the humongous pile of dishes and we all worked together on the rest of the house. We were finished in no time. Erin came home from work and we all piled into the van and went to the Gibson's house for Joseph's birthday party. We had a lot of fun with the celebrity face recognition. We turned Mitchell into Shirley Temple and Hannah G. into some fat guy. Yeah, good times, good times. Erin had some shopping to do in town, so Angel and I stopped at the gas station and got some large coffees to keep us awake. We went to the mall and to Hobby Lobby, I'm not sure where else. Angel and I spent a good amount of time in Claire's picking out earrings. She bought a cute smiley-face wrist band and three pairs of earrings for herself, and she was super wonderful and bought some earrings for me too! That night we watched a movie and ate some dinner. We were so tired!
Sunday: We had church in the morning. Then after church Angel and I watched Shop Around the Corner, which I didn't really like. After Angel left, I did a little ridding up and then Benj and I went to youth group, which is always fun.
Monday and Tuesday: I watched Ethan on Monday morning, Dad left for SLC on Tuesday and I did school on these days. I don't remember exactly what we did but I vaguely remember going shopping a lot on these two days.
Wednesday: I awakened at 6 am for work and had a pretty good day there if I remember correctly. I really like my job. I just talk with the ladies when they come in and work out, I work out myself and when no one is there (and all of my work is done) I get to play around on the computer. When I got home the Davis' were there, the seven kids and their mom. They live in Georgia but came up here for a visit and to get their sheep. They had just come for breakfast and I was surprised they were still there when I got back. It was a crazy day. We played Apples to Apples for a very long time, and the little kids were running around being silly. Those kids are really great, though, so sweet and friendly. Their ages range from age 1 to age 13. Their mom left to go check on the sheep and so Erin watched the kids. Around 4, she had to go to work, so she left watching the kids to me. The older ones weren't hard to watch, but there were a lot of younger ones who didn't get along to well. Maizie, the 13 year old, watched Hattie the youngest, and I planted the rest of them in front of a movie while I made some speghetti for dinner. That was a very exhausting evening, but I think God really helped me have patience, even when what little I had was wearing thin. They all went to bed when their mom came home around 8 and the house was strangely quiet. :) Erin and Jessica made themselves some dinner and we watched Saving Sarah Cain. After the movie Erin looked and outside and gasped, there were 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground! The snow looked absolutely beautiful in the night air. I love the sound of snow, the soft pat-pat-pat as it hits the ground. With much begging, I finally got Benj to go outside and have a snowball fight. It was so much fun. I love my brother. Erin and Jessica and I made some tea and chatted as we watched the snow from the window. Finally, my tiredness took over me and I went to bed.
Thursday: The Davis' stayed till about 10 in the morning. We had a hug snowball fight with everyone before they left. I got to see their cute newborn lambs, too. I was not feeling well so I slept a lot of the day. We exchanged Valentines, and they were very lovely. But I really was ill or something so I just slept and slept.
Friday: I worked again till 11. Erin and I had a fun "Junk-food/Video Night". That's the very creative name my family gave to Friday nights that we spend watching movies and eating junk food. We went shopping for pizza and ice cream, Ethan was really happy. We watched Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang first and I must say that is the longest kids movie I've ever seen. Ethan kept asking if it was over yet. It's got some really weird parts too. Then after Ethan went to bed, Erin and I watched The Devil Wears Prada. It was pretty cute.
Saturday: I watched Ethan this morning, and cleaned the house and my room. It's 2:30 and I probably need to go get dressed. hehe...
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day.
John 3:16, "For God so LOVED the world, that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." What a great God we serve.
]]>
So, the Devil Wears Prada was good? Steph and I have wanted to see that, but we haven't yet....
]]>Love you too
Bran]]>
MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph
"Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:8
My dear sisters, when was the last time you poured out your heart to your Creator? He longs to hear your troubles and worries. I only recently found the joy of pouring out my heart to God on January 8, 2007. I was feeling so upset inside. So many 'issues' and 'problems', with people and with myself, were rolling around inside of me all twisted around each other like a big knot (sounds painful, doesn't it? It was.). Believe me, I tried sorting them out myself, but I just couldn't do it. So, the morning of January 8 I put on my coat and walked down to our pond and sat on a stump to ask God for help. Here's an excerpt from my prayer journal that I wrote about my time:
"[I'd been to the pond to pray before] But this day was a little different. There were so many burdens on my heart, I felt so inadequate and unworthy of everything...So there I was, sitting on a stump in my mom's coat. The cool winds were blowing and the dry leaves were rustling on their branches. I poured out my heart to God, I spoke in whispers, telling him of all my trials and hardships. He seemed to be listening. Even though he already knew my heart I still told all. Every detail we discussed. Some of the time I cried, as the burdens of life slipped onto God's mighty shoulders. I felt so much better afterwards, so light and happy. God is so good to me, I still feel inadequate and unworthy, but in a good sense. With God and His power filling my spirit, I don't know if I could feel anything of unworthy of Him who loves me. Thank you Jesus."
Love!
]]>From left to right: Sarah-Marie, Hannah and Me, being crazy. (just FYI, I know you can't really see it, but I'm wearing the cute shirt that Benj bought me for Christmas, thanks Ben!)
The three of us again, being a little more serious.
Craziness...
Ok, it's CLOSE UP TIME!!!
Sarah...wow...
Hannah...double wow...
So, those are the best ones that I took. Although I do have a couple more. We had a great time, I think we stayed up till like 6 am.
Tonight we had Women on Mission group, it was very nice. I'm the only younger girl there, but that's okay. The older women in the church who I see there are my big sisters in Christ. They lead and guide me through my trials because, quite often, they've been there themselves. One of the ladies shared her testimony and it just showed me, once again, how important it is for younger girls like myself to learn from older women. What a blessing to go to a church that believes in un-age-segregated activities.
The Men on Mission met tonight too at the same time. After the meetings Benj, the Wright boys and I played hide and seek. I was hiding behind the Wright's SUV and as I stood up to run I busted my lip on their side mirror. My mouth was bleeding a little bit and now my lip is kinda swollen. Great. But we still had fun playing. Those guys make me laugh. :)
]]>
I wanna set the world on fire
Until it's burning bright for You
It's everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?
[CHORUS]
I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough to
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
Nothing I can not do
Nothing I cannot do
I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father's hands
[CHORUS]
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
Nothing I cannot do
Nothing I cannot do
My hands my feet
My everything
My life, my love
Lord, use me
I wanna set the world on fire
I wanna set the world on fire, yeah
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
Nothing I cannot do
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I can't do
Nothing I can't do
I'm gonna set the world on fire
Set the world on fire
Now for something silly. In Google I looked up "Elisa Needs" and got some pretty crazy results. I don't remember where I heard about this, maybe from Angel? But I did it a couple years ago and got a good laugh. Here are my results:
- Elisa needs rehab... (My problems aren't that serious...are they?)
- Elisa needs an icon...
- Elisa needs Vaughn to leave her alone so she can marry Rufus... (I just don't love you, Vaughn, so leave me alone!)
- Elisa needs to shout a bit more... (I just shouted at Vaughn, isn't that enough?)
- Elisa needs to feel safe, and she only knows how to ensure her safety by withdrawing into a solitary world where she maintains control...
- Elise needs to be the perfect car...
- Elise needs a HERO! (Will you be my hero?)
- Elise needs a tan... (Well, that is true)
- Elisa needs a sibling... (Mommy...?)
- Elise needs a NA power plant...
- Elise needs a friend... (Won't you please, won't you be...please, won't you be....my neighbor? Hello neighbor)
- Elise needs to hire (or fire) a makeup artist... (Thanks a lot...)
- Elise needs desperate help...
- Elise needs a new buddy now that Sunny has left... (*sniff* I'll forever miss you Sunny...whoever you are...)
- Elise needs to take a nap...
Yesterday we pretty much just lazed around. I had to wake up "early" (9 am, it is a holiday for heaven's sake) because I needed to get the yeast rolls started for dinner. So I made those and some sugar cookie dough, and put the bread dough to rise and the cookie dough to chill while I played around on the computer.
Christmas Lunch/Dinner was at 3 pm. It was quite delicious. (now, should I make Angel super-happy and tell you all what we ate? Ok!) We had a glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls and cooked carrots (are you happy Angel-dear?)
That evening we went over to the Gibson's house for their Christmas Eve party. It was a blast. They filled their school-room table with delicious food. And everyone was in the Christmas Spirit (I feel like Charles Dickens). After a while we went outside to play hide and go seek. There were twelve of use kids, mostly over 12 years old so you can imagine how much fun it was. Even Hannah's 25 year old cousin, Meaghan played. I was really glad that she did. She's a lot of fun. So anyway, we played several games of that.
At one point, Hannah, 'Bekah, Kaitlin, Meaghan and I hid in the old shed in the back. Jake and Billy passed by and saw us go in. They, being the mischievous, kniving, and -any other word I can think of - boys that they are, strolled over to the shed and LOCKED US IN! This may not seem like much to some people, but we were in a small space with 5 people, pretty far away from the house. On top of all of that, I'm a claustraphobic. We were seriously screaming for someone to help us. Finally, the doors open, and the two boys who were 'it' for that game (Zach and Isaac), took advantage of the situation and tagged us all. Wow. Later on Jake and Zach were teasing me, calling me 'Claustrophobic' girl and 'Claustro'. Ok, so other than being locked in the shed (which was rather exciting), we had tons of fun. There's nothing like running for your life in pitch-black woods with a crazed person behind you. Good times...
This morning was fun also. I love watching Ethan open his presents. We've been getting him so excited for Santa Claus, this morning when he woke up he was so nervous as he peeked around the corner to see if Santa left anything in his stocking. He was so shocked when he saw that his stocking was stuffed to bulging, just like magic . God really blessed us this year (doesn't He every year?). I have so many examples in my head of times when God gave us something unexpected and undeserved yet completely appreciated. A couple of days ago, I ran in to the Caswell Parish (the place where I used to be apprenticed), to see if they had any boxes that we could use for shipping. Those wonderful ladies, first of all made me feel super welcome with hugs and telling me how much they missed me. The rooms of the Parish were filled with Christmas donations. They gave me the boxes but before I left Mrs. Deborah ushered me into a room filled with toys. She then proceeded to fill the big boxes I was holding with toys for Ethan. He got toy cars, a train, a car transporter (which he has been wanting for a long time!). We were all touched by the kindness of those at the Parish and the undeserved blessings from God.
I got some wonderful gifts from the family. But most especially I was excited for everyone to open my gifts from them. I finally finished sewing Erin's apron on Saturday, and I so anticipated seeing her face when she opened it. She's been asking for one for a long time.
After opening presents mom made our traditional chip-beef gravy over toast. It sounds weird but it's actually really good. While we ate we played our new game, Apples to Apples.
Later on I watched "How to lose a Guy in 10 Days", and took a nice, long nap. Then for a last Christmas movie we watched Dicken's Christmas Carol.
God bless us, everyone. :)
Merry Christmas!
Trimming the Tree:
Benj fixing the lights on the tree. Something went wrong when we started and the tree lights wouldn't work. So Benj (with Ethan's "help") worked to try to fix them. Finally he did! They were beautiful.
Ethan "helping" find a loose or dead bulb.
Ethan under the Christmas tree. So silly.
This is Erin and I being super cheesy and posing for the camera as she hands me an ornament. Yeah...
Ethan looking into the tree. I think it's the little kids who enjoy the tree the most. The lights, the ornaments, all of it ties together to make something magical.
Showing Ethan how to hang the ornaments on the tree.
Our church group went to Neon Leon's light show together and then afterward headed back to our house for hot chocolate and a movie. We had a ton of fun.
I still have several presents to make before Christmas comes. I tried to make all of my presents, but ended up finding some cute things I wanted to buy for people, so it's a mixture. The weather is kind of chilly outside. I hope it snows. The clouds don't look very hopeful, though. The house is decorated very festively. I love going upstairs and opening our big pink tubs full of decorations. The smell of Christmas wafts out into the house. I try not to put too much emphasis on Chritmas Day, but instead try to enjoy the entire Christmas season. The decorating, the parties, the Christmas tree, those quiet moments, singing Christmas carols. I love all of that.
What's your favorite part of Christmas?
]]>This is a picture I took of our pond in the rain. Aren't the trees gorgeous?
Here are some pictures of life in the past month or so. In late November was Benjamin's birthday. We went to a GW High football game. Once of Benj's friends, Zach, plays on the team and that night was one of the playoffs. We had such a great time.
From left: Mitchell, Benj, Me and Hannah. Ha, I love Mitchel's face in this one, and Benj's too. Benj got distracted by a good football play, you can see it in his eyes. :)
Big smiles all around. It was cold that night, as you can see by our coats, hats, gloves, scarves and blankets.
Back at our house. Crazy people, crazy times, as I'm sure you can see.
Uno...Ethan was so funny, he had his one little card and was trying to hide it from everyone, he wasn't quite sure what to think of this game.
The next morning Isaac and Hannah got to stay a little longer than the rest of the guests (they're siblings). The four of us went 'exploring' in the woods, played on the rafts in the pond and then came back inside for a nice long game of risk. We ended up stopping the game early and Benj and Hannah were tied. Isaac and I seriously lost.
Obviously Isaac did something mean and Benj just HAD to get him back.
The Christmas Program:
Hannah and I all dressed up for the Christmas Cantata.
Hannah, Stephanie O. and I sang "I Believe" by Natalie Grant as a trio with different solos within.
Me, Rachel and Lydia.
Me preparing for my piano prelude. If you look closely you can see my mouth moving in silent prayer, I get so nervous when I play.
Singing in the program.
Stephanie's little sister Sarah played Mary in the Nativity. So cute!
This is the gorgeous sunset that God blessed me with the other day when I was babysitting. He is such an amazing artist. <3 PTL.
]]>"Paul Harvey tells a modern parable about a religious skeptic who worked as a farmer. One raw winter night the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.
Touched, the farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn door for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights and tossed some hay in a corner. But the sparrows, which had scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, hid in the darkness, afraid.
The man tried various tactics to get them into the barn. He laid down a trail of Saltine cracker crumbs to direct them. He tried circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn. Nothing worked. He, a huge alien creature, had terrified them; the birds couldn't comprehend that he actually desired to help them.
The farmer withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit:
If only I could become a bird - one of them - for just a moment. Then I wouldn't frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety.
At the same moment, another thought dawned on him. He had grasped the reason Jesus was born."
-If you're tagged you have to mention 10 quick Thanksgiving memories from yesterday.
-Tag other ppl
-After being tagged be sure to copy and paste the rules into your profile.
1. Playing in the leaves with Benj
2. Singing "For the Beauty of the Earth" as a song of Thanksgiving with the whole family
3. Watching the Walton's and eating cran-berry pecan pie. YUM!
4. Listening to the Christmas radio station for the first time this year. Feliz Navidad!
5. Watching the Thanksgiving Parade on TV.
6. The windy storm right before dinner
7. Going to bed at 12, sharing the full sized, lumpy couch bed with Erin AND Ethan, and only sleeping for about 4 1/2 hours before being awakened for some early morning shopping!
8. Learning Auntie Phee's favorite hymn, "In My Heart There Rings a Melody" and hearing her sing as I play the piano.
9. Spending time with David and Jackie and seeing their wedding pictures
10. Benj and I driving for 30 minutes all over Yancevyille after dark searching for a Danville newspaper so we could get the ads for the Black Friday shopping. Let me tell you, there are NO Danville Newspapers in Yanceyville on Thanksgiving Day after dark.
Good Times. I have lots of pictures from Thanksgiving that I plan on posting also.
If you read this consider yourself TAGGED! I'm sorry to be a party pooper but I think dinner is ready and I have to go. I hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
]]>
The Purity of Men
By Aiden Humphrey-Bungum
Dear Ladies;
I just wanted to take a moment to let you know what a good thing you do when you choose to dress modestly. Christian men can boldly ask Father for help with any problem; but we drag our feet when we need help to overcome lust. Our God is a wonderful Father, He is the Daddy every boy dreams of. It is a man's foremost and sweetest privilege to be one with his Daddy, his Abba, his Father in heaven. How natural it is to turn to Him for every little thing. But how unnatural to turn to the Holy One with the flame of lust.
Not surprisingly, then, one of the world's commonest ways of putting a wedge between a child of God and his Father is to encourage women to dress immodestly. Even after we shut our eyes in prayer, Dear Father, the lurid images linger on, You are Holy, strong and deep drives kick into gear; and so must I be holy, Images replay themselves automatically; this prayer is unworthy of you, forgive me, the man of God, shamed as a beast, lifts his head and says, "I'll ask Him later."
God turned away,
He could not look down on His Son,
Who had become a curse.
Jesus cried,
"My God, My God, why hast Thou Forsaken Me?"
Men are accountable to God to treat women with purity in their hearts. "I am holy," says the Lord. "Be ye holy," says the Lord. How keenly we men sense our lust, and how keenly we sense our Father's holiness, and how keenly we sense our separation from Him. When you choose to dress to impress the Lord, instead of to hook a man's eye, you minister to one of man's deepest needs; the need he has for his Father.
You ladies who choose to dress in this fashion have my highest respect. You have my gratitude; may my Father richly bless you for loving Him enough to respect those He made in His image.
© Copyright 2002-2007 by LAF/BeautifulWomanhood.org
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
Colosians 3:12
]]>It was so awesome! We did better this season that any other season in Storm volleyball history.
GO STORM!
]]>Camp was amazing...
- making new friends - spending time with old friends - everyone cuddling around the campfire - singing hymns - the starry nights - capture the flag after dark - the hike - the view - the fun times - the laughter - the good food - the blue eyes - In Christ Alone - playing piano - doing each other's hair for the tea party - ultimate frisbee - skit night! - sweet spirits - encouragement ministry class - the scavenger hunt - water color class - basketmaking -
I was so blessed that week!
Mary-Grace, a super cute younger girl from my cabin. She had so much personality!
On the hike up to the top of the mountain. From the left (looking at the camera) Rachel, Meredith and Joy. All of those girls were in my cabin and always so super nice.
The girls from my cabin all dressed up for Friday Night's tea party. From left: Rebecca, my other counselor Michelle, Anna, Joy, Rachel, Johanna, Meredith, Bethany and Brooke. So sweet!
Not to mention just a tad bit crazy.
Saturday morning almost time to go. Bethany, Rachel and Meredith (two super sweet sisters) spending some spare moments on the swing outside our cabin.
The tea party! Starting with me and going back to the end of the table and back to the front: Me (of course), Karlyn, Michelle, Rachel, Joy and Amanda.
*Sigh* the view. Isn't it beautiful? The camp was called Mountain Top Youth Camp, and boy was it mountain top. Can you see the shadow that the clouds cast upon the ground?
This is actually the view from the tip top of the mountain after our hike. Of course the picture doesn't do it justice.
All of our bags ready to go on Saturday morning! So sad!
"Hello down there!" A couple of us girls hangin' out on a balcony.
]]>Yes, I was in Cabin #1
Bethany :)
Me and a different Bethany eating outside on the porch. As you can tell from our thick hoodies and red noses it was COLD that day. The weather there was so strange. The first half of the week it was so hot I wished I'd brought some more t-shirts, the second half was so cold I wished that I'd brought more hoodies and warm pants!
Caitlin being silly. Hannah is on her left (turning away) and Bethany on the right. I was so sad that none of my friends were in my cabin, but I ended up making some good friends in good ole cabin 1.
I know Caitlin is going to absolutely LOVE me for putting this picture on the world wide web. Love you to Caity-poo. <3
Grace and Rebeckah Hendry. They came with their mom on Friday, she was the speaker for that day's session.
Lunch on the porch. We loved eating out there. The view was breathtaking! From left on the first row: Kayleigh, Rachel M., Beth Nell and Karlyn. The back row from left are: Bethany and Samantha.
The gorgeous sunset as seen from the porch.
Another pretty sunset.
Kayleigh and I. She was in my cabin.
Rachel H.and I. She and I had a blast together. We were in watercolors and encouragment ministry class together.
Rebecca B. and I. She was also in my cabin, she was so nice and fun.
We had to paint this in watercolors.
Here is my unpainted attempt.
Rachel on the hike. Candid Camera!
From left: Joy and Rachel, they are sisters and both from my cabin.
Rebeckah and her art. She drew that in like 10 minutes while Mrs. Hendry told us a story about it during the "Chalk Talk" on Friday.
My counselor Stephanie all dressed up for the tea party on Friday.
Johanna at the tea party. She was so kind and such a blessing to have in my cabin! I am so glad to have met her!
Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
]]>Kimberly and Zackary are coming tomorrow and are staying for a week!
Volleyball tournament on Saturday!
A much longer post coming hopefully tomorrow.
Volleyball: This season is my 3rd year of Storm home-school volleyball. It's been quite an experience and each year is so different! My first year I was just trying to get my serves over the net and figure out how to pass the ball over the net without hitting it way out of bounds, I had no idea how to set or overhand serve. My second year, we started without a coach and a couple of the moms and my sister, Erin, helped out until Mrs. Clayton became our coach. I struggled with my overhand serve and still had a lot of work to do on everything else. However, Mrs. Clayton must have seen some potential through all of my mistakes and mishaps and she made me team captain. I was super excited at first and even a little nervous from all the responsibility that came along with the title. The pressure grew when I realized that one of the girls absolutely hated me because of being captain and she did everything she could to make me feel insignificant and small. The year ended with Coach Clayton in Guatemala in the process of adopting two adorable babies and the rest of us coming in third place at the State Tournament. Year 3: This is the year still in progress. Thankfully, Mrs. Clayton is coach again and helping her is Mrs. Taylor, the associate pastor's wife of my old church. We are working on new rotations 6-2 and 4-2. The majority of the girls can overhand serve. Caitlin R. and I are setters. And we have several new players, which is awesome. Mrs. Clayton asked me to be captain this year and Hannah M. to be co-captain. We have so much fun in practice. Everyone seems to get along really well. Last night we won our first game!! It was so exciting! We've worked really hard and it hasn't been easy getting used to the rotations and such. Please be in prayer for us as we continue playing that we will work together as a team and that our attitudes will be Christlike in all that we do.
School: At this point Volleyball takes up a large piece of my life (I have either practice or a game on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) and I work two days a week so I don't have too many subjects at this point. I'm in Algebra 1 and 2 (it's kind of mixed) which I highly dislike but must be done, Chemistry with dad (which is fun), Bible (I'm doing a Beth Moore study on Daniel which is very fascinating) and office (which is the same as my work). I do the best I can to fit it all in my schedule but gone is the time when I didn't have to do school on Saturdays, the Science test needs to be studied for and if Saturday is the only day I have availible then so be it. Speaking of which I do have a test that needs studying and I'm kind of behind on my Daniel study so I better hurry and finish this post and get to work!
Work: I work Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-1 in the morning/afternoon at the Parish. I'm basically the gopher who does the things that no one else has time for. My mom spoke to the Executive Director of the Parish (who also happens to be a friend of ours, I'm her babysitter) about me working there and how it would be part of my school so instead of taking an office course at the community college I take a real life "course" at the Parish. Anna Lisa (the executive director) has taught me lots of things regarding office. I've taken inventories, used excel for many different forms, learned about sales tax etc. It's certainly been an experience I don't think I'll ever forget.
Church: Ah, church, my sweet little country church with the white steeple and stained glass windows. I love going there. The pastors son's: Richard, Johnathan, Benjamin and my brother, Ben and I have started a praise band there. Two Sundays ago we played a medley for the intro and also led the congregation in a singing round for the Special Music. I sometimes play the piano for the service which has really been great, I don't get as nervous as I used to when I have to play. We have a great youth group, a great pastor and great people. We have Youth on a Mission and Youth Choir on Sunday nights and a Genesis Study for youth on Wednesday nights. Erin, Mom and I go to a Ladies Bible study on Monday nights and Women on a Mission once a month on Monday nights.
Life: Well, there's my update, as you can see life's been pretty crazy lately, but isn't that how it is for all of us? It must be a rule somewhere that when you hit 11th grade life just goes bizerk until you retire.
I'll leave you with a verse that I remember for volleyball:
Ok, so I have been officially tagged by Mary:
Here it goes:
The Rules:
1. I have to post the rules before I give the facts.
2. Each player starts with 10 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their 10 things) and post these rules. (**If you're a non-blogger, you can email them!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to chose 10 people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog
The Facts:
1. Single hairs seriously gross me out. If there's a hair in my food, I gag and can't eat it anymore. If there's a hair on me (especially on wet hands) I freak out.
2. I play Volleyball and love it!
3. I love Caramel Frappacuinos!!
4. I'm afraid of being upside down. So I've never been able to dive or do somersaults (sad...huh?).
5. I love to make up random sayings with my friends. At camp last year they made an Elisa Dictionary of all the silly (and often stupid) sayings that I've said.
6. My middle finger (on my left hand if you're wondering) is four inches long
7. A couple years ago my I broke my second toe on my right foot and the toe completely bent over my big toe. I got it fixed but my toe is still rather deformed and crosses over my big toe when I bend them.
8. I have braces with pink bands and white elastics. Next time I think I'll get the same because I really like the color against my teeth. (hey...you said random)
9. On both feet my second toe is longer than my first, and the second toe is 2 inches long. (wow I'm really stuck on the toe thing...)
10. I absolutely adore thunder storms. Especially at night. (I'm sure Charity agrees with me)
Ok, I'll tag: Alex, Ben, Mom, Kimberly, Brandi, Mrs. Rauscher, Bethany, Caitlin, Jen and Maddi.
Then let's see...today I just kind of hung around the house. I did math, cut out quilt squares, listened to a talk on CD, worked on crochet, watched Auto-B-good with Ethan and worked on planning the VB sleepover. Then tonight we had Bible Study at church. It was so much fun!! Mrs. Bonnie did a great job teaching us she always takes time to make things extra interesting and gives us things to look at (for the visual learners like me). Afterwards we played Sardines and football. Good times...:)
Anyway, now I'm off to bed to be ready for another super-busy day tomorrow!! I love you all!
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Then, yesterday mom and Erin gave me breakfast in bed (a family tradition). They made French toast and Mom arranged a little vase of flowers for my bedside table. It was very pretty. Another birthday tradition in our family is that the birthday girl or boy doesn't have to do any chores on their birthday (only clean up their own messes) so I was free to enjoy my day doing whatever I wanted to. I had an orthodontist appointment in Greensboro and usually after the appt. we go to Barnes and Noble to get coffee and read books. Mom was going to buy me a frapacuinno but the cafe was closed. I also got several e-cards and birthday cards from friends and family. Stephanie called to wish me a Happy Birthday and my Great Auntie Phee also called to sing Happy birthday to me. It was very special. Then that night we had Bible Study at church. There were less people than usual. I had already talked to mom and dad and we had decided (or so I thought) that I wasn't going to get a birthday cake on the 8th, because I would get one at my party in a couple of weeks. So I wasn't expecting anything when Erin and Ethan arrived through the side door of the kitchen when the study was almost over. Then after we were finished with the Bible Study Mrs. Bonnie led everyone in singing happy birthday to me. It was so fun. I think it must have been to much for the guys because they started wrestling with each other during the song and pushing each other down. lol. Then Mom pulled out two cakes a chocolate one that said (in pink icing) "Happy Birthday Elisa" and a yellow cake which said "Sweet 16" with two little pink flowers on the sides. Benj had made and decorated them while we were at my orthodontist appointment! So we ate cake and the adult choir came in from practicing and sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was such a nice surprise. So that was my birthday. Now I am 16.
Well, Benj has been gone for 2 weeks. He went to Tennessee for a mini-mester at a Christian college down there. He only called us twice (both times only asking for money) so I'm pretty sure he had a good time.
Anyway, I think they just got back (from picking up Benj) so I'm going to run downstairs to say hi.
Tootles!
]]>
Me and Caitlin on skit night.
Breakfast!
Two super-sweet girls from my cabin: (from left) Emma and Sinclaire
Caitlin and I on modesty Monday. Your goal was to show as little skin as possible. Wow we look really great.
Camp was really great. I took a CIT (counselor in training) class so hopefully I'll be going back either next week or next May. I had a great time with my old friends and made some new friends. Wednesday's worship was really amazing. The speaker was very insightful. It was very cold (surprisingly) and for two days we all wore pants and jackets and slept shivering under the covers. Other than that (and a couple of overly-competative boys) it was great! God certainly blessed me with a good week.
I won't be on the computer all week because starting tomorrow I'm taking one week off of computer. It'll be hard but I can do it. :) Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Elisa
]]>On Friday morning Benj, Erin and I went to the NCHE homeschool conference. I went to some great classes. One of them was called "The Real Beauty Workshop". When I first heard that I imagined that someone was going to go up on stage and start telling me about how my true beauty comes from the inside etc. etc. That's wonderful stuff, but that's not what they talked about in this class. The speaker, Shari Braendel talked about modesty, your colors (kind of like the seasons thing), body shape and make-up. It was so much fun! I went to other workshops too and looked around in the book fair. Benj bought me a coffee at Starbucks. We had a very nice (and busy!) day. We had to leave early, though, we zoomed home (1 1/2 hour drive) to quickly change and grab a bite to eat before Erin, mom and I went to our Beth Moore Bible Study with the ladies of our church.We got home a little late and I went straight to bed.
Saturday morning Erin and I went to the conference again. I purchased some music at the book-fair. A patriotic piece and a music book/cd with tons of classical songs on it. At lunch she and I talked to a 25ish year old Mennonite man and asked him some questions about his denomination. He was very bubbly (can I use that word to describe a guy?). I normally imagine a mennonite as someone standing in the corner quietly with their hands in their pockets but he was very friendly. We left kind of early because we were super tired and there weren't any classes that we really wanted to go to. At home I only got a 30 minute nap before I went outside to help Dad and Benj fix up the fire-pit for our party on Monday. After about an hour or so I went inside and made a tart for the Keepers Banquet and got freshened up. The Keepers Banquet was wonderful. This may be my last year as a Keeper, but the leaders asked me if I could teach a couple of projects next year. I'm looking forward to it! For those of you who don't know, Keepers is a club where young ladies get together and learn different crafts and homemaking skills. I love it. We at a potluck and had some nice fellowship. The leaders passed out badges and certificates and we Keepers quoted our scripture memory: Matthew 6. It was a very nice evening.
Ah, but the evening doesn't end there! We left pretty soon after the banquet ended and Benj and I changed into our swing dancin' clothes and headed over to Catherine's Sweet 16 birthday party! We were late (because of the banquet) so when we got there they were all playing the limbo. I seriously lost. lol. The rest of the night was filled with swing dancing, water balloons, laughter and tons of fun! I wish I'd gotten pictures, but just take my word for it, we had a blast!
Sunday was church, very relaxing. I took a nap. God definitely knew what He was doing when He appointed a day of rest for us. We need it!
Monday morning we got ready for our Memorial Day potluck! We had invited the entire church. Benj and I had to put up this tent/net thing which took forever, we gathered food, swept porches and cleaned the house until about 2. Dad and I played horseshoes for a little while, then the Sawyers came and we all went down to the pond for a swim. Soon more people came, by the end of the day we had the Sawyers, Gibsons, O'Mally's, Wrights and the Stiles'. We had previously built some rafts to float in our pond and the kids put these to good use. We played king/queen of the raft. It was SO much fun! I have so many bruises on my legs and arms, but it was worth it. We had dinner, good fellowship, and lots of laughs! To soon people started to leave and finally the Gibson kids, the O'Mally kids and the Abele kids sat around the campfire just talking (all the s'more stuff was long gone). After a while the Gibsons left and Benj got his guitars. Stephanie, Kevin and Benj all played guitar under the stars. Good times. The afternoon was such a blessing from the Creator, He knows His children crave fellowship with other Christians, and He has certainly given it to us in abundance!
On Tuesday, around 7 (after the morning meeting) Erin got a call that her chicks had arrived at the post office in Hillsboro. I said I'd go with here, so there we were, barely out of our pajamas driving for 30 minutes to pick up some chicks. They are so cute. Ethan absolutely loved seeing them. I'll post some videos later. We taught him how to gently pick them up and he's been doing a great job
Thursday was volleyball practice. The first part of practice (the conditioning) is always the hardest. After a few minutes, though, my adrenaline was pumping and I was ready to go! We worked hard! I love practice, though. Those girls are awesome. After practice we were going to take Stephanie home and we stopped at McDonalds for lunch. The Rauschers and the Claytons arrived too! Fun! We stayed there for like 1 1/2 hours just talking and eating.
Well, that was pretty much my week! My cup runneth over with wonderful friends, family and good times.
]]>Isn't he cute?
]]>This morning Benj, mom and I went to Alamance community college to get a tour and some information on dual enrollment. It looks really nice, like a real university. I know some of you might bristle at this, but it's way nicer than PCC. Then we had brunch at Cracker Barrel and headed home. I did school and mowed the lawn. There's nothing that makes you feel more country than sitting on the top of a John Deere with Sweet Home Alabama blaring through your i-pod. :)
Ta-ta, till we meet again my dah-lings.
]]>
By Elisabeth Doornink
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Two temples stood in the Valley of the Lord. They had been built in a fine way, every beam beautifully hewn, with every stone gently and exactly placed. The workmanship was seamless, the building materials fine. White marble ornamented the front façade, and beams of cedar held up the roof. Nothing could be said about their defects in build, for they had none. They were beautiful, perfect in the eyes of their Architect.
But there was one distinction. The caretakers of each temple, while both served the Lord of the Valley, had adorned them vastly unalike.
The caretaker of the first temple hung fine, light-colored tapestries on the walls, beautiful in weave, and not a tear could be found on them. Fine plants grew around the walls, and not a weed could be seen. The paint was fresh, and the roof was recently cleaned. The floor was neatly scrubbed. Wonderful words of praise came through the doors, and when evil sounds passed by, the windows were shut. Nothing evil passed near the temple and entered it, for it was barred by the owner.
The caretaker of the second temple let briars grow up around the temple, that being the style in those days. The tapestries that hung on the walls were dark, cheap, and full of holes. The paint was gaudy and peeling. The roof had moss growing on it, and the floor was muddy. Words of spite and cursing came through the doors, and when sounds of evil passed by, the windows were thrown open. Evil things passed by, and while most of them left, some of them were allowed in. Stark and ugly paintings sprawled across the walls.
Each temple plan had been made by the Lord of the Valley, and he had built them. But when the caretaker of the first temple had adorned his, he strove to decorate it in a fashion which was honoring and glorifying to the Lord of the Valley. The second caretaker had simply decorated like the temples out of the Valley of the Lord, not striving to adorn the temple in a way honoring of the Lord he served. Both of the owners served the Lord of the Valley but cared for their temples very differently.
One wanted to glorify his Master; one wanted to be the way the world wanted him to be.
These temples are vastly different. Is your temple most like the first or the second? With which do you think Lord of the Valley would be more pleased with?
Is it more important to be please the world or to please the Master?
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"
1 Corinthians 6:19
My Adorable nephew is in Georgia this weekend. I miss him! :)
]]>Wow, Charity...love the expression!
Close-up of Caitlin...and me making a strange face in the background
Crazy girls!
Caitlin and Bethany playing Taboo
Well, that's all for today. :) Love to you all!
]]>On Friday our work consisted of raking dirt (to smooth out all of the dirt piles), planning gardens, planting plants, covering the gardens with plastic and then putting mulch on top of that. We also put plastic under the porches to catch water. It was nice and cool under those porches, so usually after we were done putting down the plastic we would all lay down and rest until we were called to do something else. On Friday we raked and shoveled gravel on their paths and driveways until it was 4 inches deep all around. Then right before lunch we picked up some trash that had come from the houses. I found some pieces of plates, some children's coloring pages and a page of the Bible.
Left: a piece of metal that had pierced through a tree. Right: My dad's work team, from left: Brennon, Mitchell, Ben, Isaac and my Dad.
This is our team. It's pretty blurry, but let's see if I can idenify everyone. Left Back row: Nathan, Mr. Hacking, Brennen, Mitchell, Nick, Ben, Mr. Hammock, Mr. Sawyer (i.e. the slave driver ), Pastor Wright. Kneeling Middle Row: Me, Mrs. Vernon, Hannah, Isaac, Richard and Cody. Front: Mrs. Hopkins, Mrs. Hacking, Rebecca, Benjamin, Matt, Jonathan, Daniel and my Dad.
I have some funny stories to tell too, but they'd only be funny if I told you in person. I'll just say that the weekend was full of fun times and laughter. God has blessed me with some dear friends in my new youth group.
God certainly blessed this mission trip. You always hear, "I went on the mission trip to bless others, but ended up being blessed myself!" And it sounds a little silly, but I've gotta tell you, it's true.
Well, I won't be posting or commenting for a while, I'm going to the Senate Page Program tomorrow and I won't get back till Thursday. So I hope you all have a good week.
]]>
The Hair-Catching Experience
Last Friday Erin and I had gone to Danville to go shopping for the Senate Page Program. I went into the Christian Bookstore to get a Brio magazine and while I was standing in line I saw Catherine walking out the door. She was walking so fast, and by the time I saw her, and was sure that it was her she was gone. :( Anyway, later we got a burger and went to Marshalls. (Catherine, did you go to that Subway by Marshalls on Friday? 'Cause I think I may have seen you in there...) Erin wanted to run into Wachovia to pay her car payment, and Ethan and I were going to wait in the car while Ethan finished his burger. I started to crave my Reeses that was in the trunk in Erin's car, so I popped the trunk and ran around to the back of the car to get it. I bent over and grabbed the Reeses. As I began to stand up I felt a tug on my hair. I jerked it...jerk...jerk...what is going on? My hair was caught (very tightly) on the trunk door lid/latch thing! I reached up and tried to untangle it, but to no avail. Here I was in a rather busy parking lot, with my hair caught tightly and me struggling to release it. Erin was a ways across the parking lot so I called to her and she walked back (laughing at me all the way) and came and untangled me. It was aweful! However, the taste of chocolatey peanut butter consoled me. :)
Pronounced: Dead...ALIVE?!?
The other day mom cleaned out the fish tank, but wasn't sure how to get them out of the tank. (she had just had her surgery a couple of days before) So she poured the fish into a different bowl and set the bowl by the sink as she proceeded to clean out the tank. Seeing that she just had surgery, she started to feel tired and lay on the couch to take a nap. About an hour later, mom asked Erin to put the fish in the tank and Erin saw that there were only 2 fish in the bowl (we had three). She looked around for the missing fish and...alas...there he was (Carrots was his name), lying in the sink drain. Erin prounounced him dead, and put the other fish into the tank and took it to place it on the table. About this time, my curiosity got the best of me, so, using the back of the spoon I prodded the fish a bit to see what would happen. He flapped his fins and wiggled his tail. I screamed and jumped back. After a little bit of chaos ("Elisa...put him in the water" "I can't...it's freaky" "Put it in the bowl!" "Nooo!") I put the fish into the bowl of dirty fish water. He survived! Carrots is a little scratched up, but alive and well. I feel like calling It's a Miracle and Miracle Pets. Hehe...
]]>I decided to finally post Florida pics!! :)
In the Car:
Benj and I look like we escaped from an insane asylum in the middle pic, and I look like a cartoon character with a humungous forhead in the picture on the left.
These pics were taken only after like 4 or 5 hours of driving!
South of the Border:
The picture above is one of my favorites.
Who but my brother?
This is one of my favorite pics :)
Get 'm hippo!
After all this driving we finally reached Florida. I decided that I love Florida. It's so pretty! We stopped at a little orange store and walked through the orchard and bought a lot of oranges and some fresh squeezed orange juice.
The next day we visited the Semchucks. I have known them since, well, probably since I was born. When I went to Private School in Utah, the Semchucks went to. They moved to Florida about the same time we moved to NC.
From Left: Sam, Ben, Sherry, Grace and Sarah
We had such a nice time with them. I felt so welcome and comfortable. We went to their huge church for youth group that night, it was a blast!
The next day (Monday) I finally met my Aunt and cousins:
The left picture is of Denver (he's 8) and on the right is Anthony (13).
This is my cousin Mary (she's the mom of Denver and Anthony) and her daughter Angel. Angel did look like a real angel, so pretty in her cute little pink dress and blonde curls. We went to the Gulf of Mexico and when she stepped into the water she held up her little skirt so it wouldn't get wet. :) The Gulf was really neat. It definitely wasn't like the Atlantic (there were very few, little waves). It was very pretty, with the white sand and palm trees. The boys (Denver and Anthony), Benj and I played a football game on the beach, that was fun. After that we went to Pizza Hut where we were able to get to know everyone, Anthony and Denver are funny guys. I'm glad they're my cousins. :)
Pretty Angel.
We drove up to Jacksonville that evening and visited my other cousin, Tiffany and her husband and chidren. The two girls, Desire and Summer were really nice, everyone was! We played ping-pong, pool and other fun games on their little table. I think I connected more with Desire, she and I just laughed and laughed. :)
The next day we drove home! But on the way we stopped at the Atlantic ocean. When I saw it I thought, "ahh...this is what an ocean is supposed to look like". Crashing waves, seagulls...
I call the picture on the right, the Love Birds. I was running around taking pictures and I look over and there's my parents, aww... :)
Benj and I ran from the waves.
Then we went to a gorgeous state park where Benj was chasing me on the beach. He said I ran farther than he thought I could before getting tired, "I didn't know you were so in shape." He said, I'm wondering...is that a compliment or should I be offended? :)
Then we stopped in Savannah, Georgia. What a beautiful town! We went to the historic district and walked around. We went into a candy shop, where I tasted the most delicious praline! And then we went to lunch where I tasted my first tuna steak, I think I might be in love...with fish. Hm...not good. But it was great spending time with the family. The drive home seemed much longer than the drive there...but we finally returned home. It's great to go, but it's always wonderful to come home.
]]>Selah
When I am down, and oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence
Until You come and sit awhile with me
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up—to more than I can be
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up—to more than I can be
There is no life—no life without its hunger
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly
But when you come and I am filled with wonder
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up—to more than I can be
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up—to more than I can be
Please be in prayer for my mom. She went into surgery at 7:15 this morning. It's pretty routine, but she still needs prayer. She's getting her left thyroid removed in her neck. Please pray that the doctor's hands will be steady and not damage her vocal chords and that there will be no swelling. God bless!
]]>This was the gorgeous sunrise God blessed us with as we drove to Florida
]]>By Jaci Velasquez
Lord, you know my heart
And all my desires
And the secret things I’ll never tell.
Lord, you know them well.
Though I may be young,
I see and understand
That at times, like sheep, we go astray
And things get out of hand.
So I promise to be true to you,
To live my life in purity
As unto you, waiting for the day
When I hear you say,
"Here is the one I have created
Just for you."
Until then, O lord
I will be content
Knowing that true love will come someday.
It will only come from You.
’cause I have seen the suffering
That loneliness can cause
When we choose to give our love away
Without a righteous cause.
So I promise to be true to you,
To live my life in purity
As unto you, waiting for the day
When I hear you say,
"Here is the one I have created
Just for you."
P.S. Florida pictures coming soon!
]]>We're going to Florida this weekend. Leaving at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Please pray for safe travel, and that we'll have a nice time.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
Psalm 139 : 9 - 10
Hangin' with the girlies at McD's was like a blossom on a cloudy day. (sorry...bad poetry)
It was so refreshing just to hang out, laugh and enjoy being friends.
]]>1. Send a card. Show someone you care by taking the time to pick out a card, write a note and mail it.
2. Leave a message. When no one’s home, leaving a fun message for a friend could be just the thing to brighten her day. Play a favorite song or try singing a tune through the phone. This will be sure to make her smile.
3. Work for free. Choose a family in your church or neighborhood for whom you can offer an evening of free baby-sitting. Most parents will appreciate an opportunity to spend a few hours on their own.
4. Encourage. Tell your siblings what you appreciate about each of them. It might be your sister’s joyful spirit, sense of humor, intelligence, wisdom, servant’s heart or even the energy she has for life. Everybody needs affirmation.
5. Lend a helping hand. Youth leaders do a lot to make youth group gatherings happen. Show appreciation for your youth leaders by offering to make photocopies, plan a game or set up before a meeting.
6. Smile. Facial expressions say a lot about a person. When you smile and show your joy in the Lord, other people will wonder what you’re so happy about. You might even have the opportunity to tell them about Christ.
7. Listen. Your friend will see that you find value in her and what she has to say.
8. Treat. Organize a thank-you breakfast for a teacher you appreciate. You and your classmates can cover the cost.
9. Decorate. There doesn’t have to be a special occasion to decorate a friend’s locker or bedroom. Show her she’s special by hanging streamers, creating encouraging signs and adding balloons. Before the fun begins, get permission from the school administration or her parents.
10. Do the dirty work. The chore I most disliked while growing up was washing the dishes. Whenever my mom found me scrubbing pots and pans without her asking, she knew it was my way of expressing love and appreciation for her. Make a person feel special by doing something you’d rather not.
11. Applaud. Go to a sibling’s game, community play or band concert and cheer him on.
12. Call. Do you have a close friend who lives in a different state? Get your parents’ permission to call her and catch up. She’ll definitely appreciate you thinking of her.
13. Be available. When someone’s had a bad day, she might not want your advice. Show her you care by acknowledging what she’s going through and just being there for her.
14. Fix some soup. Take care of your parents when they’re sick. Ask what you can do to keep the household running smoothly while they’re recovering.
15. Journal. Create a journal for a friend filled with entries about fun times you’ve shared, Bible verses that will encourage her and quotes that will challenge her.
16. Make time. Life can get very busy. So, set aside a specific time to spend with someone you care about.
17. Hug. A simple embrace can go a long way to help someone feel loved.
18. Be trustworthy. If your friend can trust you with what she shares, then she’s sure to feel important to you.
19. Create. Anything you create especially for someone else will show you care. For your parents, take photos of you and your siblings and create a collage for them to hang at the office or home.
20. Pray. Sometimes we tell people we’re going to pray for them, but later forget. Instead, pray with someone right when she mentions the request. Then follow up later to see how things are going.
Have a Happy Valentines Day everyone!!
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1. Grab bobby pins and colorful clips to create a new way of styling your hair.
2. Treat yourself to trying something new: guitar lessons, pottery classes, join a Bible study.
3. Give of yourself this Valentine's Day. Hang out with family, visit nursing home residents, shovel snow off your neighbor's driveway.
4. Eat garlic and onion pizza without worrying about your breath.
5. Set your mind completely on homework, your weekend job, your chores and - most important - your relationship with God!
6. Wear your favorite pair of shoes to a special occasion, even if they make you taller than the guys.
7. Stock up on at-home pedicure supplies and treat your feet.
8. Watch a chick flick.
9. Send a valentine to your mom or dad.
10. Write a poem.
11. Offer to baby-sit for your parents or a neighbor couple who may want to have a date night.
12. When you're your own valentine, there are fewer worries.
13. Remember God's timing is always perfect. It really, truly is! And if you need proof, check out Habakkuk 2:3.
14. Perfect your foosball, pingpong or pool skills. You don't have to hold back like you might if you were letting a guy win. Let your full potential soar!
15. Take a jog, hit the gym or walk your dog around the block.
16. Come up with fun nicknames for your friends.
17. Hang out with the ultimate guy in your life - Jesus!
18. Find a tourist attraction in your town to attend with your family.
19. Got a zit on your forehead? Who cares?
20. When you're happy being single, you're able to set high standards for the kind of guy you'd like to go out with someday.
21. Watch a sad movie and have a good cry.
22. Ask God for an opportunity to talk about your relationship with Him to someone who doesn't have one.
23. Building lots of good relationships with girls and guys is way more healthy than spending every waking second with one particular person.
24. Don't sit by the phone. Call a good friend and chat about life.
25. Get rid of the clutter. It's amazing what a clean and creatively decorated room will do to your spirit.
26. Talk to your parents about dating and courtship.
27. Hit the mall with your girlfriends and take your time deciding between lilac and sky-blue nail polish.
28. Let your creative juices flow and put together a totally outrageous outfit. Check out thrift stores to create cheap, modest and trendy combinations.
29. Tell the truth to yourself and to others. Being genuine is a quality your family, friends
and your future romantic interests will appreciate.
30. Don't settle for being like everyone else!
31. Put money toward a gift for a sponsored child in another country.
32. Write a letter to your future husband. Write a love letter to Jesus
33. Test perfumes at a local department store.
34. Write your own children's book! What are you waiting for? Get cranking!
35. Enjoy a Coke.
36. Catch up on some bonding time with your mom or sister or long-lost friend from camp.
37. Tell your siblings how much you love them.
38. Find an older single Christian woman and invite her to have coffee and conversation.
39. Plan a slumber party for your younger sister or a younger girl in your youth group.
40. Start a band with your girlfriends!
41. Send the Brio staff a valentine and chocolate.
42. Spend a Friday evening with a bowl of popcorn, a bottle of Snapple and The Princess Bride. (This one's for Catherine )
43. Fill your diary with dreams, goals and answers to prayer.
44. Give a Brio or Brio & Beyond subscription to a friend.
45. Create your own board game. Hey, it was probably a woman without a guy who created Candy Land and Sorry!
46. It's way cool to be able to check the oil in your car all by yourself.
47. Try a food you've never eaten.
48. Pull out the sewing machine and make that skirt and top you've had your eye on.
49. Hey, you could even design your own pattern!
50. Get involved in church. Consider helping in the nursery, teaching the kindergarten Sunday school class or visiting a senior citizen who hasn't been able to attend in a while.
51. Spend Sunday night watching “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
52. Enjoy Saturday morning and sleep in.
53. Narrow down your college choices.
54. Be a friend to the girl in the hallway who is talking about her disastrous relationship; you can lend a caring ear.
55. God has big summer plans for you! Hey, maybe you'll head overseas on a life-changing missions adventure! (Check out the Brio missions adventure.)
56. Get permission to have your hair cut in a different style or even highlighted.
57. Enjoy a brownie topped with chocolate ice cream, doused in chocolate chips and hot fudge served with a cup of hot chocolate.
58. Crank up your fave girl bands on your stereo.
59. Be intentional about spending time with someone you haven't talked to in a while.
60. Hum the tune that keeps floating around in your head without feeling self-conscious.
61. Start a conversation with the person behind you while waiting in line.
62. Be silent.
63. Gather all the stuff no one uses anymore and have a giant garage sale. Then use the moola to do something nice for someone else.
64. Set goals: Ace trig, make the honor roll, start on the girls' varsity b-ball team.
65. Create your own brand-new recipe for mouth- watering chocolate chip cookies.
66. Write down five reasons you like being a girl.
67. Finish your steak and eat your loaded baked potato.
68. Think of the variety of photographs you can surround yourself with! Take lots of pictures and create some fun frames to put them in. The craft store is calling your name.
69. Enjoy comfy clothes.
70. Save money toward a car, your college education or a summer trip.
71. Have you been to the library lately? There are rows and rows of books there that'll pique your interest and send your mind and imagination into the lives of people from past and present. Find out more about other cool women such as Amy Carmichael and Corrie ten Boom.
72. Offer to go out of your way for someone.
73. Take a catnap with your cat.
74. Church, school, hockey games, Christian concerts, girlfriends . . . at this point in life, who really has time for a guy?
75. You're free to wear the jacket of your choice without feeling like you should be wearing his.
76. Put money toward stocking the fridge and cupboards at your house with fun, healthy snack foods for you and your siblings.
77. Find fun quotes or thought-provoking Scripture verses to post in your locker.
78. Take into account how you spend your time each day. Is there something you need to give up or add to become all God desires for you?
79. Enjoy controlling the TV remote!
80. Decide now what your boundaries for purity will be.
81. Hang out with your guy friends. Join them for basketball or even a video game after school.
82. Show your true colors. Learn how to apply makeup in a flattering way. Talk to your parents for permission.
83. Remember how you've been wanting to redecorate your room? Now's your chance.
84. Start your Christmas shopping early. Hey, in one month all the winter stuff will be 60 percent off!
85. Be spontaneous.
86. Be a godly girlfriend. Maintain those friendships God has blessed you with. Write an e-mail or even send a card to those special girlfriends in your life.
87. Enjoy your Twix. You can eat both candy bars yourself. (Or a bag of Reeses, s'more stuff...and pickles...)
88. Compliment someone you don't know.
89. Create a fun dinner for your family. Get your siblings involved in coming up with a theme, picking out the food and maybe even dressing up for the occasion.
90. Share your most embarrassing moment.
91. Get involved in your youth group: Start a drama team, join the worship band, be intentional about getting new people involved.
92. Check out that part-time job you've been dying to get.
93. Have you always wanted to try your hand at watercolors? Get out the paints and go for it!
94. Memorize 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.
95. After you've memorized the above Scripture, get some adhesive paper and create your own bumper sticker based on this verse.
96. Laugh really hard at a great joke or hilarious movie scene. You can laugh so hard that you snort and you don't have to be embarrassed about it.
97. Create your own TV sitcom. Just ask permission to borrow the video camera.
98. Try to find five interesting topics to talk about with friends that have nothing to do with boys. Asking open- ended questions of your friends is a great way to get them to talk.
99. Make a list of books you want to read, find a comfy chair and begin.
100. Tell yourself, "I can't help it that I'm wonderful because of my wonderful Creator."
101. Nothing's more attractive than a confident single gal who truly loves Jesus and feels secure in who He's created her to be.
Which ones do you girlies want to do this Valentines Day?
]]>
On Saturday morning we made BIG pancakes!!
Ok, take a big bite!
Filthy hands...no...don't touch me!!
Then we went upstairs to play dress-up...
CUTE!!
A man is driving down the road and his car breaks down near a monastery.
He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down.
Do you think I could stay the night?"
The Monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car.
As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. A sound not like
anything he's ever heard before.
The Sirens that nearly seduced Odysseus into crashing his ship comes to his mind.
He doesn't sleep that night. He tosses and turns trying to figure out what could possibly be making such a seductive sound.
The next morning, he asks the Monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a Monk."
Distraught, the man is forced to leave.
Years later, after never being able to forget that sound, the man goes back to the monastery and pleads for the answer again.
The Monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a Monk."
The man says, "If the only way I can find out what is making that beautiful sound is to become a Monk, then please, make me a Monk."
The Monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of grains of sand. When you find these answers, you will have become a Monk."
The man sets about his task.
After years of searching he returns as a gray-haired old man and knocks on the door of the monastery. A Monk answers. He is taken before a gathering of all the Monks.
"In my quest to find what makes that beautiful sound, I traveled the earth and have found what you asked for: By design, the world is in a state of perpetual change. Only God knows what you ask. All a man can know is himself, and only then if he is honest and reflective and willing to strip away self deception."
The Monks reply, "Congratulations. You have become a Monk. We shall now show you the way to the mystery of the sacred sound.
The Monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is beyond that door."
The Monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone.
The man is given the key to the stone door and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby.
And so it went that he needed keys to doors of emerald, pearl and diamond.
Finally, they come to a door made of solid gold. The sound has become very clear and definite. The Monks say, "This is the last key to the last door."
The man is apprehensive to no end. His life's wish is behind that door!
With trembling hands, he unlocks the door, turns the knob, and slowly pushes the door open. Falling to his knees, he is utterly amazed to discover the source of that haunting and seductive sound......
But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a Monk.
]]>
On the 13th, Westwood had a Women's Conference. In one of the breaks some of the girls decided to go outside and play on the playground. Even though we were supposed to be acting like ladies. *wink*
Uhh...Catherine, you know those swings aren't for big girls...right?
Beautiful Bethany. :)
I'm not so sure about this pic. I think I was trying to be like a secret agent or something as I tried to kick Catherine and jump out of the swing at the same time...it ended in...uhh...tragedy.
The gals at Charity's swing dance party, from left: Bianca, Catherine, Caitlin, Charity, Me, Sarah-Marie, Bethany, Rachel and Alison.
And these are the *ehem* tough guys. From left: Ben, Caleb, Matt?, Chris and Josh.
Random Pic of Ethan with multiple binkies in his mouth. So cute! :)
Wow, what a week this has been.
On Thursday, as you all know, it snowed. One of my favorite things is to wake up to a fresh snowfall. Glancing out the window and *SURPRISE* everything is coated in a fluffy white blanket. Then I like to bundle up and go outside to sit on the porch, and listen to the silence. I love those times, snow is just so magical.
However, Thursday didn't really produce much snow. Not even enough to cover the grass, but we Ethan, Erin, Benj and I still bundled up to go for a walk. I don't know what it is with my family, but we always go for walks in the worst weather! (or worst in most people's opinions) The other day it began to pour rain, so, of course, I took Ethan and we went on a walk. I'm pretty sure I get this from my mom, she loves rain. Anyway...back on subject.
The four of us walked down to the Davis' house (the kid's I teach piano lessons) to visit and see if they wanted to play in the snow with us. I met their grandmother, Mrs. Kathleen. She's a very nice woman. On Wednesday, the family killed their pig. So I got to watch Mrs. Kathleen make cracklin's. It was a rather interesting experience. The kids also enjoyed showing me the hog's head as well as the hog's guts and the blood icicles hanging off the plastic wrapped carcas...great...thanks kids.
On Friday/Saturday I slept over at my friend Hannah G.'s house. She and I had a great time. We watched Nacho Libre (my first time seeing it), Sky High, Ella Enchanted (remind me never to watch that movie again) and half of Benchwarmers. We also went outside and played football with her brothers (Benj was there too, he hung out with Zack and Isaac).
Then, of course, today was church. I do believe it's icing outside. I'm not sure. It was so cold this morning!!! :)
Tata!
]]>Last night we had a game night New Year party! It was a blast!
Our home was filled with laughter, what a blessing to be able to laugh with friends!
The adults playing 'Scotland Yard'. I'm not sure who was louder, the youth or the adults.
The Hunter's brought a neat Tennis nintendo game. From left: Anna, Matt and Jonathan
The ladies chatting :)
Taboo!! Wow! This was a great game! :) We had a blast! From Left: Angel, Ben and Me. It was guys against girls, we were outnumbered but girls won!
Catherine making sure Mitchell doesn't use words he's not supposed to.
From Left: Richard and Mitchell, waiting for their turn.
Catherine and Nathan 'debating' the rules
It was such an amazing evening full of Christian fellowship. We had a small worship time and then crossed over into the New Year in prayer. It was awesome. :)
Jerimiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' Declares the Lord..."Plans to give you hope and a future."
This was our theme verse for the night, and what a great promise to take hold of as we try to visualize the year to come. God knows the plans he has for us, plans to give us hope!
Christmas Eve
We had quite a bit of last minute wrapping to take care of…
That night we invited some friends from down the street for our Happy Birthday Jesus party. I teach the three oldest kids’ piano lessons. We had a small Christmas recital. They did a great job!
From left: Maizie, Jesse, Mallory and me.
Happy Birthday Jesus! From far-left: Maizie, Parrish, Jesse, my dad, Ethan, Me, Mallory and Gilbert.
Christmas Morning
Ethan is now our resident “Little Cowboy”. Before Christmas he never let us call him a cowboy because he had “no cow-boi ‘at”. So now, it’s official.
Benj and I both got tennis rackets and tennis balls in our stockings. What a blast!
It seems like every Christmas we play Scrabble. So, here I am, looking in the dictionary trying to find some killer words to out-smart Benj and Dad, I won!
My totally rockin’ converse shoes and socks from Benj
Our living room after opening presents…hehe…it was clean
December 26th
Benj and I went to the tennis courts not far from our house to try out our ‘mad skills’. See those jeans I’m wearing? I used to wear them all the time and now they have a great, big hole in the knee. O the sorrow! (see my converse?)
We also went to the courts today to play, I think I have tennis wrist, boy does it hurt! But we had a blast!
I got some amazing presents this year: some great, inspirational books, cute shoes from Benj, a pretty soft, pink robe, tennis racket, CD’s, a cute hoodie from Kim, a DVD, and some other small things. God has certainly blessed me this Christmas!
]]>
Happy Birthday Catlin! Sweet 16!
We took Caitlin bowling for her birthday.
Triple 'Teee!!'
Ugh, I think I ate half of that candy...
Massage Train :)
In case you're wondering, all us girls are under that blanket, and Ethan is trying to get us. :)
Taboo...
Charity keeping time :)
Angel came over on Saturday/Sunday. We had a blast being super crazy as always. :)
I found a pink scarf, and we had some fun with that. :)
Well, this is all I have room for, have a good weekend everyone, Merry Christmas! :)
]]>
And tonight Angel-dear is coming over! YAY! I haven't seen her since Halloween! :) We're going to the Symphony orchestra Christmas Concert, I'm so excited!
And...can you believe it...Christmas is NEXT MONDAY!! Only, like, 8 days away! This is the first year that Christmas has snuck up on me, it came so fast! This year seemed to have flown by! :) I have so much shopping left to do!
Well, God bless you all, have a good week!
]]>Can you tell that I'm happy??
]]>"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 100
"Glorious Father, who loves me with an everlasting love and guards me with an outstretched hand. You, who watches over my by day and holds me close by night. Your awesome power astounds me. You, O God, are mighty and powerful. You can crush the earth with your finger. Yet you are so gentle with us. We sin against you, and yet you love us all the more. Thank you Father, Amen."
- A Psalm of Praise, by Elise Abele
This year let's remember who we should be truly thankful for. Jesus.
]]>
Kimberly came for a visit, that was so much fun. :) We always have a great time when she comes.
We went to Old Salem for the day:
Our trip to the park:
Sorry, I've got plenty more pictures, but I've also got plenty of school work that needs catching-up.
Have a good weekend.
This past Saturday was our Volleyball/Soccer Tournament.
It was a looong day...good memories...playing pranks with Rachel...watching the soccer games...our super-duper close game...fans cheering ...pizza...good friends...playing hard...and...VOLLEYBALL!
Aren't those volleyball socks just so 'me'?
Getting ready for the serve...
Me serving...so tense!
TIMEOUT!
Playing an 'exciting' game of sit-down volleyball between games :)
My Handsome brother in the field...
The guys won 2nd place! YAY! Great job, guys!
]]>
There's nothing like getting flowers from a handsome young man.
~
Especially when that 'handsome young man' is this little guy:
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- www.briomag.com (this site has a lot of great articles on health, beauty, Christian living, relationships etc. from a Christian perspective. Great stuff.)
- http://www.achristianhome.com/ (this is a huge site full of articles about homemaking, modesty, courtship, health etc.)
- http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php (how fast can you type?)
- http://www.lydias-legacy.com/Welcome.htm (more fun homemaking tips)
- http://www.trueu.org (tips to keep yourself in check when you go off to college!)
There's more, but I'll leave you with these to begin with. :)
]]>
The drive up was rather crazy...
We were listening to Schnappi, a german kids cd. All the words are in German...it's kinda neat...:) Benj was dancing to it the whole time...lol...
We took lots of pictures...of course. :)
Hannah and I in front of Lover's Leap, it was such a pretty view!
Lover's Leap
This is Mabry Mill, I love how it reflects off the water
Ethan posing. Isn't he adorable?? Little smile, hands placed just so...cute!
We had a picnic lunch, it was so cold! So Benj, Hannah and I made up some active games to warm us up. :)
After lunch we went to 'The Poor Farmer's Market' a cute, country shop that sells just about everything. We bought a large bushel of golden delicious apples, other produce and of course...ice cream! We had such a lovely time.
]]>SuperChic(k)
The lights go out all around me
One last candle to keep out the night
And then the darkness surrounds me
I know I'm alive
But I feel like I've died
And all that's left is to accept that it's over
My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made
I try to keep warm but I just grow colder
I feel like I'm slipping away
After all this has passed
I still will remain
After I've cried my last
There'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today
Someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain
My whole world is the pain inside me
The best I can do is just get through the day
When life before is only a memory
I wonder why God let me walk through this place
And though I can't understand why this happened
I know that I will when I look back someday
And see how You've brought beauty from ashes
And made me as gold purified through these flames
Here and I am at the end of me
Trying to hold to what I can't see
I forgot how to hope
This night's been so long
I cling to your promise there will be a dawn
-
1 Corinthians13:13
]]>
Playing around on Friday before my volleyball game...:)
Ethan and his 'Deise' (Aunt Elise)
Ethan and his 'Bee' (Uncle Benj)
Ethan 'hiding'. He thinks he's so good at hiding, he just goes behind that curtain and 'no one' can find him ;)
My carazy brother!!! :)
I want to put more pics...(trust me I have more) but I'll spare you all, I'm going to go and have a cup of tea. :) Have a lovely night!
]]>Saturday night we went to Erin's boyfriend's family's house for dinner. It was yummy steak, potatoes, salads, and of course, cheesecake. :) We had a lovely time.
This morning was church. And then this afternoon we're going to a friend's house for a church Pool Party! I'm excited. :) I'll post some pics later!
-Elise
]]>Last Friday we went to the Ambassador retreat! It was fun! Charity, Hannah, Sarah-Marie, Benj, my mom and I went. There were some really interesting and fun classes. :)
This is a picture of Hannah and Sarah-Marie singing in the van on the way to the retreat. They sang...a lot!
So that's what we did on Friday and Saturday.
Then on Sunday we all woke up and got ready for church, and just as mom got into the car she saw a snake on the driveway. It was so freaky. :) Yeah, yeah, I'm a girly-girl...most of the time...:) Thankfully we were only a little late for church, it was an experience. :)
After church I went to my new friend, Hannah G.'s house. She and I had fun. :)
Monday was the first day of school! Hooray!
Benj is in 11th grade, and dual enrollment, Ethan's in preschool :) and I'm in 10th!
Beautiful Erin and Handsome Benj off to the community college! *tear* I'm so proud. :)
Last night was our first Volleyball game...we won!!! I think I might have pushed myself a bit to hard though: last night I could barely stand, I was going around saying goodnight to everyone and kept stumbling and having to catch myself, which didn't really work because my arms are like rubber. Even as I'm trying to get this entry written my arm gets fatigued by holding the mouse for too long...maybe I pushed myself a bit to hard. :) But it was worth it, we had so much fun!! GO STORM!!
(Oh, btw, the guys soccer team won their game too! We're undefeated!)
After the VB game I got to see CATHERINE! It was so much fun! That girl makes me laugh, I'd show you a video she made of me but...hmm...it's really strange and weird :) lol
Today is another fun-filled day of school! So I'll have to go. :)
]]>Then when we got home, I went with Erin to run some errands and than go to Wal-Mart to sell doughnuts to raise money for our Volleyball team. Erin's the assis. Coach. It was fun. :) We sold over 300 boxes, meaning we made over $1500!!
A pretty butterfly I saw by the front porch. There is a little pocket of flowers that the butterflies love, you walk by and a whole flock flies up.
Ethan in the car while we ran errands. He thought he was so cool....
CUTE! I love this picture!
This is one of the tables on which we sold doughnuts. From left to right we have, Ethan, Caitlin and Rachel. It was so much fun. Erin and I got there around 5:30 and left around 8:30, so that's 3 hours of selling! It was worth it though. :)
]]>Hannah and I took Ethan and her little brother, Luke, to the park. They were holding hands! So sweet!
Ethan loved yelling through all the tunnels and slides, I love this picture.
Hannah and I
Don't you just want to give him a kiss?
Ben, my handsome brother. All the guys were skateboarding, Hannah and I sat and watched for a few minutes.
This was at the game, they were practicing, I'm still not sure who won.
And he winds up...and the pitch!
Gorgeous sunset
This is a *herm* interesting picture of some of the youth from Blanch. From left to right we have Hannah's face, Richard, Ben and Issac's hand. We had so much fun.
Lots of love to you all!
-Elise
After my cousins were told they couldn't come to the pool my mom wrote a 'Letter to the Editor' of the Caswell Messenger. There was some response, two phone calls, and two newpaper responses. Well, this morning, my mom got a call from WRAL news, they were coming for an interview!! We zoomed around and cleaned up the house and got ready. I had just finished running so I was a sweaty mess!
They came around 11...
This is the camera lady, she was really nice. :)
The WRAL news van!! The reporter sat with my parents on the front porch (with the camera rolling) and asked them several questions. I'm not on TV but I did get to sit and watch. They should be on TV on the evening news either 5 or 5:30!
Our TV wasn't hooked up (because we changed the LR furniture around) so I helped my dad get the wires all set up. He's recooperating from his Hernia surgery so I (using my amazing biceps) carried the ladder. I didn't go up it though.
Wow, what a day! So be sure to tune in on WRAL channel 5 news this evening to see my folks!
]]>Well, yesterday was my birthday, I'm now 15! I had a great birthday! Breakfast in bed, lovely relaxation, a wonderful storm, special dinner, family time, presents, and, of course, cheesecake!
It was wonderful. Oh, and guess what I got?!?! Okay, I'll just show you:
A DIGITAL CAMERA!!! YAAAY!! So guess what this means...I'll be able to post gazillions of pictures on my Xanga. :)
Me, and my birthday cheesecake
My birthday, 'Southern Lady' shoes
Birthday Breakfast...mmm...
Mom and Dad, thanks you two for a wonderful birthday!! :)
I also got a new very pink bag, pretty pink shirt, a new book "Waiting For Prince Charming", T-shirt and purple shoes. :)
And these things remain, Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these, is Love.
Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous
And full of surprises
With misshapen halos
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.
They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while...
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Active
and lovable boy!
]]>Friday
We cleaned the house and got beds ready for Aunt Donna and Uncle Doug. They drove down from New Jersey and got in really late.
Saturday
It was a beautiful morning! We learned that my cousin Jen (Aunt D and Uncle D's daughter) had not gotten the flight from SLC because of a busy holiday so Jen and her two kids, Maddi (10) and Damon (7) drove to Las Vegas to get a flight from there. They flew to Dulles and there they sat with no way to get to our house. So around 9:00ish Uncle Doug and my dad drove up to Dulles to get Jen and the kids. The rest of us (mom, Erin, Aunt Donna, Benj and I) took this oppurtunity to get ready for the party! We decorated like crazy! The house looked great! Ethan was so cute, he wanted to help really bad, so I put some tape on the back of paper stars that we were using to decorate and Ethan went around the dining room placing them on the lower walls, so adorable! I must have blown up what felt like a million balloons! My throat started hurting!
Around 6:30, Erin's boyfriend Dalton and his parents came over. They had some appeteizers and mom started the chicken. She made beer chicken! It was soo yummy! We chatted and enjoyed eachothers company. Then around 7:30 the cousins got here! My dad and Uncle had been driving for almost 10 straight hours!
The party was fabulous! The food...delish! And the company, wonderful. Uncle Doug opened presents, Ethan got him a fish so he wouldn't be lonely up in NJ when my Aunt went back home (he was there on business). What a lovely time. Then we went to bed, I was soo tired!
Sunday
We went to church, of course, and then around 2 Aunt Donna and Uncle Doug left for NJ. Then we kids had a water fight! I got Benj really good! Then we had Erin's birthday party. Dalton came over, we had cake, and opened presents. It was fun. :)
Monday
Maddi and I organized the upstairs so that we have a 'rec-room' up there. It looks really cool, we have a 'relaxation station' complete with a bed and magazines, a computer, fooseball table, keyboard and craft area. It's so much fun up there!!
Then in the afternoon we were going to go to the pool. But when we got there, some lady who was part of the board told us that there were no black people allowed. (Damon and Maddi are both half-black) We were in shock, how someone could say that to two children is just beyond me. So we left. It was so aweful.
We kids decided to make the best of it, and had yet another water fight. Then Maddi and I went upstairs and played.
Then, that evening was our first day of VBS! At our new church, VBS goes to age 18! It was kind of strange, but we had fun. :)
Teusday
Ahh...my first day of drivers ed. I was so nervous! The lady was nice, even though I was a serious beginner. I did aweful that first day!! I went with another girl, she was nice. I was gone from 8-12.
This was the day Kimberly came! I got home and no one was there! I was locked out!!! :) But I got the spare key and let myself in. I was a latchkey kid!! hehe...
The house was a wreck, so I went about trying to tidy up a bit before everyone got back.
Finally Kimberly got here! It was so good to see her! Zack had gotten so big!
Then we all left for VBS. :)
Wednesday
Drivers Ed again till 12.
When I got back we went to the pool again. My mom had checked the rules and there was nothing about no black people being allowed, so we decided just to ignore that lady.
We only swan for about 15 minutes, it turned into a big issue...and then we left, never to return again.
I think this might have been the day we re-arranged the living room, I'm not sure. It looks great though!
VBS again! Fun fun!
Thursday
My last day of Drivers Ed! Halelujiah!!
Played games, at popscicles, watched movies, played with babies, hung out, ate yummy food.
We had a fiesta for dinner complete with mexican food, music and decorations!
VBS! We made Pastor Robert into a human ice cream sundae, hehe...
Friday
More hang out time. Enjoying everyone's company. The kids (including me) spent some time dancing to our VBS tunes. "Artic Edge! Where Adventure Meets Courage!"
We cleaned up the house, played upstairs and outside.
Last night of VBS! It was a blast!
Saturday
This was the day that we thought the cousins would be leaving. *cry* :( Benj was going to go with them back to Salt Lake. But it turns out that their flight was full, so they came back to our house. Yay!
Kimberly, my wonderful sister, took me to get a pedicure for my birthday! It was so lovely! We went to le Nails in Danville. I got a french pedicure with a pretty pink flower on my big toe, Kimberly got a pretty coral color. We talked and laughed during the pedicures. It was soo much fun! Then we went to Rock-Ola and got a huge plate of cheesefries and a reeses cheesecake. Mmmm...we had such a nice time. Thank you Kimberly, I loved spending time with you!
Aunt Donna and Uncle Doug drove back down to take the cousins up to JFK and try to get a flight out of there. As soon as they got here we all hit the sack.
Sunday
The cousins left. Dear Kimberly left too. It was kind of a depressing morning. But after a while I felt better and got ready for church.
And that's the end of my wonderful week! And I'm ready to start another one! I've got Volleyball starting on Thursday! yay!
Love to you all!
-Elise
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Mom planted pumpkins in the front garden, we thought we might get one pumpkin, but they're thriving!! We have like 5 green pumpkins and one orange. It's so neat! However, I only know of 2 things to do with fresh pumpkin, jack-o-lanterns, and bake the seeds. Boy, we need some recipes!!
We planted squash there too, but the pumpkins have taken over! We thought we'd have tons of squash, but we've only had like 3. Usually around here, people can't even give away their squash. There's some farmers down the road, who do what we call 'squash drops'. That's where you'll wake up to find a big bag of squash on your porch, or go to get the door and someone rang your doorbell, ran off and left squash on your doorstep. :) It's crazy.
Oh, and when I was at Daughters of Destiny camp mom purchased two old white rocking chairs, how charming! If only I could be as good a gardener as my mom when I grow up. She put pots of flowers on the front porch, some are hanging, there's a gorgeous vine climbing up the post. Just beautiful!
Thank you Lord for a beautiful garden that mom worked hard to make possible.
"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart..."
Ecc. 3:11]]>
-Thomas Carlyle
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our Salvation. Our God is a God of Salvation; and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
-Psalm 68:19-20-
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Saturday
Rise and shine....at 3:15....AM!!!
We finished packing up the car and drove off to Washington D.C.!! It was really fun, when we first drove into the city we were typical tourists pointing out and exclaiming over every monument we passed. But that's part of the fun. :) After passing serveral gorgeous tree lined streets and stone buildings we got to our first destination:
Washington Cathedral...
Washington Cathedral is a massive cathedral made entirely in the 1900's with gothic architecture. Vaulted ceilings, gargoyles, stained glass windows etc. It was wonderful just walking around looking at all the different 'rooms'. There was one main room, called the Nave, and most of the other rooms were just part of the Nave itself.
My favorite area of the Nave was probably the children's worship center. Everything was sized for a six year old. There were tiny chairs with little needlepointe cushions featuring baby animals. There was a little organ and a little fountain for them to do their little 'father-son-holy-spirit' thing. It was adorable and sweet. :)
We took the audio tour and learned about the cathedral's history and details. Because this is a more modern cathedral one of the stained glass windows was of a space scene with a real moon rock molded into the glass. We also saw and touched a large stone (in the wall) from Mt. Sianai and a large piece of molding from ancient Rome. There were Christmas rooms, Military rooms, Easter rooms and multiple prayer rooms. It was an Episcopal church so there were lots of kneeling cushions all hand needlepointed, the audio tour said that there were 1,500 cushions in all. It was a very nice experience.
We also took about 15 minutes to walk through the 'Bishop's Garden'. It was very nice, lots of shade plants, a stone gazebo and a lovely green. Benj and I had fun taking pictures of each other doing dramatic medival poses in the gazebo. His turned out better than mine. By the way, speaking of pictures...we got a camera phone! It's for Benj and I to share, how exciting! It's kind of like Angels, I think, we've taken lots of pics on it! :)
Then we left to our next destination...
The National Art Museum...
Well, we had planned to go to the Library of Congress but we couldn't find it! Mom and I had wanted to go to the Art Museum so when we turned a corner and there was the museum, we just knew it was destiny. We found a paper that had 15 'must sees' of the museum so using that as our guide we zoomed through the different rooms glancing this way and that to see the pictures. We only had an hour, and we wanted to see all the pictures. :) That was fun, I saw a Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Mary Cassat etc. We looked in the gift shop and then ate lunch in the cafe down in the lower level of the Museum.
Our next destination was...
Artlington National Cemetery...
The Cemetery was nice. We took a bus tour and saw John, Jackie, and Robert Kenedy's graves, the changing of the guards and several other memorials and graves. I'm not usually interested in military stuff, but seeing the acres and acres of graves saying 'unknown soldier' really helped me to respect and appreciate those who died for our country. Benj and dad loved seeing all the military history. We all did.
Our next stop wasn't exactly a 'destination' so I won't list it as one, but something interesting did happen here...we have...
The Grocery Store...
We went to the store to get some dinner, some yummy chicken, salads, and fruit and veggies from the deli. The salad bar had just closed, so my mom asked the man if we could just quickly get some food. He said yes, then we all started chatting. He said that the governement was bringing drugs and stuff over to America and giving it to all the minorities to keep them down, he pitied Ben Laden and told us not to trust anybody. It was interesting, we all talked to him about it, and suggested he read the book of John from the Bible and let God talk to him. He seemed really interested. Hopefully we were able to plant a seed of salvation in his life. So after we finished talking, we grabbed some hot chocolate from Starbucks and raced out the door to make our next destination....
The Patomic Overlook
If you want to know how to have the perfect picnic, I can tell you, because we had it. We arrived at the overlook around 7:30, and spread out blankets and lawn chairs on the grass. There were kids running around and laughing, and bluegrass music playing on stage. We at our yummy dinner, and watched the clouds go by, listening to wonderful music. It was really nice. The best picnic I've ever had!
We left the picnic area at dark, and drove to our Motel. Sleep came very easy that night. :)
My hands are tired from typing!! So can you imagine what it was like doing all this stuff?! I'll write about Sunday some other day. love to you all!
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What a Godly Man Should Look Like
Kathy Gruben
"I would use these words to describe this wonderful man of virtue....
Noble, chivalrous, courageous, fun, true, wise, loyal, passionate, protector, gentle, humble, strong, self-sacrificial, adventurous, patient, loving, kind, serving, intelligent, polite, family centered, lover of truth, steeped in the Word of God, prayerful and hospitable.
These are not the kind of guys that you always notice first in a crowd. But they are the ones that you admire most once you do notice them. They are the ones who go to the person sitting on the side of the church looking left out, and shake hands with a smile. They are the ones that you will find at home instead of in youth group. You will see them sitting with their folks rather than passing notes in the back of church with their friends. You will find them helping in the kitchen or taking out the trash, walking the ladies to their cars and carrying diaper bags even if they don't belong to them.
You'll find them with other guys, in deep discussions about theology, worldview philosophies, politics, and books rather than just talking about the latest football games, computer games and girls. Yet, they can converse on these topics too when needed :- ) . These are the guys who walk on the outside of the sidewalk to protect the lady whom they might be with, and are always watching for ways to take care of her as a sister. When looking for a mate, they want the one who is at home (or wants to be) and "hangs out" with her mom and siblings more than her buddies.
They love a good time, but it usually entails sword fighting, ultimate Frisbee, board games, hiking, touch football, night tag, water balloon fights and G rated movies rather than sports teams, dancing at the bar or movies with violence and sex-who cares if they are in their 20's! A big night on the town includes taking the siblings to the grocery store, the library or out for miniature golf. They are passionate about the things of God and they do not bend on their convictions, no matter what others may say or do. They don't care that some might see them as "goody-goody" or strange for not dating or for spending so much time with their family-they are proud of it!
You might see them on the road at 6:30am rushing to get to a 7:00am catechism class, even though no one is making him go. You will find them in family worship, singing or playing the piano, teaching God's word to his family or sitting at his fathers feet. They write marvelous heart felt letters of encouragement when needed and yet might not say too much by way of personal stuff to many. They keep confidences. You might easily see him with a crowd of little ones about him as he helps to teach them something or play with them. He will watch an old movie and play cards with his siblings or parents ,even when he would rather be playing "Stronghold Crusader" on his laptop.
He would give up his very life for his savior, his ideals and his family. He makes ice cream floats of all kinds-even strange concoctions- and gives his mom tea in bed. He bakes birthday cakes for his friends with his sister's recipes. He learns follow a recipe and make things in the crock-pot because he wants to be able to at least take care of his wife when the baby comes. You are likely to find him under a car, on top of a roof, mowing a lawn, mending the fence, writing a book, working the night shift to help the family-anywhere that will require hard work, initiative and drive-but not for his own sake.
They are so admired and dearly loved by their families because they are an indispensable source of joy and encouragement, strength of character and servitude. They are never truly independent, because they have come to that wonderful place in the Christian life where they realize, that they must be dependent on God alone in His sovereignty, and the people that He has placed in his life.
Therefore, he is a true man's man. A giant. One to look up to. A hero. A leader among his peers. Strong, steady, dependable and one that you could place your life and the lives of your children into his capable and loving hands-with no regrets or fears."
Wow...
]]>First, I woke up really early and Benj and I got in our swimsuits and drove over to another family's house where we spent the morning setting up their pool. Inside the pool (before there was water) was like an oven! :) Then, after lunch, the pool had about 3 inches of water in the bottom and we played slip-n-slide all day while we waited for the water guy to come and fill up the pool. He never came, but we had to leave early. That was fine though, because we had fun anyway. :)
Then we went home took quick showers and headed over to pick up Mrs. Liggit for the campfire in Raleigh! The campfire was at the Camp where Catherine and Caitlin were this week so I got to see them! When we got there we signed in and everyone was coming out of the gym, so I couldn't really see Caitlin or Catherine specifically. Then after we signed up we headed over to the snack-shack and there was Caitlin! She look so surprised to see us! She and I chatted for a bit as we headed over to her cabin and then Catherine ran up with a big hug! They showed me their cabins (they were both quite messy btw) and then we went over to the Snack-Shack and got something to eat. It was so nice, sitting at the picnic tables, eating candy and talking and laughing together. It made me feel like I had gone to camp this year, I just totally fell into the swing of things. Then we went and sat at the benches for Campfire time. We sang praise songs, and then different kids went up and gave their testimonies! Catherine gave hers! I was so proud *tear*. Good job Catherine!!!
After about an hour, it was time to go *another tear*. So we said goodbye and headed home! I miss you girls!! See you when you get back!
Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."]]>
However, this expander is terrible!!! When I first got it, I could hardly talk! It felt like I had a *large* piece of hard candy lodged in the back of my palette. Like an un-moveable soldier. I sounded like Sue Thomas on Sue Thomas FBeye. And I could hardly swallow, usually when I swallow my tongue presses against the roof of my mouth, but, it can't reach there so I've had to try different swallowing methods.
Everyone has been so wonderful. Mom took me to Cracker Barrel after the 'procedure' so I could get some protein before my mouth hurt and I couldn't eat. It was hard to swallow, I had to concentrate on my chewing too.
Of course I have been made fun of as well, but that's to be expected. And what can I say, if Benj talked like I have been, I'd probably tease him too.
Thankfully *praise the Lord* I'll only be talking strange for a couple of days, then I'll be back to normal. In the meantime please pray for me, the adjustment has been pretty hard.
And if you have any braces tips and tricks please feel more then welcome to share them!! :)
Love to you all!!
Elise
PTL]]>
Wow, I feel like I haven't posted in a loong time! Shall I fill you in on some of what's happened since we last parted??
On Thursday mom, Kimberly, Erin, Zackary, Ethan and I went to Richmond where mom and I dropped off Kim, Erin and the babies at the airport to go to SLC. It was kinda hard to see them all go, after all, it had been so crazy and wonderful with two toddlers running around wreaking havoc on anything they touched. :) good times. After that, mom and I drove over to the Fine Arts Museum. It was so lovely there, I felt so sophisticated. :) The foyer/cafe of the museum was made of white marble, with spiral stair cases. I got to see with my own eyes and stand right next to a Picasso, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and a fragment of pottery from the 1st century!!! It was amazing. Mom and I got a cup of coffee in the cafe, and looked around in the gift shop. We had such a lovely time. Then we drove (I guess it was downtown) to cute little shopping area and we went window shopping. It was such a cute little area, the houses were like 2 feet apart, there were lots of tree lined streets and gorgeous flowers. We walked down a street full of cute little shops. We went into a clothes store that had some cute dresses, I wanted to buy one soo bad!! But they were *cough* really expensive. We also went into a french bakery and a paper store. Then we stopped into a french Bistro called, Can Cans for dinner. The food was sooo good! I had such a lovely time!!
On Friday we got out of school!! Yaaay!! To celebrate, Benj and I went to the pool. It was fun. :) He bought me a snack, nice guy.
After church on Sunday I had my new friend, Hannah over for lunch. We had fun. We played Risk with Benj (she won, Benj was very disappointed), and Clue. Then Benj went to the pool and we stayed home. Mom, Hannah and I read Raising Maidens of Virtue and drank coffee, it was so nice. We discussed our positions on dating and modesty, we had pretty much the same ideas as us. We had a lovely time.
Then, Sunday evening we went back to church for youth choir practice and youth Bible study. After that we all went outside and played football and soccer. I accidently kicked the ball into Benjamin's eye, we were racing to get the ball, he bent over to pick up the ball and I tried to kick it out of his reach....hehe...you can probably imagine what happened next. I felt really bad. We had fun, those guys make me laugh. :)
Now it's Monday and the beginning of a new week. I'm getting braces on Wednesday!! gah! I'm so nervous! Pray for me. :)
Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
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hehe...
]]>I can't write for long...I've got to start getting ready for the day.
Erin and Ethan are on a cruise. *Napoleaon Dynamite voice* Lucky!
I have Keepers today, we're finishing making the doll, of which I am waaaay behind.
We have History to do today, and math. (fun stuff)
I've been loving this rain! We've had like 4 thunderstorms in teh course of 2 days. Yesterday we went to Booker T. Washington memorial, it rained there and we 'chased' it all the way home. It was gorgeous!!
Elise
PTL
"And that is why a woman who publicly prays or prophesies with out a covering on her head dishonors her husband [for her covering is a sign of her subject to him]. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, then she should cut off all her hair. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her head shaved, then she should wear a covering...So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign that she is under man's authority, a fact for all the angels to notice and rejoice in."
I Corinthians 11:5-6, 10
Wow, this is so convicting! I know that God wants me to cover my head while praying, but it's such an un-politically correct and un-socially acceptable thing that it would be hard to do. But, God has given me a calling, He's given all women the same calling, and we need to obey. So, I prayed, and told God, that if He brings me a head covering, then I'll wear it! (with His help and encouragement)
Another interesting thing about this verse: Feminists are not biblical!! This verse clearly states that women are subject to men!! Wow!
God Bless,
Elise
PTL (Praise The Lord)
2 Timothy 2:20-21, NLT
"Guard well the splendid, God-given ability you received as a gift from the Holy Spirit who lives within you."
2 Tim. 1:14
Camp was wonderful! We had a blast! I learned how to silk ribbon embroider, arrange flowers etc. I was in several skits for drama class, and Catherine, Hannah and I sang 'Be thou My Vision' for the concert at the end of the week. It was quite lovely, my cabin mates were great, and I made new friends, as well as enjoying time with my old ones.
Today, I was welcomed home with a great big sign by the door saying, "Welcome Home Aunt Elisa!" It was from Ethan and Erin. It was so special, I felt very happy. They made a wonderful dinner for me, and Erin's making dessert! Benj invited me to jump on the trampoline outside with him, we had a great time, laughing and playing around.
My family is so wonderful, every last one of them is dear to my heart.
Thanks guys, for the wonderful homecoming!!
I hope everyone has a great day, and a great rest of the week!
God Bless,
Elise
PTL
Have a great day!!
In Christ
Elise
PTL
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Like my new colors??
Mostly doing school lately, working on 4-H presentations, vocabulary, Bible and math. I have a lot to do today!
"Shout with joy before the Lord, O earth! Obey him gladly; come before him, singing with joy. Try to realize what this means - the Lord is God! He made us - we are is people, the sheep of his pature. Go through his open gates with thanksgiving; enter his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation." Psalm 100, NLT
In Christ,
Elise
PTL
Afterwards the Pastor at Blanch and his family came over for lunch. (Now I'm going to make Angel happy, and tell you all what we ate) We had really good chunky beef stew, yummy salad, and bread (are you happy Angel?). Benj, the 3 boys (Richard, Jonathan and Benjamin) and I played outside. We jumped on the tramp, and then had a waterballoon/squirt gun/hose fight. Then we played capture the flag, hide and go seek, and sardines. Then we went inside and played board games. I was so exhausted!! After they left, I took a nap. Then when I woke up, mom told me that Caitlin was coming over! Yay!! So I changed my shirt (so I looked presentable) and changed my Xanga colors (don't you just love all these details?). Then she came over! And she was driving!! She did so good! We played Uno, ate popcorn and sweet tea, and caught up. She only stayed a bit, but we had fun.
Have a great day everyone!!!
]]>Mostly just hung out and did school today. We also cleaned up for the Bible study tonight.
Oh, and I saw the first snake of the season (for me) yesterday! Ugh! It was just a dirt snake, but it was still aweful. I know, I know, I'm girly.
Let's see, what have we done lately that's interesting, anything? Hmm...well, yesterday we had a pretty aweful experience: we were all working in the backyard (wait, let me re-phrase that: Erin and mom were working in the yard and I was reading and eating a delicious cadberry-caramel egg on the swing.) and I heard a bunch of dogs barking, it sounded like they were fighting. Then we heard a young child yell and start to scream/cry. Mom and Erin ran up to the road to see who it was and what was wrong, I grabbed Ethan and followed them. It turns out that a little girl from up the street, Kimberly, had been riding her bike up the road with her two dogs, Daisy went up and got scared by the girl's huge German Shepherd and ran right in front of the bike wheel. Resulting in the girl crashing her bike, and Daisy with a black tire mark on her back leg. She was hurt pretty bad, Erin says she had blood on her head and knees. Mom drove her home, and later we went up to see if she was ok. It turned out that she's going to be fine.
Oh, and I finished my Rennaisance dress for Family Affair tomorrow. It's navy blue with light blue sleeves and gold trim. It took soo long to make!!! I started it one Teusday, worked off and on all day, then worked almost constantly Wednesday and Thursday, finishing yesterday afternoon. Phew! I was exausted! But I'm done and happy, because it's pretty.
Alright, I've got to go, time to finish cleaning up. Have a great day everyone! God Bless!
EA
]]>Saturday
We woke up really early and got our Easter baskets! We do this on Saturday so we can spend more time thinking about God and the resurection on Sunday. Ethan was so adorable as he found the candy inside the plastic eggs. His face lit up as he saw it all, he said, 'Ca' and point to his mouth, which means 'candy.'
Then we mostly just hung around the house. At abnormal amounts of candy, and vegged around. Then around 11:00 we went to an Easter Egg hunt at a farm by our church. It was really fun, I searched for eggs (not as hard as the little kids...) and I found 2. It was really funny...I was truly searching too and I couldn't find anymore! So I gave mine to Ethan. We hung out on the dock and watched people in the little paddle boats, some people fished. It was so hot, I put my feet in the water. We had hot-dogs, and drinks. It was very fun. Benj got pushed in the pond, he was planning on jumping in anyway though.
Then, since he was wet, we both got to drive home in the back of Dalton's truck. I was kinda scared....
Then the rest of the day we just relaxed and spent time together. We took naps, and Benj and I played 2 man dodgeball on the trampoline.
Then, mom, dad and I watched an Easter video, I didn't even finish it, I was too tired!!
Sunday
We woke up at 5:30 AM!! I hurried and got dressed, and we left for the sunrise service. It was very nice, we were outside, over looking a large feild and the cemetery, the sun rose, the birds sang, the cows mooed (hey, we are out in the country), and the congregation sang. I enjoyed it! And I'm a morning person, so the earliness of it wasn't too bad.
Then we all went inside the church for a pot-luck breakfast. Hannah Gibson and I helped with the drinks. There was hot-chocolate, coffee, dohnuts, biscuits, fruit....i.e. yumminess.
After breakfast was over I went outside and played basketball with Benj and his friends. Needless to say I wasn't that good...:)
We went home, changed into more churchy clothes and came back for the regular church service, in which the Youth Choir sang.
Then we all went home and took naps!! I was so tired!! Then Erin and I made a really yummy Easter dinner (if I do say so myself). We had ham, sweet potatoe puree, asparegus, squash 'n onions, spinach salad, and rolls. It was soo good!!
That evening mom and I went on a walk, then I went to bed!
So, I had a good Easter. Maybe the best one I've ever had. The Lord has been so good to me!
I hope everyone has a good Easter weekend!
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Matthew 28:6
And some Easter Cartoons to make you smile...
]]>-Anne of the Island ]]>
This is Daisy Mae. She's a good dog. Very spoiled...:)
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