My Life Lately!

School is beginning to "wind down" as my mom would say, but with end of the year tests and finals it seems to be speeding up. Thankfully, I'm not too overwhelmed yet, but I bet by Sunday night I'll be seriously stressed. I guess God never promised us an easy life though, and I think sometimes it's easier to walk with him when we're stressed and overwhelmed then when everything is going smoothly. It's also hard to find time to with Him when everything seems crazy, so I guess it can go both ways. Anyway, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I really have been enjoying a few things.

1. Watching the kittens grow up. It is soooooo fun to watch them just be kittens. Clumsy, adventurous, and a little cocky. =) Maybe cocky isn't really the best word to describe them as, but they aren't very smart, and seem to overestimate their abilities!=) I guess all kittens are like that, but it's really enjoyable to watch!

2. Snow. It's so much fun to wake up and look out the window to a winter wonderland! The lake has partially frozen over, and it's been pretty cold out. Thankfully, there has been some snow though, and it's made the bone chilling weather a little more enjoyable.=) Maybe that doesn't really make sense, but it's just more enjoyable if it's cold AND there's snow.

3. Coffee! Ahh. My dad makes coffee every morning and sometimes he lets me have some. I know it's probably not the best option ever, but it's an INCREDIBLE feeling to hold something warm when it's so cold out.

4. Christmas preparation. We've put up the Christmas tree and decorated it, which was fun. I think the best part though is picking out the tree. =) I have so many fun memories picking out one with my family. Also I've been listening to TONS of Christmas music. It's been super fun. Some of my favorites are Carol of the bells by the Tras Siberian Orchestra and Pentatonix  Christmas music on Spotify. It makes the dreary days more cheerful!

5. Christmas shopping. Blaize and I went shopping at the mall on Tuesday afternoon. One of my highlights was that he OPENED THE DOOR FOR ME! Yup. On the way into the mall he opened the door and let me go first. Now if you know him, he usually doesn't do that, but I guess he knew it would bless me, and he was really trying to be a gentleman. He was really sweet the entire time. Another thing that really blessed me was that he was really patient and sweet when we were shopping in stores (Like Bath and Body Works and JC Penny) that he doesn't necessarily  like and he didn't complain or anything. I guess I thought it was really sweet that even though he doesn't like shopping and wasn't enjoying it he was making the best out of it and trying to be pleasant.=) I'm also excited about going Christmas shopping today. After my orthodontist appointment I get to walk down to Marshalls and Christmas shop for my mom! It might not sound that exciting, but I don't usually get to go places by myself, and it's kind of fun to have some freedom! =)
Anyway, that's all I have for now and I'd better sign off. I still have a bunch of school to do before my shopping excursion!!! until nest time,
Natalie=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas!

It snowed all day today on and off, and I bet we have an inch by now! We also found a tree on Wednesday, and we just finished decorating it today! Yup, it's starting to feel like Christmas! Friday and Saturday Hannah and I helped out with Bethlehem Revisited which is a reenactment of the Christmas story. It starts out with the prophecies about Jesus, and continues all the way through the resurrection. It was cold, but worth it.=) Unfortunately, I didn't help out tonight because I had several homework assignments to get to...=( Oh well, life is life! Things are starting to get crazier with tests stuff (since it is the end of the year!) I have a Biology Lab Final I need to study for (I'm SCARED!) and some other tests coming next week! Your prayers would be greatly appreciated! Here are some of my favorite things about Winter: 1. You get to wear scarfs and jackets! It's also nice and cold! 2. SNOW! I absolutely LOVE THE SNOW! It's so much fun to sled! 3. Getting snowed in, and not being able to go anywhere! It's so much fun to just hang out with our family when no one is busy! 4. Sitting by the fire! Ahhh. What a marvelous feeling to sit by the fire on a cold dreary day! 5. Warm drinks! (Hot coco, chi, and coffee are the best!) 6. Decorating for Christmas! I also love going and picking out the tree! 7. Soup. If you know me, its' my favorite meal! (Tomato, chicken, chili, and corn chowder are some of my favorites! That's all I can really think of right now! Have a great week!

Thanksgiving was really fun. We had our aunt, uncle, and cousins over (on my mom's side.) Grace and Chelsea are the closest cousins to our age (even though there is a fairly big age difference.) We played tons of games while they were here (blokus, 3-14, dutch blitz, dominion, etc.) We had a prize to give to whoever won the most games over thanksgiving and my dad won. The prize was a ceramic travel mug filled with Andes mints that my aunt and mom had found black Friday shopping. That brings up another highlight: Black Friday! We went with my cousins to the mall on black Friday, and shopped around for a few hours. Then, Chelsea treated us all to STARBUCKS! It was super fun! That night, we watched The Ultimate Gift, and if any of you haven't seen it, it's definitely one of my favorites! (a sequel is coming out on December 10th to redbox called The Ultimate Life! I can't wait to watch it!) Saturday, we held a family "Chopped."  Chopped is based off a TV show on the food network where contestants have to create meals with secret ingredients within a certain time limit. We split up into teams with my mom and cousins on one and my and Hannah and I on the other. The mandatory ingredients were sweet potato's eggs, and apples. We had 45 minutes to bake and plate the dishes for the judges (My dad, Uncle Greg, and Blaize=)
"We'll go and do archery while you guys bake." My dad told us as they headed out the door. We began discussing as teams what we could make.
"I was thinking we could make sweet potato pop-overs with caramelized apples, or something like that." Aunt Kathy told us in our group huddle. Hannah then suggested crepes. We all agreed that would work really well, especially with  caramel apple filling. Then, I overheard my mom's group talking about doing crepes. There goes THAT idea! We ended up deciding to make sweet potato waffles with caramelized apple and onion filling. We set the timer and began. I worked on beating the eggs while my aunt made the apple/onion filling and Hannah made the sweet potato waffles. By 30 minutes, we had put a waffle in the waffle iron and....IT WAS SUPER FLAT! Great. There goes the idea of  fluffy magazine cover waffles! (Fluffy makes me think of cotton, so maybe that isn't the right word choice...Oh well!) Time was running out, and we couldn't just serve the judges bumpy pancakes! Then, Hannah and my aunt had a amazing idea! We could make scrambled eggs and wrap them in the waffles like an omelet or something. Then we could pour the caramelized apples/onion on top and drizzle the caramel over it! Here are some pictures:

Hello all! Wow, has it been nasty outside! 27 degrees, windy, cloudy, and icy. Yup. COLD.  It's definitely winter. This week has actually been pretty good (aside from the weather). On Tuesday, I found out my math lesson had been canceled, so I got to go shopping INSTED! YES! Hannah and I went to the mall while my mom worked out. I got a really cute pair of jeans at Rue21! I was super exited!
I haven't really been motivated with school, and I'd really appreciate prayers about that. UGG! I'm ready for Christmas! I'm so excited! Thanksgiving is next week! Time to start baking! (Okay, maybe not just yet, but  I'm ready to taste that pumpkin pie!)
We've been playing more board games as of late. Tonight, I got absolutely annihilated by my dad. He had all the property's except for like boardwalk/parkplace and Indian/Kentucky/and Illinois, and he laded on Free parking about 5 times in a row. I am not joking. It was pretty miserable and I finally handed it all over. He was really enjoying himself.=) Imagine that.
 Guess what? My dad said we could go tuba caroling this year! We haven't set a date, but I'm pretty exited about the prospect. We haven't done that in years!
Finally, the last piece of news (which is quite a tear jerker) The kittens are leaving! I know he's going to a good home, but still. *sniff sniff* Okay, one of them is, because Blaize convinced Hannah of all people, (miracles of miracles!) to keep one. He's doing all the work for her though, which is a pretty good deal I'd say. We are giving one away, and the phone has been ringing off the hook because I posted about them on craigslist, and it seems EVERYONE wants a kitten. At least we have options. =) Anyway, someone is coming over Sunday to look at them and (hopefully) pick one out.  Well, thanks for reading my somewhat random thoughts! Hope I didn't boar you too much!

A dAy iN ThE liFE oF mE! (Thanks to Chloe for the idea!)

Hello All! You're probably wondering what in the world this blog post is going to be about, and I have decided to copy Chloe's idea and just tell you about an average day in my life.

 6:31 am- BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP! I'm startled awake to the sound of my alarm clock going off. I groan as I roll over to hit the snooze button. Just a few more minutes.
6:36 am- The alarm clock goes off. I hit the snooze button again.
6:41 am- I hit the snooze button.
6:46 am- Snooze button.
6:51 am- The alarm goes off again, and this time I just turn it off and go back to sleep.
7:56 am- I roll over and wake up. I glance at the alarm. ALMOST EIGHT! I fling off the covers, grab a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, and thump down the stairs to the shower.
8:10- I eat my favorite breakfast:  Banana, chocolate, peanut butter smoothie.
8:30- I plan out my day using my planner/calendar.
8:45-I start school.
9:00- I feel terribly unmotivated today. I head upstairs to finish my art assignment while I listen to The Lord of The Rings audiobook. Then practice a few minutes of guitar. I head downstairs to conquer math...*groans*
1:00- I've finished math!!!! (also read history, done science, and some more guitar) Now I can eat lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!
2:00-My motivation goes terribly downhill (it already went downhill, so I guess you could say I'm buried  in  a 50 foot hole of unmotivation....I don't think that's a word, but it's true!)
3:01-I've wasted an entire hour! Oh dear!
4:00-I head to work (cleaning at my dad's business across the street)
5:45- I walk home and help with supper. I hope we're having soup!
6:30-Our family sits around the table by the fire. We each chat about our day, and make comments about each others.
7:00- I start on English-we have an essay due Tuesday, and I haven't started... OH DEAR!
9:00-DONE WITH SCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10:00 I hunker down in my bead with a book.
10:10 Hannah turns off the lights (uggggg!). I fumble around for a flashlight and read under the covers.
10:30- devotions/journaling.
11:00- I turn off my flashlight and lie there in the dark, trying to sleep.

Okay, I know it wasn't the most interesting day. Maybe I've made you feel better about yours! To tell you the truth, I'm not feeling very motivated these days! I've also been sick with this cold thing for a couple weeks, so that hasn't helped much. I have been reading more lately, which I suppose is a good thing. It's feeling a lot more like winter, and it's starting to get dark around 6:00. I do love winter though! It's such a gorgeous time of year! Thanks for reading! I hope it wasn't boring!

HIIIIIIII!

It’s November!!! Wow…time flies! Thankfully, things haven’t been busy, and it’s been a really nice change from volleyball season! In fact ,volley- ball ended a while ago (okay like two weeks), but I went to Hannah’s weekend tournament in Omaha, so it felt busier because we were away. I got to take lots of pictures, and that was fun. It was also great getting to watch volleyball. Some of those teams are REALLY good!

 

 

Anyway, it was fun just watching volleyball! Another plus about going was that I got to go shopping with my mom (awesome, right?) at thrift stores which is really fun.  I found an almost new Aeropostal (is that how you spell it…I think it’s French or something.) sweatshirt, and American Eagle shoes. I was pretty excited anyway. It’s like finding treasure…(except with treasure you could buy a bunch more stuff which would be awesome…  but you get the picture=) . Anyway, coming back off that bunny trail, it was pretty fun.

     Speaking of bunnies, the kittens are doing awesome! (hehe=) They’re sooo cute and adorable. I’m still trying to convince Hannah to keep one so we don’t have to give any away, and am on the verge of success. Okay, not really, but she’s starting to actually go out there and hold them, so that’s a start! (Hannah thinks cats are a waste of time because you just get attached to them, and then they die. Uhhhh NO! Help me convince her!) Also, they stopped looking like rats and now are looking like kittens. My DAD ACTUALLY SAID THEY WERE CUTE! He never really said they weren’t, he just kept commenting on their rat likeness the first week (which is pretty much the same in my book) Here’s a picture I took of them today.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading this! Have a spectacular day!

 

 

Hi there! This week has been mildly crazy (If that's even possible). I worked 71/2 hours since last Wednesday, and had lots of homework (including another biology test). Hannah had a v-ball tournament (state) this weekend and she has another one (Nationals) this next weekend! We're heading down to Omaha on Thursday night to watch them play...pictures will be coming!!!=)

In art we've been doing charcoal!!! It's really messy and smears really easily.=)   Today we drew pumpkins, although mine didn't look right...something about the shape was a little off.

This year I decided to take guitar and in a few weeks I'll get Christmas music! I'm super excited about that!!! My hands are getting sore though from stretching to attempt to play the strings. Last week my string broke, and it kind of hurt because it snapped in my face while I was tuning it. I've been a little hesitant about tuning.

Biology has been...well, hard. This module is really hard. There are tons of definitions (45 to be exact) and I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed....Thankfully, there are deadlines, or else I'd be stuck on it the entire year!

And finally: KITTEN UPDATE!!! Okay you probably think I'm obsessed, and that's because I am. I love small cutely creatures, and they're getting cuter by the day. Sorry if I'm boring you, but their just SSSSSOOOOOO CUTE! Even Hannah, (animal not-so-much liker) says their adorable, and even goes out to pet them. I've been trying to convince her to keep one (so we don't have to give them all away) but she's not to keen on the idea.  =(

A Week in the Life of Random Me.

Hello there again! This week volleyball ended for the season (*sniff sniff*) kind of excited for the extra time I'll have! I think it will be nice to have some more free time in my schedule. We've also had my great aunt and uncle here this week, and I kind of feel sorry for them...we haven't had that much time (between sports and activity's) to entertain them!

 

 I’m also excited because I'm almost finished with the Fellowship of the Ring, and it's taken me a while to get through. I'm almost ready for the Two Towers!!!! I've found its lots easier to listen to than to read! I've been listening to them while I do my art assignments and also while I work.

 

Another topic: School. I’ve done a little better with not procrastinating, but I’ve still been doing it.  I’m just tired of school I guess! We have a biology test this week (*groans*) that I really need to study for. (it’s a harder module!) I’m not really looking forward to the next module though because it’s supposedly the hardest in the book. (According to Hannah)

Hannah is at a state volleyball tournament this weekend, and I’m at home with Blaize and my dad=( I’m the “mom” helping Blaize with school (*sighs*) and I’m beginning to wonder if he’s ADD or something! (ugg!)

 

And one last subject: Kittens! They're cuter than ever and are starting to walk. This one can walk now, but the chubby one (Bomber) is still trying to figure it out. They've figured out how to climb out of the box. We started holding them about 2 weeks ago and they're starting to get more used to being handled. I still haven't named this one, so any idea's would be much appreciated!=)

Thanks for reading,

Natalie

 

 

 

My week

Hello there again! I’ve been up to…well school. I haven’t been at all motivated though to get it done. I finish in about 2-3 times longer than I should, because I get distracted more easily. Today I finished my art assignments (drawling with charcoal) and it was okay. My hands still have black marks all over them. I never realized just how messy charcoal is! I’ve found something to make the time pass faster though—books on tape! It’s much better than sitting there in silence drawing! I’m listening to the Fellowship of the Ring and am at the Counsel of Elron. I like the books so far a lot. It’s so much easier listening to it instead of reading them!

     I’m kind of overwhelmed with biology. The module we’re on right now is about (beginning) chemistry (yeah, I know. Ironic right?) It’s totally gone over my head. I’ve enjoyed biology moderately so far but this module is awful. I really like our teacher and all, but I don’t think chemistry is my thing!

Yes, I can’t blog without mentioning the kittens! (sorry if I’ve been boring you to death!) I’ve decided to temporarily name them:

 

This is Bomber. He's (or she, I can't tell yet) is the biggest of them all. He (or she) eats almost non- stop and is always shoving his/her siblings out of the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Peep. He/she's always making small chirping like a bird. She is always peeping (get it???) over her siblings to look at the world around her/him.

 

 

 

 

 

This one is learning to walk first. She's quite adventurous and I named her but I forgot the name. (ahem) I know it started with an "s" and had something to do with  being adventurous. Any help here? If you have ideas for it let me know!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Random Ramblings of....me!

Hello there again! I’ve been pretty busy this week, I have a few tests/quizzes but it hasn’t been too bad so far. I had three volleyball games yesterday and practice today, so it’s been hard to squeeze in school, but hey, that’s what Saturday’s for! (Not really, it was a joke!) I have (sad as it may be) been doing lots of school over the weekend. I keep finding it increasingly harder to motivate myself to get it done. I don’t manage my time well, and that’s the majority of my problem. (ugg)

                As I was saying, we had three volleyball games on Tuesday. I typically play an outside hitter, but since we were beating a team handily our coach decided to change it up a bit. Bethany played a 2 (middle hitter) and I got to play setter!  I was pretty excited, and now I have a much bigger appreciation for setters! Ya’ll are awesome!=)

                The kittens are doing well, and they give me a chance to practice photography (when Missy will let me close to them!) which I’m enjoying!  They’re better to photograph because they don’t move very fast because they can’t walk yet. I didn’t get a chance to take very many today. Missy didn’t like the camera inches away from her kittens, which (I guess) I understand. Here’s one of my favorites:

 

 

 

They’re sooo adorable now that they have their eyes open.  I haven’t held them yet (I don’t want my cat to reject them) but I think we’ll be able to pick them up within the next week or so. (!!!)

Thanks so much for reading! Until next time,

Natalie=)

Random Week Highlights!

Hello there! I’ve been super busy with homework and volleyball.  It seems like there will never be a moment of peace! We ( my team and I) had a volleyball tournament yesterday, and that was super fun.  We ended up getting second out of five teams, so I think we did fairly well. =)

      Last night my mom and I watched North and South (well the first half of it anyway) and it was a lot of fun.  

     The kittens that were born two weeks ago are opening their eyes. It’s sooo adorable! They’re bright blue eyes and its extremely cute. My dad still doesn’t think they’re very cute. Okay, that’s not exactly 100 percent true, but he did say the only cute thing about them was their faces. He said the rest of their body’s looked like rats. (You can judge for yourselves!)=)  They still can’t walk yet, but they move by lying on their stomachs and by almost making swimming movements with their little arms! It’s kind of cute, and kind of pitiful if you know what I mean. Since it getting so cold at night, she (missy my cat) moved the kittens from the concrete floor to the insolated box. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took.  They aren't very good, and I couldn't get one with their eye's wide open because they were napping when I went out there. Oh well, maybe next time! 

 

The brown one is kind of the runt of the ones that survived. I hope she/he makes it!



The one with it's eyes open (above) is the really biggest of the litter.

This one (above) is the runt.

No, I haven't named them yet. Any ideas? I'd love help! I can't think of any that really suit them.

 

     The weather has been absolutely amazing out (I love this time of year!) The leaves are just starting to turn yellowish brown and it went down to 40 degree’s last night (or something like that anyway.) and it’s like sixty degree’s out right now (oh how I love fall!) 

Kittens!

My cat finally had kittens! Yeah! I was pretty excited. We were gone when my cat gave birth, and got a Facebook message from the person caring for them. Five kittens were born,  and three have survived (so far). By now they are almost a week old, and getting bigger every day! I walked in to check on them today, and was surprised to see that one had grown about twice as big as the other two. I think (the big one) is a boy and the other two are girls, although I’m not very experienced in telling cat genders.=) I also am not sure because I can’t hold them yet because they’re pretty little still!  The bigger one is light brown with darker brown speckles. One of the other ones is gray with white markings and has brown ears (or some other dark color, I can’t really tell.) and the other is chocolate brown with lighter brown stripes.  I took pictures of them, but they are very blurry because my cat carried them over to a dark corner under some boards. I didn’t want to use flash either because Missy seemed pretty uncomfortable with just the camera near the kittens. Here are some of them:

The first day=)

Five days later=)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still haven't named them yet, and probably won't start thinking of them until they're older. I don't want to get attached to them until it's looking like they'll live until adults. Blaize wants to keep one, but I don't know if he'll be allowed to, seeing as he already has two cats. I kind of want to keep one if they survive, but I also don't want to have to pay for more food, shots, etc!=)   Thanks for reading!

Natalie=)

 

 

 

 

This week my mom and dad both went to Texas, because my dad had work related meetings there. So this week we’re (Hannah and I) staying at our friends the DeWolfs house. Yes, it’s like a seven day sleep over (except for the tragic fact that we still have to do school=) and it’s been fun. It’s kind of nice, because I have a lot more motivation to get school done, so it goes faster, and I’ve found if I’m really focused and manage my time well, I can  finish around 2-3:00. On Saturday, Mrs. DeWolf took us shopping. That was really fun. We went to goodwill, the mall, and Salvation Army. I was thrilled to find they had the book The Two Towers for 99 cents. It was the only book from the Lord of the rings that I didn’t have (I had found the other ones at thrift stores too!=) Although I didn’t find anything at the Mall, but when we went to salvation army I found I scarf (If you know me I LOVE scarfs). It’s gray and wool. I also found a belt at Salvation Army. Sunday was really nice because I didn’t really have any school that I needed to do. I read and finished up my art project. You would think that drawling a tree would be easy… but it sure wasn’t at all! =)=)=) I also helped bake cookies (Yes! Me! Baking!.)  It’s been a really fun week, although I do miss my parents some.  Thanks for reading my blog! See you (or blog you=) soon!

Natalie

Zentangles continued (due to technical problems)

The second one is super complicated! I don’t think I’ll ever achieve that skill, but I do enjoy doing small simple ones! Another thing that I think would be super cool is to zentangle bubble letters! Here’s an example I found online!

Isn’t it so cool! I’ve enjoyed zentangleing for fun, but I think this would be extremely challenging. Maybe I’ll start with a simpler one! Thanks so much for reading!

-Natalie

Zentangles

Hello there! If you read the title, you’re probably wondering what in the world a zentangle is. A zentangle is a form of art. It’s kind of like a mix between patterns, doodling, and also abstract art. Why do I like it? I don’t like to sit still. I usually doodle during lectures, sermons, and anything else where I’m sitting with my hands, and have nothing to do. I sometimes take notes, but I have a hard time writing down what the teacher is saying while paying attention to her talking. My notes just end up with doodles on them too.=) I’m not good at it, but it’s fun to try out. Zentangles are like a more complicated version of doodling. They’re a series of patterns put together in pictures. Here are some of the patterns you might include:

These are some of the simpler patterns (yeah, I’m not quite there yet!) that you can use. You can really use any pattern you want. That’s what I like about it. There are so many combinations, endless patterns to choose from, different sizes and shapes, compositions and color. Although I’m still learning and have far to go, it’s fun to experiment, but it also gives more structure to doodling. Just choose an interesting pattern and combine it into a picture! Here’s an example of a zentangle I found online:

Weekend Away

Hmm...not a whole lot has been happening around here...
Missy(my cat) still hasn't had kittens, but she's looking pretty close.
Volley-ball is picking up. We had two games last week (we won one and lost one) and have a few more this week.
I started guitar three weeks ago, and I'm really enjoying it. Oh! I almost forgot!
I went camping for the FIRST TIME this weekend! I've never been camping before because my parents don't like it. They would rather stay in a cabin or hotel!=) A friend asked me to join her and her family on a camping trip to Eugine T. Mahony (I'm not exactly sure how to spell that) state park up in Nebraska. We rode up there on Friday afternoon, and got there around 7:00. My friend and I slept in the tent outside while her family got the camper. We found a really nice place to camp...there were lots of tree's around and it was nice and shady. Another plus was that the bathrooms were fairly close (just up the road) to the camp site!
    
     There was lots of stuff to do...paddle boating, horseback riding, archery (I stunk at it!) mini golf, a driving range, and a giant play center made out of an old warehouse. The play center was like the kind at McDonalds (you know the tubes and stuff outside) except much bigger. It's really fun to play hide and seek in!=)
      
     One of the highlights for me was a melodrama we went to. You cheered for the hero, and could throw popcorn at the villain .You could also tip the actors by throwing folded 1 dollar bills onto the stage. They would run over and try to stomp on it while still acting. It was a really interactive play, and was hilarious at the same time. It was kind of an exausting weekend though, but it was a really fun experience

Highlights from this week!

I don't have anything super exciting to blog about, so I guess I'll just tell you some of the highs and lows of my week!  This week I turned 15. I woke up to find out that my sweet sister Hannah had baked scones for breakfast! Yum. That night we got pizza and watermelon for supper. Hannah also baked a cookies and cream cheesecake! I got a hair dryer (because I always "borrow" my mom's and forget to bring it back=) and also got the Lord of the Rings movies (the extended version!). I was super excited about that. I've been (or attempting to) read through them, but I'm still on The Fellowship Of The Ring.

    Oh! Another exciting thing about my week is that we got a new van! The reason why we got one is because lots of things were breaking (i.e. You couldn't open one door because it was broken, the air conditioning didn't work in the back, the trunk latch was broken etc.) and it broke down on us at church last week too. My parents decided it wasn't very reliable and it was probably time to get a new van. It's gold and it has a TV (we're pretty excited about that.)

Yesterday, I put Missy, (my cat)  in the back porch because it looks like she's expecting pretty soon! We're pretty excited at the prospect of kittens! I guessing they'll be due within the next two weeks at the latest.

Because it was labor day, we got to go out to Radinas this morning for breakfast. I got coffee! (okay, it was coffee deluded with cream and some sugar) but it was still good! 

Well, that was pretty much my week! Hopefully I didn't bore you to much! Thanks for reading this semi-random post!

Summers End

Hello there! I’m starting up my blog again and if this is your first time on here, than be prepared for some extremely random blog posts!

Yes, it's still hot out, but summer is coming to an end. School has started up again and so has volley-ball, football, guitar and piano. It didn't really feel like summer this year (except for the hotness factor) because this summer has been really busy, and I didn't exactly get the long anticipated break I was hoping for. Along from doing math and history this summer, I also went to an intense 2 week training camp (CYIA, also known as Christian Youth In Action) which equips you to teach 5-day bible clubs. After camp, we went on a vacation up to NJ for one week to a family reunion. Then after coming home for about a week, we headed out to IN for my Grandpa's 80th Birthday party. The summer concluded with rushing around wildly, trying to get procrastinated 4-H projects done (with a few v-ball practices in between), going to CO for a few days with my family while my dad worked there, teaching 2 five- day clubs, finishing up a Danial bible study, (by Beth Moore) and the grand finale’? A weekend volley-ball tournament in Kansas City. =) It wasn't the most relaxful summer I've ever had, but I'm excited to get back into the normal daily routine!

This week, we celebrated my little brother's 12 birthday, and he truly is a miracle. Although I sometimes don't admit it half the time, he's  a great brother, even if he does annoy me sometimes! My little brother was born early at almost 5 pounds, and most doctors thought he would either be severally handicapped, or autistic. As soon as he was born, they transferred him to Topeka to the neonatal intensive care unit. All I really remember is going to see him there. I don't really remember a whole bunch about it (because I was only about three at the time), but all I do remember walking into the room with my dad, and seeing him hooked up to a bunch of tubes and stuff. I don't think it quite "registered" that this little guy was my brother. After about 2 weeks, he was released from the hospital, and named Blaize (my dad wanted the "i" ) because they knew he would have to fighter to survive. Anyway, I think he turned out okay (ha ha). He's really a comedian, and loves making people laugh, and being the center of attention. He's really into air soft guns right now, and loves tramping all over the property with his friends, and playing war. Not really my idea of fun, and he hasn't convinced me yet to play with him either=) He's also really good at math, but he'd rather be building Lego's, or color sorting his air soft pellets, or Lego's (yup, he's pretty strange=). We love him though, his quirks and all...=)

Last Tuesday, I had standerdized testing in the morning. Yuck. I was incredibly happy that we were doing more of the English side of testing that day though, because I don't like the math/science end of it that much! After testing, we went home, then did our daily rutine of going to piano lession, math tutoring, (hannah) and while Hannah was at math tutoring, we shopped for her birthday presents. I got her a hair defuser (don't ask me what that is!) and gum. =)
Wensday, we celebrated Hannah's 16th birthday, and went out to dinner, then went shopping afterwards=)!
Thursday, I had testing again, and was a pretty normal day.
Friday evening, we had Alpha (a course designed to introduce and explain christianity to people) and my parents and I (Hannah had another commitment) all went to a weekend discussing what the Holy Spirit does, and who he is. It was really interesting, and I learned a lot!
 Then Saterday, finally, after weeks of waiting, our cat had kittnes! Sadly though, three of them were still born=(. The last one though survived the birth, and soon after, Missy (our cat) carried her to the box. The next few days, we peeked in on her, and watched her and her kitten (which we had recently named "shadow") Then, Monday night, we relized that her kitten wasn't breathing=(. Missy, our cat is depressed, and I feel sorry for her. I think they were born prematurely...Blaize is really sad. It was going to be his cat, but now he's looking to see if there are any avalible kittens around, so if anyone knows of any, let us know!=)

First movie in the movie theater!/What I love about spring

Most people, when they hear I've never been to a movie in a movie theater stare at me and gape like I'm a foreign object...well not anymore! I can truthfully say I've been to a movie once in my life (as of this past thursday!) and have hope of going to another one! My dad (miricles never cease) said he wanted to go to Despicible Me 2 (for those of you who havn't seen the first one, it isn't like it sounds...it's accually really funny!) For those of you who have met my dad, you probobly know that he isn't a huge fan of movies (he dosne't have anything wrong with them by any means). Well, he's just not a big movie fan...that's probobly why we haven't been to many yet!=)Anyway, we went to a movie called the Croods, and I enjoyed it a lot. I deffinatally wouldn't really recomend the movie we saw. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it had some messages that wern't the best in it. The experience was really fun, and all too!

I love spring! Everything is so green, and it smells so amazing after it rains! It's so awesome to see the flowers comming up, and the red bud trees blooming! The weather has been really nice lately...not too hot, and not to cool...I loved the rain yesterday! I sat out on the front porch under the roof and ate supper with Blaize out there. I love rainstorms (as long as they arn't too seveare!)  Blaize and I put on boots and sloshed around in the rain...that was super fun! Spring seems the perfect time for them too!

Spring Break

This year, right before we were about to go to Indiana (to see family over spring break) our van kind of broke down...well, okay, not really broke down, but we were afraid it might on the way because it's becoming more unreliable. Long story short, we decided to take my dad's truck, insted of renting a van 'cause it's spring break and there were no vans to rent(they were all out.) We bagged up our luggage into trash bags, secured them into the back of the pickup, and headed to Indiana. We're used to a van, and usually, we get our own (seperated, meaning not squished together) seat. It wasn't terribly sqished...it was almost better because we had most of our luggege in the back. But when we needed to get out, the people on the sides of the van dumped all their stuff (coats, pillows, bags, blankets) onto the person in the middle so they could open the door. I didn't like the middle seat. Well, anyway it went pretty well...the best part was we got to watch a few movies in the back (we played them onto the computer)=) We stoped at our Aunt's and Uncle's on the way there. We played dutch blitz, and that was fun. Then, we went to our grandparents house and played lots of games (Connect Four, Spades, Upwords, Rook) Watched old TV shows (Andy Grithith, Perry Mason...etc.) and stuff like that. It's a super small town (like two football fields) and so we walked around it a few times a day. They had some old railroad tracks that went through the town that were really fun to walk on. We also went to stay overnight at my Uncle and Aunts house while my Mom was having a sisters weekend, and my dad was in Ohio working. We also got to play with our cousins (ages 3, and 1 1/2) We played with them for almost the entire time... I caught "butterflies" with Lily (grasp wildly in the air and exclaim "Look, I have 10! and it's blue/pink/orange etc.) and read to Conner. It was fun. Nothing much else happened...we traveled home, got stuck in a 2 hour long trafic jam, got lost for about 10 minutes, and went to a fudge shop while my dad had a meeting, and watched Ratatouille on the way home. =)

The Alarm Clock...A Thing That Should NEVER Have Been Invented.

First of all, I want you all to know that I'm dedicating this blog post to my alarm clock, the object in my life that has faithfully and repeatedly awakened me from blissful sleep with it's ear screeching siren, and traumatized me forever. First of all, in my mind, alarm clocks are the most disturbing inventions in the world. Why, you say? Because for years, they have traumatized humans anywhere from toddlers to adults. Imagine, (okay don’t. I know you can identify) that you're sleeping peacefully, and all of a sudden, an ear defining siren screams from behind you. I ask you this question: Is this a humane way to awaken? OF COURSE NOT! I suggest that instead of traumatizing humans with its ear piercing blare, we should invent a peaceful way to awaken humans from their sleep. I can almost imagine how the alarm clock smirks before turning on its sirin, knowing it will scare me half to death. This outrage must be stopped! Perhaps we could create a better way to wake up in the morning? Music? Anything! Will anyone save us from this tireless burden, or will we be forced to surrender our morning routine to this villainous, and cruel awakener?

When I try to bake... it all goes down hill from there.=)

Hi there! Have I already told everyone on this blog I'm not good at cooking?=) Since nothing way out of the ordanary has happended lately, I thought I could tell you about some of my more recent baking fails.=)
Okay, this valentines day, I thought it would be fun to bake some of my friends cupcakes...it bakefired.MAJORLY.
 Okay, so first I decided I wanted to make chocolate cupcakes (my favorite!) Beacause, you know, chocolate is the most AWESOME desert in the world ever invented. I also decided I wanted to try an idea on pinterest where you stick a marble inbetween the cupcake pan, and cupcake holder, and it makes kind-of a heart shape because the cupcake holder is indented because of the marble...that probobly didn't make sence. I'll see if I can find a pictue...ah ha! here:



So anyway, I decided it would be really cool to try it, and put pink swirly frosting on the top, and sprikles! Problem 1: I didn't know where the marbles were, so Blaize hunted them down.
Problem 2: I didn't get all the ingredients out, and half way through baking them I relized I didn't have butter or vinilla.
Problem 3:We had no cupcake holders.
Problem 4: We had no milk or creamcheese to make frosting with...whoops.
Problem 5: The batter was really soupy.
So anyway, I worked through problem one by having Blaize go find them!=) (I told him he could have a cupcake if he did.=) Problem 2 was a bit harder, I used oil insted of butter and didn't use vinilla at all!
Problem three...yeah, the idea didn't work out too well. I ended up finding mini cupcake holders and the marbles were kind of oversized. I ended up pouring too much batter in, and when they baked they overflowed! Now I had these discusting looking cupcakes, and no frosting.
For the frosting end of it, I found left-over's from another batch, and used that. Then I added sourcream and powdered sugar...and that worked okay...
Okay, back to the cupcake end of it...I just sprayed regular sized cupcake holders with cooking spray, and it ended up okay, except that I added too much flour to the batter ('cause it was soupy.)
So they tured out being dry cupcakes with interesting tasting frosting...Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

You have been chopped!

We were sitting around the table Thursday evening, eating dinner, when Blaize asks, "Mom, when are we going to have a chopped?" We had talked about doing one before as a family, but never got around to it. For those of you who don't know what chopped is, it's a TV cooking show were the contestants are given three main ingredients they have to use, and have a certain time limit and three different rounds  in which they make a entree, appetizer or desert. They are then judged on their creations. We had thought it would be fun to do as a family, but always had a reason not to do so. Now, being snowed in, and having nothing on our schedule, we decided to do it then. We cleaned up supper and divvied out the teams. I (as I have mentioned in earlier blog posts) am not very good a cooking/baking, so I insisted I be with someone. I got put with papa. He isn't terribly experienced in the kitchen, but knows much more than I do. Hannah, and my mom were put on the other team, and Blaize was dubbed the official judge. Each team had one person go into the pantry and pick out the required main ingredients. They turned out being cashews, and canned chicken...yuck. My dad pulled me aside and said before the timer began, "Alright, Blaize is judging, so we can't use vegetables, or anything very healthy (or we would most definitely lose), so here's what we're going to do. We'll take filo dough (we had some left over from desert we brought our neighbor for his birthday) and take chicken and some kind of cheese and egg mixture and put it inside. (yes quite gourmet, I know!=) we'll wrap it in the filo dough and then roll it in a breadcrumb cashew mixture and fry it."
"Okay."
"Let's go."
The timer began, and I got out the can opener, the cheese, and eggs, while my dad chopped up the cashews. I also grabbed the breadcrumbs. We threw together the cashews, and breadcrumbs, then my dad pointed to the Rice Crispy cereal box and asked if I thought we should throw some in. I agreed. Meanwhile, Hannah and Mom were mixing together a cheese sauce for a chicken cashew pastry they were making.  The rest of the time passed rather uneventfully, except for the fact that we burnt two of the fried chicken cheese pockets we were making, and Mom dropped their pastry on the floor. When Blaize called time up,  we had a rather plain looking plate with a kind of grainy cream sauce to dip the pockets in, and sliced grapes (that was my idea, and besides, I didn't have time to think of anything creative. I glanced over at mom and Hannah's and it looked like something you would have served to you at a restaurant. Here, compare for yourselves:

yum!

gross looking.

"We have made for you today, sir," mom said "a cashew chicken creamy pastry, with a cheese cream sauce, and a lemonade orange drink."

Blaize tasted the pastry...and said it was "too flaky." Well isn't that the POINT of using filo dough?
Then he tasted the cream sauce, and said it was delicious. Then...well. Then came the drink.

Yup. That face sums it up. "It's way too sweet... and sour." he said.
"How can it be sweet, AND sour?" Hannah asked.
Blaize shrugged and said, "It just is."

Next came ours.

"We have made for you...a...a...hmm, well a kind of cheese and egg...and chicken patty...that's fried with a cashew/breadcrumb/rice crispy breading and has a side of grapes. Oh, and the sauce is a cream sauce and we used the left over breading in it." Papa said. Hannah and Mom were cracking up and Blaize was laughing hysterically. Then he tried it.

He liked it. Except for the cream sauce. He said "its really thick and grainy." Oops.

We all went into the living room while Blaize made up his mind. When he returned, he pulled off the a lid from the plate, and said,

"Team mom...you have been chopped." My dad and I high- fived each other. We won! I guess for a very picky eleven year old boy, simpler is better! 

A post just to make you laugh!=)

I am not very experienced in the kitchen, quite the opposite to my sister. I don't think it's one of my gifting’s, I enjoy it in all, but I don't have a sense of what goes together. For example, about two years ago, I was making pizza dough crust, and I knew sometimes Hannah put in a few spices. (such as garlic) So I, being oblivious to what spices work together, in all my knowledge (which is equivalent to 0%)  put in curry powder, and cumin into the pizza crust. Hmm...not the best combination, but it ended up not tasting different, because I (thankfully)didn't put enough in. I do bake, and cook, but Hannah is usually the one in experimenting in the kitchen. Here are some of my "Kitchen Horror stories" (okay, they aren't exactly horror stories. They were mess-ups...big time!=) I hope they make you laugh!=)

One of my first cooking disasters was when I was about ten. I was baking chocolate chip cookies for Sunday school, and must not have followed the recipe very closely (imagine that!=) I think I might have left a stick of butter, and added more salt than was needed. (I didn't exactly like measuring, and that hasn’t really changed) When they came out of the oven, they were dry, crumbly, and salty. Not the best combination!

Another time,  my mom asked me to bake a snack for writing class. I was so excited (Hannah usually does most of the baking) I took out a  brownie mix (love those!) and began. Mom had asked me to substitute out some of the oil for applesauce. I ended up thinking she meant ALL of it. When they came out of the oven, they looked fine, but when we tried to cut then...well...they were hard and rubbery. I guess all applesauce instead of oil doesn’t work to well with brownies. You could literally pick up the entire slab of brownie  and hold it up in the air, and it wouldn't fall apart. Pure rubberyness. (is that a word?) I think we ended up having Chex mix for snack!

Hannah and I sometimes back together. Now you should understand something about this situation. We don't work well in the kitchen together. Hannah likes having control of everything thats going on, and so do I. I like randomly measuring, and so does she. But she doesn’t like me doing that. I don't blame her. I don't exactly have a perfect track record, and besides, she likes control. I don't mind her randomly measuring as much, because she knows more about what she's doing.  But baking in the kitchen together usually ends up in an argument. I get mad at her because she won't let me do anything, and when I convince her to let me, she stands constant gaurd over me. You get the picture.
  But sometimes, we get along great (I guess it works better if we let go of control) We were baking a snack for Hannah's Sunday school class. (she teaches 3rd graders.) Hannah decided on red velvet cake...but wanted to mix it up. She thought it would be cool to change the color, and I agreed.
"We should do green!" I said, and she agreed. But we added to much food coloring, and it ended up looking like puke. It was really gross looking! I can understand why people don't make green velvet cake!
 Well, I hope I've make you laugh, or at least chuckle!

Everybody loves cupcakes! Hannah made these last tuesday, and I had a great time photographing them! These are chocolate cupcakes (some were filled with peanut butter frosting) and then topped with peanut butter frosting! They were amazing! (I said "were" because they went fast!) I was really excited at the prospect of somthing yummy to take photos of. (even though they aren't good, it's still good practice and fun to experiment with!) First, I set up a bottom for it to be on, and a background. At first, I did both white, and as you can see below, it didn't turn out very well!

I used a really slow shutter speed for this one (I think it was ten seconds) and put the camera on a tripod. I also used a yellow piece of paper above it, and got my brother to push down the camera button while I used a flashlight and pointed it up from under the paper on to the paper. The light bonced of the paper and onto the cupcake giving it goldish tint. As you can see, this picture didn't work AT ALL! The background is really bland, and the cupcake needs somthing else. I don't like this one.

I tried doing it a few more times, then realized it was bland, and needed a change...

So I added GLITTER! I used the same shutter speed as before, and reflective light (the flashlight and yellow paper thing.) . Okay, it still didn't work. It's still  bland, and the lighting is off. The white background dosen't work. It washes the cupcake out, making it a pretty bland picture. The glitter is also unevenly dispersed. It's bland. (Did I say that already?=) 

Since it was bland, I decided to change the background. I chose orange because it reminded me of reeses peanut butter cups (and it's a chocolate penut butter cupcake.) I used the same shutter speed as before, and the reflective light thing. But it still needs somthing else, don't you think? It's still...well, bland. I decided to add more cupcakes in the background, and experament with that to see if it worked better.

This one is better, I think. It's a little more interesting, and I like how they are not all in focus, but the glitter in the right hand corner is over exposed due to the reflective not being centered. It's disracting, and takes away from it. Also, the glitter on the bottom isn't even (there's a big clump! uggg!=) and I should have taken the picture a little more even with the cupcake, insted of from above. So, I tried taking it from a different angle...

I like this one better...but it still needs somthing! Maybe....

Powdered suger? I like it 'cause it gives it more texture, and color. I think it needs more of the background in it though, to make it "pop" if you know what I mean!

This one has more background, (obviously!) At this point I decided to experament with different set up's....

Hmmm. Nope! Too bland! So I added somthing else...

A fork? I didn't use reflective light for this one.It made the fork shine too much! I dimed the lights insted, and it worked pretty well. It still needs somthing else,(maybe a candle or somthing?)  but by then I was tiered, so I quit!=)

Hannah did end up letting me have a cupcake, and they were amazing (as always. She's a good cook!)

Yum! Amazing!

I hope I haven't boared you...(I'm guessing I have!) See you later!

Hello, this is a random post...read with caution=)

Hello! Yup, it's me again. I can't really think of just one thing to blog about, so be prepared for some major randomness!=) Well let’s see...nothing much has happened that's very interesting...hmmm. Ah yes, the toilet overflow...I guess you could call that interesting (but more like gross. )I was out in the kitchen when it happened. My brother was gone on a play date with a friend, and my parents were out on a walk. I was checking e-mail, when all of a sudden, I hear Hannah in the bathroom yelling for help. I walked to the bathroom to see what’s going on, and Hannah starts screaming, "The toilet! The toilet! It's overflowing! Help!" Hannah opened the door, and it was a sight! Water was gushing out of the toilet at a fast rate, like a small waterfall and Hannah was jumping up and down, and trying to figure out how to turn the water off. It was kind of hilarious, in an ironic sort of way. Thankfully, my mom had showed me how to turn the water off to a toilet, and I quickly did so...or so I thought! I accidentally turned it the wrong way, and even more water gushed out! I finally figured out how to turn it off. After I did this, I quickly ran though the inches of water that had collected on the floor and ran to go grab the camera (I love taking memorable funny pictures!) sadly though, I never got a chance, because just then, the doorbell rang, and I set down the camera to answer the door. It was my parents. They weren’t too happy about the situation with the toilet, but everything worked out! I’m kind-of upset about it, though. I never got a picture! Wouldn't it have been hilarious though?
Okay, random story, I know. That was about the only extremely exciting thing that has happened to our family! We have gone to the k-state rec-center a few times this week, and that has been a blast! Two times we went with friends to play volleyball, and the other was to play wally ball as a family. (for those of you who don't know what wally ball is, its basically volleyball in a racquet ball court, and you use the walls to ricochet the ball of of, and on to the other people's side.) Hopefully by next year I will have setting down, and will be able to make the ball go where I want it to go! LOL!
I decided on Sunday to fill out an application for a camp called cyia (Christian youth in action) and hopefully, it will be accepted! Hopefully,  I can send it out by Wednesday!
Okay, it's getting late, so I should probably get to bed! Sorry for the extreme randomness. I hope someday, you will fully recover from it!=)

Vacation

Hi! Yes, We're back from vacation (okay, not really vacation because we had to do school....=( )  Finally. For those of you who don't know, we've been in Arizona for a couple of weeks. We stayed in a 900 square foot house, and by the end of the time, I was getting pretty homesick. I slept on the couch, my sister, on the floor on a mattress, and my brother on a air mattress. It was pretty tight! It felt like we were living on top of each other... But during the end of the trip, I began to realize how blessed we were to even have a place to stay. While we were traveling, we saw lots of people who lived in makeshift homes that looked like something we could have built in a day. We also saw people, pushing shopping carts full of their only possessions. It was really sad, and I began to realize how much I take for granted. Food, cloths, a roof over our heads. I go by every day, not even thinking about how blessed I am, I feel  entitled to it. I guess it was different not just hearing how we are blessed, but seeing it first hand, and what other people go through to survive. Another thing that was different about living there was there were lots of Spanish speaking people (most likely because we were 60 miles from the boarder) and Spanish stores/restaurants. One grocery store we went in had lots of Mexican items (tortillas, fried things rice etc...) and the signs were almost all in Spanish. Hannah and I were trying to decipher the signs, but due to only one year of Spanish, and one year of forgetting half of it, we never figured them out.=) My favorite part of the trip was either hiking, or going horseback riding on some trails...it was really cool! Anyway, the trip was interesting...and fun. The desert was...well, very desolate and cactusey (is that even a word???)  and I don't think I would want to live there. I'm more of a home body! I'm so blessed to live where we are, and to have so many great friends. =)