WINTER! It has arrived. (if we weren't sure before)

Check out these pictures I took this morning...! I'd normally post them on my photo blog, but I think they're too cool not to post here. Enjoy them! (oh, and they're on Picasa, so you can leave comments if you want as well)

My awesome brother Judah's sitting beside me, and I asked him for advice on what else to say in this blog post. He said to say that "the track is really cool". You'll understand when you look at the pictures - Ezra and Judah made this wicked cool sledding track off our porch and onto the patio. I guess you have to get creative and make your own hills, when there aren't any where you live. Oooh and Judah just told me they iced the track too. Slippery = speed! hehe!

(and of course, we have to start with a picture of a cat.)

12-26-10

promises

This is beautiful. Just beautiful. I love reading this passage - especially since it comes straight from the mouth of our Heavenly Father. So many wonderful promises in here. :)


   "If you walk in My laws and guard My commands, and shall do them, then I shall give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit. And your threshing shall last till the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread until you have enough, and shall dwell in your land safely. 


    And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and no one make you afraid. And I shall clear the land of evil beasts, and not let the sword go through your land. And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. 


   And I shall turn to you and make you bear fruit, and shall increase you, and shall establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. And I shall set My Dwelling Place in your midst, and My being shall not reject you. 


   And I shall walk in your midst, and shall be your Elohim, and you shall be My people. I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt), from being their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright."

-Leviticus 26:3-13

"In other news..."

...that's kinda my job. With my new interning job (have I mentioned that on here? If not, I recently scored a job as an intern at the local office of US Senator John Thune. I love it!!!) part of my job is to be informed about the news that's going on locally and around the world. That way if someone calls with questions, I can further help them with any information I know. It's so cool to be 'up and up' on the news! Just a quick thank you.... to all the people paying taxes in SD. You are helping me to have an awesome job helping the Senator. :D

Along with interning, teaching dance, school, getting ready for ballet exams, eating and sleeping - life is crazy busy. But I like it that way. It keeps me out of trouble (haha), and I have lots of opportunities to try and show God's love to the world. Which is what our lives should be all about, right?

Shout out! New blog in town! My best friend (who happens to be my brother) just started a blog. "Honest Exaggerations" is the title - go read it, follow it, put the page on automatic refresh: this guy is hilarious. http://honest-exaggerations.blogspot.com/

With that, it's lunch time. Farewell for now! Have a lovely weekend :)

an in-coming story that's rather late

Yep, I haven't blogged in forever. Hopefully y'all didn't think I died or anything - because I didn't! No worries! Blog posts might be a bit sparse from now on though - working 2 jobs, 40 hours a week.... doesn't leave much time for much else, let alone blogging. But I digress. 

Story? Ah yes. (to the friend that asked what the airport security comment was about - this is that story now).

As many of you know, I recently took a trip to North Carolina to visit some dear friends! The trip was amazing - and as Mom and I are going through the Charlotte NC airport security, one of the TSA officers grabs my bag and starts going through it. I'm busy tying my shoes and I didn't really notice her say that she had to run my bag through the X-Ray scanner again. She does that, then rifles through my bag again.... this happens about three times until she pulls a pocketknife out of my bag. ......yes, folks. A pocketknife. So she takes it away, I take my bag away, all is happy. 

No, no, no. All is not happy. I was pretty upset - as my Mom can attest. It didn't help that I wasn't in a happy and bouncy state of mind since I just said good bye to all my lovely friends - but I was upset for a couple more reasons. 1) I actually didn't notice that there was a pocketknife in my bag when I was packing! Shame. On. Me.! 2) The Minneapolis airport security didn't notice my pocketknife in my bag on the flight from Minneapolis to Charlotte. 

Those are the facts, folks. The Minneapolis TSA officers and all their fancy equipment let me take a pocketknife into their airport and on their airplane. I know for a fact that I didn't just pick the pocketknife up in Charlotte or anything like that - because - the knife had the name and address of my Dad's place of work engraved upon it. So I knew it was my knife. 

Final thought: the TSA wants to look through your clothes to see if you have bombs on you - when they allowed a pocketknife to get through their security. To take a quote from National Treasure: "It's upside down." 

Hopefully there will be a "In other news...." post coming later this weekend. :)

from the Eastern seaboard

"I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich." 
-(I think it's a movie quote from someplace)

It's true. Family is awesome. You have your quarrels and squabbles of course, but at the end of the day, you're stuck living with them.... so you either end up loving them or leaving. I love my family. And it makes me a bit sad... cause right now I'm away from them. Granted, I am having an absolute blast with some awesome friends for the weekend.... but there's really nothing like your own family.

*points to title of post* Yep, I'm in Eastern Time. It's so weird! I'm used to going west, and having everything be an hour earlier, but for everything to be an hour later? It's just messing me up. Maybe that's why I'm not tired - cause it's only 11:30 back home. :P

Regardless, I should get to bed. Lots going on tomorrow - including possibly caroling! Should be fun... except for the fact that I'm a horrible singer. Guess I'll be standing in the back - hahaha!

Israeli Proverbs

I love Israel. The land, the people, the culture, the food, the history... the fact that God chose them for His very own. Most Israelis think that all Americans hate Israel. (I know, because I have good friends that live there) How sad is that? What have we done to make Israel think that we don't love them? There are probably many reasons - which I won't go into here and now. But just for the record, and for anyone from Israel that's reading this - I LOVE ISRAEL! And I know other Americans who do as well.


I came across a site full of Israeli Proverbs today. Some of them are just so great! Here are my favorites: 


-People make plans and God laughs.
-Let a good man do good deeds with the same zeal that the evil man does bad ones.
-Never trust the man who tells you all his troubles but keeps from you all his joys.
-Where two Jews, three opinions.
-Worries go down better with soup.
-The favorite place of God is in the heart of man.
-Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side.
-If there is bitterness in the heart, sugar in the mouth won't make life sweeter.
-One of life's greatest mysteries is how the boy who wasn't good enough to marry your daughter can be the father of the smartest grandchild in the world.


Aren't those just great?! I had a good laugh over a few of them... especially the last. :D 

do-over

Sorry the last post turned out to be a flop. :(

I have another poem in my head... needing to get out... so here goes.

-----
walking alone. in the rain.
people passing by.
walking alone. feeling pain.
falling from the sky.

standing alone. far away.
sun begins to shine.
standing alone. another day.
hope shall become mine.
-----

that's all I have for now - more verses might come later.
hehe, now I feel like e. e. cummings :P

watch, and be amazed

I'm not usually one to post crazy videos of random YouTube awesomeness - but you have got to check this video out! Talk about going outside-the-box, DIY, creative ingenuity, talent.... this is so great!! For real!

....maybe I like it so much because I can totally see my brothers coming up with something like this. Although they aren't very musically inclined :P

Decisions

As of last night and this morning, I have decided that I cannot marry someone if they want to own a dog. Or already own one. Or wish to ever come in contact with a dog in the entire lifespan of our marriage.

My brother and I are house-sitting for a family this weekend, and it's been fun; we get to eat popcorn, watch movies, generally party.... but they have this dog. Which came and licked me every ten minutes while I was sleeping (or trying to) last night. Not only does that totally gross me out - but hello! I was trying to sleep!

Mom and I are about to do something we have never done.. that I can remember anyways. Go shopping today. Today is, of course, Black Friday - and while many people hit the stores and go crazy at 2, 3am - we've never been crazy enough to do that. (hehe) But today, apparently there is something my Mom needs, that can be had for real cheap today, so we're going shopping. Should be fun... if we make it out alive!

(extra thought: just because I said that, God will probably lead me to marry a man who either already has a dog, wants one, or doesn't like them, yet God will change the guy's mind the day after we get married to decide we should get a dog. :P )

(extra thought number 2: no offense to anyone that owns dogs and likes them. I'm really thankful for people like you... because that means you can have the dogs and I don't have to. :) )

Thoughts on an empty stomach.

You know what makes me sad? When people debate theology like they are in a war for their very lives. It's just sad, sad, sad. I don't think God is looking down on them and saying "Yes! Those people are doing exactly what I want them to." :P While it is good to talk about and discuss what you believe, it's definitely not good to fight about an issue over and over.

Especially the whole Calvinism/Arminianism debate. I'm probably going to lose friends for saying this, but really, does it matter that much? I was listening to a speaker once (he's the one that got me going on learning Hebrew actually), and he was saying how boring the world would be if everyone agreed on everything the Bible said. It's so true! I think we all see some things in Scripture a little differently - we see them how God wants us, individually, to see them - and we're going to be different from others around us.

Now, there are some things that you should disagree on. For example, if someone is not saved - feel free to argue that! If someone thinks abortion is cool - totally argue that! But - like - reading the KJV Bible vs. something else? Believing in predestination or free will? Seriously, people. Seriously. Arguing and fighting like that isn't exactly loving your neighbor... which, if I recall correctly, is the second most important commandment.

Paul wrote a great sentence about this. "But keep away from foolish questions, and genealogies, and strife and quarrels about the Torah, for they are unprofitable and useless." (Titus 3:9) Unprofitable. Useless. Worse than that, I think it's the very opposite of edification... something we are commanded to do to each other.

With that said, I'm hungry. Time to dig for some breakfast!

Oh, disclaimer. I'm not saying the issues above aren't important. They are. They definitely are. I just don't get why people have to argue about it. And it's not once either. Oh no. It's again, and again.... and I'll stop now. :P

goin' RETRO!!!

A looong time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away, someone (who shall remain anonymous) spilled bleach on my favorite brown linen skirt.

It's kinda hard to see from far away, but there are white spots on that skirt that shouldn't be there. I couldn't wear it, and I was so sad.... until now. 

Cool, right?! I think so. :D I was at the fabric store yesterday, saw this fabric, and fell in love. I'm usually the type that goes for flowery pastel fabric - but this just screamed total awesomeness. So I took a few minutes to appliqué a piece right over the top - and bam! Totally new look. 

Random fact of the day: When I sew, I have to listen to music that has lyrics I can sing along with. Otherwise I grit my teeth really bad. :/ (my apologies go out to my family, having to put up with my dreadful singing whenever I sew)

time flies when you are having fun. er, when you're busy.

It's been a week since I have posted?! What? Crazy. I've found that I am really productive on Sunday, Monday, and about half of Tuesday... then the amount of stuff I get done steadily declines throughout the week. I need to think of a Wednesday motivator or something....

Tis been cold lately. And yes, as my Mom put it on her blog, all we do in SD is talk about the weather. It's constantly changing, so it's a great conversation topic! As they say: "Live in SD and don't like the weather? Wait 10 minutes and it will change." :D That's pretty true.

Someone said something on the college forum I'm a part of the other day in response to a guy/girl relationship topic - "just stop having crushes!" I laughed. Seems to me the person who posted that has probably never had a 'crush'. It's hard controlling stuff like that. The only thing to do, in my opinion, is immerse yourself in Scripture and God's presence. God's the only one stronger than our emotions. The only thing is - that's a lot easier said than done.

So, I applied for an internship last week. Cool, right? I'm so excited! I'm sure that a lot of people applied for it (it's an internship with our state's Senator, John Thune), so I'm leaving it in God's hands whether I get it or not. :)

And I'd better head to SPURS. Get to help a little seven year old girl who is half blind ride horse today. She's sooo sweet, and I think we get along pretty well. I've known her for awhile, and she's come a long way since she first got on that horse. *smiles* Hopefully God can use me to bless her day today.

Look Above

When it's raining

all around

When everything's

pouring down

When troubles seem

to abound

Look above. 

As hopes are dashed

to the sand

As all that's good

comes to end

As storms of life

get out of hand

Look above. 

Our God can turn

night to day

Our God will chase 

clouds away

Our God implores

us to say

"Just look above."

As for me, I look to Yahweh, 

I wait for the Elohim of my deliverance, 

my Elohim does hear me.

-Micah 7:7

Time to PARTY!!!!

...not really. I just like the month of November a lot. Something about October I've never really liked. Maybe it's because the weather where I live is still trying to make up its mind about weather (ha ha pun intended) or not to be warm or cold in October. I'm not sure. But I LOVE November. Thanksgiving, the crispy air, starting to work on Recital stuff for dance... and... this year.... VOTING! I get to vote this year and I'm SO excited. You would never believe that there was a time in my life where I thought it was very, very wrong for women to vote. (Yes, I did think that, but I'm way past that now :) ) (Now that I think on that, I probably shouldn't have admitted that. Just don't kill me, okay? :P )

On another vein, want to see some funny stuff from the last few days?

To make a long story short, our mailbox got knocked over. Mom kindly asked my brothers to repair it, and they kindly did. Just like that. :D :D It's about 2 feet off the ground.... hehe! I'm not sure how much the mailman will like that... we'll see I guess!

Apparently Noah thought he'd tried to get everyone scared to death by making a Lego sea serpent and putting it in the sink. It only made us laugh, though. Try harder next time, bud. ;) :D :D 

Another reason to party, I did get my Taylor Swift CD in the mail!! Much to the chagrin of my family, I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop since I got it. You just can't beat good music! If you happen to check it out (and I highly suggest you do), my favorites from the album are "Sparks Fly" and "Enchanted". :) 

}'.~.'{tidbits}'.~.'{

- I have decided to upgrade to Windows 7. As soon as I get paid tomorrow. :P Yeah, yeah, I know... I was crazy about Vista for so long - but - it's been giving me issues. So it's time for an upgrade methinks. (only because I can't afford a Mac. boo hoo.)

- People conned me into working 6 hours tomorrow evening and 3 hours on Saturday morning. :( The job on Saturday is a boring desk job, where I'll sit and do nothing... so if you feel like texting me - go right ahead. ;)

- New favorite song: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Jar+of+Hearts/3ayJVN I've felt like saying this to a few different people: "You're going to catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul. Who do you think you are?" 

- Banana flavored Laffy Taffy is absolutely disgusting. Don't you agree? *shivers* It's almost worse than artificial cherry flavor!

- Taylor Swift's new CD should have been here yesterday. Now it should be here today or else.... ! (just kidding.)

- Dance is going well - my kiddos are so awesome. Although one of my 4 y.o. students just would not let go of me the other day. "Honey, it's nice you want to hug me, but you need to dance and I need to teach." :P haha

- Did I mention we got snow yesterday? Well, we did. Say hello to winter, everyone! And hot chocolate, heavy coats, scarfs, coffee, wood stoves, lots of blankets, and good books. :) As my dance teacher put it yesterday: "One good thing about winter: legwarmers." So true!

Sadly, I'm not actually from India.

My name means "from India" - lame - yeah - oh well. (I do still like my name though!) Apparently, someone really took that to heart in a letter to me! I exchange letters (Yes, snail mail. It does still exist! Shocking, I know.) with an awesome college friend of mine... she lives in Alaska. I got an additional letter from her 11 y.o. brother Sam the other day:

In case you can't read it (and I don't blame you if you can't - my scanner isn't amazing), it says the following: 

To: India  how are you doing? do you eat lots of rice like us? do you ride elephants and rickshaws? Are the monsoons coming soon? Do you wear a sari? What caste are you in? Do you have a pet mongoose or cobra? You should buy a jeep and take tourists on safaris for many rupees? I like curry. There is probably tiger season, elephant season, snake season, and tourist season. Don't let a panther come down through the thatch of your roof. 

From Sam

I really, really, honest-to-goodness, have not laughed that hard in a LONG time. Sam, thank you for making my day. :D :D He also included this drawing on the back: 

O.O hahahahahaha

MCFBFAE and infinity

Peek in our house on Friday night. You'd see Ezra and I seated on the Living Room floor, battling back and forth in a game of Risk for our very lives. You'd also see Noah and Judah sitting on the couch, with a box of corn flakes sitting between them. Those two had previously been beaten out of the game, and were happy to sit and watch us, and eat. The fact that they got to eat corn flakes before we did, made them come up with their own special club: MCFBFAE (yes. sometimes I wonder too.) It stands for Mental Corn Flake Buddies For Ever And Ever. Oh yes it does. LOL! How did they ever come up with that?! I'll never know. But it's positively goofy and hilarious.

You know I mentioned I'd been reading "The Restaurant at the end of Universe"? Well, in this book, they define infinity:

Infinite: Bigger than the biggest thing ever and then some. Much bigger that that in fact, really amazingly immense, a totally stunning size, real "wow, that's big," time. Infinity is just so big that by comparison, bigness itself looks really titchy. Gigantic multiplied by colossal multiplied by staggeringly huge is the sort of concept we're trying to get across here. 

:D That gave me a good laugh. Dealing a lot with infinity in Calculus, I'd never heard it described quite like that before.

umm - yeah.

I don't like it when I have nothing to blog about. Really! I mean, when there's nothing exciting going on, and my creative juices aren't flowing, but I know I need to blog something somehow..... UGH! Actually, you know what, I did have an idea for a blog post as I was reading through Isaiah. (I just love Isaiah, don't you?) *goes to grab Bible*

.....and you know what, I forgot what I was going to blog about. Naturally. (rolls eyes at self) But - I shall make a post out of this anyway! I have been reading in Isaiah, and I just read Isaiah 40. Man, oh, man - what a great chapter. It's like Matthew 5... just absolutely wonderful. It's prophetic, encouraging, proving the strength of God.... if you haven't read it in awhile, go do so. My favorite has to be the last few verses.

"Did you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting Elohim, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who wait on Yahweh renew their strength, they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint."
-Isaiah 40:28-31

Amazing.

Something else I have been reading recently, is "The Restaurant at the end of the Universe". YES! It's the sequel to the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - perhaps you have heard of that? If not, this is quite the series written by Douglas Adams - I suppose it would be considered Sci-Fi? It's just super random and funny.... and call me crazy, but I like it. And whatever you do, whether you brand me as insane, decide to read it, or grab copies and burn them..... NEVER forget your towel! ;)

overheard at my house

Mom was explaining how they make cheeseburgers at fast food restaurants, for all of her children who have never had one. (*cough* which is all of us *cough* )

Me: "So do they put cheese inside of the meat patty?"

Mom: "No, that makes it stick to the pan. They usually just fry the meat by itself. But if you really wanted to do it right, you'd put a slice of cheese on top as it's frying. And if you REALLY wanted to do it right you'd toast the bun before putting it all together."

Noah: "And if you *REALLY* wanted to do it right you'd take the plastic wrap off the cheese before putting it on the burger.

Gave us all a good laugh :D

In other news.... I get tomorrow and Tuesday off of work! Yay! I'm so excited - I don't know what to do with myself!! Perhaps I shall give my room a thorough cleaning and give a bunch of stuff away.... to prepare for moving. :) If and when we move, that is.

Random fact of the day from one of my best friends.... "I've heard that the symptoms of over-tiredness can be very similar to when someone's drunk." ..... interesting, right? I sure thought it was. Remind me to never to be in a social situation when I'm overly tired. hehe!

aww little kids :)

I babysat three girls today/yesterday as their parents had to go out of town. Last night before we prayed together, (with the parents giving their girls hugs and kisses goodbye) the littlest girl (she's 5) said the cutest thing. She goes: "Mom, I love you so much because you let Miss India come and stay with us!" What an "awwww!" moment! Then this morning, as I was driving the girls to school, the middle girl (she's 8) pipes up randomly with: "Miss India, I wish you were our sister." My heart melted. How sweet was that?! It totally made my day.

On the down side, the youngest girl almost broke down into tears when she realized her sister put grape jelly on her toast instead of strawberry. So we had to have a ''you're a big girl and grape is just as good'' talk. And then 2 minutes later she was happy as a clam. Also on the down side.... they have a dog. A big yellow lab that is smelly and icky and licky... blegh. Note: I like cats much better than dogs.

All Yours.

The life that I have is all that I have

And the life that I have is yours. 

The love that I have of the life that I have 

Is yours and yours and yours. 

A sleep I shall have 

A rest I shall have,

Yet death will be but a pause, 

For the peace of my years in the long green grass

Will be yours and yours and yours. 

-A Code Poem for the French Resistance-

by Leo Marks

"Not a single time have we gotten a right from Congress or from the President. We get them from God." -Glenn Beck

I do like that quote.

Glenn Beck. The world is talking about him. I'm still not sure whether I like him or not... I've watched his show a lot (it was always on at the place I used to work), and I've listened to his radio show when we have been on vacation. He definitely has some good things to say, and a lot of people are ''waking up'' so to speak, by listening to the bold truths he tells. On the other hand - in my opinion, some of his religious beliefs are a tad off. I recently took a poll on what I thought about him - I voted "FAAAN!!! but I hope he is going to Heaven" (just because I heartily disagreed with the other options :P )

I have to say though, this guy in this article - way to go dude! Read it - it's pretty cool. The education system in this country is degenerating before our eyes - and it's really sad - but what did we expect? When people turn their backs on what the Bible says about teaching your children at home, yourself; bad things are sure to happen. Anyway, check out this article (whether you like Glenn Beck or not ;) )

On a lighter note - remember how I mentioned that I would be in the local newspaper for dance teaching? Well, yesterday, I was. Haha. If you care to check it out, you can do so here. 

YAYY!!

Guess what came in the mail today?!?!

 I love them! And they are just as awesome as the website portrayed. Yippee!!

On Knitta's, Math, and prettiness

They say that great minds think alike. In my college world, they say "CPMTA" which translates to, "CollegePlus! minds think alike" It's true! Especially because I was planning on doing a post on Knitta's, and my good friend Hattie beat me to it at her blog! Check it out... it's SO awesomely cool! I kinda want to start doing it in my town. Not sure what kind of reaction that would get though... ha ha ha.

Ever felt lost when it came to math? *raises hand* I sure have. High school math was not my cup of tea. College math = awesomesauce. Anyways. Yes, I have felt lost at math before... but not quite super lost until I watched this video. Wow. That's just plain scary right there.... but I got a good laugh out of it. NERD POWER!

Speaking of math, did you know they make this awesome thing called "Calcu-doku"? Yes. It's math and Sudoku...... combined. Saw it at Barnes and Noble for under $10, and the book was mine. I was pretty disappointed at first, because the first 20 or so puzzles were so easy, but, with most Sudoku books, it got harder. WAY harder. I love that book.



So Mom walks into my room the other day and goes "India, what happened to your canopy?" See, when I was a young tyke, my parents got this pretty chiffon (well, it's closer to netting, but it's soft. anyway) canopy for my birthday! When I re-painted my room several years ago, I had to take the canopy down in order to paint, and it has been stuffed in a box ever since. After Mom said that I went scrambling to find it, and sure enough, there it was - right in the box wherein I had left it! Mom wasn't looking for me to put the canopy up, she was merely wondering where it was, but why have one if you don't keep it up?! So I put it up. *girly grin* It makes me feel like quite the princess! Er, I mean, Countess. ;)

And yes, I do peel my kiwi before I eat them.

such is life.

random facts of the day:

I'm tired of people condemning me for what I believe.

I'm really tired of trying hard to let it go.

These are on the mail to me though, and that makes life happier. Somewhat.

"since you been gone...!!"

Yep, song lyrics for a title post again. I need to get original one of these days, no? Anyway, since I have been gone from the blogging world, a million things happened in the 'real' world!!

To start off with, dance has been going awesomely. Though keeping me busy, I really enjoy teaching the little kiddos. Teaching the adults is quite another matter though.... and I'm still trying to figure out the best way of doing things in that class. Oh well, God will grant me the wisdom I need - and your prayers are coveted for that btw.

After the first week of dance, a dear friend of mine and I flew to Ohio for the weekend! (this was just this past weekend). We met up with 20 other college students and PARTIED!!! I told one my dance 'friends' this, and she goes "....you don't drink, do you India?" LOL - um - no. I then explained to her that this was a Christian gathering, very safe, and we didn't do anything dangerous or naughty. Well, that might depend on your definition of the words too. ;) But all in all it was a total blast. Here is the 'trailer' from the weekend: click here

As soon as we got home from Ohio, it was back to work getting the house ready to show it again! The couple that looked at it a few weeks ago wanted to come and take another look. They did last night, and while they didn't say they wanted to buy it for sure, I think they are pretty interested. Wouldn't that be, like, the pineapple of coolness if our house would sell?! All in God's plan though. :)

Apparently.... I'm going to be in the local newspaper for teaching dance. O.O The dude came and took my photo before classes started yesterday, and I filled out a questionnaire they sent me by email. If it's half-ways decent I might post the article here. Maybe.

Now - Mom and I are going to do some fall shopping so I'd better hit the road! Adios, dear blogging friends. And hopefully now that my travels are over for the time being, I'll be able to blog a little more regularly again.

Beautiful Silence

I think God likes quiet. I mentioned this in my last post, saying I'd be expounding, so here it is! I was reading Scripture with my family the other night, and we were reading in 1 Kings chapter 6. The part where it talks about Solomon building the second Temple for God. (well, technically the first since the one before was the Tabernacle... oh well) We read verses 8-13, and I found verse 7 to be terribly interesting:

"And the House, when it was being built, was built with finished stone made ready beforehand, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the House while it was being built." 

Interesting, yes! Does God not enjoy noise? I think He does, sometimes - like when we make a joyful noise to Him - but in this case, He wanted quiet while His Temple was being built. This made me think of the passage when Elijah is looking for God's action to bring rain upon the land. God wasn't in the wind, earthquake, or fire. (think about it, all these are noisy!) No, God came in the 'still small voice' - something quiet. (1 Kings 19:11-12)

Also, check out Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am Elohim;" Usually when one is still, they are quiet, yes? Just got me thinking.

I went for a bike ride today, by myself, and it was beautiful. The earth was quiet (from my perspective), and I got to talk to God for 6+ miles as I rode my bike around in His creation. I think it's sometimes easy to forget God in our noisy, busy world. So more often then not (preaching to myself here), we should turn off the music, tv, computer, even people around us - find a spot to be alone with God, and enjoy the silence in His presence. Not saying, at all, that God isn't present in the noise, but I think it may be easier to really dwell on Him if things are quiet. Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your opinion.

late night randomness

-we are home! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again. the trip was fantastic, but there's just nothing like home.

-football starts tomorrow. yep, NFL football. last year, everyone in my family (including myself... sort of) were huge football fans. we'd all gather around the tv on Sunday afternoons with our junk food and watch the games. well, this year we are still fans, but we got rid of our tv. tis a good riddance, but I'll miss Sunday football a bit. (GO Cowboys!!!  ..hehe)

-we will never forget. I've read those words a lot today, being it's September 11th. 9 years ago, today, some losers from another country decided to destroy thousands of lives here in this country. it's a terrible thing, and we honor those who died, and who have fought and died since. and we pray for the families of those whose loved ones were harmed, and we pray for those who still wish to do harm. pray for your enemies.... tis a hard thing.

-I should really count up the photos I took on our trip. 3 weeks.... X amount of photos. had to be a lot though... which reminds me. I need to back up my computer! *digs around for external hard drive*

-and with the end of our trip comes the start of dance. I'm sooo so soooo excited, and really nervous too. don't worry - I'll come back to tell you all about it though. classes start Monday. :D

-tomorrow = cleaning the RV. yay! for real, I like unpacking. organizing and putting everything back where it goes is actually pretty great. especially if you can have awesome music playing while you do so.

-don't you love your family? cause I sure love mine. tonight, before I sat down to my computer, we spent a couple hours reading Scripture, then talking about stuff, then laughing at goofy things. we don't usually stay up that late talking (it was 11pm), but we had such fun. at one point we were talking about the problems we've had with our roof from not shoveling the snow off soon enough this winter (gotta love conversational tangents), and my youngest brother pipes up with "why don't we just sand the shingles? that would make them smooth and the snow would slide right off!" that gave us a good laugh. I just love 10 year old logic.

-before this gets any longer, I have one final thought. I think God likes quietness. I'll expand on that more in my next post. until then, auf wieder sein!! *dive bombs my bed*

French Fries, anyone?

Ever heard of the Donner Party? If not, you sure missed out in history class (Well, sort of. It's not the happiest story in the world.) You can read about the whole story here, if you so wish.

As we were driving to California today (and yes, as I write, I am now in California. How cool is that?!), you would not believe the amount of Donner related - things we passed on the road. Donner State Park, Donner Rest Area, Donner Lake, Donner Restaurant..... !!! Just kidding, we didn't actually see Donner Restaurant, but Ezra sure thought it would be funny if we had.

What was really ironic, was back when we were in Nevada, we stopped at a gas station for fuel, restroom break, and French Fries. (a road trip just isn't a road trip without French Fries.) While we were waiting for our fries, I told Mom and Dad about this comic I had seen on the internet. Mom, being the history buff that she is, laughed long and hard, but I had to explain the story to Dad. Here it is:

It's hilariously funny... in a really sad, pathetic sort of way. Needless to say, the day was full of Donner Party jokes (we're so mean, aren't we?), history lessons, and thankfulness for French Fries.

ICE CREAM!!!!!!

I passed my test!!! Thank you so much for praying, those of you who did!!! God's so amazing - and I'm so glad I don't have to study those wacky religions anymore. To celebrate the fact that I am now done with college tests forever (except finals on a couple classes I'm working on) - Mom got me cookie avalanche ice cream. YUM! I shared a couple bites with her, then ate the rest of the container by myself. ^_^ It was soooo good!! *does happy dance* (thanks Mom!)

click to enlarge

Then, the promised picture of my bike. Well, this also happens to have my brothers and their bikes in it. I just can't leave my brothers out, now can I? :D From L to R we have Judah and his Raleigh bike, Ezra and his... something-or-other dual suspension. (I forgot the brand), me and my Trek, and Noah with his dual suspension Windsor - which is an English bike. Rochella - you ever heard of that? I thought of you when he bought it. ;) 

And whaddya know, today is September 1st! *eyes get wide* Where did the summer go? Seems like it was just yesterday that we were getting ready for dance recital... and now the dance season starts all over again in 13 days. Can you tell I'm excited?!?!?!!!!!!! I love to dance - and it's going to be a great year. (I hope!)

Update (of sorts)

Guess what? I got a bike!! *throws a party* It's the awesomest bike ever :D (although I'm pretty sure each of my brothers would disagree with me hehe) It's a used Trek bike (which is an upper line one for those of you who don't know.... not that I'm an expert either) - it's silver and light green - and it's in great shape. I got it for a bargain too... God's so cool! :D I haven't been able to convince anyone to take a picture of me with my bike yet - but hopefully soon someone will be nice enough to do that. :)

In non-travel news - I'm planning on taking another college test on Monday. Introduction to World Religions is the name of it, and let me tell you, it has been a bear to study for. It's hard, for one thing, to keep everything straight between all the different religions... not to mention that I don't really care to dig into the false teachings of other wackos out there! Everything I read just makes me want to scream - no! that's so wrong! read the Bible! :P Especially the chapter I read on Judaism.... I mean, really. That's NOT how Jews are, people. The author was going on and on about all these socialistic, philosophical things about Judiasm - and it barely mentioned the traditions and rich -not to mention Biblical- history of that religion. Oh well. If you happen to think of me on Monday afternoon... a prayer that I pass and remember everything would be awesome.

Annddd...! It looks like we're heading out pretty soon so I'd better run. Today the plan is to go to Park City Utah - and play tourist for the day. The 2002 Winter Olympic games were held there, and apparently there are all kinds of neat things to see and do! Top of the list for my brothers and I is to ride the zip-line that's there. Whoot!! I'm totally excited. :D

Bad internet, Independence Rock, and Bikes

Ladies and gents, I am on vacation! Which explains my lack of posting *and* updating the song for Music Monday (sorry). The internet here in Utah isn't all that great either (although I just did a speed test and it gave me some good results... but the fact that it was so slow I could barely have a Skype conversation tells me otherwise).... which is a bummer, but hopefully that will help me take a bit of a computer break and spend more time doing 'stuff' with my family.

Soon to come will be pictures on my photo blog! {shameless plug: http://yakarphotography.blogspot.com/ }
If, that is, all my pictures take less than - say - a week to upload ha ha ha. We stopped to see a really cool site yesterday though, Independence Rock. Seriously! THE Independence Rock! For all you non-Oregon Trail freaks - you can read more about it here. My brothers climbed to the top (Mom didn't let me :sadness: ) - but it was really cool. An interesting part about it, was the fact that many pioneers had carved their initials or their whole name into this massive rock! Those were really cool to see. Dad saw he saw one dated 1890! The latest I saw was 1911 though.

We've got lots of fun things planned for this mini vacation - hiking, biking, white water rafting, shopping, touristy stuff... yeah! Really though, I'm not sure if we'll get to go biking. :(  (and no, I'm not talking about Motorcycles) All they sell back home are Huffy's from Target or Schwinns that are a million dollars. So we figured on buying them here. Seriously though, there isn't a used bike to be found in the whole state of Utah it seems! And I'm not rich, not at all. (plus, recycling is awesome!) We were bike shopping today (my family and I), and we found some Trek bikes for sale that were over $3,000. Really?! Who would spend that much on a bicycle! I mean, Lance Armstrong - yeah I can see that. But just for biking around for fun? I don't know who can afford it. If any of you know of some decent used bikes for sale in Utah though - do let me know. Thanks! :P

whew!

Today was spent sewing. All. Day. Long. Yayness!!! I got fabric in the mail yesterday for 2 Renaissance dresses - so I was itching to sew them up! Thankfully Mom washed the material last night, so it was done this morning and ready to go. I made a dress for myself, and one for a friend. Here are the stats:

-9 hours of sewing time
-15 yards of fabric
-4 spools of ribbon
-1 package of bias tape
-2 machines: a serger and a regular sewing machine
-the entire dining room
-newspaper (I had to make a pattern!)
-lots of pins
-lots of thread
-1 pricked finger (ouch!)
-my iPod + speakers 8-)

The end result:

The dress I made for my friend was the same, only in blue with white ribbon trim. Ya like? I do! My brother Noah says I look like a ranger..... that's one way to look at it I suppose! :D

Now on to some school... I really should do some work today... hehe!

"This video will self-destruct in 5 seconds."

Young Adult Blog Party!

Whoot! My good friend Jo has the best ideas ever! You can read about it HERE. Basically - she started a blog party for young adults! In her own words:

"The world has created a stereotype called a "teenager". Many youth (the Biblical word for this age group), myself included, don't particularly like this brand name. The general impression that the word "teenager" gives is that of a possibly lazy or bored, rebellious, TV watching, headphone wearing sloucher. Of course, that's not always the case, but that is pretty much the general idea."

So - the party is about listing 10 things you do instead of being bored, things you do in your free time that you enjoy! (and pictures were requested to be included) Here I go:

{1} DANCE! I know, I know, it's my job - but still - I *love* it. And it's great to just get my iPod and start dancing on the kitchen floor... until someone tells me to stop. :)

(senior dance en pointe - I'm the one in front with the tutu)

{2} EMBROIDER! Sadly, I haven't been able to do this in awhile, but I really do enjoy embroidering pretty things on fabric... to, hopefully, make it prettier. I have made a few too many pillows like this for myself (and others) - but it's just too much fun!

{3} PLAY GAMES! A favorite in my family's house is the Catan games. We have Settlers, Cities and Knights, and Seafarers.... when we put them all together we have one massive game going on! My three brothers and I are about at the same skill level, which makes the games lots of fun (and a fight to the end).

{4} SKYPE! ...I know, that might sound kind of lame, but as I only have one friend besides my family that is 'local' (and even she has gone off to college now :( ) - Skype is my way of hanging out with friends. Voice call, video call, just chatting - it's awesome! It's also really great to be able to Skype with my oldest brother... even though he resides in the bedroom right next to mine.

{5} ROLLERBLADE! There's not much better than strapping on some rollerblades, putting music on, and just going! It's even better when I get to do it with my family. Last summer, quite frequently my Dad would go running and I would rollerblade - that way we about kept pace with each other :D

(my brother - because - I couldn't find a
good pic of me rollerblading)

{6} HORSE..... STUFF! Hehe - I really enjoy working with horses. Riding them, helping other kids ride, etc. It's nice to be able to step away from life and play with a big teddy bear for awhile. (although, not all horses are nice teddy bears. :P )

(August is the Mom - Napoleon is the baby. sooo cute!!)

{7} BAKING! mmmmmm. Do I need to say more?

(banana bread! with chocolate chips on top)

{8} READ! I enjoy all sorts of books.... mysteries, drama, classics, fantasy (sometimes), "Idiot's Guide" books (don't laugh, I really do!), autobiographies... etc. Mostly anything that isn't horror or a romance novel.

{9} TRAVELING! I haven't been all over the world, but I'd like to! I think I've been in 33 states and Canada... but yes, traveling is awesome. Soo cool to be able to just hop in the RV (or the car, or a train, or a plane, or a boat) with my family and GO! Seeing God's awesome creation is wonderful and awe-inspiring - as is seeing all the interesting stuff that man has built.

(hmm. I don't remember where this was. Utah maybe?)

{10} WRITING! While I'm not so great at writing stories - I love to write essays. :D Yep - English major in the house. ;) By the way - this may be last - but it's definitely not least.

Now, it's your turn! Please join the blog party - just head over to Jo's blog (link at the very top) to read all the official rules, directions, etc. Have fun - being - un-bored!! :D

~dance~

I love to dance. Although that might be rather obvious... ha ha ha. :P But yes, I do love to dance, and I love teaching dance! I might be in just a tad over my head this year though. I finally have my dance teaching schedule for the upcoming 9 months... whew! I'm going to be busy. Here's what my boss gave me - now - these classes happen each week. From September to May. Ya! Busyness! Anyway:

-3 classes teaching Ballet to 4 year olds
-1 class teaching Modern to 6-7 year olds
-2 classes teaching Jazz to 8-9 year olds
-2 classes teaching Tap to 10-11 year olds
-1 class teaching Clogging to 10-11 year olds
-1 class teaching Clogging to.... adults


I'm so excited! Well, except for the adults. I'm not sure how to teach adult women. Teaching kids... I know how to do that fairly well (or so they tell me) - but adults? God - give me strength and wisdom.

I just wrote that - and went to do some laundry. As I was folding clothes... it hit me. I'm an adult. I shouldn't be worried about it.... just because I'm a younger adult. Do Hard Things!! ...there's my pep talk to myself for the day.

As it stands though, I'm super happy and excited about the classes I got. YAYNESS!!!! :D It's definitely a step up from teaching 2 classes last year and 2 classes the year before.... :)

But how on earth will I ever be able to wait until classes start on September 13th???

Yakar hath arrived!!!

My camera! It came! In the mail! Today! WAHOO!!! (...and yes, I named my camera Yakar). I got the Nikon D3000 - it's a DSLR with awesome specs.... that could take up this whole post if I listed them all. Anyway - I was taking a nap and my brother set this box on top of me....!!! Opened the box - charged the battery (waiting, waiting, waiting), set it up, and proceeded to take 400+ photos. Yikes! But, you must realize, that I took like 30 or so photos of one thing (more than once), to test the speed and all the cool settings. Needless to say though, after tinkering around with it for awhile, I like Yakar a lot. :)

Annndddd... because I know you all are just *dying* (not really) to see pictures, I have created a photo blog (otherwise this one will be clogged with photos). So feel free to visit  http://yakarphotography.blogspot.com/ to see all my shots! Enjoy! If you wish, you can follow it as well ;)

And the winner is....

...Obi-Wan Kenobi! By a landslide - 50%! Thank you one and all for voting in my poll. Sadly, blueberry coffee received no votes, but I can tell you from experience that it is actually very good.

To honor the winner of the poll, I have a little video for you to watch! It's great and hilarious.... enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVrIyEu6h_E

Here's to duct tape!

The idea started with a Lifehacker post a loooong time ago. It just never materialized until last night.... I had to go to Target to pick up some stuff, and, like any time I go there without Mom, I got lost. :P Ending up in the duct tape aisle (don't ask how), I spotted the awesome pinkness, remembered that post, and *lightbulb*!! I just had to make a duct tape wallet! :D Here are the photos I took to chronicle my conquest. 8-)

The starting materials

8 pieces of duct tape... the 'fabric' of my wallet

Cutting it to just the right size (good thing I didn't cut myself!)

Assembling all the different parts....

It's finished! Like the flowers? I think they add a nice touch. I need to add something else though... those were all I could find at the moment for decorations. 

 

Two pockets to the right and a clear pocket for - a Starbucks card! Although I have my drivers license in it now. 

And the mess to clean up when I was done. Now... if I can do it, anyone can do it - so give it a go! Twas a blast to make. :D

ooooh little brothers :D

Funny story.

So I went in to the kitchen to get something to eat yesterday evening. Pasta looked good - so I pulled that out of the fridge and started dishing myself up. 

Judah comes over and tells me: "You'd better not put peanut butter in that!"

My response: "Why would I do that?"

Judah goes: "Because. You're one of THOSE people." 

Gave me a good laugh. Little brothers are so great. :D But it makes me wonder. Am I really one of THOSE people? :O Kind of a scary thought.

Then Noah comes along and reads my post. "Well, you are one of THOSE people." Great. :P 

Newest family photo!

This was taken.... a few weeks ago? I think? We took family pictures when Ezra's swim team took their team photo. 

You like? I do. :) And I'm sitting down.... so you can't tell that Noah (back left) is taller than me. YAY! :P

Blocked.

So I leave for work, with a big decision on my hands: which route do I take to get home? Understand, it's rather interesting getting around in these parts as half the roads are under water and the other half are under construction. Icky. Anyway, I make my decision on which way to go. I take off, all is well, I'm singing along with Audio Adrenaline (YES! Dad did finally put the CD player in my car!!)........ and I hit a "Road Closed" sign like 5 minutes from home. Why? Everything was going so great and the last thing I wanted to see was a "Road Closed" sign! Sigh. I turn around, go back all the way around, get home 15 minutes later than I wanted to.... snapple.

Life is kind of like that though, isn't it? We do things, we go along, everything is hunky dory, then suddenly *WHAM* God shuts the door on something. Why? Everything was going great! For one, it could be for our safety. Like a "Road Closed" sign on a road, it's there for our safety. We can't see that over the next hill, the road is covered by rushing water. The construction guys do know that though, and they aren't trying to be mean by putting the sign there, they are trying to protect those of us who aren't in the know. It's the same way with God. If we are pursuing something that isn't right or isn't safe, God knows that it's dangerous, and up goes the "Road Closed" sign. Granted, sometimes He does let us make mistakes, but when He does stop something, the goal is to be content and accept it, knowing that it's for our own good.

That's what I was thinking about as I drove the extra 15 minutes home. How does this relate to my life? Is there a good lesson I can learn from that blasted "Road Closed" sign? Yep, definitely. Things that we see as bad could actually be for our good... shouldn't we look at everything that goes wrong like that? Accepting and being content of those signs God puts in our path... but it's hard, eh?

Austen vs. Austin

I have been to Austin once - a couple years ago my family just randomly decided to go to Texas. It was a fun trip! I don't remember much of Austin (as we spent most of our time around Dallas as it was)... it was a big town, the interstates were all inter-weaving and confusing, and man, it was HOT. And we went in March! Anyways, I'd probably prefer Austen to Austin myself. (though, I know some of you would go the other way... and you know who you are... thanks for giving me the idea for this post)

On Austen.... I came across this in some of my study stuff for school (I'm taking an entire class on Jane Austen!), and I thought it was really interesting! When she was 12, she wrote a few short, fictional pieces for her family. I'm posting one below. Let me know what you think! I thoroughly enjoyed it. :D

Study guide: 

At about twelve years of age, Jane Austen began writing short fictional pieces for the entertainment of her family circle. It is significant that, from the first, she thought of her writing as a vehicle for amusement. In these pieces Austen imitated and exaggerated faults and excesses of popular fiction and many of her efforts are witty and effective parodies. They also show that, from an early age, she had a well-tuned sense of the ridiculous. And they reveal that she was steadily refining her awareness of what fiction could and could not do.

One of these pieces, written when she was about sixteen, is entitled 'Love and Friendship'. It is a very short epistolary novel, some thirty pages in length, and in it the heroine, Laura, writes a series of letters to a young acquaintance, relating the 'Misfortunes and Adventures' of her life. This is how these 'Misfortunes and Adventures' begin:

"One Evening in December as my Father, my Mother and myself, were arranged in social converse round our Fireside, we were on a sudden, greatly astonished, by hearing a violent knocking on the outward Door of our rustic Cot [cottage].

My Father started -'What noise is that,' (said he). 'It sounds like a loud rapping at the Door' -(replied my Mother) 'it does indeed' (cried I). 'I am of your opinion;' (said my Father) 'it certainly does appear to proceed from some uncommon violence exerted against our unoffending Door.' 'Yes' (exclaimed I) 'I cannot help thinking it must be somebody who knocks for Admittance.'

'That is another point' (replied he). 'We must not pretend to determine on what motive the person may knock -though that someone does rap at the Door, 1 am partly convinced.'

Here, a 2(nd) tremendous rap interrupted my Father in his speech and somewhat alarmed my Mother and me.

'Had we not better go and see who it is?' (said she) 'the Servants are out.' 'I think we had' (replied I). 'Certainly,' (added my Father) 'by all means,' 'Shall we go now?' (said my Mother), 'The sooner the better,' (answered he). 'Oh! let no time be lost' (cried I).

A third more violent Rap than ever again assaulted our ears. 'I am certain there is somebody knocking at the Door' (said my Mother). 'I think there must,' (replied my Father). 'I fancy the Servants are returned;' (said I) 'I think I hear Mary going to the Door.' 'I'm glad of it' (cried my Father) 'for I long to know who it is.'

I was right in my Conjecture; for Mary instantly entering the Room, informed us that a young Gentleman & his Servant were at the Door, who had lost their way, were very cold and begged leave to warn themselves by our fire.

'Won't you admit them? (said I), 'You have no objection, my Dear?' (said my Father). "None in the World' (replied my Mother).

Mary, without waiting for any further commands immediately left the room and quickly returned introducing the most beauteous and amiable Youth, I had ever beheld. The servant, she kept to herself. 

My natural Sensibility had already been greatly affected by the sufferings of the unfortunate Stranger and no sooner did I first behold him, than I felt that on him the happiness or Misery of my future Life must depend."

-Jane Austen, (Minor Work: 79-80) 


Study guide once again: 

There is the ludicrous over-dramatizing of a simple and ordinary event - a knocking at a door; and there is the wordy, and repetitious dialogue as the event is debated at length, and entirely unnecessarily. When the 'beauteous and amiable Youth' is finally admitted, Laura is of course immediately and completely in love with him, and 'greatly affected' by his' sufferings', though she has never seen him before, and as yet knows nothing at all about these 'sufferings'. Throughout the extract, and indeed in the work as a whole, there is a constant straining after the unusual and the improbable, for its own sake and without any attempt to reflect or analyze. And here, of course, there is a significant contrast between what Austen does when she is writing her own novels, rather than parodying those of others; there, her focus is on the ordinary rather than the extraordinary, and on the depth that can be found in that ordinariness. 

ready... set... JUMP!

I was in Sioux City, Iowa with a bunch of college friends this past weekend. We did lots of awesome things... games, devotions, fellowship, human pyramids, picnics, walks, laughing, craziness, etc.. but one of my favorites was taking pictures. Here's one - I'll probably post a link to an album with lots more in the next week or so.

(click on the photo, it gets bigger. that helps ;) )

Think what an amazing feat it is, to snap a photo, with 12 crazy college students all in the air at once!! Amazing, I tell you. Just amazing. By the way.... Happy 4th of July - about 20 minutes late. Oh well. :)

EDIT: A good friend of mine who was there - made this video of our time in Iowa. :D