pictures

Yesterday, I worked on sorting my pictures.
*cue jim croce songs* (what?? You don't know what I'm talking about? Listen to his groovy song here: groovy Jim the great guitarist)

Pictures from my childhood...

It was weird. Sorting through the pictures brought back memories I had totally forgotten. I realized just how little I used to be. When I was little, I didn't realize it. I thought I was big stuff. In my mind I was a grown-up.
Seriously.

I guess it's weird to look at old pictures of yourself and aww over them.
That's like the ultimate narcissim.
But I did. I looked at my old pictures and thought, "wow, I was so cute! ...what happened?"

sickness = OCD

I am sick. It's great that I can blog my complaints for all to read. I'm sure everyone just loves reading about things of that nature, right?
I'll try not to be too whiny, ok?

You. Are. Adorable.

My post for today:
I like your boots, are you in a gang?



and the amazing follow-up translation video:

Greetings Starshine, The Earth Says Hello!

Hello dear reader,

You are indeed dear to me for reading my garbled mess of the English language over spending your time on a more productive endeavor.

I commend you.

I trust you had a happy Christmas!


I did, and I am positively wowed by the love lavished on me in gift form. If ever you want to show me you care, give me something. Wow, that came out wrong.

Gifts are wonderful, but it's the thought behind them that makes gifts especially special.

The thing that has me terribly ecstatic is the gift from my parents. It's a new Nikon digital slr (no wimpy point and shoot for me anymore!)

I have been CAMERA DEPRIVED for the past five months.
I have been bereaved ever since my sony camera DIED. It was DEAD after one year of faithfully taking pictures. My warranty expired and the machine went kaput. It's the sony conspiracy...


It's been a rough few months. I have a webcam, but that is SO not the same.

See, I have this itch, deep down, to capture things in picture form.
I'm terribly addicted.

(I worry that I have a compulsive tendency to easily become addicted to things I love. Coffee, picture-taking, etc...)

Capturing normal things in unique ways feels like a creative project I can handle.

Not that I'm an amazing photographer, but I admit, I love everything about setting up the shot, what with fixing the lighting, the angle, the zoom, the softness of the background... blah blah blah. I'd throw in some techie terms, but I'm afraid of misusing them. I'm not up to that level yet.

I'll soon be a total camera geek, but it's taking time. The last cameras I owned were simple point and shoots. They took good pictures, but my options were limited.

Not anymore.

The other gifts I've gotten have been wonderful. My Mimi knows me so well. She gave me my own four-cup coffee maker. I am LOVING it, and it will get many long years of use, I promise. She also gave me a Monet umbrella. I'm going to learn some umbrella choreography. You know the whole singing in the rain thing? Yes, that will be me.

I don't want this to become a list of gifts I've received, since that may bore you, but allow me to mention a few more things:

My Gram put together albums for each of my sisters (and me) The albums start from birth and go all the way up until now. That was quite a bit of work on her part. I love it.

My cousins gave me a coffee mug. It's PERFECT.
You may have been living under a rock, but just so you know, I love coffee. It's a tervis tumbler, no less, and it has my name inscribed in it.

I could go on and tell you about the cute owl pajamas from my sister, and chocolate/pampering supplies from the other sister...but I'm going to move on.

Before I do move on, let me tell you about my sing-a-ma-jig. It's so fun. Everyone needs one. (don't know what they are? click here to visit their website...hey look, free advertising!)


To top everything off, we had glorious SNOW on Christmas evening!

This weekend has been busier than expected. We traveled quite a bit, and I am so very relieved to be home before life starts back up again.
At noon on Christmas day, we went to the mountian-y area to visit with my Aunt, Uncle, Mimi, and cousins. We hung out until this morning, and then we drove over to my Gram's and Granddad's for another Christmas dinner.

Now we have driven home, and I'm going to go get snuggled under my purple down comforter and rest so I can take pictures and build snowmen tomorrow.

(don't) kiss me

Well, the irony is crazy.
This irony makes me laugh ...soundlessly.
Why soundlessly, you ask?

If I tell you, it will cause you to pity me, I'm sure. {At least I hope it will. DO pity me.}

To set the stage: I've been learning some new tunes on the guitar. Last week, my sister and I sang "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer. We sang it a few times in a row. We even went so far as to sing it for others to hear.

You reap what you sow.

I didn't plan on actually kissing anyone. You know this, right?

Strangely and sadly enough, I have the KISSING SICKNESS.

Ewwwwww.....
*Dun, Dun, Duuuuuuunnn*
How can this be?
All I did was sing about kissing.
Maybe I should go whisper-sing about NOT kissing. Would that help??

I've been sick quite a few times in the past few months off and on.
All of the viruses have had the same complications and symptoms.
Annnnnd, the symptoms match up with mono.
My voice is gone.
My head is throbbing.
My lymph nodes are swollen.
I'm not hungry.
I ache.
I also have a propensity to complain via blog. (the tell-tale symptom)

Sorry. I don't mean to take it out on you. But since I can't vocalize my feelings, typing about them helps.

...I read "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens today. I hadn't read it before. It was a good read, but sad and a bit depressing. Not the best "get well book"
It made me thankful to live now rather than in Victorian England. I'm blessed to not simply have facts.


In order to redeem this post, that is to make it somewhat readable and a smidgen entertaining, I will tell you about a hobby of mine. [Prepare for major geekiness.]

I have a garden growing in my room.
It is a modest garden, but it adds a sense of homeyness and happy.
Okay, it's a collection of houseplants.
But they are so fun!

...I can see you rolling your eyes.
Stop.

If you were allergic to almost every animal, you'd love plants too.


In order to personify them, I have named them. Some of them even have baby plants now. aww...
There is my crazy colored plant that turned out to be two plants in one pot. Bonus! After separating them, I decided to call it "Duran" and "Duran". Good band and good plants.

Then there's my dappled aloe plant that goes by the name of Fitzgerald.
It has grown two aloe-ettes that have been transplanted.

There's two baby sunflowers that are growing rapidly. Who knew that you could grow sunflowers inside? Turns out, it's entirely feasible

...I hope.

Anywho, I missed homework help, due to my sickness. There was still sunshine and rainbows tonight, because Noella {who is an amazing girl} made me and my sister a picture.
Have I mentioned that I love art?

"Get well Miss Makenzie and Savennah." 

In other news, today, as Mom was slicing potatoes for potato soup, she found a hollow cavity that looks like a heart in one of the potatoes. Just in time for... 

Also my beautiful bed arrived today! It looks princessy, but it does NOT have a pea under the mattress  (I checked) 

I think I'll go make use of it. I'm so groggy. 

Leche and Leeches

Mom made monster cookies the other day.

Pure yumminess with oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, m&m's... mmmm

She made them for her BSF ladies group and for us to have a special treat. I took advantage. I'm not going to say a number, but I consumed a lot of cookies. 

I OD-ed on the cookies. 

This was me (in blue cookie monster form): 

Sugar does some crazy stuff to you. For most of the day, I was hyped up.
Borderline ADHD. 

Then came the mighty crash. 

This crash was terrible and happened a few hours before bed. 

Extreme sleepiness, increased irritability, and there was still utter lack of attention for anything. 

Totally zoned out. 

When I fell asleep, I had crazy dreams that made no sense. (flying monkeys as beauticians anyone?) 

When I woke up, I was groggy, felt moody, and wanted to sleep for the rest of my life. 

I'm not making this stuff up. I had a legit hangover from the cookies. I have researched the sugar crash, and it is a very real medical phenomenon. (Wikipedia calls it "a supposed sense of fatigue after consuming a large quantity of carbohydrates.", but what do they know? Other medical sites actually back it up. So there.) 

If you could have seen me, you would not have known me. It took a long time to get over the symptoms. 

Thankfully, I had blood drawn today, and it was amazing how much it helped my overdose. I think those doctors in the dark ages were on to something with the bloodletting.

No, now, I didn't let my own blood or get hurt; 

I had some taken from me for testing. 

You know earlier when I was talking about SUPERPOWERS? (<- see for link to blog post)

Well, there's been some interesting occurrences, and the medical community wants to check it out...I'm not supposed to say too much... You'll keep it on the down-low, right? I know I can trust blog readers.

Anywho, after 8 vials of blood were taken from me, I felt better, albeit a bit weirded out to see my own blood in such a context. Eight vials looks like a large quantity when you have a tube running out of your arm. 

My theory is that enough sugar concentrate was removed from my bloodstream for my body to perk up rapidly. 

Tonight is homework help! 

I love it. Except for when it's homework that the kid wants me to do for them...nope, not happening. I instruct and guide. I'm not an enabler. NOT. 

...

My sister and I are learning some neat harmonies. It takes a LOT of practice to train your voice to sing different notes than the melody. The end result will be great, hopefully. 

Now, I'm going to go revel in the fact that I am no longer under the spell of the sugar.

...maybe I'll eat a cookie to celebrate.

Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle

This morning, everything was gray and drizzly.
I'm not big on gray and drizzly.

When the weather gets like this, I just want to curl up with a blanket, a good book (and some PG tips) and read.
Today, I had a few potentially interesting (and yet unread) classics on my shelf, so I was all set...
...but then we decided to run out and look at the shoe sales...
WIN!
I ended up with a new journal, $10 chucks, and an "eco-friendly coffee cup". All wonderful items that made my day sunny.

....
So, the other day, we (my family) were discussing my sister's t-shirt.
Pictured on it are two wedges of cheese and a cheese grater. One cheese is being grated, the other stands (?) in horror shouting, "You Monster!", to the grater, I suppose.

Well, you can kinda see for yourself:

Asking what character my sister most closely identified with, she responded that she was like the talking cheese, because the cheese was cute.
This started a silly debate.
We determined that she WAS the grater, but just didn't like to admit it. She's nobody's victim, try as she might to look "cute".
I laughed and laugh still.

My other sister is to the point, she gets the job done. Like a hammer.
Both can be cheeses though. *wink-wink*


I was told that I'm like a fan with sharp metal blades.
Sharp metal blades that can cut off appendages.


BUT, I do have a safety grille covering the blades, so you have to do a bit of work to get hurt...
That's comforting, right?

Oh, yes...inanimate object psychology.

ANYways...

Perhaps I'll go for a quick run today.

I went running yesterday. It was beautiful outside. I appreciated the bright orangey yellow, and brown-red of the leaves of the changing trees. They were absolutely aflame with color.

It was a warm humid day and the sun was very bright. The kind of bright that requires squinting.

I was about a mile and a half from the house when I heard the thunderclap.
Then the floodgates opened.
The wind picked up. It was blustery and felt fabulous.

The downpour became stronger. The rain started coming in sideways.

The falling leaves swirled around me in the strong gusts of wind.



{You know how in movies that "sudden rainstorm" happens? I thought that was a made up thing or a very rare occurrence. Who gets caught unawares like that? Apparently, it does happen. It's fun.}



When I arrived home, I was positively drenched and my shoes were squelching with the water.

Overall, it was an agreeable experience.

Home, home, home...

So good to be home after a month away! 


The beach was FABULOUS. Every day was perfect. 
God is so very good! 
My cup of blessing? 
Overflowing. 
To have such sweet loving friends as Britt, AL, and Ms. Debbie. :) 


So, I know I could take up lots of space listing blessings...
I've done it before (on paper) and...wow, just wow. 
It'll lift your spirits. 


So: home. 
I forced myself to unpack yesterday, going against my lazy grain. Really, it wasn't so bad. 
I dread unpacking. And packing. 
Packing in general. 
It is in such times when you must make hard decisions. (The blue blouse or the green one?...why can't I just have both? I know, I know...because that makes for a full suitcase...) 
It was nice packing to the beach.  I was already packed. 
See, the week before I was at my grandparents, and the week before that I was at camp, and the week before that I was cooking in another camp kitchen...
My clothes had been washed of course, but I was packed with a VERY FULL suitcase. I was used to living out of it. 


At camp, you go through clothes like nobody's business. (I don't go through nobody's business usually, but...) 
At camp, you wear crazy stuff that you wouldn't really wear anywhere else (a t-shirt with tofu fighting? really?)


But that was what I had to work with for my wardrobe. 


I was home for about 45 minutes before heading out to HHI. Just enough time to grab a few good books, a beach towel, and a few other beach-y items. 
Turns out I had PLENTY of stuff...


Anyways, today I played guitar for the Sunday school classes. 
The kids in there need some pumping up. Give me a few more Sundays, and they will be crazy...
maybe the teachers don't want that. 
hehehe 
I have PLENTY of silly songs up my sleeve...


Today I went running.
It's been a while since I've gotten to go. 
endorphins. Runner's high.
Mmmmmmmm.


It wasn't a long run, just 3 miles, but a start nonetheless. 
I've been staying active this summer. Things like biking, hiking, swimming, cooking (it's more active than you'd think!), doing stunts and falling down are all great; still, nothing like a good run. It gives you time to think. 
This run was great. I kept having Bible verses pop into my head. How cool and comforting. 

Then, to top off the night, Daddy bought some avocados! 
I have MISSED guacamole all summer. Poor, poor me. 
It's a super addicting something-or-other. My favorite. 
Not really a dip. I have my own secret recipe for it. (I've tweaked it recently. Shhhhh. Don't tell!)


Then, to make it an even better night, we watched Dr. Who. 
I am getting into Dr. Who. At first, I thought it was cheesy, silly, etc. 
Nope. It's a really riveting and interesting show... 


It was a very nice night indeed. 
Now I'll pop off to bed. I felt like blogging something, even it it is all rather rambly and not terribly cohesive. 
It's so annoying. I'll get going on an idea, and then have another great thought come forward. I'll want to write about that too. Next thing I know, my post is waaayyyy long. 


I need to stop following so many bunny trails. 


My sisters and I are going to make a video soon. 
We have to come up with (or narrow down) our theme for the video. 
If you have an idea, do comment. 
We love satire and goofiness. Nothing too serious. 


.....Argh, bunny trail! 


Alright. It is my bedtime. It SHOULD be my bedtime. 
Goodnight, reader! 

Delights and Discontentment

Well, another week almost over.


The weather has been nice. (what is it with small talk and weather? I guess it's a common interest, but really?)

Physics is a thorn in my side  wonderful yet challenging subject.

For serious. I don't know if I ever will understand the coefficients of friction. 


When I'm 64, I'll still get a bemused look on my face when a stranger comes up to me and says:

"Hey, I'm trying to drag a block here with my string that makes an angle of 25º to the horizontal. If the mass of my block is 12.0 kg and I'm exerting a force of 36.8 N, what is my block's coefficient of friction?"

I'll say "who cares?" and that will be that. 
Honestly, what kind of stranger would do that to you?


Nope, I'll master it. I will. I shall overcome. 




So whenever, however, whoever that person is, comes up to me, I can proudly state that the coefficient of the kinetic friction is 0.25

ahh, math. 

It's not really my subject. See, I lean towards the "other" subjects. 


Math, in my book, is not necessary, at least the higher level stuff. 


I know what you're thinking. 


If we didn't have math, we'd be big old ignoramuses.


It's true.                        (I wish it was false.)


It's funny that I love most sciences, but dislike this physics so....




Let's refocus, shall we? 
"Count your blessings name them one by one...." 


Ohh, a wonderful blessing: new guitar strings. You don't realize how crummy the old ones are until you replace them. I just did, and it is a beautiful sight. 


something completely Different: 


This weekend is going to be a blast. See, it's a retreat. 


Retreats are amazingly refreshing. 


The only bummer is that it is supposed to rain.


All. Weekend. Long.


But that shouldn't affect too much. It's a spiritual retreat more than anything. 






*****My sister just made some mega-cinnamon buns. They just came out of the oven! I think I 'm going to go sneak a "nibble" and no,  I'm not going to define the size of a nibble...