After two evenings buried well beyond the top of my poll in physics, I was finally done. My homework was written out on five notbook pages, front and back, in the most orderly and neat handwriting known to Yours Truly. I was happy. I could walk into class the next day, boldy hand over my homework, and feel that I had done my best.
Putting all my papers in order before heading to bed, I glanced up at mom. "So...I just give these to him tomorrow? Is there anything else I do?" Instantly, the stupidity of such a statement hit me. Here I am, taking college classes, and I don't even know how to turn in an assignment. My mom informs me this is something one learns in the first grade.
So, she very nicely suggests that I staple all the papers together, considering that there are a fistful and they all have similar math written down on them. Aha! Staple them together! Good idea. Anything else, Mom? She attempts to keep a sober face as she responds: "well...it might be nice to put your name on the top..."
*bangs head against wall*
Seriously. I'm seventeen, taking physics, and my mom has to tell me to write my name on the top of my assignment.
I love being homeschooled. =)
27 August, 2009
22 August, 2009
on reading good books
Margaret never reads a book twice - she adamently told me that last night. I don't blame her...who could force themselves to hack through one of those trashy horror/romance novels a second time? Not I, hopefully not you, and not even Margaret, who has one clutched in her fingers every day she comes to work. (Some of those authors oughta be fined...but anyway!!)
Get your hands on a good book, and you can read and reread without it losing any of the excitement and fun enjoyed during previous readings. The Scarlet Pimpernel is one such book. I have read it multiple times over the past few years, and love it every time. Last night after work I curled up with a candy bar and my well worn and adored copy. When the forecast for the next day (including a list of jobs left by mom and 8 hours of work) forced itself into the back of my mind an hour later, I reluctantly put down my book. You can guess where I will be tonight after I get off work...!
A word to the wise: Read the Scarlet Pimpernel. After you've digested it's excellent plot and witty writing, devour the sequels. They're nearly as delightful. And after a year or two, I'd suggest reading The Scarlet Pimpernel again - you'll have forgotten some of the spicey details.
(Oh, and don't forget to recommend it to Margaret...she could use a good book recommendation, IMHO.)
Get your hands on a good book, and you can read and reread without it losing any of the excitement and fun enjoyed during previous readings. The Scarlet Pimpernel is one such book. I have read it multiple times over the past few years, and love it every time. Last night after work I curled up with a candy bar and my well worn and adored copy. When the forecast for the next day (including a list of jobs left by mom and 8 hours of work) forced itself into the back of my mind an hour later, I reluctantly put down my book. You can guess where I will be tonight after I get off work...!
A word to the wise: Read the Scarlet Pimpernel. After you've digested it's excellent plot and witty writing, devour the sequels. They're nearly as delightful. And after a year or two, I'd suggest reading The Scarlet Pimpernel again - you'll have forgotten some of the spicey details.
(Oh, and don't forget to recommend it to Margaret...she could use a good book recommendation, IMHO.)
20 August, 2009
18 August, 2009
Fun at SMILE
Today was my last day at SMILE. I'm glad to not make the long drive anymore, but I think I'm gonna miss working up there. SMILE Inc. is a horse therapy program where children and adults with physical and mental disabilities come ride horses. My last volunteer job was at a nursing home...I think this one was more me. =) I've been riding horses for the past ten years, so I was excited to put what I have learned to work helping other people.
I heard about SMILE through some friends who have an autistic boy. Turns out, Grant went up to SMILE the same day as I, so I got to work with him all summer! The first couple of weeks he sat up on JR, his horse, without interacting much. But by the end of the summer, he was very busy with "whoa, JR!" and asking me if he could give JR the cue to go. Grant loved trotting. I would say "do you want to trot?" and he would immediately reply: "trot? trot?" After we took off he would start laughing and wouldn't quit until well after we had gone back down to a walk.
Grant was probably my favorite person to work with, but I really enjoyed some of the other clients. Karla came right after I got there in the morning, and we always had fun conversation. After getting her up on Lacey, I would stand beside her while another volunteer led Lacey. After Karla left, Larson came, followed by LeAnn, Grant, and Kennedy. All the people I worked with were vastly different, so it made the day interesting!
Kennedy was the one rider I worked with who did not have a disability. Although I loved helping the handicapped people do something so cool, it was also fun to have Kennedy thrown in there. =) I taught her how to get her horse all ready to ride, and then we would head for the arena. After she got comfortable riding Ranger, we started doing more challenging riding. We always had fun chatting about her family, my family, her school, my school, and other random conversation topics we thought of together while she rode. I remember when I was like Kennedy...eleven years old and learning how to ride a horse. It was fun to be on the other side of that spectrum! I hope Kennedy had as much fun learning with me as I did with my 4-H leaders.
So! Although SMILE had its challenges and draw backs (the looong drive!), I am thankful that I got the opportunity to volunteer there this summer. I learned a lot and had a blast!
I heard about SMILE through some friends who have an autistic boy. Turns out, Grant went up to SMILE the same day as I, so I got to work with him all summer! The first couple of weeks he sat up on JR, his horse, without interacting much. But by the end of the summer, he was very busy with "whoa, JR!" and asking me if he could give JR the cue to go. Grant loved trotting. I would say "do you want to trot?" and he would immediately reply: "trot? trot?" After we took off he would start laughing and wouldn't quit until well after we had gone back down to a walk.
Grant was probably my favorite person to work with, but I really enjoyed some of the other clients. Karla came right after I got there in the morning, and we always had fun conversation. After getting her up on Lacey, I would stand beside her while another volunteer led Lacey. After Karla left, Larson came, followed by LeAnn, Grant, and Kennedy. All the people I worked with were vastly different, so it made the day interesting!
Kennedy was the one rider I worked with who did not have a disability. Although I loved helping the handicapped people do something so cool, it was also fun to have Kennedy thrown in there. =) I taught her how to get her horse all ready to ride, and then we would head for the arena. After she got comfortable riding Ranger, we started doing more challenging riding. We always had fun chatting about her family, my family, her school, my school, and other random conversation topics we thought of together while she rode. I remember when I was like Kennedy...eleven years old and learning how to ride a horse. It was fun to be on the other side of that spectrum! I hope Kennedy had as much fun learning with me as I did with my 4-H leaders.
So! Although SMILE had its challenges and draw backs (the looong drive!), I am thankful that I got the opportunity to volunteer there this summer. I learned a lot and had a blast!
16 August, 2009
Romans 7:14-21
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:14-21
14 August, 2009
Keepin' the Girls...
...while Jarod and Sara go to a party.
Supper at Amigos
I did toes! Laurel's toes and fingers: alternate blue, orange, pink, blue, orange, pink. Next, clear sparkly. Then green dots, and finally clear to make them last longer. =)
Laurel: Have you ever been on a date with a boy?
Me: No...have you?
Laurel: No...I want to go a date when I'm 14...no, 16!
Me: When do you want to go on a date, Lydia?
Lydia: When I find a guy!
07 August, 2009
17 today
Today I am seventeen. There are an abundance of thoughts about the last year swirling around in my head, but I am struggling to string them out on paper in a comprehensable way. I would love nothing better than to produce a wonderful, well-written post summarizing the last year, but that's a bit of a joke...I need to take English Composition this fall...anywho!
A year ago today I was a Christian because that was the belief my parents had instilled in me since the day I was born. Today, I am a Christian because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is real and loving and came to earth as a man to pay the price that a just God demands for my sin. Not because someone said so, or because I don't know any differet; I know it for myself now! And not only that, but I'm also excited about who God is and how I fit in! I'm thrilled. I am ecstatic about what Jesus has done for me and who he is making me. So happy I wanna burst. =)
On another note, in the past year I began working at my first job outside of our farm. What an experience. =) It has been unpleasant and grinding at times, but there has been much reward. I am learning to love people that drive me insane. I am learning to be who I am no matter how weird it makes me look. I am learning to simply say what I think, even when I'm scared that people will frown on me. I am learning that God is not about the law, but that he is all about love. Work has been one of the biggest challenges of the last year, but it's worth it.
Sixteen was a hard year. A lot of sixteen was filled with frustration and disgust. But anger brought change. Change is hard, but change is good. Sixteen stretched me and changed me, and I am so thankful for that.
I am of the opinion that I have changed more between this birthday and the last than between any other two birthdays. So much has happened inside of me since August 7, 2008. I try to remember exactly who I was a year ago, and that girl is a far cry from who I am today. Thank goodness, huh?
A year ago today I was a Christian because that was the belief my parents had instilled in me since the day I was born. Today, I am a Christian because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is real and loving and came to earth as a man to pay the price that a just God demands for my sin. Not because someone said so, or because I don't know any differet; I know it for myself now! And not only that, but I'm also excited about who God is and how I fit in! I'm thrilled. I am ecstatic about what Jesus has done for me and who he is making me. So happy I wanna burst. =)
A year ago I thought I had to be perfect. Every night I would get in bed and every thing I had done wrong that day would pop up in my head. I would feel guilty and bad and think 'when will I ever overcome these things?' Today, I know that there truly is "no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." That idea is no longer just words on a page. It's real and true and I can cling to that promise every day. Talk about exciting. I have realized this simple truth: We don't become perfect so that we can know God. We know God and he changes us. A landslide of freedom and joy comes with realizing that bit of truth.
On another note, in the past year I began working at my first job outside of our farm. What an experience. =) It has been unpleasant and grinding at times, but there has been much reward. I am learning to love people that drive me insane. I am learning to be who I am no matter how weird it makes me look. I am learning to simply say what I think, even when I'm scared that people will frown on me. I am learning that God is not about the law, but that he is all about love. Work has been one of the biggest challenges of the last year, but it's worth it.
Sixteen was a hard year. A lot of sixteen was filled with frustration and disgust. But anger brought change. Change is hard, but change is good. Sixteen stretched me and changed me, and I am so thankful for that.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness
could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Galations 2:20-21
My heart is full of thanks today. Thank you, Mom & Dad. Thank you for loving me even when I have a feeling you wanted to slap me upside the head. I know we still don't see eye to eye on everything, but I love you both. Thank you, Rachel, Audrey and Merrill. Thank you for letting me be who I am and putting up with me. You guys rock. =) Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for taking me just as I am and loving crazy, self-sufficient, hard, cowardly me. I love you back.
Thank you Aaron Shust for this amazing song. I love it. =)
(pictures obviously not by me)
03 August, 2009
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