For the time being...

For the time being I am putting my blog back up but am making it private.

I am not certain of where I will go from here, or of I will even continue doing much.

We'll see where things go and how the Lord leads me in this.

His Handmaiden ~ Laurel

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday~3

{one} what was your first job?

First, first was babysitting, then as a waitress at Rosa's Pizza, during my senior year of high-school. The owner is a long time family friend so it was a great experience for a first job, he was very generous and easy-going.

{two} have you ever seen a stand up comedian?

Nope.

{three} when was the last time you played mini golf?

The last time I can remember was going ten years ago, we got together with my cousins to play just before we moved from California.

{four} what was the last picture you took?

Okay, I had to check my camera to find out, it's a stack of books. ;-D

{five} burnt food: yes or no?

Umm... no. Though I have eaten quite a few burnt pizza's and they're really not that bad... sometimes.

{six} if you have a pocket full of change what do you do with it?

Probably count it, then put it in my pocket and jingle it around. :-)

{seven} can you touch your tongue to your nose?

Nope, that's not one of my talents.

{eight} do you scrapbook?

On occasion, I used to do more, and would like to do more in the future, I have some really great stuff and ideas to go with it, but I don't carry them out.

{nine} do you buy lottery tickets?

Never have, and probably never will, it's not something I would get into.

{ten} do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it?

I enjoy both, typically would rather be behind as I'm not big on being focused on, but I don't mind it most of the time.

Some other news, I recently won a Blog Theme from the Thought's of Spring Blog Party hosted by Lynette Kraft.

It's now in my side bar, much thanks to Jared Kraft from Symphonize for doing it for me, it turned out beautifully!

Saltwater

I have been feeling quite tired of looking in my closet and seeing my mainly black and grey wardrobe, so today decided to pull out some of my spring and summer clothing. I cannot wear most of it yet as there is still snow on the ground(come on, melt already!) but it was still fun to get it out, and look forward to wearing it as soon as the sun decides to grace us with it's presence.

And I just had to share these:)

Saltwater's Spring and Summer Collection.

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday~2

{one} scruffy or clean shaven?

Well, I think it can depend, sometimes scruffy can be okay, but in general I prefer clean shaven.

{two} what's your favorite sundae topping?

Definitely hot fudge!

{three} do you own slippers?

I do not, I really don't like slippers, they make me feel like I'm shuffling everywhere.

{four} did you ever have a tree house?

We have one now, but not when I was of the age where I would have actually really enjoyed it. We did have a lot of other forts though, most of them more underground.

{five} how do you relieve stress?

That's something I'm not very good at, I don't tend to think I'm actually that stressed out, until it manifests itself physically, which can cause a lot of problems. I guess some things I do when I'm stressed out, would be to take a shower, or a nap, or go on a walk. Crying can help me some, it gets out all those pent up emotions. And whenever I know I'm stressed out and upset I usually have a really long talk with my mother, that always helps. Most important though would be prayer, unfortunately it's more often my last resort than my first.

{six} what is your favorite dr. seuss book?

I've been given much grief about this many times, but I'm actually not that fond of Dr. Seuss. But I do like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, we've watched it every year at Christmas ever since I can remember, and I could probably recite the entire thing.

{seven} have you ever taken dance classes?

Gymnastics was more my thing when I was younger, and I haven't done anything else. I would really love to do Irish step-dancing.

{eight} which do you use more: the thesaurus or the dictionary?

I use both a lot, but probably the thesaurus more.

{nine} what's your favorite form of exercise?

Jogging,walking, or just doing stretches. Dancing can be great exercise, as can fencing!

{ten} what's the longest you've ever waited in line?

I think it was about an hour and a half, that was on Black Friday.

Movietalk

Several weeks back my sisters did a Lord of the Rings marathon at a friend's house(I've done this once before, and enjoyed it, but don't need to do it again, at least not for a long time.) With them being gone all day my mother and I decided to have our own movie day, so went out and rented three movies, got some chocolate and other "movie snacks". =)

NOTE: If you haven't seen these movies there are some spoilers.

We started out with A Walk to Remember, which I had heard about a while before and been somewhat interested in seeing ever since. I did enjoy it, although was rather surprised at some of the language in it considering it's PG rating.

I appreciated the portrayal of Mandy Moore's character, Jamie, and her strong faith, it was good to see it portrayed in a genuine and beautiful way, rather than in mockery and derision, such as is usually seen in any Hollywood movies that have any kind of Christian character, especially in a movie about high-school and teens.

One thing that disappointed me is that you don't see if Landon really understands and comes to a knowledge of that faith that she has. He respects it, but you don't see him really digging to find out about it or want it for himself.

Next up, we watched Sherlock Holmes. I really wasn't sure what to expect of this, I had heard mixed reports on it, and so really came into it with no idea of how it would end up being.

Overall I did enjoy it, there were some parts I think could have been done without, and there were some parts I thought were awesome.

The clips of him going through all his next moves in his mind were well done, I enjoyed seeing how he thought it out and came to the conclusions that he did. The whole black magic thing was rather disturbing, but it was nice to see it all exposed in the end. Although it did give a sense though out the entire movie that kind of messed it up a bit for me, I would have preferred seeing him work on a case that wasn't quite so "demonic".

Watson was definitely my favorite character, I much preferred him over Holmes, and well, you really gotta admire the guy for his patience in working with Holmes.

And finally we watched Inception. There are so many reviews out on this movie I'm not sure I even want to bother with one. I will say that I enjoyed it way more than I had thought I would. I tend to be something of a skeptic when it comes to movies, especially with huge blockbusters that everyone likes to rave about. But I had to eat some of my own words when it came to this one.

I think they did an excellent job in putting it all together, and making a movie that actually had something of a plot and story rather than being all about the action and special effects. Although the special effects were really cool.

It was well acted, had amazing cinematography, and was beautifully scored. And I think that's

about all I'm going to say, since really, everything else has already been said. =)

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday~1

{one}what color is your kitchen?

Mainly green, with a lot of natural wood colors.

{two}do you have a good luck charm?

No, not really something I'm into. Actually I don't believe in luck, blessing come from the Lord and He is always there with me.

{three} do you prefer to write with pencil or pen?

Definitely pen, I have this thing with pens and go through a lot of them trying to find just the right one, which occasionally I do, and it makes my day!

{four} can you use chopsticks?

It's been quite a while but I think I still can, though I'd prefer to stick with a fork if I have the option.

{five} do you prefer baths or showers?

In general showers, if I had a bathtub that was actually comfortable to be in, I might like them a little more. But I also love to sing in the shower.

{six} what is your favorite salad dressing?

I like ranch if it's made with buttermilk, otherwise I prefer Italian.

{seven} can you sing the alphabet backwards?

That is something I have never tried, and am not sure if I even want to.

{eight} do you have any allergies?

I get hayfever in the spring, it's not as bad as it was when I was younger, but still quite bothersome.

{nine} crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

Crunchy. Most definitely.

{ten} have you ever hitch-hiked?

Nope, and hope that I will not have to at any point in the near future.

John Adams~ A Review

"Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write." ~John Adams

I have been desiring to watch HBO's series on John Adams based off David McCullough's book for some time, and just recently was able to sit down and see it. Started reading the book quite a while ago, though have not as of yet finished it. But from what I have read they did seem to follow it rather closely. How accurate the book itself is, especially of Adam's personal life and character is debatable. But I feel the did more accurately represent the lifestyle of the people living during the American Revolution. Showing it not as a time of freedom and victory as we often picture, but "... a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that too they would never forget." ~ David McCullough

In the reading and watching of it I actually lost quite a bit of respect for John Adams, mainly in how he cared for his family, or rather didn't care for them. Being gone for most of their childhood and so leaving his wife with the full responsibility of caring for and training them. Then even calling her away and sending them to schools. Also in how he handled other men, his lack of graciousness and tact. Not a particularly likable guy.

But as I look at it, in a way it is a good thing that they chose to portray all these things. Many look up to the founding fathers of our nation as very high-standing , exceptional men, and forget that, while they did do amazing things and had much courage and fortitude, they were fallen human being just the same as we are. They had faults and could be harsh and cantankerous.

I very much appreciated the filmmakers for showing things as they were. Not putting the Hollywood glamour into it, but showing hard times as truly being that.

I would not recommend it for younger audiences, because of the portrayal of the events taking place. It is a story of war and the brutality of men's actions to one another during such times.

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." ~ John Adams

French Girl Knits

This is a book I would love to get my hands on, all the sweaters are so delicate and feminine looking without being overdone. I've been getting back into more knitting lately and so have been browsing a lot of patterns, most books have just one or two things I like so I can't seem to justify buying the whole thing. But this one I think would be worth it all. Here's a few samples of whats in it!

This one I have definite plans to make for this spring and summer, just need to finish up the other projects I'm working on right now. Which hopefully will be just in time for warm enough weather to actually pull this look off.

Thoughts of Spring

What is your comfort food/drink?

Drink would most certainly be tea, iced the summer, hot in the winter. Food would vary depending on my mood, chocolate always does the trick!

If money wasn't a factor, what stores would you shop in?

Modcloth, Burberry, Coldwater Creek.

What movie or book character can you most relate to?

There's different aspects of a lot of different ones, I can't seem to think of one that I would say is more than another or that I can almost completely relate to, so I'm just going to go with "Anne " from Anne of Green Gables, because she is my all-time favorite heroine. Though I'm not nearly as outgoing and talkative as she is.

What are you favorite types of reading material?

Probably historical fiction, and older "classic" books.

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?

Definitely coffee, though there are certain colognes that I really like too, which is one thing I love about having my brother-in-law around, he always has great ones.=)

If you could live anywhere at all(and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?

Italy, though I really like Scotland and New Zealand too.

Name one weakness of yours. (Confession is good for the soul.)

I very much dislike getting up in the morning, especially when it's cold, and will often stay in bed for far longer than I should. Part of this being a result of liking to stay up late reading or on my laptop.

If you inherited a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with the money?

Probably stare at it in disbelief for a while, but then I would put it into getting our house finished(I would love some floor and sheet-rock in my room), and then doing some landscaping on our property.

2-14-2011

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." - C.S. Lewis

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Laozi

"Love is many things, none of them logical." - William Goldman

"It is by loving and not by being loved that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness." - George MacDonald

"To love is to be vulnerable, love anything and your heart will be wrung and possible broken." - C.S. Lewis

"You were never poor as long as you had something to love." - L.M. Montgomery

"It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire that those who love generously know." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"To love would be an awfully big adventure." - J.M. Barrie