The Upcoming School Year

It's coming faster than desired yet at the same time I always look forward to the more orderly way of living and getting back into studies.
As the summer is starting to wind down a bit we have been seeking to get back into a schedule, so that we can (hopefully) be well settled into things by the time the school year starts.With Caitlin starting her online college program and Jillian and Hayley being the only ones left in regular school with my mother things are looking to be rather different from previous years. I think the biggest change will be for me, as I am not in school and right now it seems will be (I hope) moving into Caitlin's position of caring for things around the house and garden, since she will be spending much of her time studying.
Although I would like to do some further studies myself, mainly in nursing and midwifery, right now I do not feel that that is where the Lord is leading me. As we were sitting down as a family discussing things the other morning and everyone was laying out what their plans were for the fall I did not really have anything specific. Because of this and everything that everyone else desires right now, I am feeling that my area of learning and growing is going to be focusing more on running the home, which I have been learning for a long time, but now will be putting it more into practice.
My "goal" for this upcoming school year is to seek to serve my family in the home, rather than pursuing my own desires. My prayer, and I would ask for your prayers as well in this area is that I will grow more in love and service to those who are nearest to me. I have found that my family, those I am closest to are usually the ones that get the most pushed aside in whatever is going on in my life. As I seek to learn more skills of running the home and what it is to care for a family, I hope that it will make me love them and appreciate them more and more.

Going,going,gone...

I'm almost done with my time of imprisonment, yay!
Meaning I am just about out the sling and all the restrictions.
Played Wii for a while last night and it felt wonderful to actually use my arm.
Anyway not much else new, can't wait see all you guys!

A Day In The Life

So because I wasn't able to get everything done before my graduation I'm still doing school each morning, or at least I try to do it most mornings. I'm very close to being finished, having just a little bit of human anatomy and a couple essays to write.

This is my science notes, I love doing science and have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the human body.

And I usually listen to my ipod while doing any studying.

Here's my lovely sign in my windowsill.

My bed is often quite tempting, but I still prefer it to doing school downstairs with all the other things that go on.

The keys on my hopechest, old keys are something else I have always loved.

Well, this is, obviously, me.

And my converse sneakers. :-)

This past week...

So even more lately life has been rather crazy. Last week was for the most part busy with the more normal things we did a lot of work outside in the garden and various other places, Caitlin and I have kept quite active with work, the summer is always much more hectic over there. And the different tasks around the house. Saturday was quite interesting. While towel-drying my hair I managed to get my arm in a rather awkward position and do something to a muscle in it. We went into urgent care ( as I was in a lot of pain) and were told that I had torn a muscle, we are now less certain, but whatever it is, it is still painful at times and I'm once again quite restricted as far as use of my right arm. (I can't seem to keep out of casts and such for very long.) They gave me a shot for the pain, so I didn't feel much of anything for the next few hours. We decided to continue our plans for the day, going out to the Disney's Christmas Carol Train Tour and then to the Glacier Symphony at Rebecca Farm in the evening with the Haymonds.
Here's a few pictures:

The miniature of the clock tower.

Just to prove that we really were there. :)

My Life Lately

Playing group badminton, it's done with usually about 5 birdies. :)

Rosh, totally focused on the game.

I think that's Ridge's game face, though it looks rather like a confused one.

River looks like he's trying to be all dramatic or something.

Some people can be quite vicious.

She looks so sweet, sometimes...

Hannah, preparing her ammo.

Megan, getting ready for battle.

I think she's just waiting for someone to come around the corner so she can surprise them.

We ran out of water balloons very quickly, so used buckets and hoses instead.

Mitch dumped me with a bucket, so I soaked him with the hose.

Abba praying for me at my graduation.

Outside the Conrad Mansion.

Jillian and Hayley at Conrad Mansion.

A small portion of the strawberries we've harvested.

Ice Cream Sundays!

Our Independence Day BBQ.

Timmy playing horseshoes.

More badminton, with the Haymonds.

Our judges, supervising.

Fireworks at the Maltby's.

What's On My Mind...

Lately things have actually managed to be fairly slow around here, which is a blessing as I am able to actually finish some of my school(so that I can really feel like I've graduated) and get some work done in the garden. Also I can write something on here. ;)
It seems that my last couple posts were not quite what people were looking for, or they just didn't have anything to say about them. I'm guessing it's a mixture of both, and as I think about it I can understand why. Unfortunately (or maybe not) I am not very good at doing just random or silly posts, I have tried and can't seem to think of anything to write. When I write I prefer to have a solid subject that I'm writing about, sometimes I start rambling while doing it( I sorta feel like I'm rambling right now) but I try to have something specific and worthwhile.
Actually I'm not even sure what the point of this is and why I'm writing it. I think I started out with something in mind, but am not sure what it was. I'll try and get something better figured out for next time.

Beauty and the Beast

I was just reading "Joyfully Home" (Jasmine Baucham's blog) and her post about this and was reminded of how much I loved it when I was little, Cinderella was okay, and the rest I didn't care a fig about, but Beauty and the Beast I loved, although we did not own it, it was my number one request when going to Grandma's house and I would very often bring it home with me.
Like Jasmine was talking about, pretty much all girls have their dream of "Prince Charming" (mine happened to be a beast, :) no, not really). While it is something my parents have taught to guard against and we try very hard to maintain that, it is extremely difficult, especially with movies like Pride and Prejudice, and many other of Jane Austen's works. Which I very much enjoy but find I have to be very careful that that does not become my ideal, such movies have a way of making us dissatisfied with real life and give us a perverted view of what love truly is. And while I know all of this I still have a tendency to daydream(what girl doesn't) and constantly have to pull myself back from a world of my own making and remind myself of how things really are.
Often in sharp contrast to the romance movies and books we see today we have the example of Christ's love in scripture to the Church, His bride. Can you imagine Christ being in love with the church the way love is portrayed today, "falling" in love with her because of outward reasons, there really is not much very lovely about the church today, then you have the thing where people "fall out" of love, what if Christ did that, fell in love then lived each day unsure if He would still be in love with His church the next. Christ's love is an all-consuming love, and it is a choice...

"Love is not a feeling. It is a overmastering passion to help and bless and deliver and comfort and strengthen and give joy to others just as the Lord Jesus always did.

In heaven everything and everyone is lovable, but as the Lord Jesus said ,"if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye ? "Matthew 5:46. In heaven everyone loves everyone else, and in hell no one loves anyone.But on earth we are in a perfect environment for learning to love as God loves: to abandon ourselves to loving the apparently unlovely people who remind us that in many ways we are still very unlovely ourselves!
Here on earth we have the opportunity to do what the God of love does all the time, and to learn to abandon ourselves to loving, to giving, to seeking and to saving others. Not a lovely feeling of affection, or physical pleasure and satisfaction, but the extreme ecstasy of creating happiness and good and blessed things for others to enjoy. To cast ourselves down in happy giving, asking for nothing in return except the joy of so doing. When we really begin to and practice that lesson we shall begin to feel "at home" in the eternal world of selfless love.
It is not some feeling one waits for, nor some person to evoke the love. It is an attitude of will. I will cast myself in giving. The lower I go the more love I am able to transmit from God to others, just like the Lord of love Himself, who was not content until He found and took the lowest place in the universe..." -Hannah Hurnard