Patriotic Pavlova

Mom and I made a pavlova for our Memorial Day get-together this evening. It turned out really great!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Today, take a minute to think about the sacrifices made by our countrymen and to pray for those currently serving to protect us...and our freedoms.

Woodworking

Because of Tallie's back problems, Dad and I decided to build a little table for both dogs' food bowls. Tallie and Bono were a little skeptical about eating off of it, but in the end, with a little encouragement (and a few treats) they gulped their food down. I'll post some pictures of the painted version later (after we paint it), but here are the current pictures.

Listen to this......

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare." ~Mark Twain

Broken-Armed

Yesterday, my brother sustained a buckle fracture to his left wrist. He'll have to wear a cast for about a month, so at least it's the end of the school year, since he's left-handed. He's already gotten a few signatures on his cast, and one in German and Russian!

Doggie travels

I was just going to take Tallie with me, but.....

Finals

School will be out on Friday! This week, well, Monday-Wednesday is finals for the highschool. This morning I had my English final which went pretty well. It was totally over Romeo and Juliet so it wasn't too difficult. My teacher has already graded them, so I got a 90 without the extra credit. Tomorrow is math and geography, neither of which am I too worried about. In math, we have a safety net of 10 problems, so it's fairly simple to get a good grade. Geography is the maps of Asia and Europe, along with the flags and capitals of Asia, Europe, and Oceania. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Wednesday is Spiritual Life II and Physical Science. Science is the only final left that I am really worried about. It'll be a mixture of chemistry and physics, which is hard on the brain, at least on mine. :) I see some very detailed reading and studying in my future........

Checkers

My dad and I enjoy playing checkers a lot. We got a mammoth cloth checker board, so we usually play on the floor. This means that the dogs join us. Tallie and Bono are usually quite helpful in offering advice. Here are some pictures from today's game, which, ahem, went fairly unhindered. :)

They do love to rest their chins on whoever or whatever is there!

From the Inside Out

From the Inside Out

• A thousand times I've failed

Still your mercy remains

And should I stumble again

Still I'm caught in your grace

• Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

• My heart and my soul, I give You control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise, become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

• Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

• My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

• Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

• This is a song we sang today in Chapel, and it was like I was just hearing it for the first time. I realized that this song is really what I want; I want God to consume me from the inside out. I desire to lose myself in him, to put his will above my own. I will be forever thankful that when I stumble, God is right there to save and rescue me.

Mothers' Day Preparation

With Mothers' Day tomorrow, Dad, Ev, and I went out this morning and purchased gifts for Mom. I decided, instead of using purchased wrapping paper or a bag, to paint my own wrapping paper. And that way I can personalize it! To make your own, all you need is a piece of paper big enough to wrap your present, paint, and brushes. For Mothers' Day, I wrote: # 1 Mom!, Mommy, I love Mom, Happy Mothers' Day, etc. I also did my handprints. It was fun and easy! Below are some pictures:

Just to keep you updated.....

I was looking at my archives, comparing this year's posting to last year's. I'm not posting as much, but as my mother pointed out, "You weren't a highschooler last year!" Quite true. Life only gets more busy as time goes on.
Today I went to a farewell party for the senior girls. It was quite fun and an enjoyable time of fellowship. I also am in the process of helping my nextdoor neighbor train her new Cocker Spainel puppy, Cocoa. Today she was introduced to the electric fence with her proper collar. She did not enjoy it, but that's hardly suprising. :) And if the rain holds off until 8:00 tonight, Ev will be able to have his baseball game.
Oh yes; There are only 15 school days left!! (And have a Happy May Day...)

Busy!

I seem to be doing a lot of apologizing lately for not posting much. :) Life has been keeping me rather busy. There are only 24 school days left (but who's counting?). I also had my school banquet and overnighter Friday/Saturday, and that was quite fun. I'll post some pictures later. I slept in until 4:00 pm Saturday, which was a new record and one I don't plan on repeating until next year's banquet rolls around. :) I decided which Honor classes to take next year; hopefully I'll end up in Honors English, Honors Bio I, and Honors Social Studies. For my electives, I'll be taking Personal Finance and Creative Writing. Anyhoo, that's the news from here.......

Massachussets trip!

On Tuesday, I got home from having spent five days with my older brother and sister in MA. It was such a wonderful time! Their dog Selchie had eight puppies in mid-February, four girls and four boys. Last July, they had invited me out to stay for a few days, and thanks to Frequent Flyer Miles, I made it out there. :) Most puppies are cute, but I think Irish Water Spaniels are among the cutest. With curly dark hair all over and the sweetest eyes ever, these puppies were probably the most adorable I've ever seen. On this trip, I.....

• got to spend awesome time with my older siblings
• cuddled the puppies!!
• experienced the frenzy of feeding eight small puppies
• cleaned up more poop than you would think eight pups can produce
• flew about 1000 miles by myself
• saw the pups on their second trip outside; they absolutely love the outdoors!
• did crafty stuff, such as making zipper pulls and putting together binders for the new puppy owners
• went to Flatbreads, the BEST pizza place in the entire world
• throughly enjoyed myself: Jer and Kim, thanks for such an awesome time!!!!!

Since I didn't take the camera with me, I have no pictures to show you, but if you click this link, you can see plenty of puppy pictures!

Spring!

Happy first day of Spring, everyone! Today, we put the screens back in the windows so that we can enjoy fresh air and keep the bugs out. :-) It was so refreshing to see the sun and be able to spend time outside! I was also able to pick some daffodils from underneath our pine trees and out in our back woods. Spring is here!

Nashville

On Tuesday, my family and I were able to go to Nashville to see my older sister and my nephew. We had quite a wonderful time visiting Trader Joe's, the Parthenon, and Noshville, a delicious restaurant. We also got to hear the band Barefoot Truth; they were quite good!

My brother, historical guru that he is, informed me that the steps of the Parthenon are purposefully designed to be a bit of a stretch for the average person so that one bows as they go up the step. Who knew?

All the comforts of home.....

I've often said that Bono is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. However, he is smart enough to know comfort when he sees it. The little sneak! Just goes to show that I don't need to let any pillows stay on the floor. :)

Beauty

Days

Just in case you wanted to know....

• There are 13 days to Spring Break
• 14 days until I leave on my trip
• Roughly 75 days until school is out and
• 39 days until Banquet

School Spring Formal

Last Saturday, my mom and I went to a "Prom Dress for Haiti" event at the downtown Emporium. The women of Knoxville donated approximately 600 formal dresses to be cleaned and then sold to raise money for Haiti. A few of my classmates had been talking about the event, so I decided to go and just see what was there. I'd kind of been dreading having to look for a dress, simply because I wasn't sure if I could find one that was cute and would fit the school standards. However, I was pleasantly surprised. My mom and I prayed before we began looking, just that God would guide us to the right dress for me. The last dress I tried on was the one. I'm so happy with it!!

Techinical troubles

I appear to be having technical trouble with my blog, so please just bear with me for a little bit while it all gets straightened out. Thanks!