As we all--I'm sure--have accepted and realized, death is just a natural part of life. But that doesn't mean its just a mundane sort of incident...it can shake us to the core. Especially when someone we love passes on.

The reason why I have brought this up is because my dad's grandfather died yesterday morning around 9:45. Pepa's (as we all called him) daughter--who was in the house when he passed away--said that he was feeling a little light-headed and short-breathed, and he decided to go lie down and sleep. She said that when she came back in, Pepa had died. Wow...what a way to go...he went peacefully to the Lord. My dad and his family are all very sad...Pepa was 91 years old, going for 92, and he was so proud of it. The last memory I have of him was in 2000 when we went to Arizona to visit him. I remember him being such a sweet elderly man. Dad says that he owes Pepa much, because if not for Pepa, my dad wouldn't have had such a good job as a tile contractor.

There are very comforting thoughts in all of this: I am a Christian, and because Jesus died for my sins, I will live in heaven with him when I pass away. But you know, Christians never really die. We die an earthly death, but will have eternal life with Jesus. Hmmm...that's a lovely thought... And also, Pepa is in heaven, rejoicing to God, along with my grandpa, Aunt Janet, and all my other relatives! He isn't in the pain of sin anymore...he is in the arms of Jesus!

I will leave this entry on a light, comforting note. Au revoir!

~HaLeY

P.S. The second chapter is coming soooooon!  

   The words tore like a knife in flesh.  ‘Mixed breed’, they had called her… a ‘mutt’, they had mocked.  Thalionwen’s dirty hands gripped her dagger.  The taunting eyes of the Black Elf youths shimmered with darkness…how she would love to attack them for disgracing her and her family’s name.  An inward war stirred her blood: fight or no?  She stood there for what seemed like hours, trying to decide.  “Well, you mutt, are you going to be a Human coward, or show the “half” Elf you claim to be?”  One snapped.  Determination built, then suddenly cooled: she wouldn’t, for doing so would only further give them reason to anger her more…they would say she was not Elvish at all, and that she was just a stupid Human. 

     “Leave me!” She exclaimed.  “I have done nothing.” 

     “Oh, yes you have…you think you are equal to us, the Black Elves of Nothgaria!”  The apparent leader boomed. 

     Softening her voice, Thalionwen replied, “Why would I want to be equal to beasts like you?”  Her voice was calm and collected…she had struck them without raising a weapon.

     The Elf leader, who had called himself’ “Grothger”, rode his black horse straight up to her.  She felt the breath of the bay, and the anger seeping from its rider.  “I suggest you watch it…anyone who has ever insulted the Black Elves has never been found.  Run along home to your pitiful family, and never show your face in Quintain Forest again.”  He stared at her with his dark eyes, she looked back at him with her two emerald eyes, and slowly backed her horse up.  Her horse walked backward for about 100 yards, she turned him around with a “hyah”, and galloped off.  Eerie laughs echoed from the wood, and she was determined not to look back.

   “Where were you?” Asked Domynik, his voice quivering as he looked to see his best friend come blasting out of the darkness; she slowed down, and he tied her horse up to the corral.  Thalionwen jumped off, patted the mare’s neck, and walked toward the meeting house with her friend.  

     “I was looking for the little Kristof girl, when I must have rode too far and ended up surrounded by Black Elves in the Quintain.”  She answered, nonchalantly.  

     Domynik was incredulous: it was obvious he had been very worried about her.  “The Elders and villagers have been waiting here for hours…we almost sent out a search party.” 

     “Domynik, just give thanks that I’m alive.”  She smiled and patted his shoulder, took a breath, and opened the huge mahogany door.  She was suddenly slammed with questions, hugs, and the occasional scold from a worried adult.  Breaking away for a moment, she whispered to Domynik: This is just like Christmas at Grandmother’s!  He laughed and she went back into the thick of people.

     A big, burly man approached her, with a smile on his lips.  “Glad to see you have made it safely home, Thalionwen.  We got just a bit worried about you.”  

     “ I’m sure you weren’t in the least discouraged, Trevar.”  She replied, grinning.

     “Did you make it safely?”

     “Hardly—I had a slight encounter with some Black Elves.”

     The room went from loud chattering to dead silence: everyone was listening.  “Thalionwen, you could’ve been seriously hurt!  The Black Elves cast spells and destroy in ways too awful to speak of.”

     “Don’t worry: I wasn’t harmed.” She assured, quickly, but Trevar was not swayed by her words.

     “The point is that you could’ve been.” He lowered his voice and motioned for the villagers to go back to their own conversations. “I am not angry with you, Thali, trust that.  But say, to you remember what they looked like?  Any names?”

  Thalionwen nodded and spoke:  “They all wore black cloaks and silvery jewelry, and they had dark hair and eyes like night.  One seemed to be the leader, and he called himself ‘Grothger’….oh! and they were all youths.”

     “Elves look young, Thali.  They could very well be two thousand years old.”

     “I know, but they were young for Elves…like my age or so.  I could tell because of their tactics.  They seemed sort of unsure when they first approached and surrounded me in the forest.  Older Elves are surer…more careful: these Elves were more or less careless.”

     Trevar grunted.  “You might be right, you might not, but I will talk to the Elders about what you have said.  In the meantime, I’m sure you would like to see your family.”

     Thalionwen’s eyes lit up.  “Of course!”  She smiled at her friend and replied: “Thanks, Trevar.”  He grinned and affectionately pushed her forward in the direction of her adopted family.

     There sat an older woman, with gray streaks in her hair and a tender, thin smile; beside her stood a graying man—the same look upon his face, and he shifted his weight uneasily.  She called out to them.  “Papa, Mama!”  Hearing her voice, the two adults came running at her.

     “Thank goodness you’re safe, Thali!”  The woman exclaimed, clutching her daughter.

     “We prayed for you the whole time you were gone.”  Papa said, hugging her.

     “Thank you both.  I thought about you much, and am very sorry I worried you.”  Her mama (whose real name is Leina) held up a hand.

     “No apologies, my dear.  We’re just glad you are safe.  Now, you must be hungry.  Sit there” –she pointed to a chair—“and I’ll bring you some water and food.”  Thalionwen sat down beside Papa (whose real name is Tod), while Leina was gone, and she told him of her encounters with the Black Elves.

     “It’s dangerous times we live in, Thalionwen.  I am feared that another War of All is about to begin.”  He smiled as his wife approached with a plate of meat and cheese and a skin of clean water.  Thalionwen thanked her and torn into the food like a cougar.  Seeing that her daughter and husband were having a private conversation, Leina went back to the main room.

     “What do Black Elves have to do with the War of All?  I know they were involved, but I thought the Humans, Cranians and the Zuroks were the main enemies.”

     “True, but the Black Elves were more like ‘land pirates’.  They assisted the Zuroks, but also stole information from them.  Black Elves delight in causing trouble and uproar, which is why I am led to believe they are trying to stir up another all-out battle when they harassed you.”  As if closing the conversation, he said, “The one thing you must remember is that they are never to be trusted under any circumstances.”

     Thalionwen took his words to heart, and imprinted them in her mind.  She spent the rest of the evening answering questions from various people and talking to Domynik.

     Domynik was one of the few people that accepted Thalionwen the way she was.  He was in a similar boat that she was in: his parents had given him up when he was a baby, and you could tell he was different than other Humans.  His skin was very tan, and his eyes were green; his hair was black and he was thin—almost gaunt—but he had a quick step and a kind nature.  What made him really different was that his two canine teeth her more sharp than that of a Human being, and he had no belly-button.  Thalionwen thought he was the kindest, gentlest person ever, and they were best friends.

     [Now, readers if you haven’t figured it out already, Thalionwen is part Elf, part Human.  Let me explain:  Thalionwen’s father was Thalfast, a Human knight and excellent ranger who fought in the War of All.  Her mother, Marlawen, was a Wood Elf princess, whose beauty captivated and keen wit inspired; when the Wood Elves granted gifts to all the leaders of Men who had shown great courage in the face of danger on the battlefield, they were sent to her and granted gifts.  Thalfast and she fell in love, and secretly married, for beings marry their own kind, and their families would never accept them.  Their marriage was short-lived, for Thalfast had to return to the War, and Marlawen and her family were going to move out of the way of the battle to the castle of Moragoldia, where they would be safe.  They could not stay together, nor could either of them care of their newborn daughter, whom Thalfast named ‘Thalionwen’, because she had a bit of two different worlds in her.  Thalfast took the child to Glor, a lovely, peaceful country, and gave her to a family in the village of Tambo.  He left, bid Marlawen a forlorn, last goodbye, and went off to the Wars—never to be seen again.  Nor was Marlawen ever heard from, for no one in Moragoldia could be reached.  All this Thalionwen was told to by Trevar, who knew Thalfast, and by Tod.]

     Footsteps.  Heavy footsteps.  Thalionwen lay in the darkness of midnight on her bed.  There was an intruder in the house, for no one was up this time of night and they were expecting no visitors.  She slowly reached for the knife from under her pillow and breathed deeply. The footsteps came faster….and closer…and closer!  She sensed the intruder at her door, then a creaking was heard—the door was opening!  Getting up, she held the knife threateningly, and asked firmly, “Who’s there?” A candle was lit by someone in the darkness, and she could see a faint silhouette: there was no time! She attacked the figure with such force that she knocked them to the ground.

     “Stop!  Stop!  Thali, it’s me, Vanya!”   It was Vanya Blakeny, another good friend.

     “What in Arganethor are you doing?!” Thalionwen grabbed her dagger’s sheath and sheathed her weapon.

     “Coming to get you!”  The blond-haired girl replied, shakily, rising to her feet.  “There was a Black Elf seen in the forest!  Trevar sent for you and I volunteered to wake you...I won’t be making that mistake again!”

     Thalionwen laughed briefly and grabbed her friend’s arm.  “Let’s go, then.  If my life is in danger, I’m not walking to the Meeting House all alone.”

As some of you might possibly know, I like to write poetry. Haiku, figure poems, cinquains, deep emotional poems, silly lymerics,....all sorts! So, here is a lymeric I wrote just the other day. *clears throat loudly*  [read it aloud]

There once was a lady of Flo,

Who wouldn’t let anything go.

       The stuff soon built up,

       The house would erupt,

And now the lady is no mo’.

I know, I know: stuuuuuuuuupid! but oh well.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, now to be serious. This is a segment of a story I'm writing, and I'd like to have your imput.

   The words tore like a knife in flesh.  ‘Mixed breed’, they had called her… a ‘mutt’, they had mocked.  Thalionwen’s dirty hands gripped her dagger.  The taunting eyes of the Black Elf youths shimmered with darkness…how she would love to attack them for disgracing her and her family’s name.  An inward war stirred her blood: fight or no?  She stood there for what seemed like hours, trying to decide.  “Well, you mutt, are you going to be a Human coward, or show the “half” Elf you claim to be?”  One snapped.  Determination built, then suddenly cooled: she wouldn’t, for doing so would only further give them reason to anger her more…they would say she was not Elven at all, and that she was just a stupid Human. 

     “Leave me!” She exclaimed.  “I have done nothing.” 

     “Oh, yes you have…you think you are equal to us, the Black Elves of Nothgaria!”  The apparent leader boomed. 

     Softening her voice, Thalionwen replied, “Why would I want to be equal to beasts like you?”  Her voice was calm and collected…she had struck them without raising a weapon.

     The Elf leader, who had called himself’ “Grothger”, rode his black horse straight up to her.  She felt the breath of the bay, and the anger seeping from its rider.  “I suggest you watch it…anyone who has ever insulted the Black Elves has never been found.  Run along home to your pitiful family, and never show your face in Quintain Forest again.”  He stared at her with his dark eyes, she looked back at him with her two emerald eyes, and slowly backed her horse up.  Her horse walked backward for about 100 yards, then she turned him around with a “hyah”, and galloped off.  Eerie laughs echoed from the wood, and she was determined not to look back.

                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Opinions are appreciated. :)

ttyl _HaLeY

It has been far too long...........again..................I have been trying to stay off the computer more and use moderation, which is obviously working since I haven't been on in months!

Right now, I am at the library, checking out a book by Patrick O'Brian. (ignore this....I just wrote that sentence for the heck of it) 

Christmas was soooo great! I got some gadgets for my guitars, clothes, make-up (that was a first), and some odds and in's. What about you all?

Well, I spent New Years at Lutheran Camp on Petit Jean, which was FUN!!!!!!!!! We danced, ate food, played games, socialized, and just had a blast!!!! I wish you all could've been there.

Now, it is your turn!: tell me what you all have been up to!

~Haley

Today I am going to yearbook meeting. I will hafta turn in my 2-page spread on a yearbook member (gah, I hope i did it right!) and turn in an ad I sold. Ya know, being on staff is fun (i seem to have been on different staffs a LOT this year) but kinda demanding...being accountable to someone else besides my parents. But its probably a good thing. Yearbook can be so fun! Sadly, I seem to shut up while in the meetings and in emails we send back and forth about the yearbook I'm so chatty! WTH is up w/ that?! lol We have desided on the theme of the yearbook, and it is [blah-blah-blah-yadda-yadda-yadda]. Yeah, I can't tell ya yet, because some of the ppl on here might belong to the same homeschool organization as me! hahaha! But it will be out soon.

XD I just found out that Relient K is coming out with a CHRISTMAS ALBUM!!!!!!!!!! I am totally gonna buy it when its out (if its not already)!!! Gotta have my Relient K...

Well, gotta go get ready to go! ttyl rock on, blog-peeps!

_HaLeY

So this is gonna be a BIG jump from my last entry, which concerned politics, but I will get back to that for a bit in this entry.

This Saturday, I am going to be spending the night with my awesome friend, writergirl06 (apparently, she wants everyone to call her that on the blog)!!! Yes, we ACTUALLY know each other. lol I AM SO HAPPY! We haven't seen each other in forever! *imitates that kid off Sandlot* We are gonna have FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya know, its funny...when youre younger, say 11-13, you talk on the phone with your friends, and you talk about how hot Orlando Bloom is (this concerns girls, btw, I doubt you guys would think that! haha!), and about...truly nothing of importance. Now, when you're a true teenager, you mature. I talked with a dear friend about our school work! How often does THAT happen? And it was a delightful conversation. And with another great friend, we talked about guys, but in the sense of 'looking past their good looks and seeing the real person'. But that doesn't mean we have become stern, never-smiling peeps who have no life...we still have a little imaturity! Hey! We're teeangers! XD XP

Now, to respond to Chris's comment. I don't think that all democrats are evil; I believe that there are certain ones that have evil intentions for our government, like Hillary Clinton. She's the one we really hafta worry about. True, we are not in a war against her or any others for that matter, but that doesn't mean we won't strongly disagree on things. As a whole, democrats are wrong, not necessarily the individuals. I am glad you are pro-life, though I might not agree with you on certain things.

I appreciate your comments, though. :)

Well, I must go! Enough of my blogging...for now...did you notice the small differences on my blog? I'm figuring stuff out! Yay!

_HaLeY

Well, I decided to--for once--blog about something serious and important.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh today (go Rush!) and he was talking about various political debates and such going on, most of it about the presidential campains. I was listening to him tell a news fact about Hilary Clinton who said something like "We don't need to turn the heat on in Iraq, we need to turn the heat on the Republicans!". And I was thinking, "what junk! those men over there are fighting for your right to speak out! if we pulled the troops out and tried to 'negotiate', the terrorists would come on in full force, and our country would be in major trouble!" Those Americans are fighting for our lives, so that we can blog and drive a car and not have the terrorists in the U.S.!" But the liberals don't see that. They are power-hungry wackos who hate all Republicans and would love to have the country running their way, which would be the government telling everyone what to do, having the troops out of Iraq, legalizing same-sex marriage and abortion, and countless other wrong things in this country.

Also, when it comes to the republican presidential candidates, I like the majority of them; if i could, I would vote for Fred Thompson in 2008. Hes a stand-up, conservative guy who will fight the war in Iraq, ban abortion and same-sex marriage, and keep illegal immigrants out.

Our country has a tendency--I have noticed--to focus on little things; i.e. theres a news story circulating about iPod and iPhone earbuds and cords having a certain toxin in them that someone could injest by eating. Let me ask: WHO is going to be gnawing on their iPod accessories?! Besides, why do we need to worry about iPods when there is so much more important things to think about, like the war and who your future president will be; and most of the world population doesnt HAVE an iPod!

As I lay in bed at night, praying, I pray to God that we will recieve a good and strong Republican president, and that the Democrats would be defeated, and the troops stay strong and win the war.

God Bless America!

Well, I had known for sometime that I was gonna have a new baby cousin, but I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, and what's their name was gonna be. I just know found out, and I am soooo excited! Its a boy, and his full name is going to be William Wade Black. He is due sometime in early January.

Ya know, I love having babies born into family for many reasons: 1) They are so darn cute! Dare to disagree? 2) The family expands and 3) More babysitting oppertunities! haha! Little Will--as I have decided to call him--is not the only "new birth". I was at camp this summer, and was climbing onto the bus from swimming; Boss (camp director) announces (to the whole bus): "Strum, you have a new baby cousin. His name is Charlie Henry Barnard!". I about flipped I was so happy! (my fellow campers woulda loved that.)

Okay, not enirely sure why I'm ranting about this topic...I just felt like it!

_HaLeY 

Okay, here goes! The tag... [dumdadumdum....DUM!]

Nickname: HaleyBug, Manager, Haley-dono....it depends on what ppl wanna call me...

What I wanna be when I grow up: either an musician or a writer

Movie I most recently watched: Addams Family Values

What I'm wearing right now: ash AR Tech t-shirt, and jeans

College I wanna go to: Arkansas Tech University

Favorite music: right now, country, because i watched the awards last night.

Who I'm gonna tag: writergirl06 doublefang tazzypirate92 Akuchi CerealKiller

Au revoir! Rock on! *French accent*

_HaLeY

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great one, everybody!

Today, is kinda sad day and yet a nice one because it was 2 years ago that me and my friends, Hannah, Rachel, and Kate all went to a haunted house and got scared outta our skins! Afterward we had a party at Kate's, and it was so fun and I will never forget it! It was so special to me!

Well, I gotta go!!!! ~HaLeY *muhahahahaha!*