So, it has been ages and ages since I updated my blog! I’m gonna try to stay on top of this better. I’ve been soo busy lately, so I guess I have somewhat of an excuse…

Time has just flown by this year! I can’t believe it is already the middle of March. I’ve had a very eventful last few weeks though. The last week in February I flew out to see my sister in Maryland. She’s married and has the cutest little 1 ½ year old! My brother in law is in the air force, and they are stationed at Andrew’s Air Force one in MD. I had a great time visiting and seeing lots of sights.

My little nephew Caden is soo adorable! He’s grown so much since the last time I saw him. He’s walking around and is just like a miniature man. He’s also developed quite the personality. He likes to wave and blow kisses everyone, it’s adorable! He always gets a lot of comments from people, especially the women, lol. :)

Because they only live 15 min away from Washington DC I was able to go and see all the sights there! It was pretty neat. I saw the White House, the Capitol Building, went up into the Washington Monument, saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam memorial, and other things. All the buildings are so big and ornate there!

There are so many museums there! I only went to one, the Air and Space museum, it had lots of interesting stuff in there. I saw things like Abraham Lincolns hat, the shoes Dorothy wore in the Wizard of Oz, R2D2 and C3po, the original plane the Wright brothers flew, plus a lot more.

What is really neat though, is that I was able to go to New York City while I was there! They had never been there before, but had been thinking about taking a road trip up there. After all the details had been figured out we were able to go! It took us 4 hours or so to get there. We stayed in one of the more inexpensive hotels in Times Square. Everything in NYC is sooo expensive!! The Hotel we stayed in was almost $150 and that’s one of the cheapest ones there. Parking is also terribly expensive.

While we were there we saw Broadway and did a lot of walking. We even took the subway once.

We saw the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty (We didn‘t actually go to the statue, we just saw her from a distance), and Ground Zero.

I loved it in NYC!! The only bummer is how expensive it is. A studio apt there can cost you $2000 or so. I’ve decided though, I liked it so much that I’m gonna live there for a couple years when I get a job that pays enough to afford something there! I might even convince my sister to come along with me. If there’s anyone who wants a room mate in NYC in a couple of years, I’ll room with you! I

On a broader note, I totally loved the East Coast! I’ve grown up on the west coast and this was the first time I’d made it out that far. An interesting thing to observe was my allergies. I deal with allergies that are pretty bad on a regular bases, and I barely dealt with anything there! Maybe it’s because where I live it’s always cloudy, overcast and rainy until the summertime. Maybe there’s a lot of molds in the air, or something like that.

The weather in MD was a lot nicer. It would rain a bit and then clear up and be nice and sunny. It maybe cold but at least there was sunshine!

This trip was one of the first times I’d done any flying, and I loved it! I also saw 6 different states for the first time. I landed in Virginia which is 20 min or so away from Andrews. I stayed in MD, drove through Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York. Plus I got to see our Capitol. All in all, I had a really nice trip, saw a lot of things and had a blast.

As neat as Washington DC was, I’d have to say I liked NYC better.

Well, I’ll try to check out everyone’s blogs more often, comment, and I’ll even try to update my blog more often!

Hope things are going well with everyone!

Emily

Happy New Year! Yeah, it’s a little late now for that, lol. I worked New Years Eve, so I didn’t end up going to any New Years Partys. But, I did have a really nice time at home. I’m currently living at home with four younger siblings and 3 of them left to go to new years parties elsewhere. So, that left me and Lee (my oldest younger sibling) at home with out any extra siblings. Yay!! Ok, the only reason for that exclamation is that we are rarely without them so a change is kinda nice. (they all left for sleepovers and we had the strangest most quiet day the next day, lol)

Anyway, my parents surprised us by bringing pizza back with them from town and a couple movies! We watched a movie called Lucky You and another, the new Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly. The last was a really enjoyable movie. I‘ve never read the book, but that‘s on my list when I have some time. I have read one of Jane Austen book called Sense and Sensibility. That one was really good, but I never took the time to read anymore of her books. We stayed up till 12 and welcomed the new year. My dad fired off his shotgun and all that jazz.

When I look back on 2007 I would have to say there were a few good things that happened. One of the best things was going on a missions trip with my church down to Mexico. It was eye opening to see such a poor country compared to the USA. It also got me thinking of how much we have and how little others have. We are very blessed to live in America! And it was also amazing how genuinely loving and happy a lot of the people down there were even though they had so little!

Another notable thing was, I finished school! Yeah, I know, I’m on a homeschool blog and I’m finished with school, oh well. I got my GED and I started learning how to drive! I also got a job this summer, that’s sure made things different for me. Anyway, just to name a few…

Around the end of December, I started thinking of goals and things I wanted to accomplish in 2008. Here’s what I came up with.

1. Get into the habit of daily reading my bible. I totally fall short on that one!

2. Finish everything I start. I have a tendency to plan and think really big and then I’m not able to follow through. I figure if I get myself in the habit of finishing things I start, that will help me in the future.

3. Start eating more healthy than I am. We generally eat pretty healthy… but there’s always room for improvement!

4. Get my license this summer, and perhaps a car

5. Go to school in the fall

Hope everyone’s new year has been going great!

I was tagged by SmileyGirl95, thanks! I was also tagged another time by a couple other people, i'll do that one soon too. Here goes... OH, and as to tagging others,  if you read mine and want to do it yourself, you're tagged. Let me know if you do it!

8 things I am passionate about

1-Family
2-Reading
3-Mission Work
4- Music
5-Working with young children
6-My Future
7-Learning new things
8-Traveling

8 things I want to do before I die

1-Learn a second language (I love how German sounds, but Spanish is probably more practical)
2-Learn piano at a higher level
3- Tour Europe
4- Own my own Bed and Breakfast
5-Throw big black tie event parties
6- Get married
7- Get involved in politics and what’s going on in our country
8- Go to a concert

8 things I say often

1- Hey Buddy, how’s it going?
2-Bubs 

3- Really?
4- That’s interesting
5-All right guy’s, we are gonna get this house spotless

6-OK

7-?
8-?

8 books I have read recently

1-Not even a hint
2-I kissed Dating goodbye

3-A few books in the Bible recently
4-Inn at Lake Devine

5-Entering Normal
6-Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible(excellent book!)
7-I am reading Mere Christianity (takes a bit of effort to really follow what he’s saying)

8-I am also reading America and Vietnam, the Elephant and the Tiger (good book so far)

8 songs I could listen over and over

1-Say Goodbye by Sanctus Real
2-So Small by Carrie underwood
3-Winner at a Losing Game by Rascall Flatts

4-Umbrella by Rihanna
5-Endlessly, She Said by AFI
6-Back at Your Door by Maroon 5
7-Dreaming with a Broken Heart by John Mayer
8-Freeze by Jordin Sparks

8 things that attract me to to my best friend (s)

1-Friendliness
2-Trustworthy

3- common interests
4- ?
5- ?
6- ?

7- ?
8-?

8 things that I have learned this year

1- It’s all about what you have inside not what you have on the outside

2- how to hammer and nail a house together
3- I’ve learned to be content with where my life is at
4- that I want to get more into politics

5-I love when it snows

6- ?
7-?
8-?

4 c powdered milk

¼ c +1 T cocoa powder

1 ¼ c cane juice crystals

pinch of salt

10 cups water

2 cups milk, half n half, or cream

In a large stock pot combine everything except the milk. Stir with a wire whisk and heat on medium until all is very hot and dissolved being careful not to boil. Remove from heat and add the milk. Serve in mugs with a few mini-marshmallows on the side.

Here’s my dog’s Christmas picture. 

 

My sister LA and I were listening to Christmas music today. We were listening to Last Christmas by Taylor Swift, (Good Christmas album) when we started singing from the guys perspective. Here’s what we came up with.

Last Christmas
You gave me your heart
But the very next day, I gave it away
This year
To save her from tears
She’ll give it to someone special

Once bitten and twice shy
She keep her distance
But I still catch her eye
I know baby
You recognize me
Well
It's been a year
It doesn't surprise me
(whispered) Merry Christmas,
She wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying "I love you"
and meant it
Now she knows what a fool she’s been
But if I kissed her now
I know I’d fool her again

[Chorus x2]

A crowded room
Friends with tired eyes
She’s hiding from me
And my soul of ice
Oh my she thought I was
Someone to rely on
Her?
I guess she was a shoulder to cry on
A friend to discover with a fire in her heart
A girl under cover but I tore her apart
I tore her apart, ooo-ooo
Now she’s found a real love I'll never fool her again

[Chorus x2]

A friend to discover with a fire in her heart
A girl under cover but I tore her apart
[Spoken] Maybe next year,
She’ll give it to someone
She’ll give it to someone special.

Now, in case you are curious as to the actual version, here it is.

Last Christmas
I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year
To save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance
But you still catch my eye
Tell me baby
Do you recognize me?
Well
It's been a year
It doesn't surprise me
(whispered) Merry Christmas,
I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying "I love you"
and meant it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now
I know you'd fool me again

[Chorus x2]

A crowded room
Friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you
And your soul of ice
Oh my I thought you were
Someone to rely on
Me?
I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
A friend to discover with a fire in her heart
A girl under cover but you tore me apart
You tore me apart, ooo-ooo
Now I've found a real love you'll never fool me again

[Chorus x2]

A friend to discover with a fire in her heart
A girl under cover but you tore me apart
[Spoken] Maybe next year,
I'll give it to someone
I'll give it to someone special.

I had my Gingerbread House Party! It went fairly well. We had 18 or so kids over and that, my friend, was a slight handful. I did it last year, but we only had eight kids or so. This year we jumped to about 2 times as many.

In case you’re wondering what a “gingerbread house party is”, it’s where the people that come over all work to glue gingerbread house pieces together, and then decorate their houses with candy and frosting.

Anyway, though it was a lot of work, I had nice help. A lot of the moms that came over helped out. The only down side to this years party was that our houses kept collapsing!  That didn’t happen at all last year. I figure it’s probably the humidity that caused it. blah, I’ll have to figure out some cure for that later.

Gluing houses together...

decorating houses above and

below

Some of the finished houses

Some of the gals having fun.

Sarah (one of my invaluable helpers) and me

I’ve been making gingerbread houses for the last three years, and though I don’t know much about it, it’s been a blast. My sister Leanne and I usually do the gingerbread house thing. Last year we made a house we were happy with, I'll go ahead and post pics of that house another time. This year, we didn’t make a big house. Partly because we had to make all the pieces for the kids party, but mostly cause I’m pretty busy babysitting and haven’t the time. Maybe next year though.  

Anyway, hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season!

Emily

Around where I live, it rained and rained all day without letting up! There are now a bunch of roads closed because of flooding. It hasn’t affected me, but it sure is inconvenient for a lot of people.

I babysat today. It went nicely; the boys took their naps and I was able to get some reading in. I started a book called the America and Vietnam, The Elephant and the Tiger by Albert Marrin. He’s a really good author! I read a book he wrote about Stalin and it was really straight forward and easy to understand. I haven’t done a lot of reading on the Vietnam War, and I don’t understand it much. So, I decided that I would get a couple books about it.

Well, yesterday I went shopping with my mom. Mostly just grocery and animal feed shopping. It was pouring all day yesterday also. We would get to a store, park, and by the time we walked into the store we would be soaked! It was also really cold also.

Oh, while we were shopping we stopped at Starbucks for some coffee. I love Starbucks! Their coffee is soo good. Mom and I like to stop there and get coffee when we go shopping. We usually go for the flavored coffees. Well anyway, we each got a peppermint white chocolate mocha. It was soo good! I was kind of skeptical at first because I’m not a fan of mochas, but this was really good. It did get a little sweet in the end, but it was pretty good.

I’m going to try to find a recipe or something so I can make it. It’s quite delicious. If I do find a recipe or figure out how to make it, I’ll go ahead and post the recipe.

Next week I’m getting ready to plan a gingerbread house party. Pretty much I invite my youngest 3 siblings friends over and they all assemble and decorate gingerbread houses. Where I come into the equation is making all the pieces for them to make the houses. Last year I had 5 kids over, plus my 3 sibs. They all had a nice time, so I figured I’d do it again.

Emily

I found this quizz on a blog and I decided to do it.

I was watching a movie called Flags of our Fathers. In it there were 6 men referred to as heroes for putting up the flag on Iwo Jima. The movie is about the three that lived and how they were elevated to hero status for what they had done and how they toured around America raising money for the war. One of the guys couldn’t stand his roll as hero, because he didn’t feel like one, which led him to drinking and pretty much ruined his life. That got me to thinking a few things: What makes a hero a hero, like hmm, do they have to be like superman and spider man? Do people who we consider heroes have to be people who do something heroic for good reasons? Does everyone have the same hero?

In all the movies with superheroes, they are usually referred to as super heroes because of some heroic grand deed they did and continue to do, some super power they have, and how they are helping the innocent against some bad villain. I think there are many different types of heroes out there and I don’t think that you have to have some amazing power to be considered a hero. Ok, yeah, maybe to be considered a SUPERhero you do. 

When we give someone the title hero, why are we calling them a hero? I think it’s usually  because we admire what they’ve done, what they stand for, or, sometimes, the qualities they have. Plus, it can be that they’ve shown bravery and courage in a daunting situation, or even put others before themselves. 

In my opinion everyone has different heroes. What makes someone a hero in your eyes doesn’t make them a hero in other people’s eyes. Your hero can be someone who made a difference in your life or someone who made a stand for something you feel strongly about. A hero for you can even be someone you just admire greatly!

I don’t think our heroes are perfect, nor do I think they have to be. Nobody’s perfect! I’m going to guess that some people we call heroes don’t look at themselves as heroes. Sometimes, they look at what they’ve done and see the reasons for why they did it, which may not have been noble and heroic. But, that doesn’t make them any less of a hero in my mind. I think sometimes we need our heroes; someone to look up to and try to be like. Sometimes hearing about extraordinary things can give us courage in the things we do.  It also shows us that there are courageous people out there, and that one person can make a difference.

Who is your hero? My number one hero would be Jesus. He, in my opinion, did everything a hero is known for and beyond. He put others before him and died for all of us, so that we can live. And none of us are perfect! We all have our problems, and yet, he still died for you and me. A couple more heroes of mine would be my parents. They have always been there for me and I’ve learned so much from them! They show me everyday what it’s like to be self sacrificing/unselfish.

 In the end, I think that there are people who do things that are exceptionally brave and courageous and deserve to be acknowledged. They don’t have to be knights in shining armor who have had pure motives their entire life to be titled a hero. I also don’t think you have to be super amazing to be a hero. I mean, who knows, you could be someone’s hero right now and not even know it! 

   Ok, so after reviewing my last two posts, I decided that I’ve been rambling and talking about nothing important at all. So, I figured I’d talk a little about my day.  

   I babysit twin boys who are almost 6 months old. I started babysitting them when they were almost two months old. I watch them anywhere from 30 to 40 hours a week, while their mom is going to school. And, I love them!

   I’ve learned a lot about babies since I started watching them. Mostly I’ve learned about caring for them, and some good lessons in patience! I’m not the most patient person, so it’s been something I’ve had to work on.

   Watching twins, by myself, has been somewhat of a challenge. I can’t really hold both at once when they’re crying. Making bottles can be a bit tricky when they’re both hungry and letting me know of that fact. Although, lately watching them became so much easier after I started putting them down for regular naps. Makes a world of difference!

   I start babysitting at 8 in the morning, and don’t get home till evening time. Anyway, that’s my job. 

  Today while I babysat I brought my camera along and took pictures of the boys! I got some good pics of them. Lately Ryan’s discovered his thumb and loves sticking all his fingers in his mouth. (and they both love to drool.)  :)

this is Jack

Jack again

Ryan

Ryan again

 I finished a book I started awhile back, called “Entering Normal” written by Anne Leclaire. It took me awhile to get used to the style of the book, but after that I thought it was a pretty good read. It’s a drama written about two different women, one who is in her 40’s and the other in her 20’s. They’ve both experienced and are experiencing different (sorrows?) in life and end up leaning on each other. I thought the book was pretty good, and it kept me interested to the end. It was hard to put down sometimes, although for me, I love reading! So it doesn’t take much for me to not be able to put a book down.

Emily       

p.s. I don't recommend Entering Normal for kids, it's a bit of an adult book.

   So, this morning i'm sitting at the computer listening to akons Lonely song and eating a piece of pizza. It's kinda late, but this is Saturday and I'm in weekend mode. Yesterday was my sister's b-day which is why we'd have pizza leftover for breakfast. It was either pizza or pumpkin pie and I don't even like pumpkin pie.

   My apologies at having let so much time go by between entries, but the day I was gonna go ahead and post an entry.. I got sick, and my motiviation level went down several points. You probably wouldn't have wanted me to post anything then anyway. It might of been about something highly uninteresting.

   I was thinking, ya know how some people get a birthday cake made around them? They like pop out of the cake and usually they're women.(if you ever watched the fergalicious music video...) well, I wonder if someone's ever done that to a dog? then I let my thought process go a little bit more and thought about my dog and how she would be totally panicking and would have made a mess out of the inside of the cake. Now, all of this was typed with ignorance on how they actually do the cake thing. I think it might have been showed in the movie "singing in the rain" but I can't really remember.

   well, I my song has changed and I'm still hungry. So, I'm going to make my exit.

   Hi. My name is Emily. I decided to get this blog because I wanted a place to write down all my random thoughts about life and everything in it. I live a pretty simple life, I live in an area that is far removed from the city. Some people would call it the country...ok, fine. Almost everyone would call it the country. I've never gone sheep back riding, but I have gone cowback riding and horseback riding and goatback riding. Now, the goat was a long time ago, when i was a tiny tot. 

   I've been homeschooled all my life, which is kind of why I thought this would be a place for me to blog. I always liked Geography, though I didn't learn it all. But, tell me... who really knows it all anyway?

   Anyway, that's just a bit about me.