My Camera and I

• Jun. 16, 2009
I’ve absolutely no idea where I’m going or where I’ll end up.

Posted in Daily Life

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

  This afternoon it was overcast, great soft lighting for photography…although rather flat. So I grabbed my camera, slipped on some old Crocs and headed for the great outdoors.

I just wandered around our property, no objective (aside from getting some nice photos) or object of destination, hence the title of this post.

 

 

I love this one, I think this fluffy seed pod looks like a lacy firework.

 

 

Okay, so the flower is a little over-exposed, but I think it kind of looks like a watercolor.

 

 

 

English Plantain, it is a "weed" (with several herbal uses), but I think the seed head is cool :-)

 

I raided our strawberry patch J, and near a stand of pine trees in our gully area, I found some itty-bitty wild strawberries. They are so cute and petite. Great for snacking, they are too small for much else. Just imagine how many of them it would take to make a simple pie!

 

Look how tiny they are!

 

The soybeans are growing!

 

Mulberries are also everywhere. And I do mean everywhere.

On our land we probably have around twenty mulberry trees/saplings.  I suggested that the boys pick and eat some when they played outside, and that one innocent comment has kept History Boy busy for over an hour J.

 

 We had an eventful weekend; a neighborhood garage sale (which turned out to be a bummer-I didn’t make one red cent! There goes that zoom lens I’ve been dreaming about…), not many people stopped by and even fewer bought. Next year we should have a neighborhood/family swap and donate the rest to Goodwill, skipping all the hassle of a sale.

And the icing on the cake:

On Sunday Becky cut herself on our old tractor trailer-and it was rusty.

I had been riding and we were walking into the barn. She kept trying to shove ahead of me, and in her excitement, her near (left) hind leg got caught on the corner of the trailer.

At first I didn’t even notice it, and when I saw blood trickling down her leg I thought she had been bitten by a horsefly (horsefly bites can sometimes bleed a lot). But I saw two light patches on her leg, and looking closer saw that skin and hair had been torn off.

I didn’t freak out then, but I was worried: when and on what had she gotten cut?

Going back through the barn to go find some peroxide, I saw a tuft of hair stuck in the corner of the trailer and another one on the floor. Then I did get scared. I kept thinking that, if we didn’t do something soon she could get tetanus and possibly die.

 

Well…it’s not as bad as all that. At first I thought I was seeing muscle, but no, just several layers of skin were torn off. So, I doctored her up, and yesterday (Saturday) we bought a tetanus vaccine and gave it to her. We tried calling our vet, but she hasn’t called back, that’s why we did it ourselves. Thankfully she had shown me a few months ago the general area to administer vaccines.

Today the gashes are looking much better, and they hardly bubbled when I poured peroxide on them. Dad got some stuff kind of like a spray bandage or New Skin, and that’s good because I couldn’t keep a bandage (I tried that stretchy bandage that sticks to itself and then clear Duct tape, don’t you just love Duct tape?!) on that section of her leg, and I don’t want flies and other bugs to infect the cuts.

The main two are on her shin (she got another tiny one a little further down), about three and a half inches and to the front of her hock.

Already they are showing signs that soon they will be scabbed over, which is great. 

She isn’t bothered by all this though! She is even holding still for me when I clean her leg J.

 

 Wow…I get carried away writing, don’t I?

I sometimes feel like Anne in “Anne of Green Gables” when she said something to the effect of ‘“If only you knew how many things I wanted to say [in my case, write] but don’t…”’ J

 

4Him,

~Hannah

P.S. I wrote this yesterday...lol.

 

 

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• Jun. 11, 2009
a Blue Angel

Posted in Photography

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Wow. I saw an angel. Just kidding, I saw the Navy group the Blue Angels on Sunday afternoon. And...a few of the gazillion pictures I took are ready to post!!

 

 

Dad had my camera during the finale, and I combined a bunch of the images to make a slideshow/animation.  This was at the very end of the air show, so I guess you could say I am going backwards :-)

 

 

 

Call me weird if you want, but the plane and helicopter above were perfect for some macro-esque photography :-)

 

 

I love this hat!!! (and no one was wearing it, so I could shoot with a really shallow depth of field and play with the composition :-) )

 

 

The Blue Angels's transport jet, nicknamed "Fat Albert". If I remember correctly, it has rocket-powered engines.

 

 

The Blue Angels!!!

 

Gotta go...

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

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• Jun. 11, 2009
icons!!!

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Hey everyone!

Here are some icons I made!

I origninally made the "Thank you" and "Attention" icons for KneelingAtHisFeet and myself, and the Blue Angel one just for fun. Please feel free to use them! If you would like to use one (or more, lol), just drop a comment to let me know.

These are my first icons, it was so fun and fast!

 

 

  

 

 

I like this one :-) but I'm sorry it's kind of big. I tried to shrink it smaller than this, but then the text and image got fuzzy.

The Blue Angels are so amazing and fun to watch!

 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• Jun. 4, 2009
Learning about Israel

Posted in Other Stuff...

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Yesterday evening my family and I went to hear the Waller family talk about their work in Israel.

From what I learned, they aren't out street witnessing, but rather they are trying to demonstrate Christ's love by actions and helping small farm owners.

It was very interesting, but my favorite part was the singing and when they demonstrated some Davidic dancing! I am totally not the type of person that likes dancing. I am too...well, let's just say I'm not cut out for it, but that actually looked kind of fun.

 

 

Lining up for the dance.

 

 

 

For a long time I have wanted to go to Israel, but now I want to go even more. To stand where the Holy of Holies was, to walk where Christ walked, to see and touch and totally immerse myself in the places the Bible talks about...

 

Mr. Tommy Waller,

 

Mrs. Sherri Waller,

 

 

(From right to left)

Victoria, Olivia and Hava Waller. I don't know the boy's name.

 

 

Since tourist passports to Israel allow you to stay a maximum of three months, the Waller family doesn't stay there full time. They help a Jewish man with his vineyard and go twice a year (in the fall only part of them go), in the spring to help with the pruning, and in the fall for the harvest. They've also harvested olives in that area. I wasn't sure what to think when they mentioned that they had helped the owner of the vineyard build a winery...                                                                                                                                       

Personally, I will never have anything to do with anything alcoholic because I know it kills brain cells, and I know the effects it can have when pregnant mothers drink- their kids have brain damage and learning disabilities. And, because so many people take it to the extreme and ruin their lives.

The mountain that they work on is in the West Bank area, and from that mountain they can see the seacoast. I guess I didn't realize how small Israel is, because I was surprised they could see that far. In the valley below, they can also see the area in which Joseph was buried.

Isn't that cool?!?!?! To be right where so much of our history (as Christians) took place.

 

We all really enjoyed the singing too. Several of the songs were sung in Hebrew (and one or two in English), but silly me, I already forget the one little line that they had us learn. I remember part of it...but not enough. I am so aggravated with myself about that.

Whatever the person's name was that had the main microphone sounded really Israeli, had that "cha" sound where they like, make the noise in their throat, kind of like in German, down really good. 

 

I love how they always said "Yeshua" (Hebrew for Jesus) and Yahweh (One of the many Hebrew names for GOD)

 

I also found out some stuff I didn't know before;

A lot of people in "Israel Proper" (the main portion of Israel) won't cross "the green line" into the West Bank because they think it's too dangerous, with all that's going on with the Palestinians.

 

Most of the missiles fired from the Gaza Strip are like huge bottle rockets, filled with explosives materials. Once the radar finds an incoming rocket, you have 30 seconds to drop whatever you are doing and get into a bomb shelter. Schools have bomb raid drills almost every single day because of this.

 

I am just stating what I heard, this is not coming from me:

Orthodox Jews are very anti-Christian because they believe that the Crusaders and Hitler were Christians. Most will not come anywhere near someone that they know to be a Christian.

 

Some fellow blogging friends also were able to come, so that was a lot of fun being able to talk to them :-) (It was so good to see you again!!!)

So that was how I spent yesterday night. It was fun, and informational (think school, *grin*.)!!

 

And of course, required that I bring my camera. Lol. Only problem with the photo-journalist style of photography is that I can't control the light. I had my ISO up to 1600, and still got a lot of blurry/fuzzy pictures. Grrrrr. *sighs in frustration*

 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• Jun. 1, 2009
Looking Up

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

I just lost everything I had already written. Great.

Anyway, I recently (like 15 minutes ago) found a blog by KneelingAtHisFeet , and the blog author is proposing that teens across the nation make July 3rd a day of prayer for our country. I love the idea, you should go check it out!!!

 

Back to what I was going to write about...

Lately we have had two thunderstorms and over the weekend we have had the most amazing clouds in our area. During the storms and other times when I'm just standing outside and looking up into the sky I have been reminded of just how amazing God's creation is. That He would put so many beautiful colors and intricate details into something so temporary that it's made out of water vapor...anyway, let's just say I have been awestruck by the beauty of it all.

 

 

 

 

Literally three seconds ago I was flipping through my Bible looking for a certain verse, the only problem being that I couldn't remember where it was, or exactly what it was. You know what I mean?

Well, this one wasn't what I was looking for, but it was highlighted and it jumped out at me as I was flipping randomly with only a slight idea as of where to look for that other verse...

"I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted..."

Job 42:2 (NIV)

That is Job talking to the Lord, and it's a good thing to remember. No plan can be thwarted. Zilch, nada. Nothing God plans can go askew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Now it's shortly after nine, and I can finish my post (minus the photos, which I'll get ready tomorrow, they are still on the camera.)!

Back to what I was saying earlier- sometimes I forget that God already knows what's going to happen- every war, every crime, every mistake I make; every time someone makes peace with an enemy, every baby born, every person born again, every time my actions and yours, please Him.

 

But when I just stop for a second and really see, not just look, I again realize that God's in control. Always has been, always will be. And that means I don't have to worry. Doesn't mean I don't, because I do, but it's not going to make my life better by worrying about what could happen.

 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• May. 29, 2009
sorry!

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

I am in the middle of working out a few quirks in my new template (I didn't know they exsisted until I put it up), so I'm sorry about the parts that might not be working...they'll be fixed asap!

 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• May. 28, 2009
History and strawberries...

Posted in Daily Life

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

The dust of centuries stained my fingers as I gently held pieces of history in my hands, feeling the ridges created hundreds of years ago by hunters or warriors. Some, I think, were fashioned by unskilled hands and forgotten, their shapes only partially completed.

Still, others are battered and broken. Did they lose their tips embedded in the game they had been sent after, or were they crushed while lying lost under layers of leaves or buried under the thick sod?

No one knows...and no one ever will.

 

Lol, story-telling mode!!! That was fun, were you intrigued?

I really have been handling history- a collection of arrowheads, stone ax heads, and even some little fossils.

We are getting ready for a garage sale, and I was pulling stuff out of my closet and found two boxes of such relics. They belong to my dad, who got them from his dad. I'm not sure if my grandpa found them himself or not, Dad doesn't know either.  

 

Anyway, while taking a break from *trying* to decide what to sell (I'm doing pretty well, I already have 2 boxes of stuff to get rid of), I had a photo shoot with the arrowheads, lol. Please excuse the pun ;-).

Some turned out really bad, several are okay, and a few somewhat interesting :-). But, who cares? I was getting good experience messing with the manual and aperture modes on my camera, and having fun doing it.

 

 

All the arrowheads...the other stuff such as the ax heads and fossilized shell critters excluded, because of course, they aren't arrowheads.

 

 

I love using odd numbers in my photos, looks so much better, and my hand adds, I think, scale and interest. :-D

 

 

For some reason I really like this one...maybe I should try it in Black & White too.

 

 

I think fossils are SO cool!!! To be holding in my hand a few of the thousands or even millions things preserved by the Flood...just wow.

 

 

 Here is the largest of the ax heads. I put my lens cap next to it for scale, but I should have turned the ax head, the angle that it's at makes it look smaller than it really is.

 

Breaking away from all that, I hope you aren't too sleepy from reading this :-).

I have been working on weeding our strawberry patch while the ground is soft, and have been very happy to find the first ripe strawberries!! There were some more...but some critter got to them before I did. I think that home-grown strawberries have a certain flavor to them that store bought ones can never achieve, and the thought of a whole bunch of them on an angel food cake smothered with whipped cream...makes me hungry!!!

 

 

Lol. I was getting laughed at for taking this picture :-)

 

Buddy, our handsome Golden Retriever, is finally starting to get the hang of "heel"!! He is also getting good at laying down, and his manners are improving greatly :-).

When we got him, the vet told us he was kind of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-Activity Disorder), and I know why. We are slowly progressing off of the patio and into the yard in our walks, and when we get out in the yard his attention span just goes Down fast....just like that. At least he's not yanking quite as hard, about two weeks ago he'd pull so hard you could hear him gagging himself-and he still pulled!! Once we are "done" with his training, though, I know he'll be a lot of fun to take on long rambles all over our 13-some acres. I can't wait :-)

My cute dog :-)

It's so fun having a dog that loves to play, he loves to play his own version of fetch, he just doesn't always remember to bring the ball back, lol. And we'll also play a "game" with him where two of us will stand about four yards apart, then I'll say to Buddy "Go get -------!" and then whoever is at the other end of the patio will pet and praise him and say "Go get Hannah!" Buddy loves it because he gets played with, pet all over, and gets to run :-). He will dash off like mad, and then at the last fraction of a second slam on the brakes and just about run me over :-).

Whoa...I guess posting only twice a week will make for some very long posts...

I'd better stop :-)

 

4Him,
~Hannah

 

P.S.

I just changed my template, so I don't know if there are any quirks that need worked out. If something isn't working right (like letting you write a comment, or not linking properly), let me know so I can fix it :-)

Oh, and I just realized that there is a problem with the "Recent Posts" on my sidebar. I'll fix it ASAP!

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• May. 25, 2009
Work hard, play hard.

Posted in Daily Life

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Well, it's been a long weekend!! Saturday I spent most of the day outside helping Dad and Pilot Guy build three boxes for the Square Foot Gardening thing...then we (the whole family...well, not Little Football Man-he was taking a nap!) spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening mixing up bags upon bags of vermiculite, compost and peat moss to fill the boxes with.

That required measuring things by bucketfuls, dumping it all on a huge tarp, than pulling the tarp over itself back and forth until everything was blended. It got to be pretty heavy work, what with pulling all that.

I was so physically tired...and I was filthy!!!

 

And then I walked up to my grandma's house (she lives a cornfield away :-) it's fun!) to photograph some pretty irises she thought would make good pictures. She was right, I got some very good ones!!!

 

 

Love it!!!

 

 

The boxes waiting for their plants...

 

We are in between churches at the moment, so Sunday we went out for a late breakfast to a local buffet (HB and Little Football Man are both on a special diet due to food allergies, but they can eat some stuff there). It ended up being a brunch because everyone ate a lot :-).

 

When the boys were taking their nap/rest time I went bareback riding!!! It was hot so I went saddle-less so Becky would't get so hot, and because I hadn't gone barebacking in a long time. If you ever go bareback riding on a good horse, canter, canter, canter!!! It is a hundred times easier than trotting (even if you are like me and can post bareback for short distances), and it is smooth and rocking. You don't even have to think about it, keeping your balance is extremely simplified.

Becky honestly really is a good girl, she has never tried to buck when I'm riding bareback because she knows I'm not as secure. But when I have a saddle on her, she will sometimes kick up her heels a bit :-). Also she is a little smoother in her turns and transitions. I am certainly blessed when it comes to my horse, no matter how ornery she can sometimes be!!

So ignore me when I complain about her acting up and not co-operating.lol.

 

Sunday afternoon found me again outside, this time raking dirt clods and shoveling ancient (well, at least six years old) compost from where the muck heap used to be stacked. Our neighbor has a Bob Cat and moved it (the much heap, not the Bob Cat, lol) away from the barn for us several months ago, so all that's left is rich composted dirt, perfect for supplementing our garden plot.

 

 

Farmer Boy, lol.

 

Several tractor-trailer loads later Pilot Guy and I were (thankfully!!) finished with that part...then Dad and I planted probably about 30 pepper plants and some herbs in the boxes...a water break, and then Pilot Guy, Dad and myself planted around 20-some tomatoes. Then we were finished!!!!!

 

So today Dad, Pilot Guy, HB and myself went to a friend's house for a get-together!!! Mom and the other two boys were going to go, but Mom didn't really feel good (some of us are still getting over the last symptoms of our colds), so she kept the two youngest with her and stayed home.

It was...raining.

Thankfully our friends have a big barn with a basketball net inside, so we and about thirty other people played knockout basketball, and by lunch time the rain had stopped.

In the afternoon we played volleyball, speed volleyball and dodgeball!!! I didn't do dogeball this time, I was too busy with volleyball :-)

It is so fun, all the families homeschool, and everyone plays together and has a fun time regardless of age. Even some of the dads were talked into volleyball, and I saw my dad in the dodgeball ring.

Three of my pen-pals/e-pals were there...I hadn't seen them in MONTHS!!!! So it was great to catch up and hang out :-) I had fun guys!!!!

I really played hard today, and loved every hot, sweaty, fun-filled, friend-filled, laugh-filled, missing-the-ball-on-my-part moment of it!!!! ;-D

 

I didn't bring my camera though...I know, it's a shock...but I didn't want it to get wet or get demolished by a stray volleyball.

 

Oh! I have decided to blog on Mondays and Thursdays only, at least for now. Life is so busy at the moment, and I am really trying to improve my photography skills, work on re-writing a very long story (it's more like book length) and keep up on school, dog training, riding, helping around the house and yard...yeah, life is kind of crammed some days!!!

 

Now my feet and legs are sore... combanation of bareback riding (I forgot to streach out first...), hard work and hard play...I kind of got a sunburn...I probably should go rehydrate...again.

 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• May. 19, 2009
Happy Birthday!

Posted in Daily Life

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet, totally awesome Mom!!!!

 

I am waiting for your cake to cool :-), told you I was going to make one!

While I am waiting...

 

Thanks for all you do.

 

20 Reasons You Are Such A Great Mom:

1. You love us :-)

 

2. You are one of the most kind, thoughtful people I know

 

3. You love Jesus with all you have, and have held tight to Him through all the many twists and turns in our life...

 

4. Rarely does 10 minutes go by without me hearing you laugh :-)

 

5. When you first saw me in that hospital room as a newborn, you fell in love with me and made me yours, even though you didn't give birth to me.

 

6. You care enough about us to teach us about God, and His Son, Jesus Christ

 

7. And, you love us enough to homeschool us, even on those rough days when I wouldn't blame you if you gave up.

 

8. You are an amazing teacher. Whether you are helping me struggle through a new math concept, or are reading a history book outloud, you make everything understandable and interesting. You have a gift.

 

9. You have a beautiful smile

 

10. Your passion. The boys would not be where they are today if you hadn't been passionate about finding answers.

 

11.By example you have taught me to love books, 'Richer then I you can never be, for I had a mother who read to me'.

 

12. Even though you don't always share my interests (like horses), you are quick to encourage and always willing to help me find out more.

 

13. You are one of my best friends!! I wish every girl was as close to her mom as I am to you.

 

14.  Your love of learning right along with us. We've had a lot of fun in school, haven't we?

 

15. Cooking!! You are such a great cook!!! I hope I'll be half as good :-)

 

16. Girls Day Out! What else can I say about that? It is so fun when we go out for the day (or weekend :-) ), whether it's antique shopping, book sales or our favorite little town you-know-where :-)

 

17. Those nights we get to talking...and don't stop until really late!! We cover a lot of subjects when we do that :-)

 

18. Doing "crafty" stuff together. Card-making to crochet lessons, great mother-daughter time :-)

 

19. Your gift of making home "homey"! Even though I'm not always thrilled when it includes moving the furniture, you do a great job at it :-)

 

20. Just because you are you!!!

 

I love you!!!

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

P.S.

To everyone reading this other than Mom;

Now you know a little bit about a truly great lady!

 

Don't forget to do something really nice for your mom on her birthday ;-). It might take a while, or cost you something, but she will appreciate it a whole lot, and you'll be glad you did it :-).

 

 

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• May. 18, 2009
Salsa Fixin'

Posted in Other Stuff...

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Mmmm...nothing tastes quite like fresh, homeade salsa, and my Dad makes the best fresh salsa in the world!!!

 

 

Since we have been/I still am sick, Dad made some salsa on Saturday because it's chock full of vitamins...and tastes great!!

 

Now, this is not a set recipie!!  Dad told me that it changes every time, but this is the ratio he used this time:

 

1 Green Pepper

1 Orange Pepper

1 Red Pepper

2 Tomatoes

3/4 OR 1 Onion (depending on size)

Aprox. 2 handfuls of Cilantro

1 Tomitillo

2 cloves of Garlic

Splash of Lemon OR Lime Juice

A little bit of sugar (this helps to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes)

1 1/2 Jalepeno (Optional! Not everyone in our family likes it hot, so we make one batch mild and one batch hot)

 

Wash the veggies, cut them into chunks and de-stem the Cilantro. Throw everything into the food prossecer and give it a whirl! Stop the food prossecer when everything is nicely diced up and slightly juciey.

 

Also, you don't have to use all those different colors of peppers if you don't have them on hand, they just make the salsa very colorful.

Poor into a bowl and, with a bag of tortilla chips handy, dig in!!!

 

 

This is also wonderful on anything even remotely Mexican, everything from tacos to nachos. Also try putting it on your hambugar!!! I know it sounds weird, but it is really, really good!! I just wouldn't suggest using it along with ketchup, mustard, mayo or pickles :-) Lettuce works well with it, though.  

 

Enjoy!!!

 

I'm off to the great outdoors with, you guessed it, my camera!!!

Take that back-I have to go help get supper ready.

 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• May. 15, 2009
This is no fun.

Posted in Daily Life

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

I'm sick with a nasty cold, and it's no fun...

My nose can't decide if it wants to be all stuffed up or if it wants to run, and I can't decide which is more annoying.

I wish colds didn't include sinus problems...because it makes it hard to sleep!!

 

I've also been told that I sound like Horton from the movie "Horton Hears a Who" when I blow my nose, lol.

Sorry, guys...I can't help it!!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Well, I'm still sick, and still don't feel good, but when Dad got home from work my day suddenly got brighter!

You know that story I posted on here a few weeks ago, the one about the boy named Levi following Jesus during His last days?

If you haven't read it yet, go to the category "Stories" and you will find it right off the bat.

 

Well, Dad (unbeknownst to me) sent it in to the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild (at ChristianWritersGuild.com )for critiquing, and the critique came in the mail today!!! We had talked about sending in one of my other stories a few months ago, but it's far from finished.

Anyway, I got a pretty favorable critique!! Whoever read it really liked how I used the different names of God (suggested I use more of them), liked a lot of my descriptions and dialogue.

 


There were a few minor things that need changing:

 an awkward word usage, two spots where I had sentences verging on run-ons...I forgot to put Levi's thoughts in italics (I've done that before in other things but for some reason forgot...), and at one point I  had an unclear antecedents (found out that that is when you use a pronoun, but you are unclear as to whom you are referring to). Also my formatting (indenting, etc.) needed some work.

 

Other than that...but, here is a direct quote from the critique sheet:

 

'Personalization:

 

By telling this story form Levi's perspective, you are able to convey very human feelings. And with Levi being a child, what he feels is very straightforward. He is not over thinking the situation-he just knows how he feels. In this way the readers can really related to Levi because they, too, have felt similar emotions upon hearing or reading about what Jesus went through.

 

Potential:

 

You have written a very good story. The character of Levi is believable, the biblical accounts are accurate, and you give readers a new perspective on what Jesus meant to His disciples. Clean up the formatting and few grammar problems and you should do well.'

 

I was also told that I have a natural storytelling ability :-). I liked that, lol.

Dad and Mom did too, we were all rather excited about reading the critique :-).

 

I like getting unbiased opinions, because I'm not always sure if people that I know are being nice in telling me something is good, or if it honestly is good.

Know what I mean?

 

Off to work on another story premise, this one for the NaNoWriMo (this will be my first year to do it, I just found out about it a few months ago)...but I'm going to have a hard time waiting until November to write this particular story, lol.

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

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• May. 14, 2009
The big finish...

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Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

*Drumroll* This is the last about my trip! Do I hear a sigh of relief? lol.

 

 

Day 5

 

We are going home today!!!!

It’s been a lot of fun, but we are ready to go home J. We miss everyone else at home.

It is 10:54 a.m., and except for the laptop I am typing this on (I’m writing all this out ahead of time in Microsoft Word-I need to edit/upload photos before I get this posted on my blog), we are all packed up. Dad’s last meeting will be over soon, and we have to check out of the hotel at noon.

 

Our flight was originally around 2/2:30, but the airline kept bumping us back so now we don’t fly outta hear until 6:00.

To kill time between the time we have to leave the hotel/get to the airport, we are going to go to a movie theater at Downtown Disney and see the movie “earth”. I am looking forward to it, I saw the preview for it online and it looks like the director of photography is great. Pilot Guy went with grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousin to see it the other night, and I was talking to him on the phone and he said he really liked it. But he also told me that one scene made my aunt and cousin cry: a baby gazelle was out-running a cheetah, but then it tripped…and was a goner. So, he said that part was sad, but he said the baby animals were all adorable.

 

Mom can’t wait to get home, she about cried yesterday, she is missing the other boys so badly. I can’t wait to get home myself!!! I love to travel, and hope I will get plenty of opportunities to travel around the country and the world, but going home is always so nice!!!

 

Mom told Dad and I that God has been telling her that this is all dross and chaff, and you know, it’s true. WDW is just that. It’s fun while you’re here, but, aside from family time, there isn’t really anything lasting about it.

 What’s amazing though, is that even though this trip wasn’t a necessity, that it was just a want, and a pretty big one at that, not only is God providing us with the things we need, but that He opened up a door for us to come here to WDW so Mom could fulfill her promise to HB. I think He enjoys doing things like that for people, and it’s just like, wow, that we matter enough to Him that He gives us the extra. After all He has done for all of us, sending Christ to die for us, providing us with family, food, shelter and clothes, incomes for our families, He doesn’t just sit back and say “Okay, I’ve done all this for you, anything extra you have to get for yourself.” but that He gives us the other stuff: pets, vacations, fun gadgets, extra things to use to help others with…the list goes on and on. Just, wow….what an amazing God we serve that He would love us that much while we are so unworthy…

 

Well…I think that concludes my WDW series of posts, hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventures and seeing *some* of my travel photos!!!!

 

The next morning:

It is soooo good to be home!!! We had a good flight, and got through the airport and drove home, we were home around ten. It was so nice to sleep in my bed again, and to have drinking water always available (without having to buy bottled water)lol. Since it was late, the boys stayed over night with the grandma’s again, but they were home before I woke up this morning J. It is so good to see them all!!!! I missed them…

 

Anyway, yesterday we went to Downtown Disney…and found out that the movie theater’s website was wrong-the movie wasn’t playing until after we had to be at the airport. At least Dad hadn’t bought tickets online, we were honked off enough already. So…we ate lunch at T-Rex (a dinosaur restaurant kind of like Rainforest Café)  and looked into a few stores, then walked back to our hotel.

 

The neat thing about not renting a car was that our drivers were interesting J. One was Hispanic, one was from Jamaica, and our other driver was from Sudan. I’m just talking about the guys that drove cars and vans, they have better rates than taxis…we had a lot of different people driving the shuttle buses to and from the parks as well.

One bus driver who drove the bus from Downtown Disney was so funny...okay, so the bus wasn't marked "A" which was the route that went by our hotel, it was the "B" route bus, but we were told that it was our bus too. Dad laughingly told the bus driver (who was a friendly, funny person) that he should have an "A" in the window too. The man said that he would next time...well, the next time we were at that bus stop...guess who drove up? And yes, he had put an "A" sign in the window!!! Lol...we all were laughing with him about that...Dad got a kick out of it, and the driver did too :-).

 

We got to the airport several hours early, which is a good thing-lines for security were really long. If you haven’t flown recently, you might not know that you can’t carry liquids or gels in your carry-on that are more than three ounces. Mom, in her flurry of packing that morning, forgot about that and packed all of HB’s food (including jelly, applesauce, etc.) and four bottles of Smokin’ Mojo Barbeque sauce in two of our carry-on’s. Well…that didn’t work…she felt so bad because we had to check the suitcase for $15. But...we couldn't have just thrown all that stuff away easily, because there was well over $15 worth of food and stuff...

I almost did the same thing, I had stuck a half finished bottle of Cherry Coke in my backpack and forgot that I couldn't take it with me on the plane until I was setting my backpack down so it could run through the X-ray machine. Good thing there was a trash can next to me...or I would have gotten stopped by a TSA agent and had my bag emptied and searched!

 

 

 

Lol!! Whoever designed that for the side of the luggage tram has a sense of humor :-)

 

Once we were up in the air, though, everything went well J. The clouds were beautiful, all the patterns and highlights, some looking as fluffy as cotton candy and others that remind you of the ocean or just a slight mist. I know Dad will forever make fun of me when he finds out how many photos I took out of the window on the way home- a little over 100!!!!

 

 

We were flying in between cloud decks in this shot, I like how you can see the layers, but I think I need to adjust it some so the colors aren't so flat.

These silly photos won't seperate, no matter how many spaces I put between them. I don't want to go and find the codes for them all over again, so I guess they'll have to stay stuck!!

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

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• May. 14, 2009
The Fourth of... (not of July!) my series!

Posted in Other Stuff...

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

 

 

Day 4

 

Dad had to go to his meetings again, so the rest of us went back to Epcot. First thing we did was Test Track…again, but it’s so fun we could have ridden it more J. After that, we did Universe of Energy, but…it was chock full of evolution, so it was disappointing.

 

That stupid Big Bang theory is so full of holes…honestly, when have you ever gotten something perfect and orderly from chaos? And the energy just couldn’t have spontaneously popped into being-the energy had to have come from somewhere!!! Just ask your mom if she can get a clean, organized house from letting a bunch of three-year olds run around and get into everything, lol. Or has your bedroom ever cleaned it’s self after you dig through your closet for half an hour looking for something?

 

Sorry, lol. As you can see…I am decidedly a Young Earth Creationist. I don’t like the Gap Theory either, but that’s for another day (after I do a tad bit more reading on the subject)!!!

 

 

Look familiar? I think he wants a nice, juicy clover :-)

 

 

Bambi and Thumper are actually made out of some sort of flower or plant, pretty neat, huh?

 

Anyway…we did the Ball again too. It has, in the beginning, a bit about cave men and huge spans of time, but other than that it is a really neat ride. I like that they included parts about Jewish men playing a part in the first “back-up libraries” (which I hadn’t know before. They had copies of many of the books from the library of Alexandria and thus helped preserve ancient history.), and how the Monks in Europe spent years upon years copying the Bible and other books by hand in the Monasteries.

 

 

We had lunch at The Land and then HB and I rode Sorin’ again. Mom loves that ride, but it makes her a nervous wreck going up, the screen is several stories high, so she waited for us in the food court. HB and I then rode Mission: Space yet again (that makes three times for him, about five or six for meJ ).

 

Of all the stores in the World Showcase, Mom and I agree that Japan has the best. It is by far the largest, and has so many neat things to see. They have a section in the store where you can pick out an oyster, then they open it and set the pearl in a necklace, earrings, or ring. About four years ago when we took my great-grandma to WDW, Dad let me do that and I got mine as a necklace. I went to price them out again as a souvenir, I think they are much prettier than a t-shirt with Mickey on them!!! Instead of getting one this time, though (I thought to myself “I think they are beautiful, but do I really need another necklace?” even though I really, really, liked them…now that’s self-control, lol). Instead, in another part of the store I saw this beautiful blue vase. It is a sort of…I don’t know, almost a dusky sky blue, with a small spray of delicate, white flowers impressed into and painted onto the front of the vase. So…I was sold on it. I’m not the sort of person that gets a souvenir just to get something, or that likes a lot of the stuff with Mickey Mouse or Tinkerbell, etc. I like to get something that I’ll like and use for a long time.

 

 

The Eiffel Tower in...Orlando? Lol. It is a cool miniature, though, and in the photo could probably pass for the real thing :-)

 

We got some couscous salad in Morocco for a snack, my aunt and uncle had recommended it. Neither Mom nor I really liked it. It’s not that it was bad, just different. It was cold, and had raisins, onions and garbanzo beans along with the couscous. The best part was the forkfuls of salad that had raisins and onions, so since Mom didn’t want hers, I just dug out the onions and raisins and then tossed the rest. It’s a good thing we just got the little snack size J.  When we got home...they told us that we got the wrong couscous!!! Lol...oh, well...

 

 

I'm calling this photo "Repeating Symmetry", it was part of the outside of one of the shops in the England part of Epcot.

 

 

More from England...

 

Instead of walking the long hot walk through the whole park, and then waiting for our bus in an un-shaded parking lot, we took a boat over to Hollywood Studios and waited in the shade for our bus. There they had benches under the trees J. It took longer, but it was easier on Mom’s feet and we were more comfortable.

 

 

I like this one!!! I was using my time well while waiting for the bus, lol. Probably took over 20 pictures :-).

 

 

Yeah...*Sheepish Grin*, it is a metal fence railing...another photo stemming from the long wait for the bus :-)

 

Dad tried to get us a reservation to ‘Ohana’s, a great Hawaiian/Polynesian-ish restaurant, they have awesome shrimp. Since we couldn’t eat there, we didn’t really know where to go, so we just went to Rainforest Café. Mom had seen a salad on their menu she wanted to try.

Mmmm… I got a delicious wrap that had chicken, Smokin’ Mojo, cheese, cilantro, green onions, and tomatoes. It was sooo good!!!

Then we got dessert at Ghirardelli’s. Mom had packed a snack bar for HB (he can’t have dairy, wheat, gluten, ect…), but on our way to Ghirardelli’s she saw a fruit Popsicle that he could eat. So, he was a happy camper!! Mom and I split a warm cookie-bottom Sundae that was out-of-this-world-good. Dad didn’t want ice cream (what’s up with that?!lol) so he just got a cup of coffee J. 

4Him,

~Hannah

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• May. 13, 2009
Day 3...and I'm sorry I haven't posted it sooner!!

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Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

Okay...thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments, I promise I'll answer them soon!!!!

On Monday I joined a local camera club, and I got great critiques about the photos I submitted for critique. I know my time will come...but it's nice to have my first time (well...technically second, I'd been once before to see if I wanted to join) go off so well :-)

 

So...here's the third day (not the music group, lol)

 

 

 

Day 3

Hollywood Studios( Previously known as MGM Studios) here we come!!

 

 

 

 

This morning Dad had to go to his conference, so it was just Mom, HB and I. We made good time, considering how you have to really book it fast to get from show to show. We did the Great Movie Ride, and our guides were girls this time, even a girl “gangsta”, before we had always had guys. Girl gangstas aren’t quite as convincing,lol J. Then we did the Backlot Tour and Indiana Jones, which is way cool, always a blast. I got a lot of video on that one, and HB thought it was awesome.

 

 

We then decided to eat an early lunch to beat the crowd, and on our way back to Lights, Motors, Action! did the Toy Story ride and Prince Caspian. Prince Caspian was a waste of time, but Toy Story was a lot of fun. It was a 4D ride where you used a laser thingy to hit targets, but with the glasses on you saw balls, rings, darts, and water balloons hitting the targets, and they had different point numbers on them and you tried to rack up as many points as possible. About thirty seconds was spent at each station, and at each station you shot at a different thing. One was cartoon cows, chickens and donkey, another station you aimed at plates, and yet another was a Wild West theme. It was a lot of fun J.

 

The car stunt show, Lights, Motors, Action! is great. You can learn a lot about how they do different stunts with cars for movies. I took a lot of video for that too. It’s amazing what they can pull off, and how much effort they put into safety. They had cars doing doughnuts, racing in reverse, jumping ramps, and even had a motorcyclist slide through flames. Don’t worry, though, he is fine. He was wearing five layers of protective gear!! They must really have to be highly trained to do the stuff they did.

 

 

 

I uploaded some video to my photobucket...but then I couldn't find it anywhere, sorry!!

The cars were all really cool :-)

 

 

I think these guys are either EMT's or stunt cordinators...or they are the ones that put the fire out off of the guy's suit after he caught on fire :-)

 

 

A rather interesting companion while waiting for the bus...he didn't stick around too long :-)

 

After  that, I think we left. We headed back to the hotel and rested for awhile and then went with Dad to Downtown Disney. Rainforest Café is where we ate supper, it is a cool restaurant! We got a pizza with chicken, cheese, cilantro and Smokin’ Mojo Barbeque Sauce…and for dessert, we splurged and got the Volcano (chocolate brownies, ice cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce and whipped cream.) it was huge.

 

 

One of the live birds outside of Rainforest Cafe. I think he is some sort of cockatoo.

 

 

A beautiful fountain at Downtown Disney.

 

 

Afterwards we hit some of the shops. If you ever go to Orlando and you love Legos, the Lego store at Downtown Disney is a must on your list!!! It is so cool J, and since Pilot Guy is taking care of Becky and Buddy, I pitched in with Dad and Mom to get him a cool Lego set, a remote controlled Lego car kit!!! He is a huge Lego fan, and Dad and Mom were originally going to get him something to do with airplanes (he loves to collect airplane/helicopter Lego kits), and I was going to buy a Lego pilot…but I was having trouble finding one. Then Dad found the remote car kit, and we knew he’d probably like that even better!!

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

 

 

 

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• May. 10, 2009
Part the Second...

Posted in Other Stuff...

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

I am so mad I could just scream (but I can't because the boys are sleeping.)!! I had this post all done, and went to adjust the size of a photo and lost it all. AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

So...with controlled wrath (just kidding, I'm not wrathful, just upset)...I will re-do the whole thing...

 

Day 2

 

Today we went to Magic Kingdom. HB was excited to see the castle, he thought he could go inside. The closest thing you can do to get inside of it is walk under it, which isn’t much. We rode a boat from the entrance/bus drop-off to the park. The breeze was nice, and the boat wasn’t crowded, so I got photos of the castle and Space Mountain from the water, pretty unobstructed minus trees, which look good in the photo.

 

 

I snapped this pic of another boat while we were pulling out of the dock.

 

 

I didn't take this one from the boat!!! My camera doesn't zoom that far :-), lol. We were walking near the castle and I stopped for a second to take advantage of the nice angle.

 

 

I think we were waiting for a bus...no, I was climbing the stairs of the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House.

 

            I don’t remember the exact order we did things (I’m writing this the next evening), but we did a lot of stuff!! HB liked everything-except It’s a Small World. But, who does like that one, seriously? We did Peter Pan twice, and the first time Dad and I rode together. We had fun with the camera and the ultra-violet lights, Dad’s white baseball hat glowed under the light and I got some funky pictures. When we got off, Mom, who had rode in front of us with HB, asked us what was so funny because we had been laughing through most of the ride. It was because Dad was goofing off, talking to the figurines and I was taking pictures of his “ghost hat”.

 

 

 

Lol, see the "angel"?! We honestly didn't stage this!!!

 

We got HB on Thunder Mountain, but Mom skipped that one. The three of us that did ride squashed into a single seat, and before the ride was over HB wanted to go again. This time, Dad sat behind us. I wish he hadn’t because HB slid all over the place, slamming into me and into the other side of the car when we went around the curves. I didn’t think it was that funny, but Dad was laughing fit to kill, watching HB slip and slide. It wouldn’t have been as funny if he had been the one getting slammed J.

            After an unsuccessful try to get HB on Splash Mountain I think we ate lunch. Mickey’s Philhar-Magic, a 4D movie, is great fun. In one scene you get a light squirt of water when an irate “mommy mop” throws a bucket of water on Donald Duck after he provokes a baby mop, and in another part you can smell cakes and pastries as they dance before your eyes. 

Carousel of Progress, Buzz Light Year, Winnie the Pooh, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, the Jungle Cruise… all were part of our day. We tried Pirates of the Caribbean, but we didn’t like it, it wasn’t very nice.

 

 

Tomorrow Land...none of the parks were very crowded, the longest wait for anything we saw was about 45 minutes...but that was after we had already ridden it :-).

 

 It was hot, so we headed out for a while. Dad got us front seats up with the driver in the monorail, which was cool!! I learned that it's top speed is 40mph, but that it averages 30. We went back to the hotel and took some time to chill. Mom and Dad took a nap, and I laid down and listed to music for a while and then got on the computer and started writing about our trip. HB was told that, if he took a nap, we would go back and watch the fireworks. Well, he *tried* to sleep…but he didn’t. He just laid next to me and squirmed, and kept bumping me with his knees. Mom suggested that Dad and I go back that evening, but it ended up that we all went back. We didn’t stay for the fireworks, but we had a lot of fun.

 

 

Out the front window of the monorail. We were higher up than you would think :-)

 

 

The Polynesian, en view from the monorail.

 

            The best parts: we (Dad and I) got HB on Splash Mountain!!! He was nervous, but they start you out on several small hills first. He did well on those, but the second we started to go down the main drop, he dove down under the front of the seat!!! Dad was sitting in front of us, he looked back and was surprised to not see HB. When I told him what happened, he started laughing. Well, HB wanted to do it again, so Dad went to meet Mom and HB and I went and rode again-after strict instructions not to dive under the seat!! This time he didn’t, just put his head down so he wouldn’t get splashed, and he even lifted his hands up in the air on the smaller drops.

            Then we got Mom to do Thunder Mountain with us, and rode it twice again. On our way around the park we rode the train to rest our feet and cover more ground. The nearest station to board it was near Mickey’s Toontown Fair, and I remembered that I had read about a small rollercoaster they had-Goofy’s Barnstormer. Since we were there, we decided to try it. It was very short and very smooth, but it was really funny for Dad and I while waiting in line because Mom and HB were extremely nervous. Once we got on and got going, though, they were fineJ. After riding some other stuff we headed back and called it a night.  

4Him,

~Hannah

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• May. 9, 2009
I'm back...and I've been busy!!!

Posted in Other Stuff...

Note: All photos, posts and stories on this blog are my sole property and copyrighted to myself and My Camera and I unless otherwise noted. They may not be copied for any reason without written permission from me. If you would like to copy something, please ask me first.

Thanks!

 

I'm back!!!! I know...it's been a while since I've posted last...but I've got a good excuse!! If you want to find out my very valid excuse, read on. It is the first in a five-part (I know, sounds scary) series.

 

 

Day 1

 

4:45 a.m. *Yawn*…I don’t think I was made to get up this early, but excitement takes away any wish of going back to bed. Today I’m going to…fly so high that the earth looks like a patchwork quilt, go to China, Morocco, Norway, Mexico and…no, I’m not flying non-stop around the globe, I’m going to Epcot in Disney World!!!

 

In the air shortly after eight, History Boy is having a blast, he’s never flown before. He was breathing so fast with excitement while taxiing down the runway that he was almost hyperventilating!!!

 

My view out of the window...

 

 

Listening to music during the flight...aren't MP3 Players great? lol.

 

“A two hour flight” (to the tune of Gilligan’s Island,lol) and we touch down in Orlando. It is warm and humid, and you get sweaty just standing.

 

Before I get too into my tale too much, let me explain a few things: by the time I am posting this, it will be old news; Dad, Mom, History Boy and myself are here in Florida because Dad has a conference down here for work, so he and Mom got to come all expenses paid. History Boy got to come because he has Autism, and Mom had promised him that when he was better (he now has the mildest form of Autism possible), he would be able to go to WDW, and then God opened up this door. I got to come because, well, I like Disney World (don’t I have great parents?!), and so when Dad was at his meetings, Mom wouldn’t be alone in the parks with a young (well, 8y/o) kid. The three other boys are split up amongst my great-grandma and my grandma, one is too young and the other two don’t like Disney/would be scared of everything.

That covered, let me get back to my narrative!!

Oh, and if this is boring to you, you can skip my writing, but I did get some cool photos, so you might want to look at those J.

 

Epcot, around eleven thirty.

 

 

 

We are here!! We’ve already dropped off our luggage at the hotel and caught the bus to Epcot. Our hotel had sent a van to pick us up from the airport, it was much more reasonable than renting a car. Our driver (lol, for the first time in my life I got chauffeured) said that he also works at Disney one day a month, and his whole family gets into the parks for free.

 

 First on the list is the ride in the giant ball (don’t remember the name of it!!) and then we head to Test Track. Test Track is SUCH a fun ride!!! I’d done it before when we came with my great-grandma several years ago, but that is one ride that doesn’t get old. History Boy (who, from henceforth in my posts about Disney will be “HB”) just loved it, and immediately wanted to go again. That was fine with us, so back up the ramp, wait for a few minutes, and then again we are crash test dummies, swerving around corners, having our brakes lock up, and going 60 during one part that is outside the building. And, of course, screaming for the fun of it J. Going around a curve at 60mph, I had my arms up in the air, and was trying to get HB to do the same. He did-for a second. Then when the next curve came up, he screamed and grabbed at my uplifted arms so hard that he hit me in the face and knocked my glasses off!!! Thankfully, I grabbed them before they left me J, but I was scared there for a moment that I was going to lose them.

 

  Then we traveled around the world, hitting most of the countries in the World Showcase. That is such a neat spot, and people from the different countries come to work there and, I guess, teach others about their country. As you probably guessed, I took tons of photos, roughly 300 (and that's only counting Day 1!!). The ones Dad took while making fun of me don’t count J (he is the worst tease, and thinks he is so funny!). We got some lunch at Mexico, and Mom and I got the best guacamole in the world. I think it was because they used lots of cilantro, lol.

 

The landscaping is really nice :-) I like all the little ponds and stuff.

 

 

 

These funny birds were all over the place. They especially loved the outdoor eating areas. This one is eating a tortilla :-)

 

 

Mexico!!

At China we stopped for an eggroll and drink, and watched the Chinese Acrobats. Those girls have amazing talent!!! I took a lot of pictures of them, and I think I got some really good ones.

 

 

Pretty pastel parasols....

 

 

In this building, a movie about China is played. The multiple screens span a huge circle, and it is if you are really immersed into China's culture when watching it.

 

 

 

 

 

Could you balance with one foot on a unicycle and kick bowls up like that and have them land on your head? I didn't think so, lol.

 

 

 

 

Whoa...how about that? You would have to be extremely coordinated, strong and balanced to pull those off!!

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but that can't be comfortable!!! When I think of all the training, choreography, and timing that goes into that...

The crowds here are so diverse throughout the parks. All around you you can hear other people speaking in different languages, and we even saw two Buddhist monks in their orange robe-things. I thought it was a rather oddly comical sight, especially when I noticed one of them was carrying a camera. I really wished I had a cell phone, one with a camera, so I could discreetly get their photo-we were too close to them for me to take one unnoticed.

Mom wasn’t feeling too good while in the World Showcase, the heat and not drinking enough was taking it’s toll on her. So, we went to go hear the Voices of Liberty, an acapella group, and see the show that came after them. The air conditioning felt good J, and I enjoyed both shows. Mom felt better, but wasn’t feeling up to par so we skipped the rest of the countries (stopping for a funnelcake, of course,) and took the boat over to the other side of Epcot where we did the indoor stuff: Sorin’ and the other stuff in that building. HB thought Sorin’ was so cool, and he wanted to go again. So, Dad took him again and Mom and I chilled out in the downstairs, playing Hangman and deciding what we wanted for supper.

 

Because of HB’s Autism, we were able to get him a special card that works like a Fastpass, because he has a hard time waiting in long lines. It has been very nice, and been such a help.

Anyway…we headed back to our hotel, unpacked, showered and hit the hay. We had been on the go for around sixteen hours!!!

 

Oh, and funny quote from Dad, we were in the Chinese Pavilion:

            ‘“ All these things are made in China, but they sure are a lot nicer than the stuff we can buy at Wal-Mart!”’

We were looking at the cool, ethnic things for sale in China…they were a whole lot nicer than the stuff at Wal-Mart!!!!

 

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

 

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• Apr. 27, 2009
Simply the Best

Posted in Other Stuff...

Mmm...who doesn't like pancakes?

If you are (and I can't imagine you aren't) a pancake fan, you simply have to try this:

 

Instead of putting plain ol' butter and Maple Syrup on your pancakes, slather on a;

knife full of butter,

plenty of brown sugar,

pureed strawberries,

and...Cool Whip!!!

 

 

 

Delicious!!!

 

When my dad was a kid, they did this for Christmas (or was it Thanksgiving?) breakfast every year, having gotten the idea from a friend.

Now, we carry on the tradition, although more frequently than once a year!!

 

It tastes great any time of the year, and for any meal (we usually make these for supper). It really goes well with pancakes that have oatmeal in them. Mom found a oatmeal pancake recipe and it is so good, it's much more filling than ones with just flour.

Try it, you'll love it.

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

Hungry yet?

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• Apr. 25, 2009
Haha! I did it!

I did it!!! I made my own blog button.

Now, to all you people out there who know how to write HTML like I know how to write stories, it's probably not a big thing. But to me, who has only been learning about HTML off and on for about three weeks, it is a big thing.

 

So...ta-da!

                                Go to My Camera and I

 

Ahhh...the sweet feeling of success!! Especially since the first time I tried to stick the code for it in here and the picture wouldn't pop up. So...off to uploading the image onto photobucket, then cutting, pasting, and working out some unexpected problems!!!

Only thing is that the text isn't quite as sharp as I'd like...but I'll do that another day when I get more time!!!

 

If you would like to link to me on your blog, PM me for the code.  

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

 

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• Apr. 22, 2009
Finally, Sunshine!!

Posted in Photography

Hurray!!! Today the sun is out and shining, and we only got a tiny sprinkle of rain :-). Our yard is so green it looks like a golf course, and the grass is slowly coming back into Becky's pasture.

Poor girl, I've kept her out of it for the past week or so because it's so muddy, and I don't want it all torn up and grass-less before summer even starts. So...she has been staying in the pen up near the barn (which is more like a little pasture than a pen...), and rolling in all the mud.

 

As soon as I get the camera chip unloaded (tonight or tomorrow), I am going to post about the best way in the entire world to top your pancakes. Lol, I know it sounds a little weird...but just wait and see.

 

I finished a book I'd been reading for school today, "God King", by Joanne Williamson, the same lady that wrote "Hittite Warrior". It was good, and I liked it. Based during the days of King Hezekiah, the main character is Taharka, a minor prince of Egypt who it crowned Pharaoh.

He helps Hezekiah and his ambassador, Amos, almost gets killed...uncovers a plot against him, has a run-in with the Assyrian's and all sorts of stuff!! It was a neat book...but it was weird how the Egyptians thought that their pharaoh was a god and such, they were afraid to even look at him lest they become blinded by the radiance they thought shone from his face.

 

I tried some flower photography "studio style" several weeks ago, I am pretty pleased with the results!! An old desk lamp with a goose-neck made great side lighting :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom got both bouquets at the grocery store for a dollar or two a piece!!!

 

Well...got to go,

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

 

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• Apr. 20, 2009
I got tagged again!

Posted in Tags

Hi!!

RebelXTi tagged me :-)

Here I go...

 

~~~~~~~~~~FOOD-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Stir Crazy

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Mom's chocolate chip cookies ;-)

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Everything but mushrooms.

What do you like on your toast? Butter...cinnamon sugar...jelly.

Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~TECHNOLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

How many televisions are in your house? One, but only for vhs/dvds

What color cell phone do you have? Don't have one.

Do you have a laptop? Sorta...Pilot Guy and I share Dad's old one, but we don't have it connected to the Internet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~BIOLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Lol. Does having a tooth pulled count?

What is the last heavy item you lifted? Who knows. Probably Little Football Man.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? I think I was once for a few seconds...

~~~~~~~~~~~~DUMBOLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

How many pairs of flip-flops do you own? umm...three, I think.

Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Me?!?! Are you kidding?

Last person you talked to on the phone? Grandma J

Last person you hugged? Mom

~~~~~~~~~~~~FAVORITE-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

Season? Hard to pick!! I like them all for different reasons...

Holiday? Christmas/Easter

Day of the week? Saturday, I guess. I don't really have a favorite 

Month? December (my birthday!!) or May.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~CURRENT-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missing someone? Umm...Mom and Dad (they are out on a date :-) ).

Mood? Mentally tired...otherwise a fairly good mood.

What are you listening to? "Caught in the Middle" by Casting Crowns, it's a great song.

Watching? The letters spill out of my fingers and onto the computer...

Worrying about? Several things...

~~~~~~~~~~~~RANDOM-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

First place you went this morning? Downstairs.

What's the last movie you saw? Larry Boy and the Angry Eyebrows (Veggie Tales...I was babysitting my cousins).

Do you smile often? I think so. The question made me smile, lol ;-).

Do you always answer your phone? Don't have one!!

It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it? No one!

If you could change your eye color what would it be? Umm...I'm happy with my eye color!!

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I rarely go to Sonic. When I do, I get the Cherry Limeade.

Do you own a digital camera? Yes!!!

Have you ever had a pet fish? Yeah, several in fact.

Favorite Christmas song(s)? Mary Did You Know?, O Come, O Come Immanuel, What Child is This?

What's on your wish list for your birthday? Camera gear (monopod, memory card, battery pack...), Money.

Can you do push-ups? Yes, but not very many in a row.

Can you do a chin up? I don't know.

Dose the future make you more nervous or excited? It depends...usually excited.

Do you have any saved texts? I've never texted in my life (I know some of you are probably shocked and think I've never lived...lol.).

Ever been in a car wreck? Nope (thankfully!!).

Do you have an accent? Yeah, who doesn't?

What was the last song to make you cry? Probably the music video "East to West" by Casting Crowns. It had scenes from The Passion.

Plans tonight? Feed Becky and Buddy...work on re-writing a story...take a shower...try to learn more about HTML codes.

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Just about.

Have you ever been given roses? Yep! Dad got me some for my birthday :-)

 

Current hate right now? Satan, abortion, murder, racsicim. "Hate that which is wrong, hold tightly to that which is good." I can't give you a reference for that, but it's in the Bible.

(If, like me, you hate abortion or want to find out what is so wrong about it, go here)

Met someone who changed your life? The list would be loooong...to protect people's privacy I won't say.

How did you bring in the new year? I don't remember. Probably sleeping. No, I was staring at the clock, wanting it to change to 12:00, then I went to sleep :-).

What song represents you? Probably "Ready" by Third Day and "In Me" by Casting Crowns.

I had several more...it was a unique question, I'd never thought of what song represented me before. :-).

Would you go back in time if you were given a chance? How far back? I don't know, depends.

Have you ever dated someone longer than a year? I don't date.

Do you have any tattoos/piercings? Nope.

 

What songs do you sing in the shower? Umm...whatever pops into my head :-).

Ever had someone sing to you? Does Happy Birthday count?

Do you like to cuddle? I like to cuddle babies :-).

Have you held hands with anyone today? With my brothers around the supper table during the prayer.

Who was the last person you took a picture of? I think Little Football Man. He was making goofy faces :-).

What kind of music did you listen to in elementary? I don't know, probably Judy Roger, Steve Green's kids CD's, Micheal W. Smith (I still listen to him!!), whatever Dad and Mom listed to.

Do you believe in staying close with your ex's? I don't think you should have "ex's".

Are most of the friends in your life new or old? Most?? Hmm...both.

Do you like pulpy orange juice? Yes.

What is something your friends make fun of you for? Funny/ blonde stuff I've said. But they don't really make fun, they just laugh when I tell them.

Have you ever ridden a elephant? Yes, I have :-)

Do you like to play Scrabble? Yep, I love word games!!

What are you saving your money up for right now? Camera gear, a future trip to Germany, garage sale/gift money.

When is the last time you ate peanut butter & jelly? Last month, I think.

What were you doing at 12am last night? Sleeping!!

What was the first thing you thought when you woke up? I should get up now and have Bible time...no, I'll have Bible time tonight, I'm gonna turn off my alarm clock and go back to sleep for a while.

(and I did, lol)

 

Well, that's the end of the tag!!! I'm tagging JoMarch14 and hbfroggy

Have fun with it!!

 

4Him,

~Hannah

 

 


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