Please excuse me as I journal some on my blog. Just a few little peices of my life put to words. You can read it if you promise to keep it a secret. If you can be extra nice, you can comment, too.

~That was Ninwaii talking... uh, thinking.

Day 1

Today my mother took my brother and me "hiking." Okay, "exploring." We drove forever, then we got into the mountains and "felt" our way to the spot where we decided to get out. It was a nice little spot by some flowing water. As we eased down the rocky bank, I figured it was pretty enough there to practice my photography. So I did. The trees made a nice canopy over the water and the rocks were wearing just enough moss. Then we decided to drive some more. We moved along slowly, not knowing exactly where we were going, but enjoying the suspence and perhaps even the whimsicalness of the occasion. We stopped at another location - again along the water. I walked back down the road, sure that I had seen one of those bird nests that the birds actually have to crawl inside... like a sleepingbag. There it was. It was hanging from a limb. But it wasn't a nest. It was a beehive. I took more pictures. Then the bees started swarming, so we assumed they were hinting that we were about to over-stay our welcome, and we walked back to the water. I crossed over the river, pants rolled up to my knees, so that I could get to a waterfall that was cascading behind some trees on the other side. More pictures, but they didn't do justice. It was lovely. That was the conclusion of our trip. Love summer.

~Ninwaii

 Day 2

Independence Day!!! Woohoo! "Crazy Day" in our house. We've been getting everything ready for my brother's birthday party tomorrow. I had to go out and do some sneaky birthday shopping this afternoon. Then we all ran around the house like lunatics, cleaning "this" up or getting "that" ready. But that's what it's like before any kind of shin-dig that goes on around here. It's all part of the fun. We've got everything pretty much the way it should be until we can see to it tomorrow. After the chaos settled, we went and chilled on the deck for a while and watched some of the neighborhood fireworks. Kettle corn went along well with the out-door relaxing. I love fireworks. Especially the ones that glitter down from the sky like little waterfalls, then fade away silently. But my favorite are the ones we see every night at this time of year. The woods behind our house are constantly aglow and sparkling like Christmas trees with the thousands of lightning bugs that inhabit them. Sometimes the unlucky bugs come low enough to get caught, then they become a glowing decoration as their lights are squished onto my nose and forehead. Gross, I know, but fantasticly fun. Occasionally I'm gracious and let them act as nightlights in my bedroom. The survivors will be released upon morning.

Bedtime now!

~Ninwaii 

Day 3

The party was a hit! We all had fun... even though a family of 9 canceled. And my brother liked the present I bought him. :)

We're visiting my great-grandmother now. She made me a gorgeous quilt that's going to look awesome on my bed, since it matches my nightsatand. I was so excited when she gave it to me. But it never fails... every time we visit here, I get bit by ants. And I have a really bad reaction when that happens. Serious swelling. This time it's on my arm, and it looks like I have a big out-of-place muscle on my left arm. It also hurts. :'(

That's all for now. Bye!

~Ninwaii

Day 4

I guess I'm officially a "cowgirl" now. We have just returned from Kansas, where we were visiting my grandparents. They have some friends that are cowboys. I don't just mean people that have horses. These are REAL cowboys. Team roping, colt training, rodeoing, everything! And they always let me come out to their ranch and ride. One day my friend took my for a tour on horseback of the rodeo arena and the town (which is small enough that you can encircle it in about ten minutes). Then that evening, we went to the rodeo and I actually got to ride in the Grand Entry! It was so much fun! Then I watched my friends compete. They roped that steer even better than they had in the afternoon. :)

~Ninwaii

Day 5

Okay, wow. I haven't written in a long time. But I had to write about my recent audition experience. On the 23rd I had my youth orchestra audition. Very scary. I'd been preparing for what seems an eternity on a pretty difficult, yet well-known piece. I hadn't auditioned in two years, but the last time was just a test to see what would happen, since I had only been playing for six months. This time was FOR REAL. Did I mention it was scary? I was nervous... just a little. But I walked in, feeling okay, and before I even had all my music and junk set down, the conductor (who was sitting in the middle of the jude panel) said, "Okay, play a chromatic scale starting wherever and go as high as you can." Then he had me play a few other articulated scales before I played my piece. Of course, my auditions never go as well as I'd like, but it wasn't too bad this time. It went very quickly and before I knew what was happening, I was walking out the door. That was it... all done... one chance. We'll see what happens. GTG!

~Ninwaii

Day 6

Happy! Happy!! Happy!!! I finally got my letter from the orchestra (it was a day later than expected)! I made it in!!! Yea!!!! I guess the audition was succesful! But to God be ALL the glory! HE was how I made it through the audition. I am so excited. Rehearsals start on September 8th. I already know all of the bassoon players, so hopefully I won't be too terribly lonely going into this new territory even though I don't know any of the people in my own section. I am a little nervous, though, because I'm not that great of a sight-reader, and I usually don't do so well the first time I see the music. But It will still be fun, and I'll keep remembering Philippians 4:13 and knowing that God will help me through the tough stuff. That's it for now.

~Ninwaii 

Day 7

It's the first day of autumn! I had heard that it would officially "arrive" at 11:44, so I went outside at about 11:30 to take in the last few breaths of summer '08. It was gorgeous out... not a cloud in the sky. Then by some uncontrollable impulse, I flew down the deck steps and ran all the way down to the disc swing that hangs from the tree at the bottom of our yard. There was no one around to swing me, so I just spun myself in circles. It was so nice. A couple of birds chattered, the sun glinted off of the leaves in the woods behind me, and  a zephyr tossled a few strands of hair that had come loose from my ponytail. Then autumn came and some leaves floated to the ground from above me. Love fall.

~Ninwaii

P.S. I'm so excited! We're going camping in a few days! S'mores are good.

Day 8

We're back! Camping was so much fun!!! We stayed in the mountains for three nights. We went with our best friends (Kantare's family). I could have easily stayed for two weeks... okay, maybe. I was a tad grossed out by the buggy bath house showers. But I tried to be tough. Anyway, we all have to get back into our "routines" this week, but it was so nice to be able to just get out of the scheme of things and relax. The second day after arriving, we kinda just rode around, seeing what there was to do, and had a picnic. Then the third day we went out on the lake, and Kantare's little sister and I got our own canoe. We paddled around for awhile attempting to get the hang of steering, at the same time trying not to spill ourselves into the deep. We decided to explore the opposite shore, which was not that interesting, but we considered ourselves "adventurous" being able to hop in and out of our canoe as we pleased. Meeting our families, who were in paddle boats, in the middle of the lake, we were startled by a scream, and looking up, I saw Kantare (the big goof-head) fly through the air and splash into the water. I sanely did not heed to his nagging me to jump in, seeing as how the plans included biking immediately following. After biking we went on a small hike, and overlooked an enormous gorge down which cascaded a dainty waterfall. Lacking rain, it had become smaller than its normal size. The fourth day we were able to load up dry tents and camping equipment, as the Lord answered our prayers in holding off the rain to a few light sprinkles. Then after "checking out," we hiked down to the bottom pool of the waterfall we had previously overlooked from above. It was absolutely gorgeous. We sat on huge rocks, letting the mist blow into our faces. We took lots of pictures and watched some crazy people swim out into the frigid water (the pictures, however, were NOT of the crazy people). Then we had another picnic to conclude the all-too-quick trip. Now, as much as I love the campfire smell, "camping" is being washed from all of our clothes. Can't wait for the next excursion.

~Ninwaii

P.S. Did I mention that Kantare's dad is an extraordinary marshmallow roaster?

Day 9 (Whoa. Ninwaii hasn't written anything in awhile...)

The stars glitter and sparkle in their dark encompassing sea. They are silent and ready to listen. The moons  cast their beams, warm eyes smiling as they watch the daughter reflections bounce off of the glossy wood of the deck. There are five moons in a row, each more faded than the one previous in line. The last is just a whisper of a moon and doesn't even have a face. We all - the stars, the moons, and I - grasp the silence of the moment and listen for my breathing. It is slow and shallow. I open the door to release a bewildered moth into more familiar territory. The cold air hits my face. A rainbow mist incircles the grand  reflector, now a single, bright moon. Single, because now there is no glass to refract it.

Day 10

Wow. That last thing was random. :) Errgh! I really wish I had more time to write! I haven't written anything in FOREVER! Lots of exciting things have been happening. Recently, I had my big, huge, scary Sr. Clinic auditions. I didn't pass out, and the results came back that I hadn't done terribly bad. So now I am supposed to go play with a really good band, and because of where I placed, I'll also be playing in the orchestra! ALSO, I get to travel to Nashville to play in an even better band! We finally had band (our own little regular band) last night (which is a good thing, as I was having serious band withdrawl). When I looked on my chair, there was a pile of papers, which included an invitation to play in the Youth Wind Ensemble!!! (BIG. AWESOME. You DON'T turn them down.) And now I have a lot of music stuff on my plate. I'm VERY excited though. Well, there. Now I've at least written SOMETHING!

~Ninwaii