Just your average back-woods girl enjoying watching God unfold his beautiful and amazing plans right before my eyes. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 8 Dec 2009 10:06:00 -0600 Tue, 8 Dec 2009 10:06:00 -0600 Last night we went caroling at a nursing home.  I was playing with Matt's camera so hopefully I'll have some pix later :D.  They were sweet old ladies and there was only one fight this year :P.  But, as we  sang the traditional Christmas songs, I realized how much some of them annoy me.  Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer for instance.  Nobody liked him so he bought their love with an amazing feat.  Santa Claus songs.  As if it's not bad enough that he already is god-like with *he knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good* but on our local radio station they're inviting kids to call in to talk to "Santa" so they can tell him all the bad things they did so they can still get presents.  Since when is he in the sin forgiving business?  There are definitely plenty of Santa songs.  One as messed up as the next.  Take "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" for instance.  How crazy is that situation?  Now, you may thing that I'm just another bah-humbugger for making comments like that.  It's not that so much that those songs and stories are so repulsive, but more that is draws away from the more important feature we should be celebrating this Christmas and everyday of the year, for that matter.  Jesus Christ came to earth, born a little innocent baby to a virgin mother.  But, more importantly, he then took on our sins and died the most painful death on a cross, naked and filled with shame. So please, remember the reason we celebrate.  Sure, talking and dancing snowmen are cute, but are they going to love you with an everlasting and unconditional love?  Have they gone to prepare a place for you?  No, I didn't think so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdyj5F6oqGs&feature=related http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/750458/ Tue, 8 Dec 2009 10:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/750458/ Another day, another blog post.  Ok, so this isn't exactly an everyday happening for me.  I really should start blogging more.  I have contemplated moving to a different server.  Perhaps one with more traffic.  But, I'm still not sure.  This site is so easy to use that I hate to leave it.  But maybe something new would help my enthusiasm.  But enough of wishful thinking. My life pretty much consists of school.  I started a lifepac program of consumer math.  I really like it. O_o  Yes, you read that right.  I like math.  Don't get too used to that phrase though.  It's not likely to stay :P.  I also have aspirations to start menu planning.  I enjoy that sort of thing.  I can't wait to start experiment with different whole foods and cooking methods.  Oh, and methods of getting my family to eat it, short of force feeding ;). http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/750144/ Mon, 7 Dec 2009 11:27:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/750144/ Nobody really knows the point of calculus.  When is the last time you used calculus to solve a real-life problem?  Sure, I hated the other math programs too.  but, at least algebra and geometry had a point.  They solved real, everyday problems.  But calculus?  Noe, when usefulness was being passes out, it missed that class, right along with Playstations, edible wax lips, and Gilligan from Gilligan's Island.  Not a use in the world.  Except maybe to entertain.  Yes, people all over the world are being entertained by calculus.  Math professors stay entertained for hours on end figuring out meaning less numbers.  Teachers enjoy the sweet satisfaction of torturing their pupils with long formulas and endless homework.  In fact, I believe there are only two kinds of peopel who understand fully the horrors of calculus.  One being the student.  Many years of useless math have taken their toll and many have had to go through just as many, if not more years of therapy and support group.  the other kind of people who suffer through and understand the pain is teh parent that sits for hours on end with their child, just trying to understand the formulas they had tried to hard to forget years ago.  Yes, those are the calculus martyrs.  Though, you must give them credit for their dedication, one must also question their sanity, as they are the teachers and can remove such gastly tradition from their schooling. O_o http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/731891/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/731891/ Why is writing such an important thing?  People write to express.  People write to confide.  People write to share.  People write to create.  People write.  The use their talent and collective thoughts to put together words in such a way as to make their opinions known and communicate to people.  They use newspapers, book and magazines.  They have used these for years.  People are using blogs, websites, email newsletters and various other internet communications.  No longer is pen and paper necessary.  Though many people consider the creative juices to flow better with something so old fashioned in their hand.  Others prefer the advanced word processors and easy fix backspace key.  I, personally, much prefer something to the affect of a sparkly pen to do my work :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/731880/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/731880/ I am making butter today.  Let me rephrase that.  I am trying to make butter today.  I have been skimming out milk and collecting cream over the past several days.  This is a rather long process for me.  Perhaps someday I will invest in a cream seperator.  That would be quite nice.  But, for now, I use a ladel.  Which isn't so bad, but it is very hard to keep everybody out of a jug of milk until I skim it.  It's a good thing we're dairy farmers, otherwise we would spend a fortune in milk alone.  Anyways, the butter has been churning for almost three hours and I am slightly concerned I was told it may take two hours, but three?  Uh-oh.  I'm not so sure it's my fault though.  I am thinking of several possible solutions to my problem.  One:  It simply does not work in the mixer and I need to invest in a new butter churn.  Two.  I used salted butter instead of unsalted to seed it and maybe salt messes things up.  Three:  Our cream is not rich enough because of the agitator in the bulk tank.  Four:  It still needs some time.  Five:  I am simply a failure and there just isn't anything that can be done about that :P. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/728170/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/728170/ Music intrigues me.  I am embarrassed, amused, and slightly proud of myself that I just sat down at the piano and played for almost an hour straight.  I was so wrapped up in my music that I didn't even realize that time was slipping away from me.  For me, music is a healer, a type of therapy.  It's soothing and cleansing.  I feel so close to God when I'm praising him with my voice or my fingers.  It's my own private praise session with/to God.  I feel that he truly listens when I play.  I don't care what anyone says, I'm going to keep playing and singing for him. Last night, I was able to meet the Godin family.  They were some of the most talented musicians you will ever hear.  I didn't know so much talent could be within 13 people.  They play by ear.  That is amazing.  You definitely have to be born with or work incredibly hard to develop that talent.  Me, I can only read music and not wonderfully at that.  But, perhaps, I will get better as time goes on.  I plan on getting the guitar back out.  That will be my winter project.  I will learn to play the guitar...well.  I just easily put an hour in on the piano.  I would love to be able to do the same on a guitar.  Maybe if I can learn that, I can learn the banjo like I've always wanted. Yes, the world of music is a wonderful, beautiful thing and the best part of it is God and I are a part of it. :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/727953/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/727953/ Today my company and best buddies have been a heating pad and a cup of tea.  The tea has honey in it to help my throat and the heat has, well, heat to help my back.  I have a not so lovely cold.  I thought it was sinply from all the dust at the fair, but over the past several days it has escaladed into quite the anoyance.  As if that wasn't bad enough, yesterday I was lying on my back and sneezed.  Bad idea.  You'd think I would be smarter than that.  You'd think I would learn.  I've done it before, after all.  Yes, I sneezed and my back did a funny strain.  Ouch.  Not Fun.  Not cool.  It hurt.  Still hurts.  So, I have a heating pad on my back.  It's a pretty new, fancy one too.  You don't just have to plug this one in.  There's a handle halfway up the cord.  On this handle is a sliding button with four different settings; o, l, ll, lll.  In case you hadn't realized, lll means the highest level of warmth.  That's the one I use.  Crank it up, baby!  l means it's not so warm and ll is between the two.  Kind of reminds me of the three bears.  You know, that story with the blond chick.  I guess you could use o as her.  that means it's off.  No heat.  It really isn't much good unless you have a really good imagination.  I have a pretty good imagination, but not that good.  I prefer real heat.  Not imaginary.  So let's see, I also had tea.  I already said that it had honey.  But, I think the kind was pink lemonade green tea.  Yep, you read that right.  It's a strange combo, but it's actually pretty good.  It made my throat feel better, but I'm still rather foggy.  Which would really explain why this is so scatterbrained.  I would imagine, if you are still reading this, you are either a close friend or have a very good sense of humor.  Either way, you deserve a medal.  A very shiny one.  *sigh*  Yes, I need to defog.  Yes, I need a better night's sleep.  Yes, my 15 minutes is finally up. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/727082/ Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/727082/ This is just a ranting and rambling.  I had a free write assigned for school and this is what came out.  Excuse my spelling, grammar, and ranting.  It is not intended to offend anybody.  This is simply raw emotions on paper.  Thanks for reading :) Yesterday we went to a church (my old church) to talk to their pastor about speaking at their youth rally about Higher Ground.  We had known the Pastor to be not very nice, especially towards youth.  But, you would think someone who professes themselves to be a "man of God" would have more heart and more of a desire to help us and get the word out.  He was more concerned about being right than working for the Lord.  He's a pastor!  His main problem was that we weren't Independent Fundamental Baptist church affiliated.  He just went on and on about how we had to preach doctrine and we had to be IFB.  When, in reality, we have all declared ourselves non-denominational (mostly because of men like him) and we were planning on preaching the cross.  Nothing deep, just the basics.  In fact, the main part of this conference is to encourage those teens that already believe.  Not that we would turn away non-believers.  Quite the contrary.  We would love to see some young people saved.  But regardless, salvation, the cross, and Jesus Christ  is more important than IFB or any other "don't eat, don't sleep, don't breath" denomination.  I am so disgusted with the lack of unity in the The Church.  I'm not talking about Harmony Baptist Church or First Alliance Church either.  I mean, the body of Christ.  We are not a bunch of individual churches, we are one church. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/726748/ Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/726748/ Yep, I'm going to attempt to keep two blogs up again.  Like last time, I'm trying a food/cooking blog, but I'll hopefully have some other stuff on there too.  Please, take a look and enjoy!  www.homeschoolblogger.com/countrywithatwist or visit me through my profile http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/689320/ Fri, 15 May 2009 11:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/689320/ Yes, BackWoodsArcher got another new toy...and it's alot of fun :D   We just washed it so it's actually clean here!  lol  I doubt that will last long though. hehe ;) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/687884/ Mon, 11 May 2009 12:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/emiliesblog/687884/