Finding a gift for my father is a difficult task he already has a million ties and shirts and I can only give him chocolate so many times. Plus if he really wanted something he could buy it himself.  So after thinking long and hard I decided to get him a cutting board. Yep, a wood cutting board.  After buying my wooden victim, I attacked it with my calligraphy skills, and my beginner woodburning skills (I had never touched a wood burner before) to burn "Meat" on one side and "Vegetables" on the other.  

I'm happy, it works!

Not bad if I do say so myself.  I drew the letters with pencil first then I burned it

A perfectionist at work.

If you can't tell, this is the meat side of the cutting board

At the insistance of my younger siblings I signed my work in a heart.

Now tell me, how many men have a cutting board that has "vegetables" and "meat" wood burned by hand onto it;  not to mention signed by the talented and artistic calligrapher/woodburner?

A card, a kiss, and a cutting board, that's what my daddy is getting for his birthday.

~ Sarah

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  ALOHA!!!

For those of you who didn’t know, I’m in Kauai and it is absolutely beautiful!!!

 to the beach villas where we were due to stay, but since the check in is at 4pm we drove around for a little bit.

 Sophie and me at the beach.

After stopping at a beach for a little bit we went to the store and bought groceries.  We also went to the fresh fish store where we bought swordfish fillets.  My mother then went to check in, while waiting for her to return (outside) decided to photograph the greenery around me.  While getting pictures of flowers and plants, I came across a cute friend licking the flowers, he was little and green,here is a picture of him.

Isn't he cuuuute?? 

  Since my dad, the number 1 cook in our family was on Oahu at a conference, I the number 2 cook was elected to cook. So while my mother and Sophie where swimming in the pool and my brothers where at the beach with the metal detector I was left to experiment in the kitchen.  When you have a lack of ingredients you have to be creative, I managed pretty well, I seasoned the fish with:  yoghurt, salt, pepper, butter and lemon.  It tasted really good.  Here it is, you can see my masterpiece.

On Monday we went surfing. We started out with a 1 ½ hr lesson then we were on our own.   We all actually surfed, I was amazed.  Last time we tried to surf we couldn’t stand up on the board for more than 2 seconds (if at all).

   We were on the smaller waves and we weren’t the most graceful or steady surfers but hey it was still surfing.   About pictures… well my mother was snapping away with the camera but let’s just say she hasn’t gotten used to her digital camera.

I’ll post the one picture she got of me surfing when I get the pictures from her camera.

Tuesday we went to an old sugar cane plantation, the building was beautiful!! (I love old stuff)  We also went to see the spouting horn. 

Sam and Spencer watching the spouting horn.

 After that we picked up my dad from the airport.  He cooked steak for dinner.

On Monday when we were surfing I started to get a tan ( I personally don’t care for a tan but I always get one whether I want one or not), but on Tuesday I forgot the sunscreen and I fried my shoulders so they’re beet red, not fun(I was only in the sun about 20 minute walking around, arrg).

On Wednesday I had my online Great Books class; we finished reading Dante’s Paradise this week.

 I'm on the patio (it had the best internet connection) looking out at the lagoon listening to Mr. Callihan, my teacher in Idaho, discuss Dante.

 After my online class we went tubing down an old sugar cane plantation canal; it was a lot of fun.  Sorry no pictures, it was rather wet. 

In the evening after going tubing I went to a dinner theater (at the hotel you can see across the lagoon in the previous picture) and saw the play ‘South Pacific’, they did a good job.

We went surfing again in Hanalei bay today, I had a shorter surfboard this time and I didn’t do as well as I did on Monday.  I did manage to stay upright on the board a couple of times, I also got my mouth full of saltwater multiple times. Oh well, it was fun.  We did get some pictures this time but they’re on my mother’s camera so you’ll have to wait.

“Surfing is such an amazing concept. You're taking on Nature with a little stick and saying, 'I'm gonna ride you!' And a lot of times Nature says, 'No you're not!' and crashes you to the bottom.”
~Jolene Blalock

 There you have it, a long post with lots of pictures.

~Sarah~

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For lack of another subject I’m going to post about CLEP tests and my trip to Fresno.

As most of you know I’m working on getting my bachelors degree through CollegePlus by accelerated distance learning.

  CollegePlus has their students take a test (CLEP, DANTE, or etc…) every 2 weeks (3 weeks for hard exams); thus the students have 10 days to study for each test to get 3 college units.  My Coach (Kristin) says that I should study 4-5 hours a day.

 Do you know how hard it is to study that long???

 I’m in my room trying to study with the door shut and my siblings and parents come in and disturb me saying such things as: “I’m getting a book” “did you feed the dogs” “I want to pet MY cat” (the little sisters cat that likes me)” “where did you put so and so”, the list goes on and on…and on.  I tried putting a sign on the door that says “DO NOT DISTURB!!! College class in progress” it didn’t/doesn’t work *sigh*.

   I can be my own distractions too, my mind wandering, I fall asleep (did that twice), I pet the cat that comes and sits on my book or computer instead of pushing it off, I check my email, I surf the internet, I pick up that interesting book, I play with my hair, etc…etc….

I’m not used to studying that much; I take breaks but 5 hours is still a long time.

 Well now that you know what I go through I’ll inform you(if you didn’t know, and bore you if you did) that for the last 5 weeks I’ve been studying for the U.S. History 1 & 2 CLEP tests.   I intended to do the 2 week thing but when I called the 5 nearest testing center, a week before I wanted the test, the earliest date was 3 1/2 weeks away. Since I had so much time, I decided to shoot for 2 tests.

Well, I took the tests yesterday.

I got up at the bright and early hour of 6:20am *shudders*(I’m not an early riser), drowsily ate breakfast, grabbed my study guide books, and climbed into the car.  My mother had the joy of driving me 2 hour to the testing center. On the 2 hour ride I was reviewing and muttering to myself “St Augustine, Jamestown, Plymouth, Massachusetts bay colony”, “Franklin D. Roosevelt-New Deal, Harry S. Truman –Fair Deal, John F. Kennedy-New Frontier, Lyndon B. Johnson-Great Society” and “WW1, WW2, Korean War, Vietnam War, the Cold War” and also "When?", "Why?, and "WHAT???".

 We arrived on time at the University of Phoenix, they have a nice new facility.  When we went in the guy at the counter told us that the computers were acting up and that it would be a few minutes, he then pointed us to the drink counter where there was hot chocolate, coffee, and tea and said it was free (because of grand opening, according to the sign). Being nervous I decided to wait until after I had finished 1 test before indulging in chocolate.  I then went up to the 2^nd floor (it was a 5-6 story building) to their little testing room that had 4 computers.  I then went through a nice little tutorial before the U.S. History 1 test on, and I quote “How to use a mouse”, I also “learned” “How to scroll” and other such elementary computer functions before taking the test.

This post is getting about 400 times longer than I intended it to be, so I’ll summarize more.

I passed U.S. History 1, went downstairs drank a cup of hot chocolate and a glass of water, went upstairs skipped through “How to use a mouse” and passed U.S. History 2.

My mother was waiting for me when I went downstairs after passing U.S. History 2 (she had gone shopping). We then went to Nordstrom’s Rack outlet store and jumped for joy when we discovered that they had extended their women’s size 12 and 13 shoe sections. We bought a couple of pairs of shoes.  We then went to In-n-Out, met a talkative Texan who told us that he was “tryin out them hamburgers” he also said they didn’t have In-N-Out’s in Texas.  Then we drove home.

One of the things I learned in studying U.S. History is that some of the presidents and historical people have been trumped up to be great guys who do smart things when they really aren’t and don't.

Another thing I learned is that a lot of stupid decisions were made but nobody admits it they just smooth over it.

Now, I’ll drown you in quotes.

A lot of history is just dirty politics cleaned up for the consumption of children and other innocents.  ~Richard Reeves

Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up.  ~Author Unknown

Our history is every human history; a black and gory business, with more scoundrels than wise men at the lead, and more louts than both put together to cheer and follow.  ~Philip Wylie

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable.  ~Thomas Jefferson


History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.  ~Thomas Jefferson

“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."
-Napoleon

”Liberty never came from government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
-Woodrow Wilson

History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. To keep the peace, we and our allies must be strong enough to convince any potential aggressor that war could bring no benefit, only disaster.

-Ronald Reagan

History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.
Alexis de Tocqueville

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.  ~Will Durant

Education aims to give you a boost up the ladder of knowledge.  Too often, it just gives you a cramp on one of its rungs.  ~Martin H. Fischer

An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious - just dead wrong.  ~R. Baker

Did you know America ranks the lowest in education but the highest in drug use?  It's nice to be number one, but we can fix that.  All we need to do is start the war on education.  If it's anywhere near as successful as our war on drugs, in no time we'll all be hooked on phonics.  ~Leighann Lord

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.  ~Aristotle

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.  ~Daniel J. Boorstin

Intelligence appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without education.  Education enables a man to get along without the use of his intelligence.  ~Albert Edward Wiggam

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.  ~Will Durant

_

There you are Goose. If you ever ask for another post BeWaRe, I will bore you again.

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On this day (March 19)…

0721 -BC- 1st recorded lunar eclipse; Location, Babylon
1227 Count Ugolino of Segna elected Pope Gregory IX

1452 Frederick III of Hapsburg crowned Roman German Emperor

1563 Peace of Amboise; Rights for Huguenots

1628 Massachusetts colony founded by Englishmen

1702 James II's daughter Anne Stuart becomes queen of England

1831 1st US bank robbery (City Bank, New York/$245,000)

1918 Congress authorizes time zones & approves daylight saving time

1958 Britain's 1st planetarium opens at Madame Tussaud's in London

2008 I got my own cell phone

I know it’s not that important but hey.  My parents always want me to take a cell phone when I go anywhere but I’ve always shared my mom’s cell phone. When sharing a phone, someone has the phone and someone doesn’t.<(What a profound statement)  So if my mother took the phone and I had to go somewhere, I was left with no other option than to go out in big world without a phone.  After having my (old) car stall in the middle of intersections, I’ve never felt safe without a phone. 

Not being one of those electronically knowledgeable people, I can only make calls, receive calls, and listen to messages.  For me a phone is a phone; the definition of a phone is:  A device for communicating sound, especially speech.

That was rather dull but I thought it time for another post.

~Sarah~

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”

Plutarch

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Ok, I just have time for a quick update.

Saturday I participated in our 4-H shooting sports shooting match. There were 20 kids in the Sr. air rifle division and only 2 other girls besides myself. Since there were so many kids they had different relays, I was the only girl in my relay. I felt rather odd(maybe unique is a better word) standing there in my bright pink jacket, holding a gun in the middle of a row of guys who were wearing dark muted colors.

Anyway, I shot terribly (compared to when I practice), but I still won 4^th place, but considering I only picked up a gun twice since last June it’s not bad.  Now I have 5 shooting sports trophies; I’ve won a trophy every match I participated in.  I’m kind of sad because this is my last year in 4-H, I guess I’ll just have to get my own gun and find somewhere else to shoot.

What is really taking up most of my time is theater. A local theater is doing the play “Harvey”; it’s about a man whose best friend is a 6ft tall invisible rabbit (Jimmy Stewart starred in the 1950 movie of “Harvey”). I play Miss Myrtle May Simmons the niece of the man who sees the rabbit. Rehearsals have been every night from 5-9 or 10, tonight I got out of there at 10:45.  It’s tiring; our first performance is this Friday...

Ohh Nooo, I totally forgot, I was supposed to read 100 pages of hell for class tomorrow (NO, I don’t swear), for my online Great Books class I was supposed to read half of Dante’s Divine Comedy ~ Hell.

Well I’m going to end this little post now, it’s 12am and I still have to wash my face(stage makeup is gross), take a shower, and read as much of hell as I can before my 8am class.

~Sarah

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Now for a quote,

One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick. ---Rabbi Harold Kushner

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Ok, here are the pictures I promised.

The first three are from the week I did the Fearlessly Feminine Challenge.

Here is my wet skirt. I found a skirt unpractical for getting milk from the dairy.  I don't see how the pioneer women did it; they must have lived in wet muddy skirts.  Let me just say that I found that pants are more practical for outside farm things.

This is a new hairstyle I tried, I think it's cute; it's a style that Drew Barrymore wore in 'Ever After'

Here I am, in a skirt, on my bed, studying financial accounting. Studying/reading is something I found practical to do in a skirt.

That's the last picture from the Fearlessly Feminine Challenge, some of the pictures I took I don't like (so I didn't post them) and I didn't take pictures toward the end of the week.

 I like this picture; it's me and my baby at the Sonoma county harvest fair.   I raised Amy (the llama) since she was born, she is now my champion show llama. I won Grand Champion Sr. Youth performance with her at the Southwestern Regional in October.

Here we (my sister and I) are cooking. I think the expression on my little sister’s face is so adorable.

Well, all you get today is pictures; I'm now going to go watch 'Charade' (Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn).  You know, I want a friend to watch old movies with, my brothers don't like old movies, & my parents don't let my little sister watch many of the old movies.  Maybe I should get a teddy bear?

~Sarah~

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I feel absolutely awful!  Last night I came home from voting and drama rehearsal and I thought I felt kind of warm so I took my temperature; I wasn't warm I was hot, my temp was 101*.  Besides my fever, I had a nice deep cough.  The worst thing is that my mother left that morning for Germany with my little sister.  My dad and my brothers don't know that much about medicine, mom usually handles that type of stuff, so I found some fever reducer and cough suppressant and went to bed.
All of today I've had a fever of 101*, I've been going hot then cold. It's horrid!

Despite all the loving and caring relationships in the world, there is nothing more loving than the feel of my mother's hand on my forehead when I am sick. ~Rosemary (nobody famous, just a smart child)

~Sarah~


P.S. I will post the pictures of the outfits that wore during the fearlessly feminine challenge as soon as I feel better.

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It doesn’t seem real, 2 weeks ago Mr. Davis tossed me a shirt at the grain elevator, 12 days ago I sat with his family at church and he served me the communion bread, now he’s gone from this earth.  It’s so hard to believe.  Although I didn’t talk to him more than about 10 times, he was someone I admired and looked up to. I grieve because we miss his presence here on earth, but I rejoice because he is with the Lord.

“For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.” Romans 14:8

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I'm a bad girl! I should be studying; I'm swamped with schoolwork . I just had to see if I could post pictures.  Thanks to the help of a friend(cough...cough...Thomas H...) I now know how.

I don't have that many recent pictures so I dug some out from last year.

This picture is from a 4-H Shooting match. I won High Air Rifle (Highest score of all air rifle divisions)

I like this picture, it's not the best quality but it's from my London trip. It was taken in the London Eye; on the bottom of the picture you can see the top of Big Ben.

Schoolwork =

1 3/4 hrs of Speed reading course

50 pages of Financial accounting + study guide & problems

200 pages of Chronicles of the Crusades, Villehardouin, Joinville + study questions

10 pages of Life purpose planning

1 3/4 hr of Dynamic Memory and Study Skills course

1 hr of math (when I can)

I will now be a good girl and go finish my school work.

~Sarah~

Ohhh, I almost forgot a quote. Here is one I found on my online 'Great Books' tutor's webpage.

"Let every good and true Christian understand that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his Master." --Augustine

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O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!  Psalms: 8:1

~~~

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NO No No!!! the problem, i'll tell you in 4 words: big post, all gone.

Here is the slightly condensed version.

As you can tell, I'm one of those frequent posters(hmm, posters, that looks odd. Not 'Poster'- a placard or bill posted or intended for posting in a public place, as for advertising, but 'Poster'- one who posts.  Still looks odd, oh well). Hopefully I'll learn to post more often than once a year. But then, thats doubtful, as I am officially starting work on getting a college degree; I signed up for "CollegePlus".  CollegePlus is, in their own words:

"a Christian organization that provides academic guidance and coaching. We help students complete their fully accredited bachelor's degrees inexpensively and efficiently while continuing with home and ministry involvement.

We strive to help students avoid the humanistic pitfalls of secular colleges and help them to become leaders who live and think Biblically. Our goal is to help you complete your degree…faster, for less, and for sure! "

My personal coach will call me on Friday to get me started.

I personally have no desire to get a degree, but my parents wish it so that's what I'm going to do.

That is a nice little rabbit trail, every post need a rabbit trail, cute little bunnies hopping alo... boy, it's late.

In the near past I uncovered the enjoyment of dancing (Ballroom and English country).  Dancing is a slightly more civilized version of the peak of delightfulness: running on a green hill in a flowing dress with the wind whipping your hair. Ah ha, I found a quote.

I was exceedingly delighted with the waltz, and also with the polka. These differ in name, but there the difference ceases — the dances are precisely the same. You have only to spin around with frightful velocity and steer clear of the furniture. This has a charming and bewildering effect. You catch glimpses of a confused and whirling multitude of people, and above them a row of distracted fiddlers extending entirely around the room. The waltz and the polka are very exhilarating — to use a mild term — amazingly exhilarating.
-Mark Twain

There, another post.

~The Tall Princess~

Another quote:
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
C. S. Lewis

Vote For RON PAUL!

"Congressman Ron Paul is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution."         www.RonPaul2008.com

 "The best way to improve education is to return control to the parents who know best what their children need," Paul concluded. "Congress should empower all parents, including home-schoolers, to control their children's education..." Ron Paul

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"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. " ~ C. S. Lewis

Greetings,

I don't know what I want to write about quite yet.  All I can promise is a lot of pithy quotes, the more I read, the more I realize that there are so many great peole who have already said just about everything I could ever want say in a much more consice manner than I ever could.

"The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things rotten through and through, to avoid. " ~ Livy

 I will occasionally post some pictures, after I figure out how of course.

“Whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.“ ~ 1 Peter 4:11

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