Mi piace molti libri, ma vorrei andare a Northanger Abbey

Hey y'all!

Life's been very nice this week, albeit busy.  But luckily, it's only the natural kind of busy that stems from school and chores!  Not so much with the scheduling of events and things.

We did actually do a few things this week, but very light.  Monday and Thursday, Mama and I went to Italian class, which is always very fun, and yesterday we went out to dinner.  My dad has a committee at the NATO Defense College, and every once in a while we go out for social events.  Last night we went to a pizza place downtown, and it coincided with Daddy's birthday!  So it was incredibly fun.  We lucked out on our committee, because they are so funny that I think I might now be suffering from a hernia from all the funny-ha-ha.

Today has been nice.  I'm babysitting this evening, so I'm going to bring some geometry homework to do while the kiddos toddle off to dreamland, and I've been reading quite a bit.  I'm currently noshing on "Northanger Abbey"  by Jane Austen (Who else?) and I love it.  LOVE IT.  It's about a girl named Catherine and her various travails in the social circles in the regency period.  It includes humor, romance, vague but oddly funny suspense, and it's the entirety of the book is just utterly delightful.  And I totally and completely without a shadow of a doubt sort of identify with the heroine.

I am Catherine.  Catherine is me.

So, I shall send you off with a notice that you must read this book if you have not already, and a solemn promise to change out of my pajamas withing the next hour.

I will! I swear!

Happy, Happy Birthday

Dear Daddy,
Throughout my entire life, I have never once doubted that you would be there for Mom and Will and I, and I am so grateful for that knowledge.  That is such a rare thing in this world, and I am beyond blessed.

There have been times when you haven't been home because of your job, but I still, even then, never wondered about your love for this family.  You are the best Dad in the world!

So, today, October 14th, I thank God for the blessing of you, my kind, loving, affectionate, strong, smart, hard-working, funny, wise, honorable, and terrific Dad.  I couldn't ask for a better one.

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Your Baby-Girl

Come my little friends, as we all sing a happy little working song

I was studying geometry the other day, and was flipping around trying to find a certain postulate.  Y'all, my notes were disorganized.  Geometry is the class in which I take the most notes, and I normally just jot down random things in random places.

This was not working for me.

So, guess what I did today?  I re-wrote all my notes (it's early in the year, lucky for me, so this didn't take a million years) and I organized them.  And y'all, I COLOR CODED them.  Let me just show you.  It's so pretty.

I neatly (or as neat as I could write in my awful handwriting) wrote down all of the postulates, theorems, definitions, etc. that I know.

For some of them, I even drew pictures to have for examples. Pictures really help me out when I study.  Because I'm four.

And, the last section is general notes where I write down everything quickly, and rather messily, during class, and then I go put all my notes into their proper sections, neatly, after class.  I keep my general notes though, instead of tossing them once I've placed the information, for things that don't go under any of my sections, like exercises and things that only apply to that class.  

And thus, I have completely gone against my nature and have finally become organized.  Now I'm going to skip off to tidy my room whilst humming "The Happy Working Song..."

Cover Me

I've noticed a growing phenomenon in, especially young, musicians today.  During their concerts, they often cover songs by other people.  I think this is a great idea!  It probably gets tedious singing your own songs over and over again, and it would be a fun respite from the repetition.

So, it got me thinking.  If I were a famous singer and I had a concert, what songs would I cover?  Well, I was looking for something to blog about, and here it is.

My list of would-do covers:

• Gravity, by Sara Bareilles. I'm a sucker for ballads, and this one is so pretty.
• A Year Without Rain, by Selena Gomez.  Call me crazy, but I find this song extraordinarily catchy.  I love singing this one.
• Home, by Michael Buble.  It's how I feel at the moment.
• Hallelujah, by... well a lot of people have done this one.  I really, really, really like this song.  It's so purty.
• Anyway, by Martina McBride.  Very inspirational; very powerful.
• Twist in my Story; Secondhand Serenade.  Another ballad.  I really like this one.
• Cowboy Casanova, by Carrie Underwood.  This one is desperately fun.  
• Amelia, by Matthew Perryman Jones.  I don't know why, but this is one of my favorite songs in the world.  It makes me want to name my daughter Amelia when I grow up.  
• Don't Speak, by No Doubt.  Can't go wrong with some good ol' Gwen Stefani. :-)
• Party in the U.S.A.  by little miss Miley Cyrus.  Don't shoot me... this one would be for a good laugh, and because it gets a crowd going.  But I might do this version... "Party in the PCA"
• It's Oh So Quiet, by Lucy Woodward.  This song is very strange, a tad avant garde, but it's fun to sing.
• Halo, by Beyonce.  Though I know I could never do it justice. 
• And for my finale, Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi.  Yep, I went there.

There you have it.  I'm sure there are more, this is just to name a few.  I love music, and have very odd musical taste. :-)

Random Dozen, number 4!

Here ya go, everyone. :)


1. Is there a word which you initially mispronounced? Were the circumstances in which you made the faux pas embarrassing? 


Up until I was eight, I pronounced camouflage "camel-flage."  And this girl in my 3rd grade class who I so wanted to impress turned her nose up, flipped her hair, and spat out "Um, it's CAMO-flage."  That friendship never happened.
2. How do you feel about the use of texting shortcuts and trends? (ex: "I've got ur notes. Get them 2 u 2morow.") 


Ugh.  I don't rlly lyk 2 use txt slang bcuz it makes u look insipid.  If i'm in a big ol hurry i mite use it but i usually detest it.  kbye.
3. Tell me about your high school senior picture. Please feel free to post.


Hur hur I'm just a junior.  Sorry.  How about I post a picture of me in, I think, the fourth grade?

This is my mama and me while our family was on vacation on the Big Island.  That was during my several year long awkward phase.  Can ya tell?


5. Share a high school or college homecoming memory.


I.... have never attended anything homecoming-related.  I'm homeschooled.  But I did go to a homeschool "prom" that was so much fun.  I just went with two of my good friends, and I had a blast.  

6. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?


Sunsets.  Because sunrises involve me getting up early.  And, well, no.

7. What is something you have not done that you desire to do?


I've never.... written a book to completion.  I start and stop, start and stop.  It's an illness... I really want to finish one sometime.  

8. If you could come back [in another life] as an animal, which would it be?


What a funny question! I don't really care to be an animal... I enjoy my human-ness, thanks.  But if you're gonna twist my arm, I'd say a dolphin.  They're smart, quick, and they get to be in the water.  I love the water.
9.  Where were you 10 years ago? Please feel free to elaborate more than just your physical location.


10 years ago I was 6.  :)  I was living in Montgomery, Alabama.  I was learning how to function as a normal human being.  Still haven't quite figured that one out, though....
10. When you are proven to be correct in any contentious discussion, do you gloat?


I like to give the ol' NEENER NEENER.  No, I'm kidding, I would like to say I don't.  Honestly, there may be an occasional "See, I told you so!" when it comes to silly discussions with my brother, but  I don't think I do in other situations.  I do, however, have a terrible tendency to correct people, even if I don't necessarily gloat once I have done so.  It's awful; I need to learn to hold my tongue.  

11. What is your favorite food which includes the ingredient "caramel?"


Hmm.  I think the only thing I like with caramel is a Snickers bar.  I'm not big on caramel; I'm a choco-holic.
12. If you could be part of any fictional family, which family would you choose and why?


I think I would be part of the Bennett family in Pride and Prejudice.  Refer to this post HERE.  




Thank you everyone, and good night.

I'm not on a horse

I have come to a conclusion about my life.

It may sound crazy, hair-brained, and terribly shocking.... so prepare yourselves.

You see, I was not meant to live in the 21st Century.

My heart genuinely belongs in the Regency Period, where girls of my age frolic in meadows in pretty dresses and lovely hats, know how to sew, dance, play the piano forte, and paint.  Ladies of sixteen attend balls searching for fun and future husbands, and the dancing was never lewd and the music was lively.  The ladies sat up straight, coiffed their hair to perfection, folded their hands in their laps, and called everyone by their last names unless they were very dear friends.

"Why, Miss Jones!  I just positively lost my head when you weren't at the pump-room yesterday! I saw your name was not on the list, and I nearly fainted.  But I am so very glad to see you are well.  How are the children?  Oh and that sprigged muslin is just too lovely.  It must have been at least eight shillings a yard!"

Why has the world gone on to change so much?  Why in the world don't ladies these days wear such long, pretty dresses with straw hats and ribbons and bows?  Why can't I play the piano or paint?  Why don't I have a cute, lady-like British accent?  Why is my grammar not always perfection?  Why are pajamas no longer long, flowing white gowns?  Why are their no fields and woods in my neighborhood in which I could frolic and read novels?  Why don't I own a pony?

And thus, this post blatantly decries the insanity that is my mind.

Happy Belated Canadian Thanksgiving!

So, yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving.

I can not BELIEVE that I missed it.

In penance, I offer you this cute video of the most polite Canadian in the world.





You're welcome.

Oh, and since he's from Canada, I think I'll name him Justin Beaver.

Sow and Reap

Dear readers,

Today is a day.  Quite a day.

Today something exciting happened to me.

Today, I smiled a great big smile, and squealed and jumped for joy.

Today, I harvested.


For weeks I have been sowing, working so very hard to do well at something to which I normally just don't take.  I've sat and worked over and over again, spending a bit of extra time here, a bit of extra time there.

I have been praying, I've been fighting off the laziness that comes so frighteningly naturally to me.

Everything I've reaped and all the work I've done, I attribute to God.  Without Him calling me to study Proverbs for the past month or so, this wouldn't have happened, not in a million years.  Without His bountiful grace opening my eyes to see and my ears to hear, motivating me to work, to try, to succeed, I would have never done what I did.

Today, I made a 95% on my geometry test.

It sounds like such a simple thing, but for me it's a battle won.  I've never liked anything related to math or science, and so I've never really tried.  But all thanks to God, this time I fought my nature and won.

So why is it that this isn't my constant philosophy?  My head knows exactly the pattern:  sow, reap, sow, reap.  I previously planted dry, puny seeds of laziness and complacency which, in ground that, easily, I fertilized and nurtured, grew into terrible, prickly trees that were so large they nearly blocked out the sun.  This time, I toiled to plant seeds that were healthy, but needed great care and continued treatment, and out grew beautiful plants that make the garden so beautiful that I only want to fill it with more flowers.

But I know that it will forever be a battle.

One day, perhaps I'll be doing geometry, or any schoolwork, and I'll get distracted.  Maybe my assignment will be late.  I know, in the moment, that this laziness will only bring me pain and sorrow later, but I do exactly what the culture advises.  I "follow my heart"..... All the way to destruction.

This is the basis of the need for daily reflection.  Not only is it because of my gratitude for the Lord's goodness, but also simply because I need to be constantly reminded of my calling, and of my nature.   And to be honest, reading my Bible every day is not something I have ever, or will ever, be perfect at doing.  I will be tired, I will be lazy, as is my nature, and I will not read and reflect on promises of God.  And, yet again, I will sow the seed and it will grow.

So why do I not always sow the good seed?  Because it is hard.  It can be so, so hard.  Back-breaking labor that brings me to my knees in front of the Lord.  But is the reward not far better than the few stolen seconds of idleness that only bring temporal and fleeting pleasure?

 Proverbs 6:6-10 "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.  Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in the summer, and gathers her food for the harvest.  How long will you lie there, O sluggard?  When will you arise from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man."  

Today I will think on these words.  And, I can not do this laborious task of sowing good fruit on my own, so I pray that he will teach me every day how to lay on Him the burdens that I simply can not bear.

So, pray with me, and ask yourself what you are really sowing today.