Just Be

Not a whole lot to say right now but 'Good Morning' and enjoy the day. Let your day be surrounded and filled by the one who created you and everything around you (Let everyday be that instead of in a downward spiral around yourself).

Some pictures of a recent trip to Chimney Rocks near Waynesboro, PA.

Count Your Blessings

I had forgotten that I hadn't posted about my car until my cousin Elizabeth asked me about it in an e-mail recently. This is my car. It doesn't have a name and I haven't even cleaned it yet since buying it (you know, to officially make it mine), but it's mine. This past winter I had an accident. One in which my car was totalled and I was left very badly shaken and sore. In a previous post I mentioned how God had blessed me with a gift of money from some mysterious friends. My insurance didn't cover any of it and I had to start all over with buying a car. This was something I hadn't had to worry about for a while because my old car had been paid off for a few years now. I didn't know how I was going to be able to afford another car payment but with this mysterious gift and borrowing a car for a while from my dear daddy I was able to save up enough to buy a new car free and clear. It took a while to find a car that was in decent condition and affordable. Plus, I really wanted a car that was 'stick' because I had just learned how to drive since my old car had wrecked (out of necessity). One day I was looking at Craig's list and found this little gem for just my price and I have been driving it for 3 months now. This is the car that I prayed for and God provided just like he always does. It may not always happen the way we want it or in our time but He always takes care of us. Just wanted to share that as an encrouagement to anyone who may need it (myself included because it's so easy to forget the things that God does for us in this world).

Totally Tea!

So today was the glorious 'Tea Party' and while not every one who was invited could show up we had a blast none the less. My sister Melody took me a little too literally on the Tea Party thing and wanted all kinds of hot teas to drink and had to have croquet (which was totally fun by the way), but to me a tea party is just an excuse for people to get together and hang out. There may be tea (even though it was a little warm today for hot tea) but that's not the point. I'm glad that all of the wonderful women that came today were able to come out and I know that there were a good many that wanted to come but couldn't and I understand that. That just gives me the excuse to throw another one so that those who missed out can get in on the fun next time. Summer's not over yet!

Affirmation

Okay so I know I may seem a little crazy but I prefer to call it freakishly weird. Well anyways, at church this past Sunday the speaker spoke on Elijah and Elisha. He explained how Elijah was tired. Tired of not being able to see the fruit of his labor, tired of being chased by God haters, tired of feeling alone so he ran. He ran for his life and hid in a cave and when God found him he showed himself to Elijah through a whisper. God had already shown himself to Elijah in fire, wind, and rain throughout his ministry. It was through this whisper that God was telling Elijah that he wasn't done and he could do even greater thing through God then he'd done before. How many times do we feel too old and too tired to continue doing God's work (I'm not that old yet but I do get overwhelmed sometimes). God is not done with us yet or we wouldn't still be here. He has a plan for us and we shouldn't just sit around like bumps on a log waiting for it to happen. We should listen and do, live and love, and get over ourselves.

Tea Party! Why not!

Okay so if you're checking this blog out either you're a relative or perhaps you've received a postcard from me or someone about an upcoming Tea Party at my house. If that's the case then you're awesome (If not you're probably awesome anyways)! You also might be thinking that this crazy girl came up to me in church/work/on the street today and invited me over for tea (is she crazy or normal?- what is normal anyway). While the tea or beverage of your choice is cool and delicious, the real reason for a tea party is to have fun, get dressed up (if you want to, which if you're honest with yourself you really do!), and get to know people better.

Well if you don't know who I am I am sorry because I should definitely be getting to know more of you all the time but I find it hard to approach people unless I have a purpose in mind so here's my purpose. I want to get to know you, and have some fun in the process! You're worth it. Some of you I may already know and I want to get to know you better too.

I figured that this would be a fun opportunity to get to know more females in the community. I don't know about you but I can be a bit of a loner sometimes and hide in a hole instead of put forth the effort to get to know new people. So here's me coming out of the rabbit hole! Oh and if you need directions go here. Hope to see you next Sunday!

Spring is here and I am outside!

Ever since good weather has arrived I would rather spend my time out of doors then inside on the computer. I've enjoyed kayaking with friends and family, recitals, bike rides, family dinners and picnics, mowing, climbing trees, and getting my apartment painted and pretty. It's been really busy and today has been a nice and slow day to reflect on what's been going on this past month.

My family and I were really blessed to have our cousins come visit us a couple weekends ago, Shannon and Elizabeth! I don't know if they were expecting to be dragged every which way when they came to visit. They of course got dad's house tour and then the rest of the time we spent visiting Harpers Ferry, kayaking, grilling, and just hanging out. It was wonderful to see them both before they leave to go to Prague coming up at the end of this summer.

We climbed dangerous trees out into the Shenandoah River

Contemplated life the universe and everything

Snuck down secret passageways

Identified trees

Waited a really long time to eat lunch with family

Learned about the Civil War

And enjoyed unexpected adventures

The weekend before their visit we had the annual National Pike Festival wagon train that comes over the bridge on our property. We had all of our family that could come over for a big brunch before the wagon train came. It lasts all of 5-10 minutes for the wagons to go over our bridge but it's interesting to see. It's always such a blessing that I get to spend so much time with my extended family. They are so much fun to be around and so full of wisdom and laughter!

The horses and their wagons going over the Wilson bridge

Jeremy practicing for when he has six of his own!

Mostly though I've been spending my time on the creek by my house with people I love. I hope to be on it a lot this summer and with lots more people too. There's just so much to do and see on the water.

Mom's got mad skill

Melody styling the cool straw hat

Me acting like a monkey

Tons of turles just chilling on fallen logs

And the reality of new life all around.

I hope and pray that God is showing you how wonderful His creation is in it's people and world each and every day!

Tag! I love that game.....

Okay so to say that I love playing tag is a true statement (and I honestly play it daily with my pre-schoolers), but being tagged on-line is a totally different thing. Never done it before so I don't know what it's like yet. Here goes, my cousin Emily tagged me to share these things about me:

10 years ago I was:

I was 14 years old and just finishing my freshman year of high school, I swore like a sailor and thought I was the coolest.

5 years ago I was:

Working on my associates degree in Education and working at a Fabric store (without the potty mouth and with a much stronger relationship with God).

1 year ago I was:

Finishing my degree in Art and getting ready to move home.

5 things on my to do list today:

Paint the kitchen

Call about a canoe

Find a car

Feed the butterflies (which I forgot to do, they're not butterflies yet I just hope they don't come out of their chrysilids before Monday)

Catch tadpoles (we're studying sea life next week in my pre-k class, how can we do that without looking at actual aquatic life)

5 snacks I enjoy:

slush (a frozen mixture of pineapple, orange juice, and bananas)

breyers vanilla ice cream (plain jane style)

cut up fruit and vegetables (watermelon, pears, bananas, cantelope, strawberries, pineapple)

cheese and crackers

no bake cookies

If I were a billionaire I would:

Pay off all my families debts, Buy the house next door and then open up my own pre-school to teach a small class of students through exploring the world around them in a safe environment. I'd buy more kayaks so I could invite more people to go kayaking with me and not have to borrow other peoples boats (not that they mind but I don't want to become burdensome). Help the people in my neighborhood to repair their homes. Make sure that I always had food with me to feed anyone that I met that was hungry. Buy the racetrack next to my house and turn it into a community center with fields to play in and dirt to grow with if you want, an awesome rock climbing facility and a recreation center for kids to come to when they're done with school so they have a safe place to hang out (but it wouldn't by any means be just for kids). Have a place for animals to be kept and grown; sheep, cows, goats, chickens, and pigs. Take my Grandparents out to visit their family out west. Travel to visit all of the people that I've been wanting to visit but couldn't because I had to work or couldn't afford it. Then go visit all of the other places in the world that I want to see (Israel, Egypt, Ireland, British Columbia, New Zealand, Sweden, Zambia, Alaska, Iceland and the list goes on).

5 bad habits:

-remembering to brush my hair :) (the finger stroke gets me by pretty well)

-procrastinating

-either not getting enough sleep or gettting too much of it (not a good balance there)

-not being considerate enough of the people that i care about the most (it's too easy to say that i know they'll love me anyway)

-getting back to people in a timely manner (phone call, e-mail, what have you)

5 places I have lived:

Jacksonville, FL

Hagerstown, MD (back there now)

Chambersburg, PA

Grantham, PA

Greencastle, PA

5 jobs I have had: (just five?)

Newspaper girl

Joann's Fabrics cashier/stocker/keyholder

Ponderosa Steakhouse waitress/cashier/cook/dishwasher

Roofer (volunteer work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and then paid work with my daddy)

Pre-K Teacher/Art Teacher (current position and loving it)

The Perfect Day!

While it's not a day that I could have ever dreamed up on my own today was one of the most enjoyable days I've had in a very long time. The sun was shining bright and warm and everyone in my family was itching to be outside working in it so we did. Melody, Christina and I worked outside cleaning up the flower beds around the house. Then we all helped dad pick up the thousands of sticks that have fallen over the winter and collect them so that Dad could mow. And to finish the day off I built a fire pit with cinder blocks and we enjoyed smores together. It was a glorious day for sure. Here some pics of my day and hoping you had a day just as wonderful!

Mom enjoying the newly cleaned back porch.

Dad enjoying his new toy!

Melody's new patio table, umbrella, and candles.

New things everywhere to discover!

The backyard with the lights from the race track going through the trees.

Head in the clouds

In case you didn't know this already I am a Pre-school teacher and my job entails playing with kids 5 days a week. Well this past week our lessons were on the weather and clouds. For a fun project we painted clouds on blue paper with white paint throughout the week and then today while my kids were taking their nap (which we do for 2 hours everyday and I must admit that this is such a wonderful thing not only for them but for me as well) my co-teacher and I hung up all of their paintings, as well as a few of our own, on the ceiling of our room so that when the kids woke up they'd be able to see all sorts of things in the clouds. We were going to have a day outside where we all lay in the grass and looked up to see what we could see but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. Don't get me wrong we had a couple beautiful days this week but either no clouds or clouds too big to picture anything, so we made our own sky filled with all sorts of creatures.

I loved (still love) to look up at the sky and make pictures out of the clouds. Even making up stories about what I saw up there. Just ask my friends, I think I've tortured them enough on our road trips where I tell stories about what I see in the sky (it's their own fault for having a sun roofs in their car).

If you get the chance spend some time outside now that the weather is getting nicer and enjoy the wonderful world above us. Oh and if the weather doesn't cooperate check out the book Sector 7 by, David Weisner from the library and enjoy his wonderful book (also check out this one if you get the chance!).

To get started here some pictures for your imagination.......

Oh and just for fun some clothes on the line now that it's warm enough outside!

Happy Easter!

I love this time of year when you can see new life beginning to push it's way back out from hiding. Hopefully this year I'll get to put more plants in the ground early on than I did last year. I love being able to make a meal almost completely from my garden.


Tomorrow my family and I will be getting together at our house for a big dinner and time to spend together and catch up with what's going on in each other's lives. I love my family very much and I love nothing more than to hear how they've been doing and how God's revealed Himself to them lately (even if it's something as strange as having six kids when you grow up!). For those that I don't get to see, know that I am thinking about you and wishing you were here.

Z is for zzzzzz....SLOR!

Okay so I'm too lazy to think of anything for Zz and I have no intention of doing it but to complete this craziness I thought I'd go ahead and keep the title. Last year my friends and I made a sled to help raise funds for a local boys home. Well this year we did it again. I only have a couple pictures worth showing but there will be more soon if I can bum them off my friends any time soon.

Y is for Y (Why?)........

I have always been a very inquisitive person. I don't know if I've mentioned this on here before but I was actually grounded once from asking questions (the only time I was ever really grounded). I was only five and my mother was very pregnant so you can figure out the rest. Some questions that I have lately have been:

Why has it taken me so long to get through the alphabet on this silly blog of mine?

Why don't I spend more time keeping in touch with the people that I love and don't see often?

Why do I need sleep?

Why haven't I started planting seedling yet for my garden?

Why is sharing my life with people so hard sometimes?

Why am I alive?

This question should be better explained. Last week I got into a very bad car accident. There was wintry conditions with slick roads. I was coming around a turn down a hill and lost control. My car turned sideways and rammed into a bridge where it then spun out of control and rammed into the other side of the bridge. I've only been in a couple accidents before and they were more of "doh" kind of accidents (insert bart simpson accent and context of show to understand). This one was much more serious and frightening. I pushed my way out of my car door and immediately thought 'God, why am I okay.' I don't know why He let me be virtually unhurt (only a few bruises and some soreness) but I know without a doubt that He has a purpose for me still. The title of this blog holds true more now than ever. Life is a gift! The most wonderful gift that we can receive. The only thing greater is life beyond this short time spent on earth, spent with the one who created us.

This question can only be followed by another and the wonderful ways in which God has blessed me.

Why am I so incredibly loved?

Monday morning when I walked in to work I was looking in my book bag to find my work keys so I could get inside and I found a wad of cash in with the rest of my junk. I don't cry easily but when I saw that money in my book bag I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with so many emotions. I walk in the door to my pre-schoolers who are all making birthday cards for me and wishing me birthday wishes. I didn't want to scare my kids by bawling my eyes out in front of them when they were being so wonderful so I accepted a couple cards and passed out hugs then went to the sanctuary to compose myself before I had to start work. I couldn't believe how incredibly blessed I was. Not only am I alive but I now have a good start to be able to afford a car that my insurance won't cover. I don't know who exactly gave me the money, I hadn't told that many people about my accident, and honestly I don't care who gave me the money. It is just an overwhelming feeling to know that 'I am loved' and have friends and family who take care of me when they see a need. To whoever gave me the gift if you read this THANK YOU from the innermost of my heart for your love and encouragement.

And to all of my family and friends whom I don't say this to often enough, I love you!

'xantho spider, xantho leaf'

My X is a lyric to a song by Mewithoutyou. If you ever get a chance to see them in concert it's very interesting. Actually the lyric is 'yellow spider yellow leaf,' but my friends and I changed it to 'xantho' when we were on a roadtrip one time going through all of the words that start with the letter x in the dictionary. Xantho is another word for yellow. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Sled construction has begun for this year's Wild and Wacky Cardboard Sled derby. I can't give you any details right now (top secret!) but I'll be sure to post pictures when we're done. There hasn't been a whole lot of snow to play in this year so far. Only one snow big enough to sled on (which I didn't have time to do) and another time with enough snow to have a snowball fight (which I did get to do!). I'm ready for some serious snow though. Especially if I'm going to be going skiing for the first time ever this weekend. I'll let you know how that goes for sure!

W is for Woman

Yes that's right woman. What does it mean to be a woman. What are the desires of a woman's heart and why are women the way they are? Don't ask me because even though I am one I can't answer these questions any better than you can.



A dear friend of mine just attempted her last chance for having a child through In Vitro fertilisation. Unfortunately the attempt didn't take. They already have one amazing child through this method for which they are very thankful for, but it's costs are so high that they decided that this would be their last try for another child. I don't know if they have considered the prospects of adoption or not but I know that they could be so blessed by it (just as the child would be).

In reflecting on their situation and trying to put myself in her shoes I wonder why it is that women want to have children so badly. There's lots of reasons that people have for having children:

- sharing life
- they make life interesting
- child labor (just kidding, sort of)
- laughter
- loving to love
- you get to act like a kid again
- a squeeze around the next (I love kid hugs)
- fulfillment of husband and wife
- producing a blood line (passing on the family name)
- it's what we're made for (among other things)
- entertaining
- the experience of being pregnant (and it's closeness to God's creation)

While I know that there are many other reasons for having children I don't think that having your own biological children is the only way to experience the joy that children bring to our lives. There are so many many children out there who need to be loved, taught, and cared for because their own biological parents can't take care of them (for whatever reason). I wonder if more of these children aren't adopted into families because our reasons for having children are so messed up that it's not so much about the child but about fulfilling something in ourselves.



Don't worry I'm not thinking of having/adopting kids any time soon (I'd have to be married first), but these are just thoughts that I've been turning over and over in my head this week. I love children dearly and hope to have my own some day (in one capacity or another) just not now. I am surrounded by children everyday where I work as it is, and they are more than enough for me to love on right now.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
- James 1:27

V is for V v v v ......

I don't know what V is for and to be honest I can't believe I'm still doing this encyclopedia of me. I started this out hoping I'd be done in August but here it is January already and I've still got 4 more letters to do.

Aside from whatever V may before I want to wish all a Happy New Year with many good wishes your way! I am starting this new year with a new job as a Pre-K teacher at the same place I'd been before.

Lord help me to be a guiding light to these little children of Yours. Help my actions to be a visible reference of who you are to all I come in contact with.

U is for Unexpected gifts......

Okay so usually I'm not one of those people to go bragging about the gifts that I got for Christmas, but there's one gift in particular that I'm kind of excited about and wanted to share. My sister bought her husband a new ipod for Christmas, so she in turn got his old one and they were trying to sell hers. I've wanted an mp3 player for a while and this seemed just as good. Well my mom surprised me completely and bought the ipod for me for Christmas. I was actually really surprised by it. While opening Christmas presents I even told her that she must've confused someone else's gift with mine because it was a itunes gift card, but she said it was for me (after saying "oh you shouldn't have opened that one yet").

While I'm not the biggest person on music or anything I do enjoy a good book (don't get me wrong I love music I just don't have to be listening to it all the time to feel alive). I've always gone to the library to borrow books on tape there but I haven't been able to in a while because where I live the house is so open that everyone would hear (whether or not they wanted to). That and I've been terribly busy, and my cd player is on the fritz so it's kind of annoying to get into the first chapter of a book and it suddenly decides to stop working. But now I can listen to a book while I'm sewing or cleaning and not have to worry about anything.

I've already got a few classics that I haven't read in a long time on my ipod as well as a few new ones, but they'll have to wait until I get my reading done for school first (oh priorities).

Thought you might like to hear this

Just hit pause on the music below and hear what this 13yr old boy has to say about God's son. I heard this this morning from a friend and I had to share.

T is for Time and Thought......

I can't believe that there's only a week before Christmas and then another week until the new year. Time is such an abstract concept for me sometimes (I think I get that from my Dad, 15 minutes usually means an hour and an hour is like 4 hours, i love you Daddy!). It's hard for me to think about plans beyound a week and how that actually effects what I should be doing during this week. I try to be a good steward by planning trips to get everything that I need done at once so I'm not wasting gas by taking several trips to get what I need. I'm even worse when it comes to having other people involved with future plans and communicating everything that they need to know (or maybe would just like to know) with regards to our plans.


I was talking to a co-worker of mine today (yes another story about work and kids, how unpredictable), and we got onto the topic of children and their manners (or lack there of). Parents are so busy running around trying to take care of things NOW and not considering how it's affecting their childrens future. The results in children learning poor management and planning in their lives and a constant need to be moving and doing all the time.

Some of my most precious moments as a child are the ones that aren't so busy. I can remember distinctly the feeling of lying on my bed with the sun shining on me with absolutely nothing to do. I was gloriously bored. I can't remember when the last time was that I felt that. I've got a list of things to keep me busy now that's at least a century long (if lists were measured in time). Wouldn't it be nice if we took the time to just be with out family, friends and selves? Try it this holiday and see if you don't enjoy yourself a little more.