I'm doing lots of things...

 Here another list of the things I've been doing lately. Hope you enjoy! I'm still trying to get into a regular posting schedule, so sorry if the posts I post are boring with no pictures.

 1. We went to my cousin's high school play, Bye Bye Birdie. They were really good, especially the two main character, Albert and Rosie. Albert's mother was hilarious, too. I don't know if I would recommend it, because there is a definite feminist theme, but it was entertaining. My cousin had a smaller part where he didn't talk too much, but what he had he did really well.

2. Easter! We dyed eggs with beet juice and onion skins (all of our are eggs are pink and yellow) and went to an Easter breakfast at church to celebrate Christ's Resurrection. The pastor preached about what the world would have been like without the Resurrection. Then we had some family over with yummy food like corn and rolls. It was a lovely day.

3. My birthday. I'm now seventeen! When I thought of seventeen when I was young, I thought it would be an age when I had everything figured out. I would be beautiful, popular, and always know what to say. Well, that didn't happen... But God has blessed me with so much, that I can't really feel bad about the things I thought I would have. Sixteen was a great year.

4. We're doing a book study with some friends. It's called Passion and Purity, by Elizabeth Elliot. It's good so far, and I'm learning more about what relationships are supposed to look like. We're studying it with some really sweet friends, so the fellowship is fun, too.



What have you done in the past few weeks?

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

The tickle feather **

Spring is here! Ah, a time of warm winds, daffodils, blossoms, and... snowflakes? It sure has been an interesting season. Winter was so warm, I could practically wear short sleeves, and now that spring is here, I have to bundle up before going outside. Strange weather, for sure.... but maybe no mosquitoes in summer? Maybe they'll all be killed by the cold. *evil laugh* That would be worth braving the cold for.

Here are some of my highlights of March so far.

~Highlights of March~ a list

1. I'm entering an altered book contest at our local library, which means I get to cut up books and turn them into art. Mine's turning out well so far. I like how it looks. Maybe I'll post some pictures when I'm done.

2. Speaking of the library, I got my own library card! Hooray! I know there are lots of people that have library cards, but I'm really excited to check books out with it.
(again speaking of the library, I saw my old tennis teacher there when I was getting my card. I thought that was interesting.)

3. I'm working on a research paper for writing class. We picked a career to research and now we're writing about it. I chose a book editor, because I love finding other people's mistakes. :) just kidding.

4.  Our puppy Honey has a serious biting problem. Ugh. You can't even pet her without feeling little sharp teeth on your hand. Can anyone relate? Have any tips?


Well, that's just about it. Of course Easter is coming up (in March this year!) so I might post then. See ya later!

Grace be with you,

Abby :D 


ps. oh, i nearly forgot! my birthday is in a week! i'll be turning seventeen. :)

** the title of this post is from my little brothers who are playing with a feather. :) 
 

I asked God for patience, He gave me a puppy...

We got our Labrador puppy on Saturday! Her name is Honey,  and she is sooooo cute. :) She's about seven weeks old, about 12 pounds, and she loves to chew on people and objects. I've been overseeing the potty training and whatnot, and so far she seems pretty smart. Here are a few pictures of her.

Does anyone have any training tips for me? I've been pretty patient with her during the day, but at night she's just so.... LOUD. Puppies have a pretty piercing bark. I've taken to sleeping beside her crate just to keep her quiet. But I've been wanting a puppy for so long, and God couldn't have blessed me more with a puppy like her. I actually think we're training each other. I'm training her to be obedient and go potty outside, and she's training me to be patient. :)

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Catching up

Hello, everyone! How has life been lately? My life's been pretty good. I'm not certain that I told you, but my sisters and I have been taking a speech and composition class since September. It's been fun, and challenging. Lots and lots of essays. :P We finished the first semester in December. But-- oops! I forgot! Starting a sentence with "but" is not allowed in the writing class! What I meant to say was, I've really liked the class, and improving my writing has been nice. The class is on Thursday (just finished my homework from last week today), so that's where I'm headed tomorrow, and I can't wait! I really like the class, because the teacher is nice, the classmates are nice, and we get to learn. :) Learning is always fun, right?

Speaking of learning and school, my sister Leah is graduating this year! I'm so excited for her! She has been a really great student, and my mom has been a really brave teacher for homeschooling through high school. Yay! Next year I'll be a senior. I'm still not sure what to do after high school. I was thinking of being either a hair dresser or something with animals. I don't really want to have a job where I have to do excessive math or algebra. I'm working on accounting right now, and it's kind of confusing. It's not that I hate math. I'm relatively good at it, and I can understand most of it. I just don't like it. What kind of schoolwork is your favorite? What about your least favorite? :)

Oh yes. How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was good. For Christmas, our mother and grandmother told my sisters and I that we were fat, ugly, and lazy.

No, not really, just kidding! The reason I said that was because of the presents they gave us: a pedometer (a thing that counts your steps), an apron and a cookbook, and some supplies to make mineral make-up. Yes, mineral make-up. Ever heard of it? Because I had not until last year. It came from Glory Bee Foods. Here's the link to the make-up kit we got. It's been fun to experiment with. You should really consider getting it too, if you wear make-up, because it's a lot healthier than normal make-up.
What did you get for Christmas? I hope your New Year was good too, because mine was. We went to our aunt and uncle's house and ran around with the cousins and had yummy food. :) And then we went home and popped balloons and watched fireworks and screamed a lot. I really like the New Year.

Also, this year is, for our family, a year of No Dessert. Because sugar is not very healthy for us.Yep, no chocolate, no cookies, no chocolate, no cake, and most of all, no chocolate. Except on special occasions. I've been getting through alright (ok, cheating just a bit) with some yummy dark chocolate-covered prunes from Christmas. They're healthy, because they're prunes and dark chocolate, right? Right?

Well, I should probably sign off, because it's getting close to dinner, and we're having salmon patties and quinoa (keen-wa) for dinner, yum! If you don't know what quinoa is, it's a sort of grain that's really healthy. :)

Have a wonderful week!

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Caught Up

This year, the Christmas season has been busy. What with parties and presents and going ice skating and winter birthdays, I just haven't had time to blog. I hope you don't mind. After all, I think everyone's busy this time of year; busy with their own families and friends, just enjoying their busyness and the festivities. I'm caught up in all the blessings of this month. I really, really like this season. It's one of my favorites. May God bless you and your families as you celebrate God's love and our Savior's birth. Make sure you take some time to remember the greatest Gift of all.

Oh, and I'm going to keep blogging, if rather sporadically. Have the best of holidays! :)

Your busy blogger,

Abby :D

Fall...

 [insert a beautiful picture of leaves and a bright blue sky]


... Actually, I prefer Autumn. Fall is so undescriptive, or maybe too descriptive. Fall is when all the leaves fall, and when all the crops fall from the plants. Everything is falling. I like Autumn better. This is autumn, red and gold and purple and orange, leaves blowing around you, pumpkins and acorns. Autumn is my favorite season.
The only thing is... it's not cool enough. This is the time when I want to wear sweaters and skirt, knitted hats and boots. All in fall- I mean, autumn- colors. But it's not cool yet! It's still summer!

At least the leaves are changing colors.

Hmmm... have I been busy this week? It's actually kind of hard to tell. We didn't do school the past couple of days, because it's just been too crazy. But the week and a half before was normal. I'm doing writing class once a week, and I'm re-discovering how much I love writing fiction instead of non-fiction. This week we are working on job stuff (resumes, job interviews, and the like).

Here are a few very promising story starters/story ideas that I have come to a total dead end with.

“You don’t like hats?” the tied-up girl asked incredulously, “Whyever not?” The villain shuddered. “I don’t know. Now be quiet. You’re a prisoner, and I was just getting to the best part in my speech.”

“That’s just weird,” the girl mumbled, but she said nothing else out loud.

Once upon a time, there was an ordinary girl named Gloria. At least, she looked ordinary at first glance. But when you looked deeper, she was very un-ordinary indeed. 

I’ve always been the villain type. Not a villain with any kind of big plans for world domination. At least, not at first. 

I really like them, but I'm at a dead end! I have a hard time finishing stories most of the time. Well, anyways, I must fly. I've got things to do, people to see, places to go. I hope you enjoyed hearing from me. I'm afraid that my posts will be like this until I get back into the blogging habit. 

Grace be with you,

Abby :D 

whoa... it's a pitcher plant... (plus i'm back)

sorry for the blurry. this is from pinterest and i had to enlarge.

It has been a while, hasn't it? A little more than 2 months, to be exact. I feel rather refreshed. I hope y'all haven't missed me too much. Here are some things that have happened while I was gone.

• Write, write, write ~ I started a writing class, along with my sisters. It's fun. So far, we've been writing essays and some business letters.
• Fun in the sun ~ We went on vacation! This was in September. We went to the beach and had a blast playing in the water and riding our bikes. Not to mention eating Oreos and watching TV late at night. :)
• Of course ~ I started back to school. Eleventh grade, people! This year I'm working on lots of fun stuff, including Botany, Health, and Everyday Math. Delightful, do you not agree?

What have you been doing lately?
So my new expectations for blogging. I hope to blog more, 'bout lots of stuff that's going on. Pinterest has taken up most of my internet time. I'm sure you can relate. I think I'll stop looking on Pinterest, and start blogging. And I'm not going to be on here just because I'm bored. I'll come here when I have something to say. Hopefully, there will be some interesting, informational stuff on here more often. So what do you think? Is there anything you'd like me to post about? Are you overjoyed to see me back on? Of course you are. :)

Grace be with you,

Abby :D


Looooong Fun fact for the day (from Botany):

Pitcher plants are tall, vase-like plants that hold a sweet-smelling cup of nectar. When an insect tries to eat the nectar, it loses its balance and slides down the slippery sides of the 'vase' and gets stuck. Why can't it climb up? There are little prickles on the inside of the 'vase' that point downward. The prickles poke the insect every time it tries to climb up. In addition, at the bottom of the vase there is a pool of rainwater. Within minutes, the insect drowns in the water, and is digested by the pitcher plant, leaving only the exoskeleton.                   

*evil laugh*

"Why?" you sob, "Why do these cruel plants destroy the innocents bugs so mercilessly?!" Well, the answer is simple. Plants need nitrogen. Usually they get it from the soil, but pitcher plants (along with any other kind of carnivorous plant) are able to live where the soil is not so good, all because they can get their nitrogen from insects. Pretty neat, eh? God sure made some amazing creatures!

(this link is from wikipedia if you wanted to know more about Pitcher plants. Sorry for the evolutionary influence. :P)

Please read this, even though there aren't any pictures!

 This entry was written in my art journal less than a week ago:

"It has been rather a sunny, hot, lazy sort of day in which I have felt neither productive nor energetic. The former I have unfortunately not felt in a while, whereas the latter has only recently been escaping me. Perhaps the secret to the qualities I lack lies in a few well-written to-do lists? They never helped in the past, however I shall try again and make the best of the results..."

Truly, these feelings are still with me at this present date. Why they do not cease to exist is beyond my feeble imaginings, but I have not yet tried the merits of that reputable thing known as the to-do list. Perhaps that will help. Have any of you tried it yet? And what thing do you use to get rid of the well-known unproductive blahs?

Anyhow, you're prob`ly wondering what provoked the peculiar language up there. Well, you wouldn't if you knew how many classics we've been reading for school: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist, etc. It was quite unavoidable, and plus I love talking that way. :) School for us is still in full swing, but when you're home schooled it's easy to take a small, teensy break to go outside and breath in the hot, muggy air. Ah, the smell of ambrosia and nectar that is Summer! Do you realize that in all my sixteen years of summer, I have never once had a bee sting, or even a wasp one? They are quite abundant in this realm, but Providence has shielded me. Whew. :)
A girl I know got stung by a bee once, and she went ahead and did a whole swim meet after the fact. Some persons have a hardy constitution.
We are planning a baby shower for my aunt. She's having a girl, and I can't wait to see her! It will be my only girl cousin on my mother's side, the side on which I already have five boy cousins. Family reunions are always fun, do not you agree? The theme for the shower is pink and yellow, with lots of pinwheels. It's adorable!! I dare not post pictures, just in case my aunt looks at my blog. (that's a nice phrase. 'Dare not'. Heh heh.)
What are your summer plans? You know, summer only started three days ago (tho' mentally, 'twas two months back). I have not many plans for the summer, except to finish school, a worthy goal, agreed? After I graduate, I believe that I will be a hairdresser. It sounds fun, and I can do it from home. I can cut my children's hair, or get my own salon and go to people's houses to cut their hair, or do it for a favor, etc., etc., the possibilities are endless! You have to be seventeen to get into the school I'm interested in, so it'll still take a while. What is your career choice? Actually, my first one is to be a mother, but I sort of consider that mandatory. I think adopted children are also mandatory. :) I just LOVE children. :)
So if you haven't noticed, I've been talking to you sort of conversationally. What do you think of that style?

Our church is doing a mission trip to Honduras, and the team leaves today. Please pray that they'll have safe travel and that they'll reach as many people as is God's will. Thanks!

Have a wonderful week!

Grace be with you,
Abby :D

a mandolin and its girl

Once there was a girl.



And she decided:

"HEY! Wouldn't it be fun to play the mandolin?"
 {but it was a few months later before her dream impulse came true}

And she got... a mandolin. 

It's so pretty, ain't it?

I believe that this color and style is called 'Starburst'.

Now the girl has lessons on Mondays. She is taught such hard concepts as strumming and tremolo. 

She soon expects to start a band and become an overnight bluegrass star. :)


Grace be with you,

Abby, the girl with the mandolin 

A Lizard Bited Me...

The winner of my giveaway is Autumn! Congratulations! Please leave your e-mail (or address) so I can contact you about your prize. :)

Hey everyone! Long time, no post.
Sorry, but I've been kinda busy.

 1) Mandolin. Yes, I got one! I've been taking lessons for a few weeks. It's really fun, although it makes my fingers hurt. I can stumble through play several songs: Yankee Doodle; O Susanna; Long, Long Ago; and a Colonial (colaniol? coloaneal?) Waltz.

2) Tennis. We started lessons last week. Yay! So fun! Especially when I hit the ball!

3) Stamping. No, not my feet. I've learnt me how to metal stamp! I still haven't quite got the hang of it, actually. My attempts are far from perfection. Like once I thought the Qs were Os. :P

4) Pizza. Cause that's what we're having for dinner! My mom's homemade pizza's the best. We're also having some guests for dinner. They look very delicious. Heh. Heh, heh.*evil grin*

5) Exclamation points. Without them, how could I survive? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6) Math. YES! Today I got an A on my test and I'm four lessons away from never having to look at my Algebra 1 book again. It was sort of fun. :) *checks temperature*

7) Jesus Christ. Because He was willing to die for me, I'm more than willing to live for Him. And guess what? He died for you too. :)


Grace be with you,

Abby :D


{ps. sorry for my picture-less post. there'll be more pictures next time. promise.}

Do you see?

{via}

How can I make you see my life?
How can I show you what I do every day?
How can I make it real for you?

How do I make you see how blue the sky is every day?

How much I enjoy eating chocolate chips and peanuts?

How much I love the girls and boys that are my siblings?

How lovely the park was yesterday?

How I relish reading the stories in the Old Testament, and the advice and grace of God in the New?

How fun it is to play my new mandolin (yes, I finally got one! More on that later)?

How wonderful it is to have a working, breathing body?

How thankful I am to still have a house after last night's storms?

How I sometimes (only sometimes) like to do school?

How fun our new tennis lessons sound?

How nice it is to find new hairstyles and clothes every day?

How much your comments and opinions mean to me?

How great and awesome God is to me, and how much I love Him?


How can I show you?

How can I make you see?

Wordless Wednesday-- well actually...

I think I'm very cute. I look just like a real turtle, don't I?

Hey everyone! This is a post about me. I'm a turtle. Abby made me out of clay and paint.

When Abby told that she was going to take picture of me to put on her blog,

I immediately said yes, because I thought,

{linking up with Mina's challenge} some of you might not know how handsome turtles are.

Well, I've gotta go home now. Bye!

Hey everyone! Abby here this time. This is my latest project. It was slightly inspired by Breezy's beautiful turtle, though it's not quite as cute or colorful or nicely made.Whatcha think?

Oh yeah, and just in case some of you didn't quite catch it, I'm linking one of those photos to Mina's photo challenge. Go enter, quick! It ends March 11th.

Grace be with you,

Abby :D

ps. sorry for the weird type up there. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get it to be good. So annoying.