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

Thoughts {the boringest title}

 













 ..."Because, my young friends," the man muttered sourly, "what could be more important than doing unimportant things? If you stopped to do enough of them, you'll never get to where you're going." He punctuated his last remark with a villainous laugh. "Then you must-" gasped Milo. 
"Quite correct!" he shrieked triumphantly. "I am the Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit." The Humbug dropped his needle and stared in disbelief while Milo and Tock began to back away slowly. "Don't try to leave," he ordered, with a menacing sweep of his arm, "for there's so very much to do, and you still have over eight hundred years to go on the first job."

"But why do only unimportant things?" asked Milo, who suddenly remembered how much time he spent each day doing them. "Think of all the trouble it saves," the man explained, and his face looked as if he'd be grinning an evil grin- if he could grin at all. "If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing..."
~The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

 Norton Juster sure got it right there. I think we all have trouble with this very topic: doing only the easy and useless jobs. 
"Well, as soon as I get finished looking at Facebook, I'll go read those 50 pages of Latin." 
It's very easy to get stuck in a treadmill of the easy, pointless jobs, like going on every website on the computer or lying lazily on the couch (guilty am I) instead of the harder, important ones, such as spending time in the Word or helping with dinner. Just a thought.

So, it's June...
Today was a perfect day for drinking pink lemonade (which tastes a lot better than normal lemonade, by the way) and just being outside in the beautiful sun. What is your summer break looking like? We're still deep in the clutches of school. I'm doing personal finance and business math. Fun stuff, right? I haven't gone swimming as of yet this season, because we have no pool.  We ate a watermelon, and I made a bracelet out of the seeds. It was hard, on account o' having to poke holes in all those seeds. What have you been doing this season? Swimming, biking, running, eating? Tell me, I want to know. :)


Grace be with you,

Abby :D

Summer! How nice to see you!

{taken by my sister, Leah}

The season's thoughts turn to summer. The sun gets hotter and clouds of mosquitoes appear. The nice spring flowers shrivel up and die, followed by delicious vegetables. School books are closed for months. Lemonade, ice cream, and popsicles can be found in the fridge, and t-shirts and shorts in the closet. Swim suits come out for an outing in the pool. 

{I love the summer season.}

Even though it gets hot and sunny, and my face gets pink with sunburn, my legs covered with itchy bites, I love everything that spells summer. Catching lightning bugs and eating out on the porch, having water balloon fights and spraying each other with the hose, sweet and fruity treats like popsicles or smoothies, smearing on bug repellent and sunscreen, going to the park and the pool, it's all been a part of summer in Georgia. It's practically the biggest part of the year here. Summer is getting hot and cooling off. Summer is eating watermelon. Summer is a million different things. What is summer to you?

Scriptures

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.
Hebrews 6:19

It's wonderful to be able to think of the hope of Christ to be like an anchor. It really is. 

  According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15

 Every man's work will be revealed by fire. No matter what your work is, if you don't build it on the foundation of Christ, you will suffer loss. Very thought-provoking. What are you building with?


What have you learned from the Scripture you have read? 




Grace be with you,


Abby :D

Busy with everything but blogging...

{via Miss Raquel}

1.The rain. It's been raining all day. Everything is wet and soggy. And I love it. :)

2. Writing. I've gotten stuck at a certain point in my novel (if you can call it that) and I'm going to have to do a complete re-write. I need to give my characters more definition, methinks.

3. Reading. We've been reading a lot of classics in school. Like Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, and Oliver Twist.

4. Party. We went to a birthday party on Friday, ate cake and ice-cream and pizza, and played games: Capture-the-Flag (♥), Ghost in the Graveyard, and Killer. Those last two are sort of grisly names for such fun games.

5. Recital. Piano recital is next week. I'm doing The Swan (or Le Cygne, I believe is its name), All I Ask Of You, which is a song from Phantom of the Opera, and Irish Air, a duet with my sister. I might be doing El Risoluto, as well.

6. Bible reading. Last night, it was Philemon and 1 Peter. What have you been reading?

7. Hats. I really like redecorating them and wearing them, even though I don't do it often.

8. This blogger. I wish my writing was like hers. 


And with that, I bid you adieu. Adieu!

Hopeful of a better blog post next time,

Abby :D

The Treadmill

When doing school, or something that you do every day, it is easy to get discouraged. 

“What’s the point of my doing this well, or even at all? I only have to do it again tomorrow.”

Your life gets stuck in an endless whirlpool of meaninglessness. You feel as if there’s nothing to life, like it’s a treadmill that you are chained to or a hamster wheel that you’re trapped inside of.

But then you think.

“Wait a second, I should be doing everything for the glory of God.”

And then you look.

“Wow, I could do so much better than this! If I’m doing it for God’s glory, then there is a point to life: to please God, and glorify Him forever.” 

Then you look at the world around you, and see so much more than you saw at first glance. Look what God has given you, the One who made you. The One who loves you. The One who had no obligation to you at all. He made you, He can destroy you, He can just snuff you out like a candle. And since He is just, that’s what you and I deserve. What we should get.

But instead… He died for you. 

He DIED for YOU. 

 And that's something worth celebrating, every day! Here are some nice things God gave me today.

Some absolutely delicious cookie dough stuff for dessert//Liking the outfit + hairstyle I had on today//Having fun playing mandolin//Playing tennis out-of-doors//Treasure Island (for school, but it's a really good book)//Getting all my school done relatively early//Making blue cheese salad dressing//Eating dinner salad with said dressing//Playing Trust and Obey on the piano for family worship//

What are some things that you are celebrating today?

Grace be with you, 

Abby :D

Occupatus sum...

You know, I'm tired of the word 'busy'. Why don't we find some other words for it?

How about...
...industrious...diligent...employed...engaged...engrossed...persevering...hustling...studious...active...?

Whatever the word, that's sure what I've felt like these past few weeks. This has been our usual week.
Monday: Handbells, mandolin and guitar lessons
Tuesday: Tennis
Wednesday: Violin lessons
 Thursday: Piano
Friday: Whew! Nothing, finally.

Add school and some distractions to that formula and voila! A recipe for... well, all those words up there. :)

Tennis is fun*. I didn't know anything about tennis before (I mean, besides that you have to hit the ball), but now I know a moderate amount. Enough to play mediocre-ly, which is not a word, by the way. Does anyone out there play tennis? Any other sport?

And I'm still learning mandolin. It's real fun (ha) too. But eighth notes are hard, and so are scales. I wonder if I'll ever become a famous mandolinist bluegrass player (my dream :)

And without further ado: pictures.

*clap, clap, clap, clap* 

Me playing the mandolin.

I've been reading Acts lately. You?

I'm also learning to crochet. So much easier than knitting!

I FINISHED ALGEBRA 1!!! Now I'm working on All The Math You'll Ever Need. Good book.

Metal stamping.

 So that's what I've been up to. What has filled your life with pizazz lately?

Grace be with you,

Abby :D






*a rather over-used word around these premises