Excited!!!!!!!

It seems too good to be true.

I never thought he’d notice me. Little old me, who hardly ever talked to him.

The guy really likes me. Wow!

A few years ago, I began to get to know him better, and immediately, I was hooked. I was in love.  He sent me little things quite often, trinkets to remind me of how much he liked me. I wasn’t sure if he really loved me-loved me, but I cautiously took the gifts, and he earned my full trust.

He was at Summit last year, taking me by surprise. I came expecting a few weeks of study, and there he was. It was so delightful to spend those weeks with him! An unexpected sweet surprise. Ahh!

Now I am completely head over heels with this guy- the person I’ll spend forever with.

I hope I can please him, and will try my best to remain faithful.

Girls, I can’t believe it! It’s a dream come true.

This Person loves me so much, He saved my soul.

(No, I’m not getting married… yet… but am eagerly awaiting the day I see my Groom face-to-face!!)

Apron Update

The dusty foot

Stitches.. which we couldn’t use… because we had no idea how to change feet?

I’m pretty sure I’ll have it done by tomorrow!

Oh, and the last of my “Pressures” series finishes up on Monday, which is also that surprise page that will appear… for a while…

Snowy Days

With such a pretty layer of new snow on the ground, I thought I’d tell you about our past three days in pictures

Sun on the snow… aww.

This is before we got the “big” storm on Feb. 2nd. This was taken on last Sunday, prior to the blizzard.

The view out my window on Tuesday afternoon, just as the storm was setting in.

Our backyard, late afternoon Tuesday, pre fort/hill/sledding mound.

Me watching the snowstorm clear out on Wednesday. We had about five minutes of heavy snow, two minutes of clearing, one minute of beautiful sun, then it would cloud over and snow again. Repeat about four times, and the storm ended… This was taken obviously during the one minute sun interval

So, remember the pre fort yard? We shoveled a good 1/3 section of our 1/4 acre backyard and mounded it into a pile. Then we sledded down it! To give you an idea ho high is, I’m 5’7″ and the big mound was at my level.

This morning, we woke up and watched the weather, and the man said 2-4 inches of snow expected. Okay, no big deal.

We got 6. Driving home from cleaning our portion of church, we couldn’t see where the road ended and field began! The visibilty? 1/4 mile. Yikes! The flakes were Goliath-sized. Like a potato chip.

Sigh. We have 8ft piles of snow at the ends of some driveways on our street. 

And we’re supposed to get “1-3″ overnight.

Ha.

Any who,

I just looked out my window the other way at our neighbor’s window and saw the pretty icicles gleaming in the dark. Naturally, I had to take a picture.

Our deck lights and an MDOT plow’s head lamps illuminating the 4ft snow piles along the street. A few more inches of snow and we won’t get mail. (Honey… where’s our box?)

To close the week, we made Whopper cookies (The best thing that ever happened to me). Recipe below~

Whopper (Maltese, Malted Milk Ball) Cookies

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups flour ( we used 2-3/4 so they spread a little)

2 cups coarsely chopped Whopper (Do not chop too little, or they will dissolve)

Mix wet ingredients, add dry, mix well, and drop onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes…

Enjoy.

Have a lovely day!

Pressure To Just Let Things Go…

Yikes.

Don’t ever get 12 inches of snow.

Ever.

On top of previous totals.

I think I spent 4 hours shoveling yesterday. At least my snow removal business is booming.  At least I burned over 1500 calories.

Oh yes, I’m used to a fresh inch or two of snowfall overnight that just dusts off your car every morning…but 12 inches at once. Sigh.

Any whoo, I did my devotions this morning with Lydia Brownback’s “Trust” (I got all four in her series for Christmas). It talked about clearing sin and putting faith fully, openly in God.  I sat down at my desk and began to write this post when I was through:

When you get snowed on (like what happened here), the first thing you should naturally do is dig yourself out. If you don’t, you won’t get very far. You’ll sit and spin your tires, and not go anywhere.

But it can get worse.

When snowplows go by, the end of your driveway gets 2 or 3 feet of extra snow piled in, making passage impossible. The end of your driveway is the outlet to freedom…but when the little red truck with a giant blade swipes the snow in your way, you end up (as in our case) with 2 1/2 feet of snow blocking freedom.  Dig yourself out.

The same goes for sin. Let me tell that little tale again.

When you start to backslide and let your faith go,  the only thing you can do is choose to stop being complacent and lazy and get growing again. If you don’t do anything and choose to ignore the Holy Spirit’s prompts,  you’ll go nowhere. You sit and whine that you don’t feel as on fire for God as you once did. You start living for yourself. How wonderfully useful your life becomes (not). Your faith is your outlet to the narrow way. Let your heart harden, and your faith stands still, the sin piles up, blocking the way to knowing God intimately. There is no freedom in this! It is up to you to CHOOSE to obey the little voice in your head. The voice that is saying “Come back!”

You can dig yourself out of the pit with asking for forgiveness and for a desire to grow.

This pressure comes from Satan, who is always looking stunt someone’s spiritual growth.

I know I’ve been feeling this pressure lately. I haven’t been keeping up with studying the 1,000 verses I’ve set out to memorize. I’m only at 77 at the time of this writing. I’m about 10 behind. I’ve also felt the temptation to read romance novels very strongly as of late. See the connection? I did, and I’m working hard at getting passages in my head again!

On the lighter side, my dad made cookies this past Sunday for the first time… and nobody died {yet}!

Also, I know some of you have done Mrs. Morecraft’s writing course a few months ago. Well, I hear she’s having a new course soon! I’d like to do this, but it looked kind of … umm, confusing? The syllabus was all relating to food (language and eating… is there a connection?), and her style came across as eccentric. (Like she’s a few fries short of a happy meal) But, what I was able to understand looked like it was worth looking into. So, what was your opinion of the past class, what’s she like, did you learn anything, and are you doing the next part? I’d like to know!

11 Random Things

Okay, I’m not turning into a hedonist, but I think this post should be a little funny, considering my previous post in which I shared about my convitions about Helloween. It’ll be hodgey podgey thoughts, some funny, some serious.

Random Thing #1

Looking through “searches” under my site stats, people have found my blog by typing in the following more than once:

cheap echoes for windy days (I guess cheap echoes are all the rage?)

laura harriott is mean to me (Uh! Not fair! They must be thinking of  different Laura!)

laura harriott hot (I guess they weren’t aware I blog about courtship, purity, and being just friends with guys!)

how much does laura harriott weigh (118. There you go. Somebody I know must be very nosey)

laura harriott quest tutorial adrian (That’s the homeschool co-op group I take classes at!  Whoever typed that is a creepy homeschooler!)

upload a pic and put braces on your self (Sorry, I don’t offer that. I’ll consider it in the future)

laura harriott’s dundee tornado pictures in michigan (Yes! finally something I have!)

good hand washing directions (Yup, I’m the girl for that. Click on the “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness” page)

how to find echoes in the wind (Well, put on super-sonic goggles and watch very carefully)

I googled some of these myself, and they didn’t come up on Google. Amusing.

Random Thing #2

Answer these Questions for Extra Credit…

Was king Rohoboam a good King or a bad king?

Was Hezekiah a good king or a bad king? Why?

What was the name of the apostle that was sent to the Eunuch?

Finish this verse: “If you love me….

Random Thing #3

The most viewed post on my blog is:

Church Fellowship Ideas!

…with an average of 27 views a day.

Random Thing #4

Christ died on a Thursday. He entered into Jerusalem on a Sunday, ate the last supper as the first meal of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on Wednesday. They had to hurry and crucify him on Thursday before the Passover began on Thursday at 6. For three days, nobody could do anything until the Suday morning, after the double Sabbath was over. So, we can conclude Christ was in the tomb for three nights. What’s up with Good Friday?

Random Thing #5

Look up Psalms 16. Tell me your favorite verse. Mine is 8 onto the end of the chapter! Now, look up Isaiah 61. Oh the beauty of these verses! Again, tell me your favorite verse.

Random Thing #6

Book Quote:

I was innocently reading my daily Proverb, which happened to be 31… I wasn’t paying attention to the words very closely, figuring they wouldn’t apply to me until after I became a wife…Yet suddenly my eye fell on a verse and the words stood out to me:

She [the wife of godly character] brings him [the husband] good, not harm, all the days of her life. (Proverbs 31:12 NIV)

Wait a minute, ALL the days of her life? What was that supposed to mean? I had yet to meet any woman who had been married all of her life!

…I felt a gentle nudge on my heart. And, somehow, I knew this wat what God wanted for me. To seek my future husband’s highest good. Right now. How can I love somebody I’ve never met? I’m keeping an abstinence commitment for him… what else can I possibly do for him?

That is from When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy. It’s a little paraphrased. To find out what you can do for your future spouse, read the book!

Random Thing #7

Islam, (according to Noah Hutchings), is not America-friendly.

Can A Muslim Be An Acceptable US Citizen?

Religiously, no… because no other religion is accepted/loved by his Allah but Islam.

Socially, no… because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to be friends with Jews or Christians.

Intellectually, no… because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on BIBLICAL principles and the Muslim believes the Bible is corrupt.

Politcally, no… because he must submit to the mullahs who teach total annihilation of Israel and America.

Random Thing #8

Don’t never use a double negative.

Contractions aren’t necessary.

Random Thing #9

Did you know I just figured out Santa is Satan mispelled? See?

Random Thing #10

Firehouses have circular stairways because the engines were at a time pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor, and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

“Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” is the longest English word according to my Oxford English Dictionary. Yes, I spelled that right without a dictionary.

Mr. (Fred) Rogers was an ordained minister.

Random Thing #11

Recently, my teacher sent me a homework assignment sheet for Forensic Science and Government. Thing is, the documents would appear in Hindi. My teacher wanted to know how I recognized Hindi. Well, I’m a nerd. I’m the girl who buys 25c language tapes at garage sales. I sit in front of Google translator memorizing phrases I type in. Mostly, I study alphabet and pronounciations. Mostly, I can tell you how a word is pronounced, but I can’t tell you what it means. (I know, real helpful). I’m up to about 17 alphabets, and I can recognize most writings and know what language people are speaking in! I hope to work on Hebrew next.

Okay. There ya go. 11 Random Things. And yes, please respond to the questions that were asked.

Feel free to post some random facts about you or your site.

Hay You! (and other random thoughts)

I’ve had a few friends tell me to make a post out of a spectacular hayride we went on, and really, it was a random ride. So, here’s the story, and I hope you get a few laughs out of it!

Last Friday night, our homeschool group had a teen bonfire. It started out typically, with people sitting around the fire and chatting, staring at the fire, and complaining about the cold. After about an hour of this, (which was fine…), things became a little more exciting. The “F” family, who hosted the gathering, decided we needed a hay ride. Mr. F pulled up a decent size tractor and a rather large hay wagon hitched to it. Some of us made a mad dash for it and leaped into the wagon- which was, by the way, 6 1/2, 7-ish feet off the ground! Once everyone was loaded on we were off, going down back roads…

and more back roads…

                                         …your typical hayride…

…complete with annoying guys throwing straw at your face and the faces of your friends!

We discussed a wide variety of topics (including why these things were called hayrides when you really sat on straw bales) and sat shivering, looking at the stars, the full moon, the faint Milky Way… aaahh! It was nice!

 After cutting  I mean wildly weaving through a bumpy fallow field, we took a turn away from homebase towards Blissfield, a town of about three thousand. Sure enough, we entered the city limits! I assumed we would just make a left and head back… but I was wrong. Oh boy was I wrong.

We turned right! Now, can you picture this for me? A slowpoke tractor entering into a sort of busy town, a giant haywagon packed with 20-some teens, most of them waving  and shouting at  traffic, passing under orange street lights on a dark Friday night! It was fun to tour a familiar town in the dark, in a haywagon, going 20 miles an hour. We took a turn for the the main donwtown area, going by Coney Island restaurant. Can you imagine being an old couple sitting by the window, enjoying your typical Friday night out… then seeing a stray tractor go by with a truckload of teens waving at you? We just made their year!

Oh, my sides ache from laughing at the thought!

It gets better!

After wanderin’ about side streets, Mr. F. headed further east… turning into…

MCDONALDS!

  We pulled up by the drive thru order box and stopped. I wish I had gotten pictures! After saying hello we pulled away, probably disappointing the workers inside. After all, which MickeyD’s employee can say they’ve filled an order of 20 people in a haywagon?!

Next stop on the grand tour: Subway! The Subway in Blissfield is located in a parking lot next to a trailer park. After toodling around that parking lot, we ended up in the trailer park. After waving at older people eating their dinners inside the double-wides and saying hello to one girl’s grandma, we left for home.

On the way home, we had the distinct pleasure of starting straw wars. Stealthily gathering handfuls of hay, we singled out a person and showered them with  bombs handfuls of straw. It got a little out of hand as the people towards the rear tore apart two of their hay bales and threw them around. Eventually the whole wagon was just filled with loose hay straw.

What a night.

To top off the evening, we played Capture the Flag by moonlight. Not fun when you forget there’s clotheslines in the yard and you don’t see them. Yup, I ran into them and about hung myself. Not funny.

What a story!

Now, I’m not allergic to hay, but when I arrived home, my eyes were very itchy, my hair was full of hay- er – straw, and I had to stand outside on the back steps and shake myself clean before I went inside. It was irritating! How do you respond to irritants? Do you complain and make a huge deal? Or do you suffer quietly? Sometimes you’ll need medical attention for an irritant, but do you really need to get mad at your little brother for stomping on your artwork? Respond wisely! These kinds of irritants are tests from God! Irritants can be: siblings, weird friends, rules, a least favorite food at dinner, someone telling lies about you, or a crazy driver going 15 miles per hour in a 55 zone. (like the guy we followed today…) You get the idea.      Be slow to anger.

Now, for some photos of the night:

Throwing hay… wheeee! Aah! Whee! NOOO! Aaah! It’s in my eyes!

Discussing “important” topics. Like “I wish I had a Milky Way.”  “On the count of three, we’re all going to jump off.”

As you can tell, we were sitting up to our chests in hay… grabbing armfuls and whipping it at each other, the road, and cars. (oops)

Happy Fall!

A Romp to The Middle East- er- Ann Arbor (a fun story)

Tomorrow is our church’s International Dinner. The name speaks for itself: everyone brings a plate or pot of an ethnic food to share. It’s quite interesting, we have usually have pickled eggs, sauerkraut, kimchee, and of course, enchiladas.

My mom and I decided to rock the boat and head towards the Middle East and Mediterranean area for some recipes. We found some online, but ingredients like Couscous and Zaa’tar and ground sumac aren’t readily available in Meijer’s. With Ann Arbor a few miles to the north, my mom figured there would be something in the way of eastern shops that we had not yet discovered. After all, they have Chinese, Korean, English, Irish, African, and Italian specialty shops, why not Arabic?

So, mom stumbled upon “Mediterranean Market” in a Google search.

We arrived, and it looked quite ordinary on the outside. But inside it was another world.

The store smelled wodnerfully spicy as we explored the several aisles. Spices of every sort and citrus produce lined the aisles. Looking up, I saw the flags of every Mediterranean country. And Saudi Arabia’s. And Iran’s. And Turkmenistan’s. And Oman’s. And Afghanistan’s.

Only one was missing:

The country of Israel’s. Yahweh’s chosen people.

Trying to shove that sad feeling aside as I realized these people weren’t so friendly towards Israelis, I turned around to see posters of Mecca and the new clock tower that looks like Big Ben. (Because their goal is to make Mecca the center of time, not London). Turning down another aisle were spice racks. They weren’t in your typical McCormick bottles. They were in bags with almost entirely Arabic writing on them. And boy, were they cheap! Cardamon, Zaa’tar, White Pepper, Sesame Seeds, etc.

Then, it was fun to explore all the foods they offered. Tahini: ground sesame seeds. Would you like pomegranate, original, orange, or berry flavor? Olives: red, green, black, or purple? How about some dried figs and dates? Or maybe some lamb? Arab wine with Mohammed on the bottle?

Couscous from Morocco ^

It was even more interesting to see a woman in hijab at the check out station.

What an uber-ly international day…

Thought that would be an intresting story to share!

general revelation

I am taking a photography class, and this week’s assignment is shooting a landscape from far away, then closer.

Here are some close-ups I like, but don’t seem quite right to send in as a “landscape.”

It reminds me of how God is revealed through nature to everyone… so take time to smell the roses! It’s general revelation!

And while I’m at it, I’d like you to take this poll:

She’s Back…

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to tell you that Summit was a mountain top experience. My roommates were awesome, and at times, CRAZY (more on that later). The food was good, and even though it wasn’t the natural, healthy stuff I’m used to at home, it agreed with me. We had to walk 3/4 of a mile from the Summit area to the dining hall: six times a day…my shorts are looser. My metabolism is running at a high rate, so  snacked about 3 times today, besides meals.

I will eventually load up some of the better pictures of the week onto my photoblog… but for now, I hear a short hiatus calling

Be back Monday!

The Great Winker and the Little Winkees

Ever play Wink? It’s a game where you have a circle of chairs, with a person in each chair- except for one. There is a person behind each chair, including the empty one. The person standing behind the empty chair has to sneakily wink at somebody. When winked at, a person must try to leave his chair and go to the winker’s chair. But, here’s the catch: the person behind the winkee (the person who was winked at) has to tap the winkee’s shoulder. Once that happens, the winkee does not join the winker, and the winker tries again by winking at another person. If the winkee is successful in leaving his chair, the chair is now empty and the person behind it becomes the new winker.

Uh-huh.

Sounds easy, right? I’m not great at explaining things.

But if you happen to understand my awful explanation of this game, I beg you to continue reading.

When God calls us to do His work, He is like the winker. We want to get up and forsake our old life (the chair) and follow His leading. But, Satan (the person behind you) will try to tap you on the shoulder and distract you from leaving his hold.  He wants you to stay in sin.

Not that chairs are sinful.

But you get the picture.

You also tend to get distracted when playing Wink. You get so wrapped up in intently watching the winker. When he winks at you, it takes a second to comprehend it. You barely move and get tapped. You may be a little slow starting out as a winkee.

It gets better and sweeter with practice. Just like a Christian has to read his Bible and become spiritually strong: he’s getting better at his faith.

I guess you could call God the Great Winker. The church could be called the Little Winkees. (I go to First Church of the Little Winkees…)

cue giant grin. wasn’t this post ridiculous? i’m running out of ideas…:-)