Busy Weekend

My dear friend Erin changed her last name today! =) I've been pretty busy since Thursday... thus the lack of posting on here. Right now I'll just say a bit about Thursday night and save the rest for later.

My mom drove me to the mall on Thursday so I could meet Erin there. We ran a couple of errands and then went to our girl party. =) We made muffins, apple dip, homemade ice cream, and chicken chili. Let me tell ya folks... Friends and food are two of my favorite things, so I was quite happy!

One thing did dampen my mood for a moment or three. I almost chopped off my thumb! The wound looks very small right now. In fact, when I look at it, I feel like I was being dumb to think it was bad. But then I remember bleeding for three or four minutes over the sink. And having to change my bandage when the first one soaked through. hahaha Why is it that the simple stuff is more dangerous to me than things that *look* more threatening?

We stayed up until two in the morning making boutonnieres and bouquets and watching Enchanted. Then we got up at seven the next morning to start all of the "Day Before" tasks. =)

I need to go get in bed so I don't sleep through church tomorrow! More of the story to come, though! Aaaaaaaand... 1,000 Smartness Points to anyone who correctly guesses what I checked off of my "100 Things" list!

[[P.S. 15,000 Smartness Points to whoever guesses what I accidentally left off of my list and got to do!]]

Analyzed

So... I tried this writing analyzer.

On the first chapter of my book "The Looking Glass":

I write like
J. K. Rowling

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

On a blog post:

I write like
Jane Austen

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

So apparently I have a few *very* different writing styles! =) I like the second idea better, to tell the truth.

Speaking of writing, I'm trying to decide whether or not to attempt NaNoWriMo this month. I have a couple of ideas, but nothing spectacular....

Not to mention that I have a few things going on to keep me busy. (Weddings and whatnot)

I guess I should make up my mind soon if I'm going to do it, though!

A Time for Change

Generally speaking, I like change. Something new and different always excites me. Yet sometimes, in the midst of the excitement, a little niggling of apprehension worms it's way in.

Is this really a good thing?


This week will bring a change around that, to be honest, I'm not sure that I'm ready for. Even though I'm thrilled about it. This change is probably one of the most drastic changes I've experienced in my nearly 20 years.

A wedding.


Not just any wedding. The wedding of one of my closest friends. Of course I've known for a loooooong time that this change was coming. But for some reason the reality of it is just now hitting me. Maybe her marriage won't bring as many changes as I think, but things will definitely be different.

Look at literature. When a girl's best friend gets married, the girl usually ends up leaving. hahaha Just think about it!

Diana gets married.

Anne runs off to Kingsport.

Meg gets married.

Jo runs off to New York.

Cynthia gets married.

Molly runs off to Africa.

Okay, okay. That last one is stretching it a little. But you get the picture. =D

Anyhow... I'm so thrilled for Erin! And I know that I'm worrying too much about the changes that may or may not really affect our friendship. I'm really more excited and happy than I am fearful.

But at least you all have a heads-up now.

I just might run away.

100 Things To Do Before I Die

I just found this saved as a draft among my many blog posts and I thought I'd share it!

I have seen several people do this on their blogs and I love the idea! It's a fun list because it's cool to come back later and repost it with things crossed out. =D Let's see how long it takes me to get 25 things crossed off of my list....

1. Have Refuge in the Storm published
2. Write a song - both the lyrics and the melody
3. See a humpback whale in person... and take a picture!
4. Take a picture of lightning 
5. Get a picture of a leaf as it's falling off of a tree
6. Learn how to take a good picture
7. See Phantom of the Opera performed on stage
8. See Beauty and the Beast on Broadway
9. Own all of Dee Henderson's books
10. Read all of Terri Blackstock's books
11. Read Lord of the Rings
12. Read The Scarlet Pimpernel
13. Read Les Miserables
14. Read the Lark Rise to Candleford books
15. Read 150 biographies
16. Read through the Bible 3 times in 3 years
17. Memorize 50 chapters of the Bible
18. Make $500 on eBay
19. Fly in a small plane ... maybe even fly a small plane!
20. Take a trip by train
21. Take a trip by bus
22. Take a trip by boat
23. Spend an afternoon on a sailboat
24. Visit all 50 states
25. See Old Faithful
26. Go to Prince Edward Island
27. Go to England
28. See Venice in person
29. Go to New York City
30. Take a trip to Israel
31. See the giant redwoods in California
32. Go spelunking 
33. Go snorkeling 
34. Go to the Grand Canyon with Erica
35. See Niagra Falls
36. Spend a whole week "roughing it" outside
37. Go on a missions trip on another continent
38. Go on three missions trips
39. Take 25 trips by plane
40. Own a dog
41. Work as a waitress at a restaurant
42. Get married
43. Have kids
44. Make a quilt start to finish
45. Try chocolate avacado pudding
46. (I kinda can't believe I'm saying this) Try sushi
47. Lead 100 souls to Christ
48. Own an iPod Touch or an iPhone
49. Have my very own laptop
50. Learn to sing "Time to Say Goodbye"
51. Learn to play "Music Box Dancer" on the piano
52. Learn to play "The Entertainer" on the piano
53. Learn sign language
54. Learn ventriloquism
55. Learn to waltz
56. Learn to swing dance (the Charleston!)
57. Learn how to cut hair and have it look good
58. Learn to knit or crochet
59. Learn how to blow bubblegum. It stinks that I can't figure it out!
60. Learn how to spit a watermelon seed really far (lol)
61. Go to a Rockies baseball game
62. Have a bedroom where the furniture and everything matches
63. Live on a farm
64. Write an autobiography
65. Finish writing a book with Bailey
66. Write a suspense novel
67. Collect 50 elephants... just for the fun of it
68. Eat part of an ostrich egg
69. See an exhibit of artifacts from the Titanic
70. Take at least one college class
71. Go to a Civil War ball
72. Have a goldfish or some other little fish
73. Visit the set of a movie during filming
74. Meet someone famous
75. Watch all of Pixar's movies (assuming that they keep making good movies!)
76. Watch all of the episodes of Adam 12 that are on hulu
77. Watch Lord of the Rings
78. Watch Our Mutual Friend
79. Be a contestant (or in the audience) of Wheel of Fortune
80. Spend three summers at camp
81. Make turnovers
82. Make tortillas
83. Make an elaborate cake
84. Make a chocolate raspberry cheesecake 
85. Catch a big fish (big being a relative term ;))
86. Ride an elephant
87. Own a car that I love
88. Get comfortable on ice skates
89. (Totally random and I know I'll get laughed at...) Get kissed while I'm on an amusement park ride =P In a dark tunnel, perhaps. HA I can't believe I said that!
90. Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center or something of the kind
91. Ride a horse that's running... enough of the slowpoke trail ride stuff already! ;)
92. Solve a real life mystery
93. Pet a lion cub
94. Illustrate my poem "Country Summer" so it's like a children's book
95. Get a manicure
96. Try cotton candy - just for the experience
97. Do something with the hundreds of old postage stamps that I have
98. Listen to all available episodes of I Was a Communist for the FBI
99. Visit The WILDS
100. Have something I've written published in a magazine or newspaper

There you have it! Hope that this little window into my soul isn't too frightening! And I can cross one of these out already, thanks to my trip to Wisconsin! Can anyone remember/guess which one? =D

One Warm Snowy Day

Today was supposed to be really warm. It got warm enough to go without a jacket, but it wasn't hot or anything. Now it's chilly. And it's supposed to snow! I'm uber thrilled for the snow to come! =) Fall is probably my favorite season, but I look forward to winter and the holidays all the same.

Here was my day:

• Read a little (I really need to go write a few more reviews on amazon)
• Help clean up the kitchen
• Watch Hogan's Heroes
• Go shopping for wedding gifts
• Get totally let down at Walmart

Okay, I'll elaborate a little on that last part. Walmart is supposed to be there for people, ya know? Well, I went there today to get some things for doing my hair for the wedding and to get some other things for someone very special who has a birthday coming up...... My list for the hairstyle? 

1. A nice headband
2. Bobby pins (These essential hair helpers tend to evaporate after a month or so at my house. Anyone else have that problem?)
3. Styling gel

Okay, so I wasn't totally surprised at the lack of nice headbands. Target seems like a better place to go for that. Still, it's disappointing when you can't get what you need at Wally World. 

Moving on to bobby pins? The rack was empty! How can they be out of BOBBY PINS?! I finally found a pack of 48 pins for 4 dollars. You do the math. 

Yeah, four dollars divided by 48 bobby pins equals: totally dumb purchase IMO

Three strikes and you're out, eh? Not too hopeful about the styling gel. But I actually had the opposite problem here. They have about 50 or so types of styling gel. And as I said before, hair products are pretty foreign to me. So I have no clue if what I got will work or not. But at least I got something!

So that was the less productive part of my productive day. Oh, well. 

Time to go make some guacamole - if the avacados are still good! Hope you all have a fantastic evening!

Scraps in my Workbasket Blog Party

I saw this quiz and decided to do it as part of my getting back into blogging. I don't mean for my blog to become just a bunch of quizzes and giveaways, but I figure it's a good way to get back into things. =)

{1} when you think of "old movies",  what immediately comes to mind? 

Jimmy Stewart. =D And a lot of movies - my favorite probably being It's a Wonderful Life.

{2} who is one of your favorite film or literary heroes (or heroines) and why?

Heroes... Colonel Brandon. Because he's gentle and kind and a man of action, not just a man of talk and intentions.

....................................................
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Heroines... Wow, I have a lot of favorites. I guess I'll just say Jo March for now. I love how honest she is and the fact that she's not afraid to be herself.

{3} if you could live in a movie, which one would it be and why?

Boy oh boy is this one tough! I guess Emma. I like the dresses and the characters. The dances and the estates. In the end, I'd prolly wanna come out of the movie and live my own life, though. =)

{4} music has changed a lot since 1900 - which "modern" type of music is your favorite?

Not really sure about this one...

{5} any songs you'd like to share with us? (lyrics, video, etc.)

 I could share the Duck Song because it makes me laugh... But I guess I'll share the song I have in my head right now instead:

{6} if your life had soundtrack, what would it sound like?

Depends what I'm doing! Adventurous sometimes, calm at other times. A mix of Dear Frankie and Pirates of the Caribbean, I guess. hahaha

{7} when do you start counting down till your birthday?

I guess I just count down each month from August until my birthday. I don't think about it a lot or anything... just on the 14th of each month. =D

{8} what makes your birthday special?

It's Valentines Day. =D And I have simply incredible friends and family!

{9} do you ever wish you were born in a different month?

Meh... Not really

and finally...

{10} pick and post five words to describe your personality - you can add a description under each if you like.

Reliable - Maybe not 100% of the time, but most of the time. If I make a commitment to someone, I do my best to fulfill it.


Imaginative - This is probably one of my best qualities, even though it's my worst character trait. It helps me relate to other people, but I also tend to get lost in my own little world.

Changeable - I like to blend in. Sometimes I am consciously making decisions to act in a manner that will (in my mind) make myself more agreeable to those around me... other times I realize that I'm acting/talking like other people without thinking about it.

Observant - Another good/bad thing. Sometimes I notice stuff that is useful (where someone leaves their iPod, where a store is off of the highway) and other times I notice stuff that I shouldn't. =P

Confusing - I guess I don't really even need to go into detail here. Just look at the first and third words that I used to describe myself! =P

Anyone Out There?

Hey, everybody! Or... nobody. LOL I don't even know if anyone follows me anymore. I've been absent quite a lot lately. I was talking to one of my friends the other day, though, and I decided to start blogging again. I'm hoping to finish blogging about my summer and I have several other posts that I'm kinda wanting to do, too. We shall see!

Right now I'm needing to go shopping for some bobby pins and such. I'm going to be in one of my bestest friends' wedding in less than two weeks and I need to figure out how to do my hair. I think I'm going to try this. I hope I can do something at least a little bit cute-ish! I never do anything with my hair. I basically shampoo and brush it. Curling irons, straightening irons, blow dryers, hairspray, and any other hair products are pretty foreign to me. lol So... I need to practice a little this week and/or next week so that I won't totally botch the whole thing. =D

Anyhow... I'm going to go get some laundry in the dryer. But I'll be back! Maybe even by tomorrow! =)

Blog Failure

So... I actually have my camp posts in the works, I just haven't finished or published any of them. I'm sorry. ='( I'll do that as soon as possible. But for now? ........................ I'm heading to Wisconsin!!!!!! =D

Why? To visit a dear friend who I actually met when I blogged on xanga years ago. Anyone else ever do xanga? I laugh when I think about how many blogs I've had over the years.

I'm looking to redo my blog... I am in the mood for something more modern right now. Does anyone know of a good website to look for templates? I've been using Btemplate a lot, but if ya'll know of somewhere else I can look, that would be awesome!

Sorry I've been such a blog failure. I thought that would end when I got home. I hope to be blogging soon!

Emily

Grand View Summer: Fire!

The Bear Wallow Fire was started on Sunday, May 29, 2011. I heard about it on the same day. It was just an offhand comment about a fire near Hannigan Meadow caused by some careless people who didn't take care of their campfire. I didn't even think about the fire throughout the rest of Sunday or Monday morning. On Monday afternoon I smelled smoke, but I figured that the wind had just blown it over. For some reason I never even thought of the fact that if the wind was blowing the smoke, it was blowing the fire, too.
Around 2 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, the smoke was visible high above us. It eventually reached out and covered the sun, making everything look kinda orange. It was *very* cool. At that point, anyhow.

As the wind blew, I was aware of the smell of the smoke, but it sort of blew away so that it wasn't covering the sun anymore. I called my mom and asked her to pray that the fire wouldn't come to camp. I felt like I was being overly dramatic, but supposed it couldn't hurt.

On Wednesday morning everything looked pretty clear, but the smell of the smoke was present from the time I woke up. After lunch, the smoke from the fire began to reach up again, eventually covering the sun again. This time it didn't blow off, though. Instead, the covering over the sun got thicker and everything got darker. Right before dinner when I stepped outside it sounded like a light rain, but there was no rain. It was ash falling from the sky.

(You can see some blue sky on the bottom left. We had at least SOME blue sky all day Wednesday, but none on Thursday)

(That pink dot in the center? That's all I saw of the sun from Wednesday 'til Thursday night.)

Everything looked foggy on Thursday morning. It wasn't red and yellow like Wednesday, just gray and bleak.

I actually wasn't worried at all. I remembered smoke settling into the valley in the morning where I lived during the wildfires in Colorado several years back. And those fires weren't really a threat. So I just figured that as the day went on the smoke would lift and everything would be fine. Buuuut... it didn't lift.  Shortly after lunch we got the word, "We're going to evacuate". The forest service/fire officials told us that *if* we needed to evacuate, it wouldn't be until Friday, but we were going to leave anyhow.

(All of the flecks in the above picture are flakes of ash.)

As we packed, I pretty much lost track of time. Soon it was pitch black outside. I felt like it couldn't be that late, but as crazy as the day had been, I really had no clue what time it was. So as we drove down the road away from camp, I was surprised to see how it got continually lighter and lighter out until we were in broad daylight!

(Looking back on the smoke we had just come out of.)

Sitting at Sonic for awhile breathing in the fresh air and seeing the smoke from Alpine was when I was finally struck by the gravity of the situation. And I realized that my summer was probably going to be somewhat different than I had imagined.

In case you're interested:

Here is the video Uncle Brian made of the fire:


Wallow Fire Timeline
Here are some pretty incredible pictures of the fire.

Grand View Summer: The Beginning

As you all know, I left Colorado in April. I really had no clue what to expect. My uncle told me that they could keep me busy, but I didn't really know what that busyness would include. One thing I did know? I was excited. For one thing, I was going to camp!!! For another thing, I was going EARLY!!! I don't think that anything could have dampened my spirits.

The trip to Arizona was pretty good. I love road trips! We got into Alpine pretty late, so I dumped my stuff into my cabin (fondly known as the Green Bean) and fell asleep without unpacking anything. I woke up in the morning when I heard a sound outside. It was a small herd of elk right outside my window! Some of you may not get this, but that one thing made me SUPER happy. I like a lot of things about the city, but I'm really a country girl at heart. Through and through. So the elk outside made me even more excited than I already was. =) Here are some pictures of the Green Bean:

 

I can't even remember everything that I did for those first couple of weeks, but I did stay busy! I cleaned out the two dorms... vacuumed (and/or swept) all of the floors and windowsills and mattresses and drawers and closets, washed the windows, cleaned the bathrooms. That sort of thing. One of the dorms took me 4 days to do by myself, so I was very grateful when I got some help on the second dorm. That one only took 2 days. =)
Another project that took 2 days was cleaning out the paintball shed. At least one, if not two, pack rats had lived there all winter. That job goes on my "Top 3 Most Disgusting Things I've Done in My Life" list, but I actually had fun! When you are all by yourself in a shed for several hours is an awesome time for praying. Not that I prayed all day. I also did some singing. I sang songs from Tangled, Anastasia, and Phantom of the Opera... and I didn't bother one. single. person. Ah... that's the life! ;)
Here is a picture of one of the pack rats: (we caught two)

I did a hundred other random things around the camp, but I won't bore you with all of that. =D The two other "bigger" projects I did were cleaning the staff lounge and planting flowers. And I didn't do many flowers compared to Mrs. Roberts... she is the queen of flowers! =) I did pick out one pretty pink flower and I planted it specifically for my dear friend Bailey, since she likes pink. I think I was a tad homesick that day:

It was super exciting (and a tad strange) when the rest of the staff started to arrive. I couldn't wait to get to know everybody. We started staff training and everything was going well. I was happy and excited and wondering what God would teach me over the summer through the campers and the speakers. Little did I know that God had planned out some lessons from waaaaaay different teachers than I had imagined.

Grand View Summer: Prologue

Thank you all for the warm welcome back to the blogging world! I really missed you guys! I decided to go ahead and give you more than just the basics about my summer, so there will several posts:

1. Before the Fire
2. During the Fire/Evacuation
3. Phoenix
4. Regeneration
5. Back to Alpine/Cleanup
6. Camp

I may end up doing more posts if I have a lot to say about the different weeks of camp. We'll see how it all goes. I am really excited about sharing with you all and I hope I don't leave out anything important! 

I don't know how much I will be posting this week. One of my very bestest friends ever is getting married in November and I'm going to go spend some of the week with her. Hopefully we can get bridesmaid dresses picked out! =D

Anyhow... That's the plan for what I'll be blogging about for a bit. I thought I'd pop in and let you all know that I'm still here. =)

I'm Back!

Soo.... I've been back in Colorado for a week now. I apologize for not blogging sooner. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things on here! I had about 300 unread blog subscriptions, so getting through those has been somewhat slow. Hopefully I can finish soon and maybe even comment on a few of ya'll's blogs. =D

Well, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about my summer today just because I don't feel like it. (Gotta get back into blogging mode) I suppose I could try to put it in a nutshell for you, though. After we got evacuated due to the fire, the staff spent a week at International Baptist College in Chandler, AZ area. From there we went to the San Carlos Indian Reservation to do some work with Regeneration Ministries. After our time with Regeneration we were finally able to get back into Alpine. We had about a week that was just cleanup... fire makes a big *big* mess, in case you were wondering. Following our getting camp ship-shape, we had 3 weeks of camp. It was awesome! I am definitely planning on going back next summer if God allows.

Anyhow... That's pretty much just the surface of the nutshell. I'll either give you a deeper nutshell view later or even the whole shabang. =D For now I just wanted to pop in and say 'hi' and 'I've missed you' and let you know that I'm around again!

Tata!

Around the Campfire

Okay.... This isn't around the campfire. It's the forest fire around us. I took tons of pictures today, but I only uploaded a couple 'cause 1. it's  late and 2. I don't want to tie up the internet. Anyhow.... Here is some of the smoke that I've been inhaling most of the day:



That little pink dot in the center of this picture is all I've seen of the sun since around 1:30. You can kinda see it in the picture above, too.



The "Green Bean" with a bunch of smoke behind it. At least *some* of the smoke is pretty. Most of it is just a nasty gray-orange that made everything... the trees, the ground, the buildings, etc etc etc look orange.



Anyhow, we've been getting rained on by ashes. There's both black and white ash everywhere. Right now it looks like the camp will be fine, but prayers would be appreciated. =D

I'm gonna go hit the sack. Miss ya'll!

His Robes for Mine

His Robes For Mine

by Chris Anderson

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!

Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage.

Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.

In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:

Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.

Bought by such love, my life is not my own.

My praise - my all - shall be for Christ alone.

His robes for mine: what cause have I for dread?

God’s daunting Law Christ mastered in my stead.

Faultless I stand with righteous works not mine,

Saved by my Lord’s vicarious death and life.

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:

Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.

Bought by such love, my life is not my own.

My praise - my all - shall be for Christ alone.

His robes for mine: God’s justice is appeased.

Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father’s pleased.

Christ drank God’s wrath on sin, then cried “‘Tis done!”

Sin’s wage is paid; propitiation won.

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:

Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.

Bought by such love, my life is not my own.

My praise - my all - shall be for Christ alone.

His robes for mine: such anguish none can know.

Christ, God’s beloved, condemned as though His foe.

He, as though I, accursed and left alone;

I, as though He, embraced and welcomed home!

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:

Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.

Bought by such love, my life is not my own.

My praise - my all - shall be for Christ alone.

__________________

Wow.

No, seriously. Did you READ that? Did you THINK about it? If not, please go back!

WOW!!!!

A Whole New World

So... I have a Disney song stuck in my head right now and decided to use it for my post title. It kinda fits some of what I have to say. =)

I have now been in Arizona for almost two weeks. It's been great! The trip down here was pretty good overall, though we did run into a few problems. Wind and broken brakes. Nothing major. lol

I am staying in a little cabin called the "green bean." It has a bedroom, a bathroom, a small kitchen, and a small living room. I love it! I even have a small refrigerator, so I can keep important stuff like salsa and peanut butter around.

(I've been coming to realize that I'm weird when it comes to the temperature of things. I dislike room temperature peanut butter, salsa, or rice milk. Cold cold cold is the best! I think there was something else that some people eat room temperature that I prefer cold... but I don't remember what it was.)

I've been keeping pretty busy cleaning stuff... a cabin, a shed, etc. I've been helping go through a bunch of storage boxes, too. I have enjoyed pretty much every moment here. The worst thing was cleaning up after a pack rat that moved into a storage place. That was one messy critter! I actually didn't mind most of the mess, but there was a stove that was being stored, and the little guy ... messed it up. In spite of how disgusting it was, it only took me 10-15 minutes to clean. So 10-15 not-so-great minutes out of two weeks is not bad at all. =D

I got a library card (a very important thing no matter where I'm at!) last week and checked out a few books. Now I just have to make sure that I keep up with my account. As fast as time is flying here, that could be a bit difficult.

The weather here has been kinda cool, but very dry. I'm using lotion like crazy. I'm definitely going to need a new bottle before I leave. Even though I opened the bottle here. And chapstick???? I was already using a lot in Colorado. Here? I'm going through it pretty quick. ly.

I need to get back to work, but I'll try to post when I can! Hope you all are doing well! I really need to try and gets some time to read ya'll's blogs and comment on them.

TTFN!