No, I didn't go Cuy'val Dar...

I have been quite lax, but I have not fallen off the face of the earth. :)
I have graduated, and started college at Stark State college of Technology since I last posted...water under the bridge.
I thank the Lord for the things He has brought about in my life this year. It has seemed to go by very fast, especially the last couple of months...
Facebook has seemed to draw my attention away from my blog, even my forums! Narniaweb has suffered the worst, I think! I really need to figure out how to budget my pleasure computer time between them, and also, I need to severely cut down on my computer time period!

Anyway...I suppose I should have a song...what to pick...

Song: Grace
Artist: Jason Gray
Album: All The Lovely Losers

Sweet Grace amazes me
The way that she can see
Beyond the man I am
To the man that I could be
She's bringing out my best
While she covers all the rest
Some say her love is blind
But I say her love forgets

She don't like it when I try so hard to impress her
‘Cause when I do that, it's a lie that makes her love look the lesser
The truth is I know

I'll never be, I'll never be good enough
I'll never deserve her love
I'll never be, I'll never be good enough for Grace
But she takes me anyway

I am the cheatin' kind
But she's changing my mind
The way she takes me back
Though I fail her every time
She's got friends who tell her that she
Is much too good for me
Well, I've told her that myself
But she refuses to leave

I'd like to think my strength won her affection
But the truth is it was my weakness that caught her attention
I'm grateful to know

When my tears fall down like rain
She wipes them from my face
She tells me that I'm lovely
And if I am, it's all because of Grace
This love turns my inside out
And my world upside down
Grace is changing me…



...Oh, and for those of you who aren't quite brushed up on your Mando, Cuy'val Dar is a state of existence translated, Those who no longer exist. In Mandalorian culture, one would become Cuy'val Dar as a means to disappear, either to escape someone, or more commonly to not endanger those left behind. Normally, they would not take on other identities, just be themselves in another setting, where they would not be found.

...yeah. :)

Breaking the silence

Yeah, I've done it again...
Well, I just finished filing sales tax for our business, and now I'm relaxing listening to Immediate Music's album "Trailerhead". While it may not relax other people, I really like it! :-)
So far 'Prometheus Rising' is probably my favorite track. And 'Imperitum' is similar to a track I have already called 'Imperitus', except the former on the album has a choral element! (No surprise that I like it better. :))
'Onward to Freedom' I'm liking right now...(it's what's playing. :))

Anyway, I thought I'd pop in and update.

I'm going to be staying over at Grammy and Grampy F's for a couple of days , so that will be nice.

I'm invading!

I'm invading your blog dear brother, dear brother!

Hi, I'm Caleb's little sister, and I now share this with him since I can't get my own yet. :(

I love crocheting and horses and ice skating. I'm CrochetGirl96 on learn-crochet-now.com, and crocheter4jesus on crochetville.com. Please visit me there.:) I'll be posting some of my creations that I've made so be prepared! :P :)

Stuff...

Well, I have officially neglected this blog, I think...
Yesterday, Brandon turned twenty. Scary, isn't it?
Today we went to Grabers' house for Sunday worship and when we got home, Daddy and the boys went to pick up chicks from the dad of the lady who hatched them for us. We give her eggs and she hatches them in the classroom and then gives the chicks back to us. It's a pretty nice arrangement, I think. :-)

Then this evening we're going to see Bringing Up Bobby, a film that Mike Thorn worked on, so that should be a lot of fun. You can check it out at bringingupbobby.com.

April showers, yes, but...of what?

April showers bring May flowers, correct? Correct, everyone agrees upon that;
but we've made a new discovery: A warm, dry April brings April SNOW showers!
That's right folks! It's snowing as I type! It's actually been snowing for a good part of the day, but it's cold enough now that it's actually accumulating.

Guys' night out (Or, 'The Rock and a Comedy of Errors')

Okay, here we go, those of you who have waited impatiently to hear of our adventure last Friday...
It started out about a week or before that day, when we got an email from a mom from our homeschool group. It was an invitation to come to The Rock, (a Christian Cafe in Kent,) to see her daughter Leila perform her original music.
There had been two or three earlier other performances, (that we had been invited to,) at The Rock by Leila and the other members of her band, Outside the City.
Mommy had encouraged Brandon and I to go and support another homeschooler.
We hadn't gone the first couple of times because things came up or we had other things going on, etc.

So this time, when we got the email, we decided we would go. Brandon and I took off around 7:30-7:45 PM Friday night. The concert was starting at 8. We had several movies we had to return to Drug Mart afterward, and Mommy had asked that we stop and pick up paper at Carters' house.
We arrived at The Rock on time...we might have been a few minutes after 8, I think...
At any rate, we got there before the the music began, so I was content. We talked some with some friends who were there and Mrs. Hallenbeck. After a little warming up, the music started and everyone took seats.

The Rock turned out to be a pretty nice place. The music was good, though the mixing was not quite right, Brandon said, and I agreed. Afterward, we were preparing to leave, and as we boarded the van, I decided I would call home and see whether Mommy had indeed called the Carter's to find out if it was alright for us to stop. It was then a little after 9 PM. In consternation, I found that I did not have the phone with me. I also knew that I had not had it out of my pocket since leaving home. Did I indeed have the phone?

The comedy of errors had begun!

Needless to say I was a little shook up when I realized I didn't have the phone...as Brandon so ably put it, "We can't go home without that." I tried to rationalize that somehow I had not even brought it from home, but I distinctly remembered putting into the pocket of my sweatshirt. Brandon decided we should go back inside and see if it hadn't fallen out of my pocket where we were sitting. I didn't think it was likely, but at least it was something to do...at least we'd be sure.
I stepped down and shut the door, moved around the front of the van and met Brandon, who'd just shut his door. The look on his face told me everything, he didn't have to utter a word.
I groaned. We were locked out.
In my opinion, based on my limited experiences, locking yourself out of your car is one of the worst things that can happen, and here we were in Kent at 9:30, with no phone, and locked out of our vehicle. Brandon summed it up well, "Some adults we are."
It's hard to keep an optimistic outlook in a situation like that, but I happen to have a pretty optimistic outlook in life, so I tried to keep that it mind. Maybe the phone had dropped out inside
and we could just walk in and pick it up. Sagging mentally and, to some degree at least, physically, we walked back into the cafe. We looked around our seat - no phone.
The next step of course...well, what was it?
Why of course, we needed to make contact with base camp...but given our lack of a phone, we needed some help. As designated spokesperson, I made the request for the use of a phone to Mrs. Gilliland. She sent one of the kids to get Mr. Gilliland, who lent us the use of his phone, so I could call home. Feeling like a runaway puppy caught in the rain with his tail between his legs, I related the situation to Mommy. She said Daddy was out, and she would call him and have him bring us another set of keys. I thinked Mr. Gilliland, and Brandon and I settled down to wait.
I tried to get Brandon to see the funny side of the situation, but I didn't make much headway there. I on the other hand, now that the matter was resolved, (at least in my mind) knew that a week from then we would be laughing over it with friends. I began to play chess, (with my self,) and eventually I won! Meanwhile Brandon read a bit from a book on card games, and then tried to divert himself with a metal puzzle...you know the ones, with two horseshoes chained together and a ring between them. This went on for about a half an hour or 45 minutes...punctuated at intervals by a glance over my shoulder out the window...waiting.

It was probably about 10 or maybe a little after when Daddy walked in. He did not look very amused by our situation, of course, Brandon and I were not all that amused either, but I was moving in that direction. The adventures were over, Daddy was there and within a few minutes we'd be heading for home.

We all trouped outside and triumphantly unlocked the doors of the van. I turned to say something to Daddy as Brandon climbed in, but I was interrupted by a horrible noise...a grating wheeze followed by a series of unfriendly clicks. The battery this time. I didn't even bother to groan this time, I just started to laugh. I had been wrong. The adventure was by no means over! It was just beginning! Now it was Daddy's turn to feel a wave of consternation. He had used the jumper cables a few days before, and had thought of putting them right into the van, but hadn't. So the van was not going anywhere. There was only one thing to be done. Go home in Daddy's car and get the jumper cables. None of us were looking forward to doing that, though...
I still couldn't get over how ridiculous the whole situation was, and how funny it was because of the that.

We got home and the garage door was shut. Daddy called Mommy from outside and asked her to open the garage door. she did, he grabbed the jumper cables and then told her she could shut the door. I didn't figure she would, and I was right. She came out and asked what was going on.
We told her; all the gory details...
She was not as frustrated with us as I had expected, or as Daddy had expected, I think, and after telling her everything, we took off once again.

By the time we got back to The Rock, I thought the whole thing was hilarious. Maybe it was because it was getting late and that combined with all the changes in emotions in the last hour was making me slap happy...a very real condition in our family. Daddy's car is a two door , and I was in the back seat, so when Brandon and Daddy got out, Daddy had to pull his seat down so I could get out. I started to unfold myself from the back of the car and maneuver over the seat and out the door, and I was having some difficulty. Daddy tried to help me, but my foot got caught in the seat belt and I ended up falling out onto the parking lot. This was getting funnier all the time. Now to complicate matters, Daddy's driver's side door doesn't stay open on its own...it will just shut if you leave it alone. So after I fell, with my foot tangled in the seat belt, the door closed partway on the seat belt, so I couldn't un-loop my foot from it! Daddy tried to help me by opening the door, but he wound up stepping on one of my hands. It didn't hurt enough to curb our laughing, it only served to increase it.

We proceeded to jump the van and it started right up.I opened my door, and and what should fall out but the phone! It had been there all along!

...I know the end is kind of anticlimactic, but, that's the way it happened.:-)

Now I've just got to finish my story of meeting the Bashaws...

Song of the Month (March)

Song: King
Artist: tree63
Album: The Answer to the Question

We have heard the thunder
We have seen the storm
Echoes of your kingdom coming
Rumors of our home
Where one day we will stand before you Lord
Our altogether beautiful reward

CHORUS:
And we will give you glory, bring you honor
King above all kings
You deserve our everything
We will lift our voices with your praises
Jesus you are our king

Though now we walk in darkness
Though now we see in part
Right now we're warmed by the burning flames
Of the fire in our hearts
You've promised you would lead us to your throne
Where we will worship you and you alone

CHORUS