Catch Up...

Ok, yeah, I know I haven't posted in a LONG time, but you have to understand that I can't spend all my time on the computer ;)! Anyway, with finals in school, and finishing that up, then trying to get at least somewhat caught up on my 'other' life, I just have not had the opportunity to blog for several weeks, as I'm sure you've noticed (my visitor counter tells me you have been faithfully visiting - I'm sorry I haven't had anything fresh for you in so long!). I don't think I've even looked at another blog in about four weeks or so, except for just a short, unsatisfactory glance. So I appologize for the lack of comments on the blogs I usually follow regularly - I hope to do some back-reading, to try to catch up on what's been going on with y'all during my month-long 'blog silence'.



So, what's been going on with me lately? Well, (in a nutshell) of course besides finishing up school, I've been doing alot of picking-up-clutter, vacuuming, yard/garden work, feeding animals, doing dishes, and just in general trying to catch up on all my chores that have been, out of necessity, sadly neglected and/or left on Trissy's and Mom's shoulders while I scrambled with finals and end-of-semester assignments. I've also had the privalege of starting a book (for pleasure, this time - not a textbook!), spending evenings with Dad, Mom, Trissy, and my grandparents instead of studying, being outside, putting in a couple of extra days at work (saving for a camera), being available when my family needed an extra hand with something, planning a baby quilt for a friend, getting in bed before 2:00 AM, and other little pleasures of ordinary, every-day existance that, I regret to say, I took slightly for granted before I aquired a second life and identity called, 'college student'.



So that's it in a nutshell. I'll try to begin posting again in more detail as I get the chance.



I never filled y'all in on the chicks we were supposed to have hatch. Well, out of the dozen-and-a-half, only seven broke the shell. Of those, five actually hatched. And one of those is crippled. But he/it has certainly taught me lessons on patience, perseverance, compassion, responsibility, and determination. It flaps it's wings and kicks with one leg and scoots on it's stomach instead of walking, but it is slowly learning how to get around. The other four are big enough that they are already out in the chicken pen with the big chickens, but this little guy is still up here at the house in a cardboard box, and I feed and water it every couple of hours or so. Since it has such little control over it's fine-motor mobility, I have to hold it so it can reach into the little cup of feed or water, and it pecks and drinks that way. Alot of people would/do think it's an awful lot of trouble to go to for just one crippled chick. Why not just go ahead and put it out of it's misery, and save myself alot of time and trouble as well? But here's the thing: It seems like a principle - I/we prayed that it would live, when it first hatched and it seemed like there was no way it could survive. And the Lord caused it to live and even thrive, except for it's crippledness. Also, I feel like the Lord is using it to teach me lessons in character like the list I mentioned above. He doesn't just throw us away when we're hurting does He? And a parent (at least, a Godly one) doesn't give up, when they have a hurt or handicapped child! Of course not! So, as I try to help it along, I'm praying the Lord will teach me lessons in the situation, and I'm still holding out hope that eventually the chick will become independent and I will be rewarded for all my efforts.

Well, that is all the time I have for tonight. Lord willing, I will be able to update y'all on some of the other things that have been happening to me ;) , hopfully soon, but if not, please bear with me and rest assured, I do plan to come back! :)

May the Lord work mightily in your lives! 'Til we meet again -

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

-Kyrie<><

TV Tales, Country Expirements, and Basic Random

Hello dear people! My gracious, I have not posted much in quite a while! But I do have a legit. reason, though you have probably gotten as tired of me using it as I have: school. Yes, school. *BLAH!* I am on Spring Break this week, but it has not been much of a "break" really - though I am so thankful for it, for it has given me a chance to catch up with all the homework that is coming up due, and that I haven't had time to devote to yet because of all the other assignments that were due "now". Thankfully so far I have all A's and B's, even in the two classes that have really been whipping me. Thank the Lord! My desire is to be a Godly witness for the Lord in whatever I do, and it will certainly not be a good reflection on Him or other believers, if I miss deadlines or do poorly. So I have devoted most of my time this week to HARD WORK - which never hurt anyone, but which sometimes threatens to make me scream! ;) So if I haven't commented on your blog in a while, and you are someone I 'follow', it's because I just haven't had computer 'free time' to do it in. I hope to catch up though before too long!

Well, moving on, I wanted to take a moment's break from my school and tell a little bit about the things other than school that have been going on lately - not much, but I still thought I'd share it.
Uncle David and his family were down visiting all last week, and though I had college, it was Spring Break for the Christian Academy, so I did not have work. That was very nice, so I got to spend more time with my two young cousins (even if alot of it was just being in the same room with them, while sitting on the couch doing homework on a borrowed laptop! LOL). But seriously, we did get to do a few things together. On Tuesday evening since I didn't have work, we got to sit down and watch a movie (all together) that I had heard about a while back. Aunt Winny's mother had gotten it for the kids after that, and they had been wanting us to see it. It's called "Pendragon: Sword of his father".



It is EXCELLENT. It was made by two homeschool families and a small army of friends and volunteers, and gives glory to the Lord while sweeping you off on an adventure ride back into the medival days of Britiania. There were a few goofs in a couple of places, and at times the acting wasn't quite as convincing, but for this to be their first movie, the quality was unbelievable. Add to that the fact that it was clean, wholesome, and God-honoring (which is ALOT more than I could say for most "Inspirational" "Christian" movies), and I was an immediate fan. If you have seen it, I'd love to hear your opinions! And if you haven't seen it - TRY TO! It really is a great movie! Click on the image to visit their website.

Still along the lines of TV, we've recently been introduced to a show that also seems like something worth watching. My grandparents have cable, and my grandmother started watching it, and got us started. It's called "DOC".



It's about a Montana cowboy/doctor who moves to New York, and is really too tender-hearted for his own good. He always takes his patients into his heart, and goes above and beyond his call as their doctor to help them. The staff at this clinic are not ashamed to talk about God, the Bible, and family values. Now, I haven't seen all the episodes, so it may not end up being as good as it first seems, but so far I have been quite impressed (the fault I have is that Doc could use a haircut). It comes on on the Gospel Music Station, and we enjoy watching it whenever we are free at 4:00 in the afternoon. If any of you knows more details, has seen it, or has opinions, I would love to hear more about it from another "angle". There's also a show that comes on right before it called "Sue Thomas, FBEye" that looks pretty good, but we haven't seen it as much as Doc.

Well, I was going to also post some new pictures of my "inside garden", but I guess my little camera really has given out at last. The pictures took fine, but when I tried to load them onto the computer, it was as if they had dissapeared off of the memory card. So anyway... But all my little plants seem to be doing well, except for the Lavender - only one little plant finally came up, but I still have seeds left over of all my plants, and after I get these set out in the garden (which I really need to do soon), I want to start them growing too.

This morning Mom and Trissy went into town to hopefully get Trissy's driver's license, and as they were leaving we noticed that one of our front Oaks (the younger one) was full of lady Cardinals! They were all facing South. There's alot of cloud cover right now (it's supposed to storm later on), but it seemed so strange. Do any of you, who might be a little more nature-wise than I, know what would have caused them to behave this way? Unless I'm mistaken, all the birds were female red birds, all facing the same direction, all in the same young oak tree, and there must have been seventy of them or so. I took pictures too, but couldn't load those either. Anyway, it just had us puzzled, and I wondered if any of you would know.

One more thing and then I've got to go. One of my instructors gave us a bunch of chicken eggs and loaned us her incubator so we could try to raise some chicks! We are down to five chickens (four hens and a rooster), none of them are setting, and almost every time we have tried setting our own, it has resulted in trajedy of some sort. So we are really hoping (and even praying) that all these will hatch and do well. We've put plastic Easter eggs, and golf balls out in the nests, hoping that will encourage some of our hens to set, and then when these chicks hatch, maybe they would "adopt" them so that we wouldn't have to keep them in a box in the house until they were old enough and big enough to fend for themselves out there!

Ok, well I really need to go. I just wanted to take a break and fill y'all in on a little of what's been going on. :)

Til later, Keep Looking UP!

-Kyrie<><

Wedding Trip

Well, we're back! We had a great trip and a great time! We left early Friday morning, and arrived a little past lunch time. We stopped at Uncle Billy and Aunt Bonnie's house for a while to visit and talk about what was included in what Trissy and I were supposed to do. Aunt Bonnie had made Trissy a little book with a wrist strap that had all her 'duties' as a "Bride's Assistant" in it that was so cute! Jenae (our cousin that got married) went ahead and gave me her camera, so that I could have it to take pictures at the rehearsal that night. We visited a little longer, then 'us travelers' went over to the hotel and, after getting settled, we just "crashed" for about an hour before getting ready and going to the church for the rehearsal. The naps felt great, and we were glad later that we'd taken time to rest!
A little bit about the people 'behind the scenes': The C. family have been good friends with Uncle Billy and Aunt Edna for years. They have eight kids, 4 and 4, and are hoping to start a family business 'doing' weddings - the older boys are into video and photography, the girls cook, sew, and decorate, and the parents oversee and make sure everything runs smoothly. So they wanted to do Jenae's wedding at no charge! Uncle Billy is legally blind, and they really didn't have enough money for a traditional wedding, even a small one. They told Jenae they could buy her dress, and that was pretty much all they could afford. Then the C. family, and an army of other kind friends and church members stepped in, and literally did everything else! Jenae is an only child, and her best friend is an only girl and they consider themselves 'sisters'. She is already married and has three kids (I think it's three), and they are pretty well off. She and her husband love Jenae to death, and went all out giving her showers and paying for a majority of the expenses to give Jenae a beautiful wedding!

Anyway, so at the rehearsal, Trissy and I got to be friends with the two oldest C. girls. They are so sweet and truly seem like "ladies". We sat together at the rehearsal dinner, and became fast friends!

Jenae's husband, Dane, is a wonderful Godly man, and also comes from a large family. He is the next to oldest, under the only girl, Cavanna. He has five younger brothers who are evidently prone to pranks :) - Jenae was a little worried that they would mess up the house as a joke (instead of the car), but said that Cavanna's husband Ian (she and one of the other brothers are married already) promised he would hold them back. I really liked Ian and Cavanna. They have three kids and have been married for several years, and seem like such wise, Godly people. It was cute to watch them during the wedding, 'cause Ian was a groomsman and Cavanna was a bridesmaid, and they kept smiling at each other across the stage at different parts during the ceremony :).
This is totally random, but I wanted to mention this: A large swatch of Ian's left eyebrow was pure white. He is dark haired, and the effect was very striking. Mom said it was a birthmark of some kind. I have never seen anything like it before, but it was neat looking! Have any of you ever seen something like that?

At the rehearsal dinner, everyone was asked (if they wanted to) to share a story about the bride or groom. Several did, and many of the stories were wonderful testimonies! My grandmother told one of when Jenae was little, that they had gone into the post office together, and she was talking to the clerk. Jenae started tugging on her dress and saying, "Tell her about Jesus! Tell her about Jesus!" One of Dane's brothers shared that Dane had been the one to lead him to Christ.

After the dinner Trissy and I got to help with the clean-up! The kitchen was busy with a bunch of the church women, the C. girls, and Dane's mom and sister all bustling around, putting food away, wiping tables, and washing dishes. The atmosphere was one of cameraderie and fun though, not at all stressful, and we had a ball! They seemed to be glad for the extra hands too :) !

We got back to the hotel and fell into bed. The next morning I worked a little while on writing out my thoughts for Jenna's Joy Challenge, until breakfast, then getting ready to head over to Aunt Bonnie's to help Jenae get ready (she decided to do her hair and that sort of thing before going over to the church), and take pictures of the proccess!
Mom drove us over there, then went back to the hotel to help her parents, my grandparents, get ready to go to the church.
When Jenae was as fixed up as she was going to get before going to the church and getting dressed, Aunt Bonnie drove us over there, stayed to help Jenae into her dress, then went back to the house to help Uncle Billy get ready.

The wedding was scheduled for two in the afternoon, and for me the next few hours are a blur of running little errands, getting lost (it's a huge church building, and very easy to get lost in if the first time you were even there was the night before!), snapping pictures, sore feet (I had to wear high heels - YUK!), laughs, flowers, and a delicious ham sandwitch about 1:30!

Finally, two arrived, and I slipped into my seat beside Aunt Bonnie. Yes, I got to sit with the Mother Of The Bride! Jenae wanted me to be close so I could get pictures during the ceremony.
It was a beautiful wedding. Uncle Billy had a tremendous headache, but he was able to preach (he's a preacher and a Christian counselor), and did an excellent job! He preached on forgiveness, and explained that the reason many marriages don't last now-a-days is because one or other, or both, of the couple are simply not willing to forgive. It was so good!
He did something else that I had not seen done at a wedding before, but that I thought was a wonderful idea. He charged the wedding party, the groomsmen and bridesmaids, that they had a right - indeed, a responsibility - that if they ever saw or knew of anything that was going on in the marriage that was not right, that they, as witnesses of the marriage, were to go to the couple and lovingly confront them about whatever the issue was. I thought that was pretty neat!

There are lots of other details I could share, but for the sake of time and space, I'll refrain ;) !

I did want to mention though that instead of marching out to the traditional "da, da, da dun dun da da" song (sorry, can't remember the name :\ ), they used "Love Is Not A Fight" off of Fireproof! :D

I'll come back and finish this a little later, maybe even finish it in another post... my eyes are getting tired :) !

Bye!

Odds And Ends, And Recent Happenings

Ok, this post is just sort of random stuff that's been happening in my life lately, and I thought I'd share it...

This is just something small that happened about a week ago, that reminded me that the Lord just likes to make us smile sometimes!
I have a keychain that a friend gave me for my birthday years ago, but it is probably my most treasured possession next to my Bible. It is a sturdy little metal cross with ivy engraved on it, and the words, "With God, all things are possible." I was getting ready for bed the other night about a week ago, and thinking about some things I'd like to see happen, but that seemed almost impossible. I flipped back the covers to crawl in, and there was that keychain, in the bed! "With God, all things are possible" My mind immediately jumped... maybe it would happen! Then, almost as soon as I thought that, this verse popped into my head, "...I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. ..." Of course, this is the Apostle Paul addressing the Athenians on Mars' Hill, but the timing was just so perfect, that it made me laugh out loud! I believe the Lord truly does have a sense of humor!

I've been working on a crocheted shawl for about two weeks now, and finally finished it Sunday! It didn't quite turn out how I thought it would, but it works, and was fun to make! Here are a couple of pictures of it:

Thanks to my friend W. for "modeling"!
If you want to try it yourself, click HERE for the pattern. Just a warning though, if you want the triangle to be very deep, you've got to make the beginning chain longer. I have a friend who made one out of the same yarn as the pattern calls for (I made mine out of maroon acrylic), and hers turned out BEAUTIFUL! She even wears it to church over a black top, and it looks so elegant!

Well, in about twenty hours my grandparents, Mom, Trissy, and I will be headed on a six-hour car ride to attend the wedding of one of my cousins! Trissy is going to be the 'bride's assistant", and I'm a photographer! Not the main one (I'm not THAT good LOL), but she (the bride, our cousin) liked some of the just personal pictures I've taken at other cousin's weddings, and she wants me to be sort of a 'candid photographer'. I'm really looking forward to it! The wedding's Saturday afternoon, we'll be staying for church Sunday, and come back on Monday. I hope it's not too hectic, 'cause I have classes early Tuesday morning! Oh, well, it'll all work out. :)

This past Saturday we (Dad, Mom, Trissy and me) went to an evangelism study being started at the church. Justice and another man in the church have been 'trained' to teach the material, and it's designed to teach how to share your faith in a non-confrontational but thought-provoking and loving way. Saturday was the all-day introduction, and now classes will be every Wednesday night starting Mar. 4th. My family, Oliver, Landon, two older ladies in the church, and Ashlyn ( I haven't told about her yet, but I'll try to soon) are the ones who are taking this class. I'm hoping it'll help me share my faith in college. We'll see how it goes.

Tonight's college Bible study, and I'm (of course ;) ) looking forward to that little boost. I still haven't told about last week, and it was about the best one we've had so far, I think. It was so good. Maybe I'll get a chance to tell about it, but with the trip and everything, I may not.

One last thing I thought some of you might enjoy: Hannah Paige is having a photography contest on her blog! The theme is "Color". I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of entries she has! Click HERE to find out more, or to enter!
I'm going to accomplish two things here at once :) This is my entry in her contest, and it's also a mystery picture:




Several of my blogging friends have done mystery pictures, and they have been alot of fun, so I thought maybe I'd try one! You have until next Thursday (a week!) to guess, mainly because I probably won't have much blogging time between now and
then :[ ...

Ok, I'm at the college and class is about t0 start, so I'd better go. Maybe I can come back later today :)

In the mean time, have a wonderful day, and Keep looking Up!

-Kyrie<><

A Look Back - 2009

Well, the year 2009 was certainly one of excitement, changes, and learning. I had no idea how many things the Lord would allow to happen, and then use to teach me so many valueable lessons. Here is a brief look at each month, and some of the happenings of each:

January of course started a new year. New year, old plans, and a fresh start at trying to see them become reality.

In February the Lord blessed us with the reason I originally started blogging in the first place - He led us to a wonderful, Godly church where He is praised and His people are taught His Word. This first year is hopefully just the start of a long story in this place. And even though (when I post about it) my feeble attempts to share the joyful, wondering, learning times with you are so frail, I hope somehow you can get a glimpse of the Glory He is sharing with me through these experiences. In February we also celebrated our grandparents' (Mom's parents' - our only living set of grandparents) 65th wedding anniversary!

March, April, and May saw us busily preparing for and celebrating Trissy's graduation! She was able to "walk" with the other graduates in the large homeschool group we are a part of, and we were blessed by all the support, and the professional yet Christ-honoring air with which the whole event was conducted.
Also in May, my grandfather had two heart attacks in one week (!) and so started almost an entire summer/fall of Trissy and me living with our grandparents, helping where ever and when ever we were needed, and learning many great lessons about fellowship, service, and the blessing of living close to family.

In June Trissy and I were privaleged to go along with two of our cousins to a Bible youth camp for a week. We worked hard, learned alot, made some new friends, and came back really refreshed by the experience.

July we of course celebrated the Independence our country still is blessed with and we pray continues, though perhaps we are loosing it even as the days tick by. Also our grandmother fell and broke her arm, essentially handicapping herself for several months as it healed, and our grandfather too, since she is really the one who cared for both of them. Trissy and I were glad to be available and able to continue staying with them and helping with even the little things it is so hard to do with one hand. All four of us (despite the painful arm) had alot of fun during this time, for we were basically "stuck" with each other, and though we just live right down the road from them, it seems we don't really get to spend enough time together.

August was perhaps the bussiest and most eventful month of our year! We said goodbye for a time to our pastor's younger son as he left for a dangerous mission field. I started working at the Christian school our church started, and I also began college. Trissy (being the most 'free') became the main helper for our grandparents (though I still spent nights there, and helped however time allowed me to) and took over most of my "chores" at our house as well, since I had to devote such large amounts of time to school and homework.

September means Fair Time! This year we were not able to participate to near the extent we usually do, but I did manage to have a small group of crafts and creations to enter in the County Fair, several of which went on to State!

October - Fall is in the air! My most favorite time of year! Our grandmother finally was able, after several set-backs and dissapointments, to have her cast taken off and become the Queen of her own house once again! We were glad her arm was healed so well, but in a way too, it was sad since it meant we didn't really have an excuse to continue living with them, and had to get back to our neglected house (which had, as Mom likes to say, "Gone to seed" while we were otherwise occupied ;D ). Also, District Fair was going on, and like at County, I was thankfully able to find some entries to send. The fairs have always been, not only so much fun, but also a nice opportunity to earn a little money from 'placing' as well! I also started blogging, I believe on Oct. 30th!

In November there was Thanksgiving, the Bible Conference, and reajusting to 'normal' life, though it could arguably be asked, "Is life ever truly 'normal' ?!" :D

December - Christmas and all it's symbolism, events, celebrations and enjoyments. Our trip to TX to visit Mom's sister, and then the New Year is here!

May our 2010 be, perhaps not so hectic ;), but certainly as valuable and rich!