Sigh

I'm glad to be on the other side of this weekend.

First, this has been a crazy hectic school week, with assignments, essays and projects due. To make matters worse I could only work 3 days and then only 1 day this week. So I had to cram all of the work into the Thanksgiving weekend when I felt like doing absolutely nothing. Thanksgiving Day itself was kinda strange, especially without Dad. We went to a friend's house and so we didn't do all the cooking, which is a plus in some ways, but we didn't get to plan the menu or get very many leftovers. Leftovers are almost as good as the real meal! Oh well, at least I didn't eat too much. Then Friday we went shopping( NOT a good idea!) I'm not a big fan of shopping anyway, and the stores were overcrowed, messy and generally in chaos. The stuff on sale was gone and what they had left wasn't very good. I can't complain too loud though, I got three shirts, but two are for Christmas. Some friends were coming into town that I hadn't seen for a long time and I went to the mall to see them, but I felt bad because I had to leave as soon as they got there. But Friday evening we had dinner planned, I had to work on my scrapbook of New York to take to grandparents, and work on an essay for writing class. I was exhausted that night. Saturday morning I was thinking I'd go to the gym, and then work on my projects all day and get some real progress...hmm...no. Matthew had to rake the yard and Jenny Beth was too sick to help him, so I offered. It was fun at first being outside and stuff, but it took us four hours to rake the front and back yard. Ever notice how big your yard suddenly grows when you have to rake it? Needless to say I was a tad sore (today). So I got showered and by then it was like 3 pm. I took a nap and worked on my writing project and by then it was like 4:30 and time to go pick up Dad from the airport. He'd been gone three weeks in China, so I wasn't going to miss that! He brought us back presents too- ask me about them sometime. I got a real strand of pearls and a Gucci purse. (Gucci purses are made in Italy and normaly sell for like $300).

Today was good, we didn't have to stay too long at church cuz there weren't very many people there. We had a welcome home feast for Dad, and I made really good progress on my writing project-I'm very close to DONE! I worked on the scrapbook for a while, then Matthew and I went outside to play catch, but it's still too warm to enjoy it. Can't wait for colder weather.

We're leaving for Indianapolis and Chicago on Tuesday and coming back the next Sunday or Monday. We're going to stay with my Dad's side of the family on Tuesday, my Mom's side on Wednesday and then drive to Chicago and pick up Daniel's girlfriend, Jana, from the airport. Then friday is Daniel's graduation from bootcamp and we'll spend the rest of the day and Saturday with him. I'm excited about going to Chicago! Chicago and New York in the same month! Cool beans.

Well, before I close I want to add this quote from the book Putting Away Childish Things by David Aseamands. He's quoting from A.W. Tozer, a famous theologian. It's just a little prayer but very striking.

"Our Father which art in heaven, we Thy children are often troubled in mind, hearing within us at once the affirmations of faith and the accusations of conscience. We are sure that there is in us nothing that could attract the love of One as holy and as just as Thou art. Yet Thou hast declared Thine unchanging love for us in Christ Jesus. If nothing in us can win Thy love, nothing in the universe can prevent Thee from loving us. Thy love is uncaused and undeserved. Thou art Thyself the reason for the love wherewith we are loved. Help us to believe the intensity, the eternity of the love that has found us. Then love will cast out fear; and our troubled hearts will be at peace, trusting not in what we are but in what Thou has declared Thyself to be. Amen."

Are radical revolutions ever justified?

Good question. Radical meaning doing whatever is nessacary- hmm... I just read A Tale of Two Cities which pretty much describes the French revolution. Theirs however, unlike the American revolution was radical. You know what they did? They decided it would be a good idea to kill all the nobility because they were the ones oppressed the poor. Yeah..great idea. Now the poor are oppressing the rich? Does anyone really win when that happens? I mean seriously, the main character of the book, Charles Darnay, is an arisocrat and everyones like, "Off with his head!" On the day that he was supposed to die 51 other people also died. That's alot of nobilty- and its silly because Charles hadn't done anything wrong- anything oppressive to the poor. Now his father and uncle did and so he was blamed for that. EEckk.. Everything's such a mess. But a VERY WELL WRITTEN book- man I have Mr Smith to thank for that. He said it takes a good reader to apprecitate good writing- so he's turned his students into good readers as well. I really and truly did experience Dicken's "Big Idea" which in Mr Smith's book is good writing. Do I always gush about Mr Smith in my postings? I just love him as a teacher...I do! I promise I will gush about Mrs McMahan next post- cuz she's just as wonderful :-)

Well its the middle of November and already the radio stations are playing Christmas music. I'm still tired of it from last year! Too bad there aren't more Christmas songs being made, - how much Winter Wonderland, and Let it Snow can an Alabamian really take? Its like, "The weather outside is frightfull," and its about 70 degrees...hmm..something wrong with this picture? I also can't stand, "Christmas Shoes," and "Falise Navi da." Am I a grinch or something or does secular Christmas music drive anyone else nuts? Christmas carols are an entirely different thing, and theres always ONE song each year that jumps out and grabs with a spectacular meaning. I already have it this year, but I will post it CLOSER TO CHRISTMAS!

I only have one official day of school left before Thanksgiving break and our Indianapolis/Chicago trip. I'm excited-not really about Thanksgiving, because I'm very much aware of how many calories are in everything, and that alone is enough to make me not hungry-plus Dad won't be here. Not that I'm not thankful, I am, but thankfulness should be a part of every day, not just one day a year. ooooo...I will post one of my most favorite Thanksgiving songs for you. It's great! and very catchy if you've heard it

I thank God for this day
For the sun in the sky
For my Mom and my Dad
For my piece of apple pie

For the love that he shares
Cuz he listens to our prayers
Thats why I say thanks
Every day

Because a thankful heart
Is a happy heart
I'm glad for what I have
That's an easy way to start

For our home on the ground
For his love that's all around
Thats why I say thanks every day

From the motion picture Madame Blueberry.

Good night world!

How many times do you look at a whole crowd of people and not see anyone?

I thought of that walking into a grocery store this afternoon to get milk. Also I have to give Mr Smith credit for my new -I dont know-description thing, "Wrapped in Sunlight waiting." He wrote it when helping me with my poem, and I was like WOW! I didn't use it because I would always think that I didnt write it- like I was stealing it from him- but he said in class on Monday it was ok to do, so since I didn't use it in my poem, I'll use it on here.

Today was wierd. I thought it would be a fairly "normal" day but of course it wasn't. I had a fairly normal day on Wednesday, so I was like, "I can do that again!" I got to sleep in, but I still felt tired getting up. It took me longer than usual to get going and I didn't start my school until 9:30. I got a lot of work done and Mom said we would be driving seperately to tutoring today so I decided not to leave until 12. Usually we leave at 11:30, but we get there right as the kids are eating lunch, and theres nothing to do. At first when we would go to tutoring I felt like I was doing absolutley nothing, but then for a couple of weeks- we actually sat along side the kids and helped them in their work. (There are six kids, ages 9-14). But today there was no structure and the kids did whatever they wanted because they were already finished by the time we got there. So I got the feeling of "uselessness," and not being help the kids. rrr..

Then I drove home and for the first time put Dieasel fuel in the truck and I couldnt figure out how to do it! Thankfully there was a nice guy who came over to help me, or I think I would have been stuck there a long time. Why are girls not wired to operate big trucks?

Then the "Literary Ladies," had their fourth book discussion tonight at Mrs Kirsch's house. It was great- for this time we read the book, "The Good Earth," which was about a chinese man. It was cool because my Dad is now in China and the book was a real eyeopener to the Chinese culture. I mean I knew like, "the people were poor," and, "women were oppressed," but I never really fully understood what that meant to average every day people. It makes me thankful to be an American and be able to have some say in who I'm going to marry! :-)

Quest for love

Ah.. My first post since my New York Trip. I apologize. That post took me longer than I thought, plus I wrote alot one day and it didn't save! Plus I've been sick (again), endured a quiz meet and have kept up with school assignments. Oh, the stress of a highschooler.

I want to quote a part from the Elizabeth Elliot book, "Quest for love." Its one of those, "Single and Happy books," which in my opinion, very well written. Not cheesy at all, and not bordering a Josh McDowell, "I kissed dating goodbye," thing. Even better I think than Eric and Leslie Ludy's, "When God writes your love story."

Anyway, here's a quote actually from the book which is a quote from Jane Eyre (sorry Mackenzie- hey I liked it :-)

This is when he's pressuring Jane to marry him, even though he's already married to an insane person- he thinks because she's insane it doesnt count.

Jane: "While he spoke my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoredd wildly. "Oh, comply!" it said. "Think of his misery; think of his danger- look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on despair-soothe him; save him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? Or who will be injured by what you do?"
Still indomitable was the reply-"care for myself." The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles recieved by me when I was sand, and not mad- as I am now. Laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be thier worth? They have a worth-so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now it is because I am insane-quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregond determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot."

Elizabeth Elliot goes on to say that lines must be drawn- in advance. I remember babysitting at the church nursery for the womens bible study, a long time ago, probably six or seven years, and Mom and Sarah were in the study. After it was done and Sarah and I were talking at home she tells me, "Abbi, some of those women regretted that thier husband was not the only one they had kissed. I don't want that- I'm only going to kiss my husband." I remember that because it was so profound- who waits these days just to kiss? I thought it would be a neat gift to give him and I see the wisdom in it now. So I wanted to do this post so I, and you if you are tempted with things, to look back on it and remember what Jane Eyre did.

An affair to remember

New York- the city that never sleeps. I soon found that to be very true. There were just as many people on the streets at 11 pm as there were at 8 am or 3 pm. It was crazy!
To make it easier I'll go day by day telling what happened. (or showing!)

Monday: Our flight left Huntsville about 2:45 pm, and we had to first go to Atlanta, then to La Guradia. Because we entered the eastern time zone, we had to set our watches back an hour, and by the time we flew into New York it was dark. Man, the first sight of the city was spectactular~! There were bright lights stretching for miles and miles, it was one of the coolest sights I've ever seen. We took a shuttle from the airport to our hotel which was directly in the middle of Times Square. Because it was Halloween there was a parade going on and there were THOUSANDS of people filing up the streets. It literally took us an hour and half to get to our hotel. By then it was about 10 pm and Dad suggested we go out walking to see the sights. Times Square at night is very cool. First there are HUGE building EVERYWHERE with giant TV screens on them. They have advertistments, and posters and stuff on them and there is so much to look at. It's also bright and crowded. Its so bright you can read a newspaper at 3 am without any other light. Walking around for the first time was a little scary, just because there were so many people there. We stopped at a little cafe and Dad ordered a shrimp pizza. My first taste of New York food did not disapoint! Man, it is just good. The ingredients, the crust, sauce and cheese are just so much better quality than anything else here. Then we walked back to the hotel and got there around 11 or so. There were still just as many people on the streets, and it was perfectly normal to go sit down in a restaurant at that time of night! Woo hoo for my first day in New York!

Tuesday: We got up about 8:30 and Dad had to get off to his business show. He's a chemical engineer and there was a big Chem Show going on adverstising alot of products and stuff. So Mom and I walked around and did some shopping, getting a lot of little touristy things :-) Then we walked back to the hotel and got a map of what was close. The concierge told us the Empire State Building was close so we decided to do that. It was actually about a 30 min walk, but it was a gorgeous day, so we didn't care. We stopped and got a hot dog on the way, and it was delicious! If you've seen the movie Fools Rush In, I got a Papaya hot dog. Yes, it was very special.
So then we did the Empire State building. What surprised me was how long it actually took to get up there. I don't mean the elevators because they went fast (80 floors in 45 seconds.) But all the security and lines! There weren't too many people there, but enough that we had to wait for everything. I guess you have to go at like midnight like Meg Ryan did in Sleepless in Seattle when there's no one else there. But once we got to the top it was great. I got tons of good pictures of New York and we had an audio tour that we listened to that explained exactly what we were looking at. I coulnd't actually look over the edge though so I didn't really get a sense of how high up I was, but the view and wind were enough. Oh yeah, and I got a squished penny at the gift shop on the top :-)
Then we had to hurry back to the hotel because we were meeting Dad at 2:30 to go on a bus tour at 3. We walked to that too, and got there right at 3. One of the things that I regret most of all on this trip was I FORGOT THE CAMERA on the bus tour!! I had it when we were at the Empire State Building and Mom asked me to go put all of our shopping bags in the hotel room so we wouldn't have to carry it around on the bus tour and I set the camera down with all of them. Rr!! Despite that fact though, it was a fabulous bus tour.
The tour guide was great, he pointed out where alot of famous lived or had lived, and where a ton of movie and TV shows had been shot. It was cool! I saw where parts of Home Alone, Spiderman, Men In Black, Sleepless in Seattle, Breakfast at Tiffanys, were all shot. We also saw the place were John Lennon was shot (actually). We saw a couple places from Seinfeld, including the actual Soup Nazi place and the RESTAURANT. It was great! On the tour we rode the Staten Island Ferry and passed the Statue of Liberty. It was at night and it was cold and windy and fabulous! My Mom got too cold so for awhile it was just my Dad and I standing on the side of the boat with the Statue right there, and the New York skyline behind us. Then we passed, Ground Zero, St Patrick's Catherdal, the Rockafellar Center, the Federal Reserve Bank (where the gold is kept and there were security guards with machine guns!) and the New York Stock Exchange. We also passed Madison and 5th Avenue where all the shopping and restaurants are.
When the tour was over (about 8:30) we went to eat at Bubba Gump's shrimp restaurant. It was way cool! There was some memoribila from the movie including Forest's running shoes and dress that Jenny wore. All over the walls were quotes from the movie and the waitress asked us some Forest Gump triva. The drinks and dessert menu was a ping-pong paddle! It was great!

Wednesday: We took a tour of the New York Public Library- one of my Mom's favorite parts. It was very very well done. I couldn't believe it was actually a library; it was built more like a catherdal. They were having a special display of ancient reneasanice manuscripts that dated back to like 99 AD. There was even a Gutenberg Bible and a Wycliffe Bible...way cool.
We had reservations at a steak house called, "Frankie and Johnnies" which was close to the Broadway play that we were going to and rated one of the best restaurants in NYC. It was fantastic. The food was beyond description; melt in your mouth and make your taste buds dance for joy GOODNESS!
Just like the food, the play was incredible. It was only a short walk from our hotel and there was this awning surronding the theater that said, "Fiddler on the Roof," just like all the other Broadway plays that we passed. We had fourth row seats and the view was stunning. The dancing, the songs, the lights, the backdrops, the props, the actors, EVERYTHING, was SO well done. Sarah said it was better than watching a movie because you're actually right there! It was so neat- definitly one of the best experiences of my life.

Thursday: Our last morning in New York we spent packing up our bags and leaving them at the hotel desk. Dad had to go to the Chem show again so Mom and I had a few hours to wonder around. We just started walking and ended up seeing the place where the Oprah show and the David Letterman show are filmed, the Rockafeller center( you know, with the ice skating rink and the flags,) the NBC experience store, (we didn't buy anything, but there was this one shirt that said, "How YOU doin?" that I was tempted with) and the CBS studios. It was great! Very New Yorky! The last thing we did in New York was go to the Muesem of Television and Radio. It's a muesem that spealizes in perserving old episodes of everything from Ed Sullivan, to Friends, to the world series and Super Bowl Games. So they have these huge archives, and like five different screening rooms, and every day they have a schedule of what they'll be showing when. Since we only had like an hour we knew we could only see like one thing, so we choose to see an I Love Lucy episode. The room was set up just like a stadium seating theater and it was so way cool to see Lucy on the big screen!! A great way to end the New York experince!!

Sorry for the delay

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted about my trip to New York, but its going to be a rather long post and I havent had the time yet. Being sick and then having an extremely busy trip, I need a vacation from my vacation! So I need a couple of days just to chill and do nothing before school and everything starts back up. I will post as soon as I get caught up on some sleep.

Oh, and my Dad left for China this morning. He'll be gone for three weeks, come home for a few days and leave again until right before Christmas. It sure is weird without him here! I miss him already. It's a 14 hour time difference from here to there, so he left Saturday morning and will arrive Sunday evening after only a 14 hour flight! Crazy huh?

Well, after many many old Whose Line is it Anyway tapes, two movies (How to loose a guy in ten days, and Catch me if you can), I think I'm finally ready for bed.

I wish everyone a happy Lord's Day Covenant Renewal tomorrow!