I finished David Copperfield!

Woo hoo! It took me about two months. Not the longest I've invested in a book... with the later Harry Potters going over 900 pgs and Les Miserables averaging about the same. My version had 814 pgs with no pictures or nothing. Of course chapter breaks help... but hey 814 pgs is 814 pgs. I liked the story, and of course Dickens always has great character development and awesome figurative language. Although there wasn't as much figurative language in this one as in A Tale of Two Cites. I liked the parts with HIM in it, like his childhood, his courtship and his marriage. What got to me was the all the conversasions he had with his friends, his employers and his aunt. Mr. Micawber and Mr. Wickfield...I didn't get hardly any of that. But I REALLY liked Mr. Pegotty, Ham, E'mly and Agnes. Dora was just kinda "out there," not really knowing which way was up. But hey, he loved her so she gets my vote. But Em'ly gets a higher one.

I told myself I couldn't read any "fun" books until DC was done... but I managed to squeeze in three. 1) Artemis Fowl Book Three: The Eeternity Cube. 2.) Obsessed by Ted Dekker and 3.) Th3ee by Ted Dekker. My favorite was Obsessed and I'm willing to give Dekker's other books a chance, after previously writing him off for the Circle Trilogy. In my opinion he could have done it alot better...but Sarah's a big fan of him..so I gave him another shot. Obsessed is amazing and I highly recommend it.

Now I've gotta go again to the library and get some other "fun" books to help me get through, The Once and Future King, and The Sound and The Fury, before starting in on Vanity Fair. I have one fun book though, A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks, but I've read it before and it won't take me long to get through it. I'll probably get some other Dekker books, or maybe Peretti or CS Lewis books. I've got Perelandra, but can't start it until Matthew gets back. I'm really excited about That Hideous Strength but everyone highly recommends it. Oh oh, I just finished the BEST book on audio- it makes me want to read the whole book and watch the video, The End of the Spear by Nate Saint. OH MY GOSH ITS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!! He's the best writer and the story is just amazing and hilarious at the same time.

Well, after all this book talk, I'm still watching the clock for it to be 9 pm. 8:30-9 is a notorious time in our house because it's between Full House and Whose Line and nothing of interest is on at 8:30. Isn't that sad? 3-4 pm is also a bad time because it's between an hour of Full House and two hours of MASH. In some ways the summer is really fun, but in other ways I'm almost ready for it to be over and to return to real life. Discovery Health had a segment called "All about babies," on and I killed 3 hrs today watching it, until Dad called and told me he was coming home so I decided to do something constuctive. But hey- it was fun. And I got to watch Dharma and Greg, which I never get to unless I'm home by myself. I did work an hour on my scrapbook, got some World View stuff done and worked on getting my computer ready to be wiped and went to the gym, so the day wasn't a total waste. :-)

PS: Don't see Pirates of the Carribean 2 until the third one comes out because there is no ending!!!! It's a good movie and all.....but man, unless you are expecting it, it can be very frusterating.

PSS: Don't see the Lake House either- too many "time-travel" holes. My friend and I talked about it for a good half hour later trying to figure it out. "Now...what exactly happened???"

Who needs a boyfriend when you have a brother?

Yep. Matthew is so cool. This post will be dedicated to him. All rights reserved. No expiration date.

Ever since I've been back...

-I've seen him win a swimming race...doing the rigourous butterfly

-He decided to sit and eat with me at the Pancake breakfast...plus get me unlimited Root Beer

-We stayed up late and watched Family Guy together one night

-We "read" together in his room- the first time in the new house....we I say "read" I mean we each had books but we just talked the whole time

-We've played raquet ball twice- both at his request and I won 2 games out of 3!

-We got pillows and blankets and got all comfy on the couch and stayed up late watching an action movie on Saturday night

-Lastly, but most important- HE DROVE ME ON A JETSKI!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, that was so fun. He went really fast and got alot of waves churned up and it was all bumpy and stuff. SO much fun! And he let me drive it too.... wow it was incredible.

SO yeah... I'm taken care of :-)

You might be homeschooled if...

1. You went to school in your PJ's. Not technically...but I do my school before I shower usually

2. Your biology lab consisted of assisting in your sibling's birth. Not for me...but for Sarah

3. Your stacks of books to check out was taller than the librarian. Yep.

4. Your PE came from chasing little toddlers around. Don't ever say babysitting is NOT a workout!

5. Your school bus was a 9 passenger van. Try 12 passenger...

6. You considered school work after lunch to be cruel and unusual punishment. Yes...until the cruel world of high school hit

7. Your father has ever told the checkout lady at Wal-mart, "We're on a field trip." Haha...I don't think so

8. Your social life was viewed by some to be one rung lower than that of a Benedictine monk. Yeah... compared to other kids my age

9. Your teacher has ever written your report card on a napkin. Hmm... no... Mom's always been good with "official looking" paper

10. You had to move dirty laundry off your desk before your can start school. Nope- just the clean laundery

11. The signatures on your diploma all end with the same last name. I'm sure they will

12. Everyone else in the world is referred to as "Non-homies." That's just funny

13. Your Mother's wardrobe consists primarily of denim jumpers. I can it definitely used to

14. Your first real date is on your honeymoon. I hope so

15. The word 'homework' sounds like a foreign language. It does sound wierd saying it

16. Your yearbook is also your babybook. Yes, and it is shared with two other siblings

17. A snow day meant that you shovel the driveway after you finish your school work. Haha! I thought we were the only ones who didn't get snow days off!

18. You enjoyed the pastime of watching public school kids walk home from school. Yes, "My my. How depressed and sad they look."

19. You had to look at the clock to see if you can call your public school friends yet. Yep.

20. You think that public-school-kid is an insult of the highest degree. Absolutely.

21. Health class consisted of eating breakfast. Yep. Good ol' Cream of Wheat, Oatmeal and Whole Wheat Pancakes

22. You had to decide what year you want to graduate. My MOM decided. If I had decided it would have been 2006.

23. You were always late but just call it "homeschooler time." Nah. We weren't always late.

24. You can remember nearly every single day you went to public school. Yep. Three times. Twice for the ACT and once for the SAT. Ugh. Longshank's schools.

25. The teacher can kiss the principal, and no one thinks it's unusual. Haha! I never thought about that before.

26. You got to school and the teacher asks you if you've done all your chores. YeS! One of my mom's favorite mottos was, "Chores before schoolwork." That means, making the bed and emptying the dishwasher before getting started on schoolwork.

27. You are one of the best people in the world! Haha. Sure.

28. Your friends talk about waiting in line for seven hours to try out the new roller coaster in town, so you went and waited five minutes on a school day. Definitely. Good ol' Skate Day.

29. Your school lunches contained any food item easily identifiable to a person without a microscope and extensive scientific knowledge. Yeah..leftovers mostly.

30. You've ever listened to Beethoven and Michelle Branch on the same day. Not counting music lessons. Nah.

31. Gym class was actually a fun activity like swimming. Yep. Still is for Matthew and Jenny Beth.

32. You're on a first-name basis with the clerks at the local bookstore. Nah...we buy books online

33. The closest thing to a bully in your school is your slightly strange two-year-old sister. Yeah... try a five year older sister and TWO older brothers..poor me

34. Your friends complained about a hard day at school, and you have to keep yourself from giving them "that homeschooling smile." Absolutely

35. You hear the phrase "socialization" and laugh because you have more friends and know more people than your public school friends. The only way I think that one would apply to me is that I'm friends with whole familes and not just the kids my own age

36. Your school dress code is: No Nudity Allowed Yep. And sometimes the boys didn't even follow that...esp during potty training.

37. You don't own a television We didn't have one with cable until 4 months ago

38. You are firmly convinced that high school causes brain damage Yep

39. You sleep in till 9 am on weekdays but get up at 7 am on Sundays Yep

40. You have more siblings than sweaters Yep

41. You know what a 'Park Day' is Yep

42. Your favorite author is Jane Austen, G.K. Chesterton, or P.G. Wodehouse Does CS Lewis or Dickens count?

43. You have ever suffered through Saxon Math Yes...And I'm horribly scared for life

44. All birthdays were school holidays Yep...no chores and no school

45. You have ever finished your schoolwork before breakfast I'm not quite that good

46. You taunted high schooled friends during finals week Inwardly yes

47. You spend more than 2 hours each day reading and writing....voluntarily Yep

48. You are 16 years of age or older and still have never been on a date Does a date with my older brother count?

49. You know what 'Unit Studies' are Do I ever

50. You had more than 2 science experiments going on in your room Nah..thats what the kitchen is for

51. You know more than 1 Latin paradigm Yeah

52. You have ever spent the entire school day in pajamas Eh... only when I'm sick

53. You regularly utilize words such as: "malingering", "tedious", and "indubitably" Just the tedious one

54. You consider sled riding phys ed Why not?

55. Your IQ is greater than your weight I don't know my IQ but I doubt it

56. You checked out more than 10 books each time you visit the library Eh..the Madison Library is kinda small

57. You have ever attempted to teach yourself physics No way

58. When asked about your GPA, you say: "Oh, probably 4.0." Yep

59. You have no idea as to what rock bands are currently popular...but you can recite all of the stages of cellular mitosis (in order). Thanks to Dr. Jay L Wiles

60. You believe that you are the most intelligent human in your age bracket within a ten mile radius. Nah... I'm living too close to John and Calli and Reeves now

61. You actually wanted to receive books on your birthday Absolutely

62. Cleaning your room counts as Phys-Ed. Nah, but cleaning the whole house does

63. Your field trip takes you over seas. I wish

64. Shop class includes watching your brother fix his car. More than once

65. Your track meet is riding into town to race bikes with a friend. No

66. Your mom wished you'd stop reading and do something else for a change. Yep, "Go play outside now or watch TV"....."But Mom!...."

67. Your bedroom was your classroom and your bed or floor is the desk. The bed is nice....but it makes me fall asleep

68. You stayed up till whenever, and not because you are doing homework. Usually thats true

69. You could get days ahead in almost any subject. Or weeks or months

70. You recorded, planned and graded your own school work. Sure did!!!!

71. You forgot about the minor holidays until you see your dad sitting home in sweats or your public school friends ask you over the weekend what you did on your day off. Yeah...sometimes I'd look across the street at the school and there'd be no bikes there and I'd ask What day is it?

72. You didn't know what's spring break is. I do actually

73. Your mom counted watching a war movie as history and playing out in the snow as PE. That she did

74. You had more friends way older and younger than you than ones your actual age. I know...is that not normal?

75. You read for fun Yep! My whole day is spent trying to get everything done so I CAN read!

"You know you're in love when...

When all the chaos and confusion of the world makes complete and utter sense simply because he's right there looking at you. "

Eh...the only redeemable line from ABC Family's Original movie, "Best Man- Worst Friend." Surprisingly it had all British actors, so the accents were neat to listen to, but the plot was throughly predictable. Jen and I also watched this Russel Crowe movie called, "The Silver Stallion." We were thinking, "Ok..Russell Crowe and horses- how can it be bad?" But over half the movie was spent in just watching wild horses run (and Russell Crowe trying to catch one) which was good, but a little much. We both wished it would have developed his character a little more rather than the horses character.

I didn't go to church today and I dont think my conscience is going to ease up on me. Not going because of exhaustion is not a very Reformed Presbyterian answer. It's almost like, gasp, a Baptist answer. Not to diss Baptists or anything- I happen to be related to one...and he's a keeper. But, I did get some time to think about worship and what it means and why its sometimes MORE restful not to go to worship than to go and if thats ok or not. There are so many good things that Redeemer does...and yet why doesn't it excite me? I love not having Sunday school, or children's church, or a youth group. I love kneeling for the confession of sins and I love using liturgy- like chanting and standing for prayer. Pastor Jordan is by far the best pastor I've ever had to sit under and learn Scripture from and I love his sermons. Yet there is no spark- no stirring of emotions- no joy in songs- and there is definitely an "in crowd" and an "out crowd." So my brain likes to go, but my heart doesnt.

Visting City Presbyterian in Denver was such a refresher because "wow!" they sang about six songs! And they were good songs too, with good musicians. But the sermon was only about twenty minutes and they have a children's church...and fellowship in the middle of the service. Agh! Is there no balance? I hope and am fervantly searching after a church that unites heart and mind, and reason and joy together and THATs where I want to go. That's where I want to learn preperation for marriage and child raising. That's where I want to meet the man I'm going to marry. That's where I want to build the kingdom of God!

Do I have to put my heart on hold for now though?

I'm back!

"Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back whereI come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong" - How to lose a guy in ten days

Or does it really?

I guess my ordeal in Dallas makes home feel alot more welcome then it did on July 4th. July 4th 2006 has to be one the worst days of my life so far! First- I had to say goodbye to Kirsten, and Mr. Marshall, then Sarah and I went swimming. But the hot tub got insanely cold and then hot again and was almost overflowing- it was ridiculous. And some kid got in and splashed around forcing our leave sooner than wanted. THEN I had to say goodbye to Sarah and Graham and leave Colorado. But still- all that had happend to me before. On the flight from Denver to Dallas the captain announced that there was some rain there and that all flights were about 30 mins delayed. No big deal. Right. Well, when I finally got to the right gate, which was hard in itself, I found that my flight home had been cancelled. But there was another flight in a couple of hours and I could just catch that one. I got a boarding pass and everything, so I got some cookies and sat quietly to read for a couple of hours. About an hour before the flight I realized my name was on the "Standby" list for that flight. And I was number six. What was the chance that there would be six empty seats? I hoped it was a good one. Well about an hour after the plane was originally supposed to take off ( it kept getting delayed) a sign flashed on the computer screen by the terminal which read, "Boarding for this flight is complete." And I wasn't on. I don't know if it was the stress from the past couple of days or what, but I started crying right there in the middle of the airport. It was one of the worst moments of my life.

But really, it was ok and everything worked out. I got a boarding pass for the flight for the next day and a hotel room voucher. A couple of nice people showed me where to go to catch the hotel shuttle and I got a pretty sweet room- an easy $170 a night room at the Radisson for $45. But instead of arriving home around 8 pm and falling asleep in my own bed, I got to a hotel room in Dallas around midnight with no luggage and was completely on my own.

The room was nice and for that I am grateful even though I didn't have a toothbrush, a change of clothes, any face soap, makeup or deordant. But I lived and I really appreciated the a seat on the flight home. It was a beautiful flight that I would have missed if I had gotten home on the 4th. But wow- I will think twice before I fly again!!!!!!

Ok enough of that- the trip really fun, but exhausting at the same time. Here were some of the highlights:

-Seeing Sarah and Graham's apartment and living with them and Kirsten (Graham's sister)

-Going to work with Sarah. She's a nanny for two different families, both insanely rich.
The first family had one little girl named Molly who was 6 mos. The second family and two year old twins named Josh and Hannah and a 13 month old named Gabi.

-Scrapbooking with Sarah- She did their first year of marriage and I did kids I babysit for

-Watching "Chicago, Memento, and 5 children and It." There were two other movies we watched which completely ruined any kind of innocence I still had left from childhood. EWWW!!

-Riding the Light Rail down to into Down Town Denver and shopping at the country's only three story outdoor mall

-Buying Dekker, Nadia and Arya, the newest additions to the Marshall household. (Two baby mice and a baby dwarf hamster.)

-Swimming in their hot tub and pool

-Going up the mountain with Andrew and hiking to the top

-Drinking Mohitos! (Yes, with alchol, but I got one with like practically none at all...3 more years.. 3 more years...)

-Going to City Pres again!!!!!!!!!! Great church...although with the help of the basement tape guys I didn't enjoy it quite as much....They have a children's church....grrr...

-Eating at Chipotle and playing miniture golf my last night there. We also got cotton candy and played some arcades...(Sarah won a dum-dum, I won some popping rocks candy and Graham got a popper...) and then Graham bought us ice cream. It was a good night. Kirsten and I also stayed up til midnight watching Home Improvement and Drew Carrey and said, "Feliz Cuarto de Julio," to each other.

Well there's probably more I'm leaving out, but thats the basis of it. Sarah and I went shopping alot and I got my hair cut and I got a new swimming suit. Mmm... fun :-)

I can't wait to get into my old routine though. And I started a diet again today. And I'm technicall babysitting right now and will be until sometime tomorrow afternoon. But thank goodness for Jenny Beth whose taking a shift right now. Mm...sleep now would be good.

Oh, I got my test scores too. You know the ones I've been stressing over since like Janurary or something. I got a 560 on the SAT (I was hoping for a 600) and a 25 on the ACT ( I was hoping for a 28..which I did get in both Critical reading and writing- just my math score brought my overall score way down.) I dont know if I'll take them again or not...I'm kinda disapointed.

Well, I'll post again throughout the summer. It's going fast!!!!!!!