Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.

   As I've probably mentioned on this blog before, I am a procrastinator. I said I would post this earlier, but I did not. Anyway, I'm having a giveaway!
   I love puns, so I wasn't missing out on this one. For my giveaway, I'm giving away The Giver, by Lois Lowry. I love this book, and I hope you will too. I'm also including a surprise gift too, cause I love surprises.

   There are two ways to enter; leave a comment on this post telling me something about yourself (any random fact will do) and/or post a link to my giveaway on your blog, come back and leave me another comment saying you did. The giveaway closes next Friday, June 3rd. Good luck!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Tell us about a time you found yourself 'in the middle of nowhere'. Was this deliberate?

   When I was little, probably 8 or 9, our homeschool group was having an activity at summer camp/ranch thing. They had a corn maze which we were all excited to go in. A couple of my friends and I were playing elsewhere while everyone else was still in the barn. We were supposed to meet at the beginning of the corn maze and go through it together at a certain time. We were playing and lost track of time.
   When one of my friends checked her watch, she looked up with wide eyes and said, "It's already fifteen minutes past!" Panicked, we all sprinted up to the beginning of the corn maze, only to see everyone had left without us. For a second, we debated what to do, but came to the conclusion that we didn't want to miss out the corn maze just because we were late. So we decided we would just catch up with them. They couldn't be that far ahead, right?
   We darted through the maze, thrilled and nervous all at the same time. This was a grand and daring adventure, but at the same time, we could find ourselves lost forever. We ran through the maze until we came to a clearing. This was not where we supposed to come out at. The whole time we had not seen or heard any signs of other humans. We were truly in the middle of nowhere.
   Fortunately, we persevered and eventually came out at the beginning of the corn maze again, thanks to us trying to retrace our steps. Everyone else had not gone into the corn maze yet, and we must have misheard the time. Our mothers were not angry, more relived to find us than anything else. Eventually we did go back through the corn maze with others, and it was enjoyable experience.

2. What's something you're 'in the middle of' today or this week? 

   Does the middle of this blog post count? I've been sick these past couple days, so I haven't been getting into much. I'm in the middle of making a recovery, so that's a plus.

3. At what age do you think 'middle age' begins? What does it mean to be 'middle aged'? 

 

   I don't know much about middle age, but I would assume it happens sometime around your 50's. Maybe 40's, if you're in poor health.

4. Ravioli, stuffed peppers, samosas, deviled eggs, steamed dumplings, pierogis, or a jelly donut...your favorite food (from this list!) with something yummy in the middle. Your favorite not on the list? 

   Probably ravioli, though most of them are stuffed with meat. I do not like stuffed peppers, and I've never had samosas or steamed dumplings. I think I've had pierogis before, but I can't remember liking them or disliking them. I don't mind deviled eggs, or jelly donuts, but I would rather have ravioli over those options. My favorite not on the list is probably a crème filled donut. I love those things.

5. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying ''In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.' Would you agree? Have you found this to be true in your own life? Feel free to elaborate. 

   I would agree. I can't think of an example from my life, but I do think that challenges present the opportunity to make us stronger, if we choose.

6. What's a song you remember loving from your middle school years? Do you love it still? 

   My middle school years weren't that far back, so my songs aren't all that far back in my mind. Don't Stop Believen', by Journey was a favorite, so were TobyMac songs. And yes, I still love them today.

7. May 18th is National Visit Your Relatives Day. Will you celebrate? Which relative would you visit if time, distance, and expense were not considered. 

   I will probably will celebrate it today. We won't even have to visit anyone. They come to us. My grandfather will probably be down here twice before the day is out. Also, another grandfather already stopped down this morning, so I guess we already celebrated. Most of our family lives close, so it's often not a big event.
   The relative I would visit if reality would not be considered, would be my uncle who lives in Florida. It's quite the distance to travel, and we haven't seen him in five years at least. Plus, he lives near the beach, and that would be fun.

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

   I honestly can't think of anything to write about, so here's a picture of Bob Ross holding a raccoon cub.

 

It's My First Blog-iversary!

   Today is the official day I created my blog one year ago. I wrote my first post a day later, on May 13th. The year seemed to go by quick. In honor of my anniversary, I am opening up a giveaway next week, and answering readers' questions. You can ask questions through comments or email.

Friends

   Last night was our homeschool group's end-of-the-school-year performance. We did a variety show, then black light puppetry. It went really well. We have a lot of talented kids in our group. I sang with one of my friends. We sang Forever, by Kari Jobe. I sang a solo too, Blue Sky, by Francesca Battistelli. My guitar class performed Blessed Be Your Name. Our class came a long way, and overcame set backs. It wasn't perfect, but I was more than happy with how it came out.
   One thing that really stuck out to me these last few days is the magic of people. Since Wednesday night, people had been wishing me happy birthday, giving me cards and overall, just being incredible. It was overwhelming. I wasn't doing a lot for my birthday party, since these last few days have been so busy, but everyone made up for that. One mom even sang Happy Birthday to me into the microphone during practice, thanks to my best friend informing her.
   Through all this, I realized the importance of friends. I didn't realize how many friends I had, but I guess they're all around me. The crazy thing is, my best friends are all people my mom adores. I always kind of wanted a 'bad' friend, to make mom just a tiny bit mad. Now, I'm glad I have such great friends.
   Not everyone has the kind of friends I do. The great type of people that are reliable, kind and will stick up for me. I think everyone should have at least one of those. I think what makes friendship so special is the fact that you choose your friends. Family is great, but you can't choose your family. Friends are the family you choose. It's a great thing. In fact, my 'cousins' are coming to my family birthday party tonight. I can't wait.

Some Thoughts

• In a couple minutes we are leaving to go down to the church to prep some supplies and set up for our show on Friday. We're painting, finishing some signs and other stuff that needs done for our  black light puppetry team.
• Earlier today, we did some food prep for my birthday party this weekend. We are having a taco bar, chips and some fruit, along with cake.
• I hate the Kentucky Derby. Stupid, I know, but it always falls on the weekend of my birthday party. It's a stupid horse race with women in ridiculous hats. So every year, we have to watch it. Utterly tragic. :)
• I posted my Wednesday Hodgepodge today, but when I went to Joyce's blog, I didn't see the link-up thing. I posted it anyway. Read it here, if your interested.
• I love playing cards. I have somewhere around twelve decks of interesting cards. For my birthday, my parents are getting me a pack of shark playing cards for my collection. I'm excited to get them.
• My brother spent a considerable amount of time today jumping his bike from our ramp onto our driveway. Last I heard, he cleared 6 feet, 2 inches. Not bad, considering his other biking endeavors.
• I'm currently reading Hollow City, the sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs (how cool of a name is Ransom?). I loved the first book, and I was excited to hear that the book is getting it's own movie! It comes out September 30th, I think. Yay!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's something fun you're looking forward to on your May calendar? 

   Our homeschool group is having our End of the School Year performance this Friday. I'm excited, and nervous. Excited, because performances are a lot of fun, and nervous because I'm performing. I'm a procrastinator, so I put off a lot of the things I should have done a while ago, and now I'm trying to prepare them all at once. Still, I think it adds to the excitement in a way.

2. What are some images that come to mind when you hear the word mother? 

   First off, my mom. Then, the creepy slime stuff in our strong apple cider vinegar.

 3. What's something beautiful you own or have seen that's made of glass? 

 

   I think stained glass windows are pretty. The Brethren church we used to go to has stained glass windows. Every Sunday, I passed the time by counting all the different pieces of glass in the windows. That church was kind of boring.

4. Was today typical? If not, what made it unusual? 

 

   Today's been typical so far, but who knows what the day has in store.  

5. What is a quality you wish you could have more of?

 

   Either patience or gentleness of spirit, though I probably need the gentleness of spirit more, because I'm not entirely impatient.

   On a different note, one thing that bothers me is everyone wishing for qualities they want. There is nothing wrong with dreaming big, but if you want something, go for it. Start practicing the patience you wish you had. Think before you speak. Enroll in anger management classes if you need too. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, cause nothing is easier than sitting around and complaining, but it will make a positive difference. So instead of whining about what you don't have, take action. You need a new habit to break an old one.

 

6. What's the next major purchase you need to make? Will it happen in the month of May? 

 

   I don't think I have any upcoming major purchases. But, I'm more sporadic with my spending. If I overthink it, I will end up not getting it. So, in theory, my next big purchase could be in May. The month is still new.

7. What responsibility/job/work did you dislike while growing up but has proved helpful to you as an adult?

 

   I'm not yet an adult, so this question doesn't apply to me. I will say that my parents helped shape me to be the person I am today. A little hard work never killed anyone, just strengthened them.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

 

   My school is almost done for the year, fortunately. I have some more language arts to do, but then I'm done. I love finishing the school year almost as much as I love starting one.

   I'm excited for this summer. The summer reading program at our library, swimming at my grandparents, warmer temperatures, going to the park with friends from our homeschool group, camp fires, family picnics and a ton of other fun summer things to do and experience.

 

 

7 Things I've Been Loving This Week!

1: Teaching an art class to some of the little kids at our homeschool group. It's fun to do, and we finished our last class together on Friday. It was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it.

2: I received a incredibly good response to my art class. Everyone told me how fabulous I did. I didn't think I was that incredible, but apparently everyone thought otherwise. Crazy, right?

3: We went shopping earlier this week, and we got multiple boxes of this fabulous, organic, Southwestern rice. I've eaten it almost everyday since.

4: Completing the A to Z Challenge was fun. I liked it more than I originally thought.

5: Finished my history and geography for the year. Until next fall, I do not have to even touch a geography worksheet. Hallelujah!

6: We had band practice yesterday and it went great. We accomplished a lot. We practiced the song we are doing for the show on Friday, so hopefully we perform it well.

7: Our chickens are back to laying eggs again after a winter-long dry spell. Now, we have to make eggs a larger part of our diet. I might make some poached eggs tomorrow. I like eggs, so it isn't hard for me to throw them into my diet.

Memes

   So, the A to Z Challenge is over and I'm back to regular posting. The challenge was fun and I'm sort of bummed out it's over so quickly. April went fast. May is one of my favorite months, so I'm excited it's here.
   Anyway, here's a collection of funny memes to celebrate May. :)

 

 

   And this one is for my special friends. :)