Monthly Archives: February 2016

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Music

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Hey, guys!  I found a few (or more than a few! 🙂 ) music videos recently that I’ve been watching, and I thought I would share them with you all!

Kids, please check talk with your parents first.  A lot of these are mostly just lyrics, but figure out what works best for your family.  I have had some trouble with Youtube bringing up unhelpful video suggestions at the end.

This song is soo pretty! We sang it at a Bright Lights conference this summer, and I decided I needed to find it somewhere and memorize it!

I had the opportunity to attend a concert by the Gaither band with my grandparents a while ago, and heard David Phelps sing this song.  It really stood out to me.  We looked it up so the rest of my family could hear it, and I’ve listened to it almost every day since then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phJo1E94Yk8

It’s from The Hobbit.  “What praise could I say more?” 🙂

The picture at the end annoys me, but I like how the video is made!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsGnKWAXhIo

For those of you who haven’t heard, I’m crazy about the new “Cinderella” movie.  I enjoyed it more than the old one, though it isn’t necessarily as good for younger kids.  “Have courage and be kind.” ♥

This video was very well made!  She has the original soundtrack playing, and only does the violin for the vocal parts!

Once again, it’s from Middle Earth.  Of course I love it. 🙂

Still Taylor Davis.  And still Middle Earth.  I love how heart-felt her playing is!  She really tapped into the bitter-sweet depth this song has.  And look at the violin she’s playing–I’ve never seen one like that before!

Can you tell I have an obsession with violins?  (No, I don’t play one.)  I love how she practically dances while she plays–she really knows what she’s doing with a violin!  And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this, and I still haven’t gotten over her dress–or the scenery!  Actually filmed in New Zealand!

And that’s about it.  I just figured out I really like music videos, so I’ve been watching to a lot lately! 🙂

Happy Monday!

Literature

“The Sacrifice”: Part two

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The second part–where things get exciting.  Enjoy! 🙂

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Part Second: “Dragon!”

“Ready to head home, Penny?” Henry asked, as he lay on his back in the grass.

“Never!” Penelope answered, tilting her head back to look at the sky as she leaned against the rock they had raced to.

“Sounds like I’m not the only one who would rather do this than anything else,” her brother teased.

“I assumed it was obvious. But we probably should go back soon, it’s—Henry, look!”

Continue reading “The Sacrifice”: Part two →

Life, Literature

The Storybook Cave

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I started this picture in Colorado, and brought it home to finish it.  I’d been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but the exact details–a dragon sitting on a pile of gold, reading a story to some other fun creatures–came all of a sudden while I was drawing with our friends.  They’re good for inspiration. 🙂  And thanks, Brianna and Emily, for your help with my unicorn’s face!

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Happy Thursday!

(Which means tomorrow’s Friday. . .)

Literature

“The Sacrifice”: Part one

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This is it!!!

I hope you’re all as excited as I am!  After a year of waiting, this is it!  I decided to just surprise you all, and not tell anyone it was coming. 🙂

I’d like to thank all my friends that  helped me break up writer’s block–the ones I e-mailed and snail-mailed (love you girls, Ellen and Savannah!) and everyone who commented on posts like this.  And my parents, who proof-read this story and helped me sift the typos and inconsistencies.  I really appreciate you guys!

Okay, quick note and then I’ll let you read: I’m going to be posting twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday.  There are close to thirty parts, so even posting twice a week this could take up quite a bit of the summer!  The Mushroom Feast was the longest story before, with thirteen parts, and The Sacrifice is over twice as long!

Anyway, I’ll stop now.  Enjoy!

IMG_2140 ~The Sacrifice~ IMG_2136

 

Part First: When the Flowers Bloom. . .

The great mountain-range stretched far South; running hundreds of miles, peak after snow-capped peak. Very near the center of the long line was a wide valley, green with grass. It was surrounded by mountains, and in the middle of it was a city. Around this city ran a high wall of gray stone, with great black gates facing West. Inside the wall were houses and huts and small gardens, and smooth, narrow streets, where the townspeople lived; and in the very center of it all stood a castle, its tall, gray towers rising high into the air like the mountain-peaks around it, topped with fluttering, white flags like the snow-crowned crags of the range. In this castle dwelt the King and Queen of the Valley, Cedric and Eleanor. They had two children: Prince Henry, who was the heir to the throne, and his younger sister, nineteen-year-old Penelope.

Continue reading “The Sacrifice”: Part one →

Life

Bright Red Rose

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I got my braces on this afternoon!  So far, they haven’t been as bad as the palate widener, and–from what I’ve heard–I don’t think they’re ever going to be, and the worst is over.

Still, they’re weird, and it was nice to have something cheery to come home to:

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Lucy bought me a flower.

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With her own money.  All her idea.  And she kept her secret so well–I had no notion of what was going on!

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Isn’t it just the sweetest ever?  I’ve never seen such a pretty flower.

She asked how long it would last.  Dad said three days.  I say it lasts forever.  ‘Cause I’ll never forget it.  It’s going in a story someday–probably quite a few!  Everything that a writer remembers lasts forever.

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Sparkly tissue paper and everything.  Oh, sparkles are the best!

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It smells about about like heaven.

I think I have a new favorite flower.

What sort of things do you love just because of the memories they’re tied to?

Life

Colorado

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Hi, ya’ll!  Sorry I haven’t posted in so long.  We got back from a short trip to Colorado last Thursday.  It was only a few days long, but a great trip–spending time with my family and the friends we stayed with, being outside, reading in the car (I love road-trips!), and. . . (drum-roll please!) my first time skiing.

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It was a cross between the scariest, most stressful thing I had ever done, and the funnest and most exciting. 🙂

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So. . . I have a love/hate relationship with skiing, at the moment.

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But, I’m glad we went!  It was fun, and the weather was perfect, and the scenery was to die for.

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But I didn’t die for it (I survived skiing!), so I’m back, and I’m hoping to start posting more.  I know I’ve been a wee bit sparse lately.

 

P.S. Can you get too old for dressing up?  We stayed with some friends of ours, and they had the best dress up clothes ever–and they even fit a fifteen-year-old!  What more could a girl ask for?

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Happy Sunday! 🙂

Faith

Love… Because It’s Valentine’s Day

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Love.

What comes to mind when you hear that word?  Red roses and sparkly diamonds?  Silvery moonlight?  Hearts and glitter and flowers and hugs and kisses?

The thing that we picture when we talk about love is often something nice and pretty.  We like to imagine love as safe and canny, and enjoyable.  But it’s not.  Love isn’t safe.  What comes to mind when we picture “love” should not be touchy-feely.  We like to think that if love was visible it would be pink and lovely and comfortable.

But the reality of love is the cross.  Tears–pain–darkness–blood–sweat–grime–wood splinters in your skin.

God is love, and He loved us even when it meant abandoning His son to torture and death.  To love someone is not to be made happy by them.  It means choosing to hang on and never let go, and let them drag you through things you never wanted to experience and don’t know how to handle.  Loving people is painful.

But it’s worth it–so, so worth it.  It’s so, so beautiful.

Love is the ultimate clash of beautiful and ugly.  It is healing and life running to death and pain.  Loving is impossible on our own.  We could never be brave enough.  You can only truly love someone when you pray for God’s help, and fight to bring them closer to Him.