Antietam trip

Last Friday Holly and I went out to Sharpsburg to walk around Antietam Battlefield. We have only been there twice and we didn't get to walk around a whole lot. This time we were able to go down a few trails that we'd never been down before and we were also able to enjoy the same places we had visited the last couple of times we'd been there.Now I understand why they're called the Blue Ridge mountains.

Artwork engraved or etched (I can't remember which is which) and hung on one of the monuments.

Burnside Bridge

Flowers by the visitor center.

A sign we saw while passing through Shepherdstown. This is SO typical of Shepherdstown.

The weather has been SO beautiful lately! I'm sad that I have to go back to work because I can't spend my afternoons outside. Luckily for me I have tomorrow afternoon off! I have an orthodontist appointment. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my dentist will tell me I can get my braces off in the next month! I've worn braces for almost 2 years now. I'm so excited to get them off!

Harper's Ferry

This past Monday Adam, Holly and I brought a picnic snack down to Harper's Ferry. We sat by the river, waded (and almost lost our flip flops in the current), went down a trail we'd never gone down before and of course took lots of pictures. It was a fun and goofy, not to mention relaxing few hours.



These two always crack me up. I love watching my (not-so-little-anymore) little brother and sister interact. I have several pictures of them that looks similar to this one.

If you ever have a chance you really should go down to Harper's Ferry. I try to get down there every once in awhile just because it's usually so peaceful. If you go at the right time you have almost the entire park to yourself and then you can enjoy the rivers, the trails, and the scenery. And bring a few friends or siblings along and you'll have even more fun. I promise!

A little peek

Here is a little glimpse of something I am working on.

It's a scrap quilt. Ever since Pleasant View Schoolhouse's Anna blogged about the scrap quilts she was making I wanted to do one too. I like how all these squares look together. They're all cut from cloth scraps and put together. It's fun trying to decide which ones should go where. I'll update on it when it's finished.

Summer Reading list

So far this summer I've made two trips to the library. One of my goals for the summer has been to read fun books before I have to go back to school and read chemistry, physics, trigonometry, accounting, and social psychology books all semester long. I'm going to live it up as long as I can and get my fill of fun, silly, entertaining books this summer.

In order of being read:

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. A very cute story about sisters who, with their father and trusty dog, go away to a cottage owned by a snobby woman with a young son and spend a few weeks out of their summer there. It was an easy simple story. Meant for kids but I don't let that stop me from reading them. :)

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This has long been one of my favorite books. There is something about Francie Nolan that I identify with. Something in the way Betty Smith writes makes me say to myself, "that's how I feel...I just didn't know how to say it." This book also opened my eyes a little bit to humanity and how complex people are and how beautiful and precious life is. It's a little mature for young readers but I think everyone would enjoy this book at some point in life.

10 out of 5 stars.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire. My friend saw the musical/play last year and said it was wonderful. Since then I found a copy of the book that inspired the play and I was able to start reading it last weekend and it was awful! It was dark and depressing and very immoral. I couldn't even finish it. I am sure that the musical is probably a little more lighthearted than the book, or at least I hope so. Not a book I would recommend.

I'd give it 0 of 5 stars.

Rosewater and Soda Bread by Marsha Mehran. With all the talk of Iran in the news lately my interest has been a little piqued. This book is about three sisters from Iran who end up living in Ireland and own a little restaurant. It said on the back of the book that there were lots of recipes included in the book so I thought I'd pick it up. It didn't give me any insight into the Iranian culture and I was sort of hoping it would. I wasn't entirely pleased with it. I'm not sure if I'd even try the recipes in the back. Maybe a couple. I also found it just a little conflicted and strange.

1 or 2 out of 5 starts.

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke. I read these books a long time ago. Since the movies came out I decided to repay them a visit and they are so much better than the movie (big surprise, right?)! Just a sweet and simple romance novel. Janette Oke definitely writes some of the cleanest and sweetest Christian fiction. I have another book that I checked out by her too. I read Love Comes Softly in an afternoon so I am sure I'll have read the other one soon too.

5 stars.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I think this is probably considered a classic and would imagine that most people have read it while in high school or something. If not then go get a copy at the library. It's really good. It's about a little girl named Scout and her brother, Jem, and they live in Alabama during the 1940's. Their father, Atticus, is a lawyer who is given a defense case for a black man who was accused of raping a white girl. It's cute, sad and gives a lot of insight into what a small southern town was like back during the days when people were still very prejudiced against people of different colors. One of the things about this book that I enjoy the most is that the people seem very real. Kind of like in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. You read this book and (especially if you have ever lived in the south) you know people like this.

5 stars.
And this book...so awesome! I got it recently and I really want to make some of the clothes in it. Once I lose a few lbs. I know that's not really a reason to wait to sew, but I think I'll enjoy sewing so much more if I've dropped a dress size or two. I'd also love to sew the kimono dress from Weekend Sewing (which is a book I don't own and am resisting buying because I own too many books!). I might just see if I can find a pattern for a kimono style dress.

5 Stars for aesthetic purposes alone...hopefully the book will be easy to follow too!

An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott. My sister lent me this book. This is the only book by Louisa May Alcott I've ever read. It's pretty good. It's an easy, sweet story to read and while Polly Milton is sort of a ''goody-two-shoes'' she is still human enough to like.

4 out of 5 stars

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This has loooong been one of my absolute favorite books. My mom read this book to us back when I was 10 years old and afterwards she read The Lord of the Rings series to us. I always liked the Hobbit the best. It's a little more lighthearted than Lord of the Rings. This book seems so colorful to me. All the characters, all the adventures...and though it may sound silly, I really identify with Bilbo Baggins'. The part of the story that says something to the extent of: "...something Tookish woke up inside of him and he longed to see the places that the dwarves sang of..." sort of describe my feelings about adventures. I'm normally the kind of person who needs a little shove out of my comfort zone. Even though I am sometimes hesitant to try new things I really do want to have adventures of my own. I think as a young kid this story just inspired me to live adventurously. And someday I will. :) ha ha!

10 out of 5 stars

There are a few other books that I am reading right now. I may continue to update this list throughout the summer.

**Updated**

Once Upon a Summer by Janette Oke. This is the story about a 12 year old boy who is raised by his young aunt (only about 5 years older than he is), his grandfather, great-uncle and great-grandfather. His grandfather and great-uncle realize that the aunt is old enough to marry and decide they're going to ''help'' her find the right man. The boy decides he's going to try to sabotage their efforts to keep his beloved aunt with them. Another 'old-fashioned prairie' type novel. I really like Janette Oke's books because they're very simple and sweet and Christian. I've read some disturbing Christian fiction before and this sweet stuff reminds me of when I was little and 100% obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder and On the Banks of Plum Creek. Oh how I miss those days when life was SO simple!

4 of 5 stars.

Lydia Bennet's Story by Jane Odiwe. Okay, so I know you can't top Jane Austen and it's almost sacrilegious to try to write a story about one of her characters but I have wondered what happened to Lydia so I picked this one up to see what Jane Odiwe's thoughts were. Let's just say that if it weren't a take off of Jane Austen's books I probably would have liked it better. Because I'm a sap and love happy endings I will say that I appreciated that Jane Odiwe does give Lydia a happier ending than we originally thought she might have had. If anyone's interested in finding out what it is they'll just have to read it and find out.

2 out of 5 stars

Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt. I like this book. I read it a long time ago and could imagine being Julie Trelling. Living in a big house in the country and having a secret "cathedral" is right up my alley. Plus, even though I've never lost a parent, I always identified with Julie a little bit because she is something of a loner and I feel that in some ways I am too. It almost seems a little Anne of Green Gables. But not quite.

4 out of 5 stars

Amelia's War by Ann Rinaldi. Ann Rinaldi is an author I enjoy because she writes so many stories about the Civil War battles that take place near my home. In this book she writes about a girl who lives in Hagerstown, MD which is not so very far from where I live. All of her books are based on historical facts and events although most of her characters are fictional. I like a lot of her books including the ones that aren't about the Civil War. I really enjoy history and I guess that's one of the reasons why I like her stories.

4 out of 5 stars.

Catching up

With blogging. Not a whole lot has been going on but there have been a few things to blog about.

Last week Mom and I went to a dog agility show in Virginia. It was fun to watch the dogs run through the obstacle course. I can only imagine how much work the trainers do with their dogs to get them ready for these competitions. Some of the dogs were really good. I think one completed the course in 36-37 seconds. A few didn't even finish the course. They kept skipping stuff. All the dogs looked like they were having a grand old time though.

Here are a few shots that we got:



The 4th of July was fun. We spent it with my sister's in-laws. It was a really nice time. Their neighbors from across the road set off tons of fireworks. It was a great show! Our group set off a few big fireworks too. It was especially cool when one of them exploded on the ground and it went off right in the yard. Of course all the moms that were present didn't think that was so great but all the kids thought it was beautiful.

A couple of weekends ago I went out with my friend Becca to Shaharazades (the tea house). It was SOOO nice to hang out and get in some girl time. I tell you, work is wearing me out and both my sisters were out of town so an evening drinking tea and walking around the downtown (and just missing being caught in a huge downpour...we just made it back to the car before the heavens opened and the rains gushed forth) was very therapeutic. What is it about tea that's so therapeutic?

Photos:
A church in Shepherdstown. See the thunder clouds?

Becca took this picture in an attempt to explain what abstract photography might look like.I took this one to see if I could be an abstract photographer. She said it wasn't quite right. Ha ha!Pretty cups and tea pots in Shaharazades tea house.The cups we got to use.

I just love that place. :)

Adam, Holly and I went to Harper's Ferry on Monday. As usual I took lots of pictures, but I'll save those for another post. In my opinion, Harper's Ferry always deserves its own post.

Last night I took Holly and some of the girls in her Bible study out to see Up. It was one of the sweetest, saddest (and slightly scary) children's movies I've seen in awhile. I had a lot of fun with Holly, Katie and Rebecca. We almost had the entire theater to ourselves. There was one other couple there for the evening showing. There are advantages to going to a kid's movie on a Tuesday night...it's pretty much empty. At least it is around here. Anyway, I would recommend it. Bring a couple of tissues though if you're the type that cries during movies. I'm not that type and I still thought I might need a tissue once or twice. Very sweet.
I have this week off work and I've been enjoying hanging out. I helped build a fence in the backyard over the weekend. My dad was laid off back in May so he and my mom are trying to start a doggy day care. They're really excited about it and I really hope it works out for them! I was able to help out a little bit by helping work on the fence and I've been making dinner a few nights this week which is nice. I'm pretty much off my diet (argghhh!) but I helped plan the menu and I chose the healthiest meals I could think of. I'm feeling pretty good about it. :)

I'm going to sign out for the evening. I'll be back later with more posts on Harper's Ferry and on a little project I'm working on. Once nice thing about having a week off is that you have time to get started on projects which is the hardest part of a project in my opinion! For now, though, I'm going to go watch Kung Fu Panda with my family. I've never seen it before but, in spite of myself, I kind of love Jack Black because he makes the funniest faces and voices and expressions in his movies (Nacho Libre, School of Rock...those are the only movies I've seen him in) so I'm excited about it.

Shalom~

Happy 4th of July!

From the mountains....

To the prairies...
To the oceans white with foam...
(photo taken by my sister, Jacqueline)

God bless America. My home sweet home.

Happy Father's Day!

The Father's Day card Holly and Adam picked out. The Ten Commandments of Dad. I accidentally deleted the picture of the front of the card.
I would like to say that my Dad doesn't curse or swear, but he does tell us to turn off lights in rooms that aren't being used!
Happy Father's Day, Dad!

PS: Dad said he loved his card! I think it was a hit!

7(ish) Layer Salad

The recipe for this salad came from my sister's Mother-in-law who is an amazing cook. We had this salad at her house over Memorial day and I haven't gotten it out of my head.I put myself on a rather strict diet. Not entirely sure how long I'll make myself be this strict but I'm hoping to break some bad eating habits and create some new good ones. The diet I am putting myself on is basically just meat (fish and eggs and cheese included), veggies and perhaps 1 half cup of no-sugar-added apple sauce or a glass of skim milk every day. I hope to keep it up for the whole week and perhaps start adding in It's boring. I hate it. I miss junk food. But I'm going to do it anyway and I made this salad today to have something yummy to bring to work with me. I think there are more than 7 layers in this salad. I practically have a whole produce section in here. Wish me luck as I try to make it through a full-time work week without sugar...namely chocolate!

Beaded bobby pins

I had some fun this past week decorating these little bobby pins. I used fishing wire and beads I had along with a couple of drops of super glue (that stuff really sticks to your hands!) to do these. It was a fun little project. Easy and manageable while working full-time. I would like to do a few more in the future.

Gettysburg!

We took a little trip to Gettysburg Battlefield this past Sunday. The weather was made to order. I love it when the weather is perfect. Not too hot, not too cold...just right. In the words of Goldilocks anyway. :)








It was a huge battlefield. I had no idea how big it would be. You had to drive through it and even then it took us hours. It is very beautiful out there in Pennsylvania. But personally I think I liked Antietam Battlefield a little better. It is a little smaller and I think not quite as rugged as Gettysburg is.

Whenever I am on a battlefield or at Harper's Ferry I am just amazed at how peaceful those places seem. They're quiet and beautiful and yet so much violence took place there. Especially the battlefields. They're described as being blood-soaked and strewn with bodies. Horrible really. I couldn't picture it when I am in those places.

I like going to historic places. I think it's so neat to walk on ground that has been walked upon by historic people. George Washington was a scout or surveyor for Harper's Ferry so who knows if I have walked the same grounds as he did. I think it's sort of a neat thought.

I have often wanted to go to Israel to see the places that Jesus and his disciples and the apostles walked. Talk about history! I think it would be so awesome. That's one of my goals one day.

Craft Fair!

I went to a craft fair near Harper's Ferry on Saturday. It is a juried craft fair and you have to pay to get in (I had a coupon so I got in cheaper) so there were a lot of really talented artists there with beautiful creations! It was a lot of fun and I not only saw a lot of beautiful work but I got to talk to a few of the artists too which was fun.


Each ''store'' had a booth in the tents and there were probably about 10 of these large tents in the park with lots of stores in each tent.This lady makes wire jewelry. I bought a ring from her.

This store was just selling handmade soap. It smelled really good there.This store was selling hand-spun/dyed yarn and knitted goods. For very high prices...


This store was one of my favourites. The reason being that the artist is a patient at the dentist office I work at. All of this work is done by Mona Kissel and she is a polymer clay artist. Her work is just beautiful.

There was also a store where a lady was doing paper cuts. I am not posting that picture because she asked me not to put anything online because she didn't want anyone to steal her designs. I will just say that she did very pretty work. It looked like fun. She told me a lot of the history and technique behind papercutting. Perhaps someday I'll try my hand at that.

Also not pictured is the "hammock" store. I'm not sure what it was called but they had outdoor furniture and really awesome hammocks and hammock swings that are SO comfortable. I still haven't given up on my dream of owning one someday. :)

The only other thing I bought was a bottle of sparkling apple cider that my family helped drink up. Thankfully! It was very sugary so all I wanted was a little glass. But my younger brother was able to drink a lot of it being that he is a teenage boy who can eat whatever he wants. :) My little sister helped out a fair bit too.
I almost bought some yarn remnants from one of the yarn artists but I'm glad I didn't. I already have too much yarn that I haven't used yet and I can't justify any more. Truthfully I just can't justify any more craft supplies. :)
It's like a weird sickness or something. Am I the only one with this disease? :)

Oh summer...

Well, I don't think this summer is going to be the kind where I get to sit lazily in a hammock and breathe honeysuckle air and just take in nature in general. No. Not for awhile anyway. I'm very busy these next few weeks. I'm working 5 days a week this week and for the next 2 weeks at the dentist office so most of my days are filled with with dental assisting. I have been working on some fun stuff but our computer isn't letting me upload pictures so it will be awhile before I do any posting. But I am planning to do some posting on the things that I've been up to lately including journaling, gardening, sewing (hopefully), stamping...I'm also hoping to go to a craft fair this weekend and I'm sure I'll have pictures of that!

In the meantime, enjoy your summer!

2 months old today!

It's weird to think that 2 months ago today our Olive was born. Since then she has grown considerably and her personality is developing. She is a lot of fun. We love her. :)Happy two-months-old-day, baby! You are the best niece I could ever ask for.

Where I'd like to be.

This is my summer dream come true. A hammock. Unfortunately it isn't mine. But it is my sister's (she own's two) and I got to spend a lovely hour and a half or so there today. I sat out there with my niece in my arms and Jacqueline sat in the swing across from me and we swung and chatted until Olive fell asleep. I think God decided to give us a few extra springlike days since I was so allergic to the outdoors the past few weeks and couldn't go out and enjoy it. It is very gracious of Him.Jacqueline and Matt have a lovely yard. It's full of different kinds of trees and there are forsythia bushes and a rose plant out there too. Their next-door neighbor has a beautiful rose garden which is nice to look at too. I think that in their situation it's better than having their own rose garden because they can enjoy the beauty of it without having to care for it. Having an infant and keeping up with a garden sounds like a pill to me.

I think there must be honeysuckle near the yard because it smelled so good out there too. It was just a perfect way to spend an afternoon. Under a shady tree with a slight breeze, chatting with my sister (before they leave for 3 weeks!), snuggling Olive, inhaling the wonderful smelling air...I could easily spend every day this summer doing nothing but swinging outdoors. I could read out there, eat out there, knit or sew, nap in my hammock swing...

Someday I will have my own home and I will have a garden and in that garden I will hang hammocks and I will spend all summer outdoors in my garden planting things and when I'm not planting I'll be in my hammock. And I'll hang an extra one for visitors. Because the only thing that could make spending a summer outdoors in a garden with a hammock more pleasant is to have a friend out there with you.