Snack Time!

Honestly, my mom makes the bestest chocolate chip cookies in the WORLD!!!  The only thing though, they're a real diet breaker.

Abigail and myself.  These cookies are really good.



What are chocolate chip cookies without milk?



Sunday Hiking

Ok.  So, last Sunday after church services we went out into the mountains as usual to let the dogs run and to roast our lunch (hot dogs-yummy!).  Then it started raining/snowing, so we packed everything up, got in the truck and set out for a little drive...or so we thought.  That "little drive" turned out to be around 5 hours long before we finally decided that we were lost.  It was really fun!  Even the part where we got stuck; we even had 4wheel drive, too!  Anyway, we finally pulled out the map, found out what general area we were in, but had to keep driving to find a sign so we'd know exactly where we were.  We found the sign, found the road we were on, but had no idea where on that road we were.  So, more driving until we found another sign, found out exactly where we were and started heading back to the highway the same way we came in.  The pictures below were taken by Mom and Anna.





The road we got stuck on.

  


Dad.  3 GIANT trees (they look giant, don't they?) had to be cut down for the truck to be able to make the turn.  It's a good thing we came prepared.  We always bring an axe, a saw, and 2 shovels on our Sunday outings.




Abigail.  Chilling (literally) while the guys get the truck unstuck.




Nathan.  Shoveling a path for the back wheel (which, by the way, was the wheel that was keeping us stuck).




Me and Abigail.  It doesn't really look all that stuck, does it?  Trust me, it was.

 

All us kids had to jump in the back of the truck with the dogs to put some weight in the back to help us get unstuck.



Cleaning our shoes before we get back in Dad's truck (which, by the way, is a huge mess and needs to be washed: outside, underneath, and engine; and vacuumed!  And who's expected to do all that?  That's right, your truly.).




See the elk at the bottom of the photo.



Believe it or not, Dad's truck was actually MUCH muddier the Sunday before last!



This is after we found ourselves and knew exactly where we were.

 It was all very fun, but when there's someone in the vehicle who gets carsick.........well, sometimes it's not so fun.  Very thankfully though, Dad stopped a few times to let me out and get some fresh air.  And that really made all the difference!

Sunday Hiking

Ok, so now that I'm done redesigning, I think I should get a post up here.  It's been a while!  Unfortunately, all of the pictures I took with Mom's Canon were accidentally deleted, and I'm very sad about it. :'(  I had some really good ones I wanted to share too, but y'all will just have to put up with my little Exilim. 



See that cliff on the left of the pic?  See how it sorta looks straight up and down?  Well, you're right, it is.  The guys decided that it would be a good idea to climb that cliff -- all the way to the top!  Nathan got pretty close and Dad and Zach attempted to follow saying, "How did you get up there?"  I don't know if they succeeded, I ended up leaving with Anna to go back to camp and do some more photo shooting.





This picture is taken from our campsite.  We had an even better view in the other direction.




Mom




Lady.  I'm actually a little surprised I got this shot.  I tell you, our dogs are camera shy.  Big time.  Every time someone points a camera just in their direction, they either look away, get up and walk off, or both.





Nathan.  I know I didn't get the top or the bottom of this cliff, but he's actually pretty high up.  And yes, this is the cliff I mentioned earlier.





Abigail actually took this photo.  For some reason I just really like it; it captivates me.  But apparently I'm the photographer in this family of that opinion.




Now this one.  Weird right?  But I kinda like the way that whenever I photo the sun like this, everything else goes black.  I know that I'm not "supposed" to point my lens at the sun, and maybe some day I'll regret it, but I think it's pretty cool how it turns out.  If it burns out my lens, I guess I'll just have to buy another camera.



My most recent portrait.



Reconstruction

Sorry people, but my blog might change appearances a few times in the next couple of days.  I'm in the process of redoing it.

Photography Contest

Play the Buttons

 So, this is my entry for Grace's photography contest   It might be amateur, but how am I ever going to get better if I don't try?  The inspiration for the picture was supposed to be Simplicity.  Pianos are pretty simple, right?  You see them almost everywhere.  But the piano is special to me because it's sort of like a connection between me and my dad, even though he doesn't play.  Ever since I was 8 he's always encouraged me to be the best I could on the piano.  When there was a piece I "knew" I couldn't learn, he'd push and push in the most encouraging way imaginable until I had it learned, thus proving me wrong.  A lot of times in the evenings when I'm playing the piano, he'll come in and say, "Lets sing."  And that's what we would do.  Sing our hearts out for the Lord together.  Now, I believe I can play any piece of music on the piano with just a little practice.  And while the piano isn't the only thing that keeps us close, it is one of them.
Now, the buttons...well, they weren't very special to me at first.  We always kept a tin of them somewhere in the kitchen just in case someone needed a new button for a sweater or a pair of pants or something.  They became a little more special to me when Mom told me how her mom always had a glass jar of buttons lying around to use for crafts or clothes.  And when Mom had a jar of her own, she was happy just to be able to replace missing buttons.  But when she started a button jar for me, saying that, "Every girl should have a button jar for when she's married." it became much more special to me.  Sometimes it's just that way: some things just aren't special to you until they're given to you by someone you love.
I guess the name I picked is kind of silly.  It's a spin off of "Push you Buttons" and "Play the Piano".

Blog Party

Well, I guess I'm going to see what a blog party is.  Apparently there a few giveaways, and I'd really wouldn't mind winning them.  This is something everyone who enters is supposed to fill out.


Favorite season, and why?
Spring.  The air is so clean and fresh.  I'ts nice and cool outside, and my birthday just so happens to be in the spring.


How would you describe your personal style? 
Oh, definitely Cowgirl!  I'm into all the hats, boots western shirts, everything!


What's one weird thing you can do? (The stranger the better!)
I can walk and jump on curled toes.  On the concrete, too!

Rain or shine?
I love rain.  It clears the air up for the next day.  But I also like sunshiny days.

Confession time... what's a flaw of yours?
I speak my mind, maybe a little too much.  And too bad you can't really take back what you've just said.


Favorite music?
Yanni, Jim Brickman, or Josh Groban

Have you ever made a decision you instantly regretted? What was it?
Yes, I certainly have.  Probably the worst ones were when I decided to lie to one of my parents and it got me sent to their room...


Who do you admire/look up to?
My parents.  They always know what to say, when to punish, and I hope I'm like them when I'm married.

You've just won an unlimited lifetime supply of... what?
Western wear!

If you were an animal, what would you be?
A horse.  I'd get to run free in the wild!

If you knew you were going to die in a year, what would you do with your time?
I don't know.  I suppose I'd like to go to Europe and maybe even Australia.

You're now a gazillionaire... where do you go to spend your money?
Land shopping.  I'd buy lots of land in the country and horses, lots of horses.


Classical music: love it or hate it?
Love it

Phobias?
Spiders, heights (but only if it's REALLY high), small dark spaces.

Hop on a plane and go live somewhere for a year... where is it, and why?
Missouri.  I miss all my family and friends there.


Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
Extrovert.

Would you/do you perform on stage?
Yep.  Every year since I was 6 I've performed singing, acting, or playing the piano in front of people.


Okay everyone, let's see your answers! Be sure to LINK BACK HERE in your post so people can join the fun, or grab this handy button:




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His Mercies are New Every Morning

Photography isn't "my thing".  It's  not something I especially like to do.  However, because of the Simple Serendipities http://simple-serendipities.blogspot.com/ giveaway I recently became a follower of A Tinge of Blue, A Speck of Red, A Patch of Green http://grace-an-aspiring-photographer.blogspot.com/ , and Grace is doing a photography challenge.  And since she called it a challenge, I decided to jump in.  I'm pretty sure I won't be nearly as good as any of the other photographers that enter, but it still sounds pretty fun to me.  In the first one she did, the theme was Spring.  So, I ran out to catch a little bit of spring only to find that that challenge was already ended.  Bummer.  Oh well, she's doing another one; but the theme is Simplicity, and I don't think this photo is quite right for that subject.  However, I did name the picture:  His Mercies Are New Every Morning.