Home (For the Time Being)

Well we made it back from our trip yesterday, and I have to say I'm quite glad. I still had some fun of course, but it was extremely hot (you'd get heat stroke from running one lap around the yard) and a tinsy bit boring at times. For example one of the prime sources of entertainment for my brothers and me was rolling around in a wheelchair my grandma had on the porch. haha I'm exaggerating a bit, but we did roll around in quite a lot. ;) I also made the mistake of trying to operate my grandma's dial-up computer. I will never do that again. I spent 30 minutes trying to load one song only to receive a message that said the internet provider had to shut down due to an error. But the computer wasn't entirely useless. Playing solitare can be quite fun when you're desparate. =]

Looking on the bright side, I did get to go clothes shopping and we got to eat out a few times. (We rarely ever eat out due to my dad's restrictive diet). So all in all I managed to have some fun, but I'm very glad to get home. However, due to my other grandma's breast cancer, we might be heading to visit her and my grandpa as soon as next week (or even this friday), so I won't get a whole lot of time to enjoy home. But oh well. At least I'm not stuck at home all the time this summer. Speaking of my grandma we're getting the idea that the cancer is not as bad as it first sounded, but it's still cancer and thus requires quick treatment. Now she'll get to join my dad in drinking his favorite drink: carrot juice. I don't envy them....

Leaving

Tomorrow we're heading down south (even deeper south than where we live) to see my grandma. We're staying a whole week (actually a little over a week) and the car ride will be 10 hours long. Not to mention we have to leave at about 6:30 in the morning. Not exactly my idea of a fun trip, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it. =] I probably won't be posting here till we get back, unless my dad can somehow hook up his laptop down there and get internet access through my grandma's modem (or something like that). I don't really see that happening, so unless a miracle occurs you probably won't hear from me in a while. I am not giving up hope yet though because as nice as it is to get to see family and all, it might get kind of boring down there at times (plus it's going to be really really hot). But my dad said he might finally take us to see Narnia while we're there so I won't complain yet....

Before I go, I would like to ask prayers for my other grandma who was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. She's meeting with an oncologist next week to see about treatments, plus my parents are encouraging her to go on the diet my dad's been on (which has worked wonders for his cancer). I'll let you know how everything turns out, and thanks for your prayers. =]

On a lighter note, I'm having to post this on another computer as my computer is having problems again (surprise surprise). I'm not sure if it's a virus or not, but it sure is acting funny. Everytime I boot up the computer I get this wierd message that says something like "a critical error has been detected on your computer. Windows has been shut down to protect your computer". Or rather it's been shut down to irritate me to death. That's a thought...

Till later

Miserable Morning at the Dentist

This morning I ended up at the dentist (though certainly not of my own accord.) For one thing the appointment was at 9:00 AM, which is the crack of dawn on days when school's out. Secondly, getting your teeth cleaned is never fun (unless you enjoy having them poke all those wierd instruments around in your mouth). No offense if you do of course, but moving on...

First she hits you with vibrations and water. For those of us with sensitive teeth, those things hurt like the dickens. They could seriously use those things for torture methods.....Then you get to sit there while she scrapes plaque off your teeth (never a pleasant sound) and also decides to ask you random questions about yourself. Not that I don't like talking to people (well most people =]) but it is rather difficult to talk while someone's fingers and wierd appliances are stuck in your mouth..... Then she brushes your teeth (or rather jams an electric toothbrush as hard as she can into your tooth) and flosses them (or, again, rather jams the thread as hard as it will go into your gum). And then she does the worst thing of all. She decides to poke around your gums with some long pointy thing. (hehe). I have extremely sensitive gums, so I had to work hard not to cry out in pain (seriously). But finally she is done, and then the dentist sees you for about five seconds (easy job huh). The bottom line is I survived, (with better looking teeth for all that pain), but it was definitely no walk in the park.

After that our youth group had a cookout, to get to know our new youth minister better, which was a lot of fun. The hamburger didn't quite measure up to the special all natural ones we order (those things are dang good), but it was still quite tasty. And of course visiting with everyone was nice too. =]

That's it for now

Parking

A few things

*Got to practice my parking Friday. It went pretty well. Even though I still can't park perfectly every time, I did have a few times where I did well (though I also had a few times where I did absolutely atrocious). Plus my dad keeps reminding me that I'll be 16 in 5 months, which means I only have 5 months to get this down because my dad will probably kill me if I don't pass the license test on the first try....Okay I'm exaggerating a bit, but I do really need to learn parking as soon as possible though. =] I also need to work on backing out of a space which is even trickier than parking (and that's definitely saying something coming from me). My dad stood in the space next to me pretending to be another car, (luckily we were practicing in our empty church parking lot), so I had to back out extra slowly so as not to hit my dad. I really did not want to get into trouble for hitting my dad while practicing backing. ;) But for all my complaining and moaning I'll just have to keep on practicing and hope that I get it down eventually....

*Apparently this past week my computer came down with some kind of virus. My background was replaced with some kind of funny warning saying "your computer has been infected with spyware", plus my email address was sending out videos of a Clinton supporter getting thrown out of some meeting (random and wacko I know) to every person on my list. I was quick to assure them that that wasn't me sending those videos. I never clicked on the link of course, so who knows what was actually in the video. But there is a happy ending. My dad (after searching the web for what seemed like ages) finally found a program that got rid of the virus. So thanks to him hopefully I won't be sending out anymore strange emails.....

That's it for now.

Home Again

Just got back from vacation today, and as to where we went I'll just say that we spent a great deal of our time at the largest house in America. I'll assume you know what I'm talking about. =] Anyways we had a really good time as I've been wanting to go to Biltmore for quite some time. It's a good thing our tickets were good for two days though because there was simply wayy too much to do. We spent the first day going through the house which was of course very nice, but extremely crowded. You couldn't stop and look at anything without some stranger bumping into you. Plus there was no air conditioning so it got really hot in there (not to mention I started to get claustraphobic towards the end). Unfortunately my mom is one of those people who has to examine nearly every single detail (even the bathrooms) so we spent a little more time in there than I would have liked. But hey it was still a great time. And the ice cream parlor was spectacular (though the servings weren't exactly for people on the smallish side).

The second day we did the gardens, which was much less crowded and a little bit more enjoyable. However, we walked on one trail which led to a waterfall and that led quite a ways away from the house. Don't get me wrong. The scenery was great, but ever since encountering a rattlesnake at a previous woodland trail I have never been too fond of such things. Not to mention it got really hot and my legs felt like they were on fire towards the end of the walk. I tripped over a few tree roots, mistook several things for snakes, and screamed everytime a bug landed on me. But I did survive and managed to make it back in one piece.

Before I finish just thought I'd share one of my pure acts of stupidity. The hotel we stayed at has a swimming pool and even though I'm not the best swimmer, (I refuse to swim in water over 5 feet), I still wanted to go in. So while me and my bro were goofing around he suggested that I try swimming with him on my back. Now please don't ask me what possessed me because I have no clue. All I know was I decided to give it a try. So I took off, swam for a nano second, and of course went under. For a person who hates going underwater, this was a nightmare. By the time I finally managed to make it back to the surface I had swallowed a whole bunch of chlorine and didn't know whether to laugh or scream angrily at myself. *sigh* It was just one of those days....

Surprise Surprise

I'm going on vacation tomorrow. The problem is I have no clue where we're going. Well I have a few clues, but I still don't know for sure. My dad wants it to be a surprise, so he insists us kids (that means me and my brothers) can't find out where we're going till we actually get there. The only things I know is that; 1: It's somewhere instate (meaning it can't be too exotic). 2: It's not the beach. 3: It's only a few hours away. So basically it's not anywhere too over-the-top exciting (we're only gone till Thursday after all), but it's still a vacation so hopefully I'll have a good time. =] I won't have internet access while we're gone, but that's probably a good thing considering I'm about ready to throw my computer through the window at the moment....

Besides this, there's really nothing much else going on except for the fact that it is dang hot down here. Also my brother's birthday was yesterday, so he's still using that as an excuse to get out of anything chore or work related he can....quite annoying to say the least, (especially since I normally have to end up doing what he doesn't) but hey we all do it so what can I say. ;)

That's it for now.

The Hiding Place

A book report I did last semester on the book The Hiding Place. Not one of my best works, but oh well. Really good book. I highly suggest you read it.

The Hiding Place follows the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family in Holland during World War II. Besides running their watch shop, the Ten Booms’ open up their home as an underground hiding place for Jews fleeing from the Nazis. Relying on nothing but her faith in God, Corrie manages to keep their secret hidden, when Nazis raid the house arresting Corrie, her father, and her sister, Betsie. Corrie’s elderly father, Casper Ten Boom, dies in prison, but Corrie and Betsie survive and the Nazis send them to a horrible German concentration camp. Corrie finds the work onerous, the treatment inhumane, and she constantly worries about Betsie’s failing health. However, Corrie and Betsie soon find respite in sharing the word of God with their fellow prisoners. They also find ways to thank God for everything in their situation, even the fleas.

After several months in the camp, Betsie passes away, leaving Corrie heartbroken. Only her faith in God keeps her going. A few weeks later, the Nazis release Corrie, and she goes back to Holland to start a rehabilitation center for war victims. While there she finds her brother, Wilhem, and sister, Nollie, once again. Many years later, Corrie discovers that the Nazis had released her by accident, and that a week after her release, Nazis had killed all women her age in the gas chambers. Corrie continues her work for many years, and realizes that God’s love and hope sustained her through all her time in the concentration camp. This statement captures the theme of this book. Even if things do not go our way in life, we know that God has a plan and that we can trust in His guidance.

Unlike some books I have read, this book drew me close to the characters and challenged me to be more like the main character (Corrie) faith wise. The author did not "sugar coat" the rough spots of the story, and depicted the times well. Though this book might depress many readers with all the character deaths and the horrible ordeals Corrie went through, the theme of faith triumphing over evil transcends all of Corrie’s trials. I found Corrie’s faith and her later found optimism infectious, and the story makes you feel as if its going on "right now" and makes you imagine it happening to you.

This book did get a little confusing at times, however. I could hardly keep up with all the characters, and I almost wished they could have been reintroduced when they appeared for a second or third time. Also, I wish the book had gone into more detail about Corrie’s life after the concentration camp. The book had good material on this subject, but I wanted to see more of it.
This book would probably appeal most to those interested in the historical events of World War II and to Christians going through hard times in their lives. This book would also appeal to any Christian interested in Corrie’s story. It wouldn’t be wise for the weak at heart or younger children to read this, but mainly The Hiding Place could be enjoyed by a vast audience of young and old alike.

Great News

Today we got the results of my dad's first MRI since his infusions started, and miraculously the entire tumor is almost gone! Of course the cancer is still there a little bit of course and he will still have infusions, but this is about the best news that we could have hoped for. Apparently his diet (and of course the infusions) has really paid off after all. Praise God. Thank you soo much for your prayers. They truly are a lifesaver. =]

Besides all this, nothing much else has been going on. The social went fine. It was great getting to see everybody and it actually wasn't too boring. ;) I probably won't get to go next year though because we kind of got kicked out of the group (yes I'm exaggerating a little bit), but that's a whole different story.....