introducing... wordy wednesday!

One of the things that I love most is WORDS! It's a common joke in the family that I'm a walking dictionary (which is so not true :). I think that we don't use words as much as we should... most people have an extremely limited vocabulary and use words that don't make sense in that context.

When I was still in school, one of the things that I loved most about being homeschooled was being read to. Even when I was in high-school (and even now) I loved to listen to my mom read a good book out loud! When we would come to a word that we didn't know (as long as it wasn't a tense part :) we would pull out our trusty dictionaries and look it up. Some of my favorite words came from "Peter Pan", which is SUCH a good book!

Anyway, I would like to start spotlighting a word every Wednesday... some of these words may not be words that we would use in a normal sentence but they are neat anyway! To start off (the very soon to be new year), here is a word that we should think about when we decide what we want to do with our time.

PICAYUNE

Pic-a-yune

Of little value or importance, something trivial

p.s. speaking of doing things of little value or importance, this really is my last post for today! I haven't been feeling very good today, and it doesn't hurt to be on the computer. Thus all the posts. But it really is PICAYUNE!!

darn those socks!

A couple of years ago we discovered the best store in the world... a yarn store that was about 2 blocks away from our house! We were thrilled as there aren't many stores that close! This store had the neatest employees. An older lady (with very colorful language!), and one in her 40's. We actually didn't know how to knit, but we soon discovered a lady who would teach us for free. She only taught us 2 lessons (we joined up with my cousins for these lessons, she taught about 10 girls at the same time!), but that was enough to set me on fire!

I decided to take a class at the local yarn store to learn how to knit... (drumroll please :)...

TWO SOCKS AT THE SAME TIME!!

This was one of the funnest classes I had ever taken! There was only one other lady in the class, a petite lady who was totally blind except for one little spot. Imagine... a blind lady, an older lady with extremely colorful language, and a 18 yr old girl with huge feet! It was quite the class to say the least.

I had so much fun learning to knit socks! I knit them on two sets of circular needles, with two balls of yarn. It's sort of hard to keep track of all that, but when you get done, you have two socks!

I have worn these socks so many times... they are so warm and soft (even though they are made
of wool). But I developed a problem... HOLES!!

My amazing grandma who had an equally amazing Swedish immigrant grandmother told me how to darn socks. I got a sock darner from lehmans.com for about $5. BUT one of my worst faults is procrastination! So I kept procrastinating until I couldn't any longer!

So I gathered the supplies (a large needle, a ball of extra yarn, and my lovely sock darner)

My grandma told me that all I had to do was just go back and forth, so that's what I did!


It was pretty easy and I was so excited to have my favorite socks back! I know it's not the most attractive darning job, but at least my feet won't get cold at night!!

do you trust me?

Recently I've been having a hard time with different things, one of them being totally trusting God with my entire life. Whenever I trust Him, life turns out so much better, but it's hard to let go of control! I wrote this poem this afternoon when I was having a quiet moment in my bedroom. This was an answer to prayer and I felt as if my Heavenly Father was talking directly to me!!

DO YOU TRUST ME?

“Daughter do you trust Me?” came the call from Heaven above.

Thoughtfully I answered with a sobbing, tear-filled cry,

“In Thee I’ll trust Dear Father, though I know not where I’ll go”

Lovingly He told me with a heart brimming full of love

“I will take thee through some sorrows, some hardships and some pains.

You’ll wonder why it hurts when I’m meant to take all pain away.

Your heart will nearly break, and you may think to choose another way.

But keep trusting my dear daughter, and some day you’ll truly see

How much I was there beside you, guiding steps, healing hearts, wiping tears and raising hopes.

Keep trusting in me daughter, one day your heart will soar

As your prayers and hopes are answered as you’d always hoped, plus more!

Keep trusting in my wisdom; use my strength from day to day,

Let me lead you to new heights in a closer walk with Me!”

my favorite christmas decoration

Today we are taking down Christmas decorations. It always makes me sad to see them taken down. There is always a year full of adventures before we get to see them again!

This is my most favorite decoration of all time. It is a Willow Tree nativity that we have slowly gotten as it costs so much! Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherd along with the creche were given to us by my aunt and uncle a couple of years ago. My uncle actually hand carved the entire creche, isn't it beautiful!? Then last year the kids all saved up and bought the wise men for my mom.

This nativity sits on top of my piano, so I look at it often as I practice and teach piano... I love looking at it as it reminds me of the sacred importance of Christmas and HIS birth!

I hope that 2009 will be a year full of remembering Christ in everything that I do!

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a totally white Christmas, in fact, today they issued a warning that everyone should stay where they are... we got more than a foot last night! Was that ever fun to shovel!

Yesterday after milking our goats at 6:00, my parents woke everyone else up (I helped milk) and we opened presents. Then we went to my mom's family to have a delicious but huge brunch. It was so good! Then we went and visited my dad's family and then came home and just enjoyed being together! Here are some pictures from yesterday:

me: for once and for all, will you STOP trying to steal my treats?!

my cute brother and dad

me: what do you mean you don't want to smile, do it anyway!!

two of my fun sisters :)

Piano Recitals

This past Saturday I had 2 fantastic recitals... In the morning I played in a recital for one of my old teachers (she has been helping me get ready for an audition). It was at the local university and I got to play on a concert grand STEINWAY!! My song has never sounded so good!

Later that evening I had my student recital and it went so well! They were all so cute and did so well. I now have a grand total of 14 students, only 10 played that evening, but next year I'm definitely going to have my hands full!

The above picture was the third attempt of my mom to take

a picture of me playing, I guess I wouldn't stop moving. :)

This last picture is of my adorable 4 yr old brother that I just started in the pre-reading books. He was playing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and as you can tell from the look on his face (notice his tongue) he was concentrating so hard!

Music Therapy Video

This is one fantabulous video that shows a little about Music Therapy and has some great music quotes... ENJOY!

every day zeal

every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending

I choose every day as the title for my blog because I love having every single day as the opportunity to be alive, to do great things, to learn, to love and to live a life full of zeal!

zeal... what exactly does that mean? In the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary, zeal is described as "an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object." In a more recent dictionary, it is described as "enthusiastic devotion to a cause, an ideal, or a goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance". For a long while, zeal has been one of my favorite words...

a zealous life... is the life that I strive to live! Have you ever had the feeling of being on fire about something? There are so many things that I have zeal for. I absolutely LOVE being alive! There is no use in living a half-hearted life... only one full to the brim with everything good! I have such a passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ! I'm so glad I know of God's love for me... THAT fills my heart with fire!

On this blog I hope to share with you some of my zeal for life! Here is a little bit about me and some of the things that I have zeal for...

* I love music and am going into Music Therapy... I'm loving every busy moment of it! My main instrument is piano, but I'm also learning guitar and taking voice lessons (a lifelong dream!).

* I love my fabulous family! I am the second oldest of a bunch of kids... and it's lots of fun to have so many people around, there is never a dull moment at my house! One of the benefits is that I can study pretty much anywhere, in fact I can't study much at the library as it's so quiet!

* I love animals and farming... sometimes I wish I were born in the 1800's and were a pioneer! We have a small parcel of land and have rabbits, bees, chickens, milk goats and a dog. We had some beef cows until just a couple of weeks ago... :)

* I love cooking and homemaking of any sort. Call me weird (many people do) but I love doing laundry and when I'm not studying or teaching piano, I'm using getting some laundry started.

* One of the things I have the most zeal for is helping girls love being girls! I helped with a girls group for awhile and loved teaching them different things... one of my lifetime goals is to write a book for girls/women. More about that later!

* Last but definitely not least... I LOVE children! I hope to have a minimum of 12 children someday and love reading about different ways of parenting. Keeping that in mind helps keep me mostly patient!