Updates

Hello blogreaders,  just wanted to give you a quick update.  Exam week has finished up, and I am now no longer a Sophomore.  This last week has been stressful, but it's been a growing and learning experience.  I won't forget this past year, it's been amazing.  Thank you to all teachers and fellow classmates, who have helped me through this school year!  I'll definitely be posting about this past school year in another post!

Another update I wanted to send your way, is that I will be moving back to the States this summer.  It looks like the end of July is our fly out date, and El Paso, Texas is our final destination.  We'll be visiting family, dropping off a sister at college, and traversing much of the Midwest in our travels.  It will be an exciting time, and I will be keeping you all posted during that time!

Finally, I have a post in the works, and I think you will find it interesting!  Hope you enjoy!

Thank you for taking your time in reading this quick post, you may now resume your interwebbing.

Updates/Day in The Life

Yes, I am aware that I haven't posted on this Blog for the past two weeks.  And yes, I am very sorrrry.  And I'll try not to let that happen again.  So, I just want to give a quick update into my life about why my blog-posting-consistency-is-dismal.

*Deep breath*  Firstly, I have school.  Three online classes in the evenings, and three during the day with my mom.  And... you know.  Let me just give you a daily routine of my life:
-First thing you should know, my parents have to wake me up.  I have tried to wake up to an alarm clock, and normally I just sleep right through it.  Anyway, I get up around 7:05.

-After Bible, I normally go and shower.  That's another weird thing about me.  I can't not shower in the morning.  (If that makes sense.)  Morning hair, and all that what.

-After my shower, I go and get something to eat.  Which normally entails bagels, cereal, or waffles.  Yes, the frozen kind.  No, I don't make it from a batter.

-By then, it is time to do school with mom alittle before nine o'clock.  Depending on the day, like today, we do Math and Omnibus Secondary.

-I normally procrastinate after instruction time with mom.  And then I do work homework around ten.

-Before noon rolls around, I am officially hungry.  And thus, set about finding something to eat.

-Right after lunch, I finish up my assignments for online class and what is left of my homework.  And then I get ready for practice.

-I leave at around 2:30 for my daily basketball practice that takes place for two hours from 3:00-5:00 pm.

And basically to sum everything else up, I get home to eat some dinner and then go and do classes.  And then I stay up after that and read.  Then hit the hay.

....Repeat.

And then there are the games on the weekends, and Teen Night on Friday nights, and then church and small group on Sunday.  But other than that, I have a completely relaxing schedule.

All of this was just an excuse, and I'll try to keep up.  Now with that being said, I have a few upcoming events that should be recognized.  February 8th is a very important day..  my baby sister was born on that day.  Now, it is a very extremely special day.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BELLE.  Expect a blog post for that special occasion.  Also, Feb. 18th-22nd I shall be absent and travelling with my basketball team to Europeans.  Which is the big basketball tournament here in Europe, where all the schools participate in.  It will be an amazing experience, and I can't wait to tell you about it.

And lastly, but definitely not least, my big sister got accepted into New Saint Andrews.  Her dream college, so it was exhilarating to get into that college for her.  Definitely a prayer answered.

So, that is a little update of my life.  Thank you for tolerating my excuses. *bows*

My School is Awesome

For those of you who do not go to VPSA (Veritas Press Scholars Academy), it is the online school that I go to.  So many wonderful people come from all over the world and connect through an online classroom.  It is just amazing!  I really enjoy this.  Seeing as how we are so spread out over the world, we connect alot through facebook.  Thus, you find many of us in one group.. and with alot of time on our hands.

These links should lead you to videos that my fellow students have made, in their effort to get snacks during classtime..  Highly amusing.  But, go see for yourselves.  I only posted a few videos, the others were just as funny!  Here are some of my favorites.

Josiah Goosen did this post!  He's one of the one's who started this.  Amazing. One of the most acclaimed videos in our group.

Another one of my friends, Anne, posted this. Pretty good. Short and to the point.

Say hello to the Haven Siblings! These guys are really funny. Good vid. ;)

This one made me laugh.

Paying siblings to get you a snack? I draw the line there. But nice effort to stay in class. ;)

Collin Smith and his homeschooler swag.. That's right. Swag.

For those nerds out there who get this. :D Thanks Tara!

This one was funny! Sarah's grandmother in the back ground xD

So yea.. He ate his cat.

This is one of mine I made... Not nearly as good as the rest, but I was just having fun. :) This is a remake of Anee's from above.

I hope you all enjoyed!  Thank you all for letting me share your videos. :D

Inside Out

We were sitting at dinner, and Micaiah (My older sister.  The popular one) brought up "Fashion and Design", which is a seminar she is taking online.  And something she said really struck me, "The seams on the inside really have to be good.  So that the outside can last."

This really grabbed my attention.  If you think about it, it is the same with us as humans, families, churches, governments, and nations.  As human beings, what goes on in our hearts is what will show on the outside.  How we treat each other in our family will affect how we treat other people.  "And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." (Mark 3:25) 

A HOUSE DIVIDED.  How can we stand if we are arguing and bickering amongst ourselves?  If we are shoring up hatred and bitterness in our hearts, won't that show in our lives?  Since we are called to make disciples of ALL nations, then how can we set an example to them by being united?  How are we to convince people of the Love of God, when His people are constantly fighting about little things that are insignificant compared to that one soul that could be saved.  The entire host in heaven rejoices when a soul is saved from eternal perdition, so why can we work hard to save someone?

So this is a call to hold back the retort, no matter how clever it was.  It is still hurtful.  We need to build up, and lovingly guide those who err, back to the truth.  We do not need to pull down and lash out in hatred.  We need to become soldiers of God, who love to share the Light.

"19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 19-20.

The Little Things

*No.  Stop.  Before you go any further, this is not about One Direction.  Never been a fan.  Anyway, back to the original program.*

Last Thursday I woke up early, blogged, got ready for my day, and jogged to Chemistry which started at 8 a.m. (I know, bright and early)  Seeing as how it was only 2 miles away, I decided to run to the co-op.  Thus, you find me with my backpack slung over my shoulder and dribbling my basketball to a neighboring village at the crack of dawn.

While I was plodding along and listening to my Ipod, a car rolled by and it's window slid down.  An elderly man popped his head out and asked in German (As far as I know), "Do you need a ride?"

It was not at all creepy, he was heading the way I was and his family were in the van as well.  I politely declined, preferring to finish out my run.  But what really caught my attention was that so many cars had already passed me, but this man, who was obviously taking his child to school, was willing to slow down and ask a total stranger if he needed a lift.

It it sad that majority of small acts of kindness in this era is unusual.  When a person that we don't know, asks us for something, we frown upon them with suspicion.  (I have fallen prey to this very often.)  When  a person desperately asks someone to help, we normally tend to ask what's going and demand an explanation before we dash to that person's aid.  Since when did chivalry take a second thought?  It's little things like this, pulling up to ask a person if they need any help, that shows people love.  And aren't we called to love?  Aren't we called to share the love of Christ to the world?  Christ sacrificed Himself for us because He loved us.  If He is willing to die and suffer for us, then how much more can we show to one person for the few moments we inter-act with them?

These loving acts are the first steps to showing people what kind of God God is.  Not only does He love us, but He wants to protect His children. And if He wants us to help that little old lady across the street so that His love his shown to her, then who are we to deny Him?

Wall

It's one of those times where I just hit a brick wall in my mind.  I've been writing a book, for those of you who don't know, and I am at a dry period.  I'm going to try to take a step back and just relax, and hopefully have another edition out there by next week.
Meanwhile, that step back will be a trip to Scotland. So, I think I'll have plenty of inspiration to write.  And I promise to post pictures of me in a kilt on some of William Wallace's battle sites.  

Triceratops Are Asexual

  Don't worry about the weird title, it's merely a story.  Not a true story of course ;).  We've started summer school, and along with that we write little stories/journal entries to keep our minds active.  One of the topics for a paper was: What would you do if you found a dinosaur in your backyard?

I woke up one morning to find a dinosaur in my backyard!  It wasn't a fierce predator, or anything like that.  But it was a plant eater and it was tearing up my bush.

Well, more specifically a hedge.  The hedge that I had worked all day yesterday to trim and make it look nice; and now there was Triceratops calmly ripping it apart, leaf by leaf.  I hopped to, and shoved the beast aside, and sighed when I saw the damage done.

The hedge, or what was left of it, had a gaping hole in the center of it.  I turned around at the Triceratops (which will now be called Tricey) and glared at her.

"Are you kidding me?"

I received a doleful look in return.  Turning back to the hedge, the gaping hole would most likely regrow overtime.  And then it hit me, what am I going to do with this Dinosaur?  Then another idea hit me...

                                                    **********************
It turns out that Tricey is asexual!  Who'd have known?  She soon reproduced with quite a few Triceratops, and soon many of my neighbors had one...  Now if you happen to visit Lupburg, you will probably see the villagers astride all shapes and sizes of Triceratops.  Not only does it save fuel, but it also keeps the grass down.

The End.

I hoped you enjoyed the quick story.  Why not tell me about what you would do?  Go ahead and comment ;)

Don't Just Go Through the Motions

As I reflect on the past school year, I'm just blown away by how fast it went by.  First year of highschool already done.  It's quite amazing really.  But one of the things I regret about this year, is sometimes that I just retired into my little turtle shell.  Just waiting for the weekend; and rushing through the homework to get to the longed for Friday night, so I can relax.

But when I reflect on this decision of mine; I feel like I've cheated myself.  Yup, that's right.  You cheat yourself when you pay only half attention to your work, and school work.  You could just cruise along, watching the big papers and assignments flying by and waving them goodbye.  

But not how you and I should be acting.  We need to get into this life and make it our own.  Like Coach Haskin's said in Glory Road, "If you quit today, you quit the rest of your life."  Don't just go through the motions, get in there.  Have fun in what God has given you this moment.  Make the Maker proud of you.

A Connecticut Tribute.

They deserve this.  They deserve more than this.  Much more.  I want this post to be dedicated to the people that suffered through the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary.  I know it is late in coming, but better late than never, right?


I first received the news of this tragedy after a basketball game in Stuttgart.  Coach called us over and told us what happened.  We were shocked. 


This was and is a very horrible situation, the pain and suffering that the students and teachers went through was incredible.  The teachers bravery and sacrifice is astounding, and should give us a good enough shock, to wake us up and realize that we should love those who are close and dear to us.  And not even those who are close, but those who we run into on the street, in the grocery store, or on a train.  Because, we never really know how long they will be with us.  One little act of kindness means alot.


Remember that God is in charge of all.  It may not seem like it at the time, but God is still in control.  I pray that God will help those people heal and recover from such a tragedy.

I rededicate this song to the brave people of Sandy Hook elementary.  (This song was originally a song for the VT tragedy)

Your Life is About to be Fulfilled

Okay.  Maybe not right now.  But it will be fulfilled once you have read these books.

It is a book trailer for the new series, the Ashtown Burials by N. D. Wilson.

I know.  Watching the trailer isn't enough.  You want to see the movie, right?  So do I.  But, unfortunately, this is just a book trailer and they haven't turned it into a movie yet.  Your life shall be complete once you have read the books.  So.  No pressure.  Go find and buy them.  Read them.

*****

The first book in the Ashtown Burials is the Dragon's Tooth.  It is about a three teens who have lost their dad, and their mom is in a perpetual coma in the hospital and they are living in a motel. 

Daniel Smith is eighteen and is the Guardian of the other two, he basically runs the motel and worries.

Then you have the second oldest, Antigone Smith.  She is the only Smith daughter and tries to be the mom of the youngest. 

Which leads us to Cyrus William Smith.  He is the youngest of the three, which you would expect it to be hard on him, but he has fun with it.

These three will have their motel burned down and some of them will be mysteriously taken in by the Order of Brendan, and they will have adventure after adventure after adventure.

*****

Yep, that is my teaser.  Like I said you should read the book.  And the next one just came out.  It is called The Drowned Vault.  So, go click on a different tab and go to Amazon.

Jean Valjean

What if a Lilliputian, that funny little people from Gulliver's Travels, happened to walk into our world?  What would they think?  How would they feel?



Setting:  Berlin, Germany.




Victim: Jean Valjean, the French Lilliputian

Monday, July 27, 2012:
"Dear journal, as you know I have been journeying all over the world in search of adventure.  I have sailed the vast ocean that separates England from France.  I have scaled some of the highest mountains, for example, the Anthill.  Whilst climbing the Anthill, I was suddenly set upon by the fiercest creatures ever.  And, then, I crossed what looked like one of the widest rivers ever.  Yet it looked as solid as rock.  At first, I thought it was a Lava flow, but I learned later that is was a man-made road.  As I attempted the crossing, I was continually attacked by some of the fastest machines ever.  I also learned from a fellow traveler that this was the Autobahn.  But, the most dangerous and surprising adventure is just ahead of me.  I woke up this morning and set out as usual, but instead of being accompanied by peaceful woods, and a calming river, I suddenly bumped into a solid wall.  As I shook my head in surprise, I looked up.  And, my surprise didn't stop there, it was a wall extending up into the air as high as the eye could see.  Then, as I finally climbed around this piece of useless fool-diggery, I stepped out to a view that made me wish that I was back in my house in France.  Extending in all directions, is what looked like a city, yet it was larger and more ugly than my cities back at home."

Tuesday, July 28, 2012:
"Oh, the terror journal!!  I am currently in a sewage pipe..  Hanging with my rats.  It has been the worst day of my life.  When I entered the city, which I soon came to know by a sign as large as... well anyhow words can't describe., I found out that I was in Berlin.  The capital of Germany.  As you may well imagine I was going crazy!  I couldn't believe that I made it this far!!  But, anyhow.  My excitement diminished considerably when I entered it.  I do have to admit that it was very dirty.  I mean, after I had been in the country, where everything is so pristine it was a big culture shock.  That was just the start of my disappointment.  No one seems to be nice here.  They aren't at all understanding.  And, then the food that I could scrape up from the garbage was disgusting.  But, then, here is the worst part journal, I was almost stepped on by someone while trying to view a display in the Checkpoint Charlie museum.  And, they didn't seem to pay the slightest attention to my pitiful cries of injustice."

Wednesday, July 29, 2012:
"Day Three.  Disgusted.  My soaring hopes at the start of my travels to see one of the most famous and infamous Capitals.  To see the sights.  To drink in the stories.  To learn it's history.  Never, I believe, in the entire History of the World has there been such a let down.  My once light hopes have been dashed on the rocks of horrible disappointment.  Today, I wandered into the not so bright part of Berlin.  The crudeness and rudeness was just astounding.  Then, when I escaped that hole in the wall, I went into downtown, and tried to cross a street, and almost got hit by a Taxi!  Yes, my dear friends, those yellow monsters, kill Lilliputians like me about as often as they run red lights.  Yes, I am thoroughly tired.  I am ready to return home."

Thursday, July 30, 2012:
"Done.  After I finally found a Pizza Factory, I am totally and decidedly done.  The Pizza was good, yet, when you try to find three Mexican restaurants, and they either are closed, or turned into Casinos, the Pizza isn't as good.  So, Journal, I am going on.  I am going to quit Berlin and try to find some restful hotel by the side of the road in a quaint little village."


Note:  No Lilliputians were killed in the making of this blog post.  I promise.  And also, this is from a Lilliputian perspective.  Berlin is not at all that bad.  It was actually a delightful experience to tour around and visit historical sites.  I would suggest you visit it!  And possibly stop by, and I can show you around.

Almost as Good as Taylor Swift

Amsterdam by Imagine Dragons.

 

I stumbled across their new album in my PX while I was looking for a Taylor Swift CD.  So far, I have listened to it atleast ten times collectively.  They are pretty good.  Probably one of my favourite bands, even ranking up with Taylor Swift.  Yes, I know that it is hard to get on the same playing field as Taylor Swift, but they are that good.  Well, I hope you enjoy!

Bavaria

This was a paper that I wrote up for my Composition class, I finally dug it out from the closet...  Or just the draft section in my Blogger.  *disclaimer*  This was back a year ago, so I hope you have seen some improvement in my writing..

Bavaria, the place in Germany where the venerable people sweep their portion of the side-walks, and  where the villages look like little ginger-bread houses with the snow capped roofs. 
 In the winter, Germany doesn't feel dead, it just puts on another coat.  It is like a woman conscious of her clothing, and changes every five second. Except, that Germany changes every four or five months. In the winter, the leaves have fallen off the trees and the plants have curled in their beds, yet Bavaria is still a majestic place. 

 There are pine trees galore there, so they never die, they are always green. They hold their heads high and live on, shouting out the glory of the One who made them. And in the winter time, they are splattered with a coating of white. As though they too want to dig into the festive cheer that comes around with this time of year. 

 And then spring rolls around like the surety of the earth rotating around the sun. The flowers wake up, and climb out of their beds. The trees burst through their winter sleep, and shake off their bed hair. Then, the summer comes flying by, just like the revolutions on a bicycle. It just seems to be full of exploring castles, caves, and old ruins. Warming and humid, not like the Midwest of the United States, but warming the spirit with warmth.  It becomes breezy and cool. But not overly chili.  It is where you would want to spend the rest of your life, just watching the seasons swing by, showing off their colors to you. 

 Eagerly we await the fall.  It is one of the most glorious things on this earth. It promises you that though winter may take over, there is still hope of new life. Ending like that of a fireworks show, it ends the summer with a bang of color.  So, yes, Bavaria is the best place in Germany to be...