So Random... So True.

This might sound random, but I am so very thankful that I'm in the church I'm in! Out of all the churches I've been in, home is always the best!

And it just doesn't get any better than that...:o).

Veterans.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion

A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(Words and history here)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sight that is sure to bring a tear to your eye when you are overseas is the American flag. I can't tell you how many times my eyes have watered, but I am so thankful to be an American. Today is a day that is set aside to honor Veterans. I think if I could ask my grandfather why he served in World War II, he would say it was his duty... his privilege... his opportunity to serve his country.

As we enjoy so many freedoms today in the United States, please stop for a moment and remember how those freedoms were earned... and if you meet a Veteran, remember to say thank you. I'm sure those men and women would look you straight in the eye and say, "It was my privilege."

Frugal Fridays.

3-4 years ago, a few friends and I agreed together to get a membership at the local movie store. This meant we would pay a couple of dollars to rent a movie, and if we were really good, we would get it buy-one-get-one-free! Not too long after we signed up, I was in the library and realized that the library has a good collection of movies and they were free to borrow! I laughed at ourselves for being so silly to get a membership card to the movie store (where I wouldn't watch 95% of the movies anyway), and have been checking the library for free movies ever since:o).

I'm sure this varies from library to library (at another library I had to pay 50 cents or a dollar to get a movie), but it's definitely worth looking into, especially if you like to watch a movie on Friday nights:o).

Go over to Crystal's blog for more money-saving tips!

Too Much?

So what do you think? Is my new hat too much???

:o)

Election Day.

Last night I actually had some free time (volleyball's over ya know!) so I went to the library to get a book. (Side note: on the bus on Thursday, several of the girls, Rachel, and I were playing Catch Phrase and one girl was trying to describe reading a book: "um, ok, you do this when you're bored.... um, etc." It took her quite a while to convey the message READ A BOOK and I shudder to think what we as teachers have been teaching her regarding reading. But in our defense, this is her first year in our school, so hopefully we can guide her a little better! Anyway...)

As I approached the library entrance, I noticed three older gentleman standing around. The one then turned to leave and the other two respectfully stopped me from boredom:o). "Excuse me miss? Are you registered to vote?" When I replied in the affirmative, the man continued on, "And you know to vote ________?" I agreed with him again and was bidden "good night". I won't even begin to tell you how I was impressed with their gentlemanly behavior, but it did remind me of one very important thing!

Today is Election Day, a day most Americans will remember within a year's time, but sadly 70% of the people living in my area (so I'm assuming that statistic could easily be said for the rest of the USA) will not go and vote today.

May I ask a simple question of Why?

Polls just opened a couple of minutes ago (7 AM) and will remain open until 8 PM tonight. As a American, please find time in your day today to vote! I'm planning to do so, and it is a precious right, for if I'm back in Thailand at this time next year, I will be filling out an absentee ballot for sure!

Please vote today...

Just Couldn't Resist:o).

I just couldn't resist posting two pictures of my cutie nephews:o). Andrew is turning two soon... where did the time go??? Happy Birthday big boy! Auntie Anne loves you!

Of course I had to post a picture of Ethan too:o). Don't you just love their smiles?!?! Ethan loves his grammie... that's for sure!

A L-O-N-G Trip.

We headed out on Thursday morning to go the the Creation Museum, but I knew we were in for it when I saw all the Mountain Dew soda and candy being loaded on to the bus! So I was (pleasantly!) surprised when the teens kept the noise level to a minimum for the first 10 hours of the trip:o).

Doesn't our bus look so small next to the big rigs?!?! It's funny how it looks huge until it's next to something even bigger:o).

The trip out was so pretty! I love driving through Pennsylvania, and this was one of the beautiful scenes I saw.

Of course the whole reason why we did this field trip was to give our teenagers a Christian perspective on science. The first thing we did was go to the planetarium, and to see all the stars, planets, and galaxies made me think of the verse, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" It's enough to make you realize how insignificant you really are in the grand scheme of things.

I'm sure most of you know this, but this is not unusual to see one of my student's taller than me:o).

The front of the museum...

We had plenty of chaperones go along, but I think (at this moment anyway!) these two were the tiredest!

After we were done in Kentucky, we headed to Dayton, Ohio to go to the (free!) Air Force Museum. It was interesting to walk through (my group made it through 4 of the 5 hangers before they called it quits... I give them credit for that since most girls aren't interested in airplanes!) If the history of the airplane is your thing, I would recommend you pay this museum a visit (and as I said, it is free!)

There was a memorial park right outside the museum...

Of course no trip is complete without a mishap, and in our case, it was a blown fuse for the headlights. We parked outside a Seven-Eleven for about an hour and the manager was gracious enough to give us free coffee! But judging by the look on their faces, these girls didn't need any (that was true enough!) and it took them several hours to calm down from all that caffeine! But all in all it was a really good trip, and I would like to go back again sometime.... just not with 30 teenagers;o).

Just Because...

... I thought you might need some extra reading over the weekend:o), hence the three (three!) posts in one day. I found this blog recently (blog-hopping:o)), and then I read this article tonight and thought this was a rather well-written post on the issue of being too content as a single. This paragraph kinda sums in up (emphasis mine):

Another thing we should be cautious about, I think, is being too perfectly happy as singles. How does that work with finding contentedness in each season of our lives? I think the message we should be sending isn't 'I'm quite happy as I am right now, thank you very much, and I don't need anything else', but rather, 'I'm happy, but I feel ready to move on to the next stage, and I'm eagerly anticipating it.'

So while this will probably not be applicable to 98% of my readers:o), I figured that it might explain what I've often thought but never put into words. So hopefully you can read it, and maybe things would make a little more sense to you in understanding what I do and why I do it... all the time waiting for what I believe God has in store for me one day (but not pining and moping away my time as a single.)

Confused yet?:o)

Then that's life with me... in a nutshell!

Taking Weird To A New Level.

Ya'll have got to go over to A Maryland Girl's blog and check out her post. I have absolutely no idea where she finds the pictures, but these have got to be the best (?) she has ever posted!!!! Let me know what you think...

WFMW: A Packing Tip.

Tomorrow I'm heading out on an "extended" field trip to the new Creation Museum in Kentucky with about 30 students and 10 other chaperones... so the bus ride should be a little crazy to say the least! (It's about 14 hours, but that does NOT mean whines and complaints of "Are we there yet?" are allowed!) My goal as a chaperone is to make it back in one piece:o).

I don't ever stress about packing for a trip (when I went on my 3-month trip to Thailand, I packed about 12 hours before I left for the airport!) and this one handy-dandy tip has saved me quite a bit of stress over the years. I have, for lack of a more original term, a toiletry bag that I always keep packed with the essentials: shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, spray, etc. Everything is all ready to go in that little bag that I don't ever worry about the little stuff when it comes to packing right before I leave. So tonight when I get home from church, it should take me about 5 minutes to pack for the two-day trip and that's what works for me!

For more works-for-me ideas, go pay a visit to Shannon:o).