My Engagement Ring

Here is a collage of pictures that I took of my beautiful  engagement ring. Enjoy :)

Unplanned

So, things don't always go as planned, but that doesn't mean that they weren't planned. (Maybe not by us, but by God they were.)

 I'm suppose to be in Pensacola right now, sleeping in a dorm and worrying about tomorrow's classes. Buuuuut, I'm not. Some things just don't work out how we foresee them (like in my case, where we didn't have the finaces for me to go to school.)

 But at the same time though, I didn't see me getting engaged. Yep, that's right, I'm engaged!!!!

(Don't mind the bad picture of me.)

 After receiving my dad's blessing, my fiance *squeal!* proposed to me downtown on the canal. (After having spent a marvelous day at the zoo where we were able to feed his favorite animal, the giraffe...

we went to my favorite part, the dolphin dome...

 we petted one of my favorite animals: an elephant...

 had a REALLY good Barqs rootbeer: my favorite drink; and to top it off I got engaged. Yeah, I'd say that's a productive day.) *Haha, ok, I wouldn't normally include the part about the root beer, but I mean this was very, VERY good root beer. VERY delicious!*

(Pictures of ring to follow...)

Correction to Last Post/Family History Lesson

 After I published my latest post about our second trip to the Children's Museum, my mother pointed out something I failed to correct; and I figured just editing that last post was not enough, and it needed a post all of its own.

 I mentioned how we were related to Captain Kidd, but I was wrong. My family is NOT related to Capt. Kidd, but we DO have relatives who had a run-in with him.

 Mary King, an ancestor on my mom's side, married a Mr. John Gardiner, Third Lord of the Manor of the Isle of Wight (aka Gardiner's Island).
 One day in 1699, Capt. Kidd and his crew landed on Gardiner's Island, buried booty that they pillaged, and threatened John Gardiner that it remained undisturbed or he would lose his life.

 The account in our family's history book went on to explain: "The British government learned of the treasure and called Gardiner to Boston to explain. While he was gone, Captain Kidd returned to the island and ordered John's wife, Mary, to prepare a meal for him. She was so afraid that she dared not refuse and prepared a feast which pleased Kidd so much that he gave Mary some fine gold cloth and other presents. Some time later, Captain Kidd was captured by the British government, taken (to) England and hanged. Kidd's treasure, claimed by the British government, was turned over in its entirety by Gardiner."

 So folks, there you have it. Our 15 minutes of "fame", haha.

Second Family Trip of the Year to the Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum Monday, the 18th, and this time my second oldest brother (J2) and his wife came along. Every single time my family goes to the museum, it's been a tradition of ours to pose with the above statue, boys vs. girls. Who do you think won? ; )

The below portraits were all made out of jelly beans, and they lined several walls of the museum!!! How cool is that?

Most of my siblings had fun in the Dinosphere, so much so that two of them began acting like cavemen!!

(M7, my youngest sister, was in a hurry to get out of there. With the ever-changing "weather" and the "roars" of the dinosaurs, she was just a little bit scared.)

 

 

Yep! That's my brother (J5)!! : D

We also traveled to "China" where we "discovered" terra cotta soldiers and helped put them back together.



Mama winning a thumb war



J7



J2





Then, we discovered the Caribbean shipwreck of our relative Capt. Kidd's Cara Merchant. It was so cool to be face to face with artifacts of our infamous relative, right here in Indiana!! (What are the chances of THAT?!)



17th century "onion" bottles (so named because of their wide bottoms)



Me in front of one of his cannons that is being restored by electrolytic reduction.





This teak wood was an important clue that showed that the shipwreck was Captain Kidd's.




Spanish coins






M7,Dad, J7 & M4



M7, M6 and Dad in Waterworks











Sister-in-law A & second oldest brother, J2



A & Mom

Well, as you can tell we had another fun time. If you're ever in the Indianapolis area, I suggest going to the Children's Museum, where you'll make tons of memories that will last a lifetime.

Crazy Summer

Well, as you can see, I have not been on my blog in a long while. I forgot my password, so that would do it. : D

This summer has been crazy. Back in April I visited Pensacola Christian College (which I'll be attending this fall) in Pensacola, Florida. In May I graduated; in June I went to North Carolina with one of my sisters, M3, to visit with my older sister (M1) and her husband. When I got home I had a wedding, then our church had VBS which went very well and yesterday I just got back from camp with two other siblings of mine! C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

 The speaker this week at camp was Mike Jones from North Carolina and he did a GREAT job preaching. Everyone had a good time listening to the messages, playing sports and just hanging out with other teens of like-faith.

 Many decisions were made this past week, many public and many private, so if you would, please keep all of us teens (and even our counselors) in your prayers. I know it may seem a bit awkward praying for strangers, seeing as how I'm sure if anyone is reading this, most of you may have just stumbled across my blog; but any and all prayers are always welcomed! : )

 I'm sure I'll upload pictures and maybe even write more of camp, but once again, we're busy busy BUSY so I'll have to stop here.

 Hope you've all had a great summer so far!

The Look- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I've never been one for poetry. Well, let me rephrase that. I like poems, but when my school requires me to find the rhyme scheme, the alliteration, the consonance, the metaphors, the similes, the type of foot, the type of sonnet, identify the theme, identify the tone and go into depth of the meaning of such-and-such, etc. weeeellll, let's just say I balk at that. (Oh and don't even get me started on the poems that you have to explain but have NO idea what they mean!)

But there are some poems that I enjoy (and by enjoy, I mean I understand, hehe ; ) and the following is one of them:

••••••••••
The Savior looked on Peter.

Ay, no word, no gesture of reproach; the Heavens serene though heavy with armed justice, did not lean their thunders that way: the forsaken Lord looked only, on the traitor.

None record what that look was, none guess; for those who have seen wronged lovers loving through death-pang keen, or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling to a sword, have missed Jehovah at the judgment-call.

And Peter, from the height of blasphemy- "I never knew this man"- did quail and fall, as knowing straight THAT GOD; and turned free and went out speechless from the face of all, and filled the silence, weeping bitterly.
••••••••••

I think this is a poem to which we all can relate, seeing as how at one time or another we've betrayed the King of Kings.

Words Are Inadequate...

Behold the Man upon the cross, my sin upon His shoulders… it was my sin that held Him there…His dying breath has brought me life...His wounds have paid my ransom.